COMPARISON OF THE HANDBOOK'S ELECTRONIC FORMATS

as of February 2000

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HLAS Online (via WWW) HLAS/CD (v2.0)
Volumes included;
# of records
v. 1-60 (v. 58-60 unverified in process); approximately 300,000 records.v. 1-55 (only verified records); approximately 270,000 records.

Updated

Quarterly.Biannually.
Price Free, but requires WWW Internet access (or telnet access for LYNX).35000 pesetas (approximately $225 dollars).
Minimum requirements Computer with graphics (or telnet access for LYNX).386 (486 or higher recommended); Windows 3.1 or higher; CD-ROM drive.
# of simultaneous users/
# of ports
Adequate for expected demand.Networking permitted at no extra cost, but problematic if running other databases using BRS software.

Speed Generally fast; depends on your local resource use, ports available, and network traffic.Very fast (Pentium w/6X CD drive) to barely acceptable (386 w/single speed CD drive).
HLAS Online (via WWW) HLAS/CD
Dependability Usually excellent but depends on local resource use, ports available, and network traffic.Very reliable for hits lists under 500 records; fairly reliable for larger groups of records.

Overall user-friendliness

Basic mode: very good.
Expert mode: very good.
Beginner mode: excellent.
Expert mode: fairly complicated.
Search engine Inquery, with LC-customized interface. Uses fielded searching, but only with "and/or(s)" ("not" is unavailable).BRS, with MAPFRE-customized interface. Uses 8 Boolean and proximity operators.
Order of search results Relevancy-ranked, based on # of occurrences, size of record, etc.Chronological, in HLAS volume order (first to last, or last to first).
Maneuvering among hits list and documents Good for small-sized hits list; average with larger lists. Lacks "go to" command.Vertical scroll bar provides excellent maneuvering; "go to" command jumps directly to particular document.
HLAS Online (via WWW) HLAS/CD
Saving/printing results Tedious. Only one screen or document at a time.Excellent. Allows for printing/saving entire hits lists, or brief or full display of tagged documents from list. Also allows for printing/saving all full documents from hits list.
Ability to save search history None.Excellent. Allows user to save entire search history to hard drive or diskette for future uploading and use.
Help documentation Extensive help files available in English and Spanish, with hypertext links to/from related screens.Extensive English/Spanish help file and integrated command-line help.
Special/innovative features Hypertext links to subject headings in database. Regularly updated data. Opportunity for user feedback through comments/mail. Most comprehensive coverage available (60 volumes).Save and combine capabilities for different search sets. Database dictionary provides browse and search capabilities for individual words or groups of words.

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Comments: Ask a Librarian (02/29/00)