Cad Cam Abstracts

An eye-opening look at alternative careers for those with a sci-tech background--whether they be librarians or scientists or engineers, this exciting volume fills a gap in the professional literature. The contributors--all of whom have pursued alternative careers--provide detailed accounts of their jobs, including skills and education needed, working environment, job rewards and challenges, and future prospects. Although most of these positions fall outside traditional career fields--information broker, translator, acquisitions editor, information resources manager, research scientist, online database manager, and abstractor and indexer--they offer options for professionals seeking challenging new careers.

The true pioneers in electronic publishing put their bibliographic databases on tape and online in the 1960s. Nearly all of them had long experience with compiling information for distribution in printed form and a strong market connection. As a result of Soviet advances in science and space technology, American government support for information science and academic libraries flowed freely for a little over a decade, making possible tremendous advances in technology, in retrieval techniques and in sophisticated coverage. Advances in information technology and market conditions have encouraged many more participants to underwrite the development of databases that now extend into the arts, social sciences, business, and popular interests. These essays show how production statistics accompanied by statements of editorial coverage provide a fairly accurate reflection of output of many of the major disciplinary bibliographic databases. The urgent priority of information resources in the 1960s has encouraged comprehensive servicing of the formal research literature as published in journals and monographs. Authors have counted subject words, languages, origins, types of publication, and so on over several decades. This volume also includes articles on some databases that are not strictly bibliographic, such as the CMG database of college courses, which illuminates some of the changes in college textbook publishing. Information seekers will find the many tables of practical use, as guidance to what and how much may be found within each database. Analysts of publishing, of science policy, and of higher education will find information relevant to expenditures, human resources, and other indicators of education, research, and technology activity.

No detailed description available for "World Databases in Geography and Geology".

Published in 1992, like the first, this second edition is not intended as introductory textbook command-driven, Boolean searching. It is targeted at online searchers who already have some knowledge of command languages and may be proficient searchers on databases in one or two subject areas, but when required to venture into new and less familiar territory still need guidance. It is also offered to end users who possess the subject expertise but lack of information retrieval know-how. The Manual is offered as a guide to database selection and a navigational aid through the twists and turns of the retrieval maze; at least some of the dead ends and backtracking may thereby be avoided. This volume, written by experts in their various fields, deals with the subject coverage and record structures of specific databases, offers comparisons between databases (context, indexing procedures, updating policies, etc.), discusses the choice between online and CD-ROM sources (and between hosts if online is selected), and illustrates strategies with numerous search extracts.