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Dialog? Ebsco? Insite Pro? Profound?
Dear Buslibbers - I need help choosing where to invest for business information. I am independent and need IAC databases, articles from trade and regional publications, industry analyses, and private company information. I am relying primarily on Web-based access. I have been a Dialog searcher but find that my skills suffer now that I do fewer than two or three projects a month using Dialog. Is DialogWeb my best bet? Or Dialog Select cheaper and easier for the infrequent searcher? Has anyone any experience with the new flat fee Collectanea product from Ebsco? InSite Pro? Profound? I subscribe to Searcher magazine and am trying to decide between Database and Online. I have applied for AIIP membership, am a new member of SCIP, and am a new member of SLA's Bus & Finance division. I am of course on a limited budget. As always, any advice is appreciated. Rosemary Whitney, Creative Strategies, rrwhitney@aol.com Replies: 11/25/97 I'd go for DialogWeb in your shoes. You have the greatest source and are not locked into a flat rate arrangement that you may use to its fullest extent. I like my flat rate access to InSite, though IAC's sources are many, they don't cover nearly everything. I usually have to supplement my research with Dialog & Lexis-Nexis. 11/25/97 Jo Pearson, Manager of Information Services, CMF&Z, jo_pearson@cmfz.com I have to agree; for comprehensive coverage at an economical cost, I don't think you can beat DialogWeb. We've recently subscribed to Profound, and I knew when I committed to them that I'd need to make Profound my first choice for all searches in order to take advantage of their flat-rate deal. So I'm trying, and it's NOT easy having been a devoted Dialog user for many years, but I'm just not finding nearly as much information through them and in most cases have to resort to Dialog, anyway. In fact, most frustrating is that I don't seem to find as much IAC stuff using Profound (though they claim to have all the IAC databases) as through Dialog. I suspect it's at least in part due to the less flexible search options. (I also tested InsitePro and had to choose either InsitePro or Profound; we went with Profound because there was simply more available that way.) It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens to DialogWeb and Profound now that Profound has bought Dialog. I'm watching developments with some trepidation! 11/26/97 Hi Rosemary, For an excellent comparison of the costs of business searching on Dialog, Nexis, and Dow-Jones, call 1-800-496-4470. When prompted, punch in 1650. You'll then be prompted for your fax and phone numbers. The document will be faxed to you immediately. The above document is entitled "Why Should Cost-Conscious Business Searchers Choose DIALOG? -- the Surprising Results of Recent Price Tests." Its author is Carmen Miller, principal of Carmen Miller Resources, an online industry consulting firm. She is an award- winning author and business information specialist with more than twenty years of experience in the online industry. As a member of AIIP, one of DIALOG's benefits is a discount for all usage on our system. If you haven't already done so, be sure to call the Dialog Help Desk (1-800-334-2564) to speak with one of our specialists about the rider to your standard service agreement. 11/15/98 Jean, Edited on September 23, 2005 |