Science Comparison
Review by CCL-EAR Committee Members of the CCL-EAR committee undertook a comparative study of three science databases: •AccessScience (McGraw-Hill) •Today's Science (Infobase Learning) •Science in Context (Gale) The review focused on the subject coverage, search interface, cost, availability/accessibility of service, and customer service as well as customization, and mobile options. AccessScience’s search interface presents a simple and intuitive layout making it easy for novice searchers to navigate. Today's Science is a well-regarded resource geared toward high school students and lower-division undergraduates. Gale's Science in Context database provides students with an attractive and user-friendly interface with which to begin their research. Download the full text of our review for more details.
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For access contact Amy Beadle, Library Consortium Director, 916.800.2175.
Comments
Many thanks for your work in comparing these three online resources so thoroughly. I have found AccessScience to be a helpful resource for our community college students. When we first subscribed, I contacted their editorial staff about errors in their Cite feature. Article authors were listed along with their titles. These titles (Dr., Prof., etc) were accidentally being included in the citations. The editor contacted me to let me know that this problem had been corrected. However, AccessScience's APA citations still use the author's entire first name, instead of initials. As with any database-generated citations, we typically advise our students to trust, but verify. A minor issue with an otherwise useful product.
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