Searcher articles from January 2003

Searcher archives from January 2003

The chain of demand. (Searcher's Voice).
January 1, 2003... In September 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology [http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2002/13826.htm]. In the course of his speech to the assembled scientists, he touched...

Mozilla: the tale of a monster (Browser, That Is).(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2003... On October 4, 1957, the Soviets successfully launched the satellite Sputnik, shaking the foundation of our belief as Americans that we were the most powerful and technologically advanced nation in the world. Determined that the United States...

Can small businesses go online? The professional online services flirt with mom and pop.(Dialog Corp.)(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2003... I've been around the online world a while -- a quarter-century; if you must know -- and it's been interesting to see how the professional online services have changed their customer focus over the years. When I first went online, back in the...

At the limits of Google: specialized search engines.
January 1, 2003... It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: But the honor of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25.2, King James Bible translation Many consider information overload in the virtual ocean to be the Web's number-one problem. Most...

Counting heads around the world: the Genealogy of International Census Databases.(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2003... Part II, Canada It may surprise many Americans to learn that Canada is home to both the oldest European archeological remains in the New World and the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement. Unearthed in the 1960s, the Viking...

More Tales of a Searcher's Life: a diary of disaster.
January 1, 2003... [EDITOR'S NOTE: In the September 2002 issue of Searcher, we published an article by veteran searcher Amelia Kassel ("Tales of a Searcher's Life. A Comedy of Errors or A Test of Patience"). This article on trouble in the field comes from another...

E-exercise and eating right: weight loss on the web. (Internet Express).(Product/Service Evaluation)
January 1, 2003... You know how it goes. You're a slim and trim young librarian. All of a sudden you turn 40, and the tag on your pants that once read "10" now reads "16." And the waist is getting uncomfortably tight. Not only that, but your e-mail account...

Gardens of the World Wide Web.
January 1, 2003... The snow falls softly on my windowsill today, more than just the simple flurries of October or the slushy messes of November. The holiday season has passed, Santa's reindeer have made a cushioned landing, and the deep cold nights have...

Google answers back or how to become an ex-"Google Answers" researcher.
January 1, 2003... In the October 2002 issue of Searcher Magazine, I wrote an article about Google Answers that was not overly critical, but not fawning either ["Information for Sale: My Experience with Google Answers"]. In the Researcher Newsletter I received...

BioOne: online access to bioscience research journals. (Web Wise Ways).
January 1, 2003... When the cost of scientific journals skyrocketed in the 1990s, no one academic institution could afford the annual 20 percent plus increases in cost for print journals. As a result, universities and colleges began exploring how costs could be...

Democracy in the dark: public access restrictions from Westlaw and LexisNexis.(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... "Democracies die behind closed doors....When government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people. Selective information is misinformation." So spoke Judge Damon Keith in Detroit Free Press, et...

Alacra: cheerful willingness, readiness, or promptness???
January 1, 2003... When I read that Data Downlink changed its name to Alacra, I found myself a bit skeptical. I would never like to admit that I am resistant to change, but I've been so content with Data Downlink's .xls service over the past few years that I...

Correspondence.
January 1, 2003... OMB Defends Controversial Printing Policy I write to explain the Bush administration's plan to save millions of taxpayer dollars on government printing costs, which a writer in your publication misrepresented as an attempt to hide...