ProQuest Acquires WebFeat, Plans to Integrate with Serials Solutions and 360 Search

From ProQuest's press release:

"ProQuest, a Cambridge Information Group company, has acquired WebFeat, acclaimed pioneer of federated search, a technology that enables simultaneous search of all an organization’s databases, dramatically increasing research productivity. ProQuest plans to merge WebFeat with Serials Solutions, its Seattle-based business unit and developer of e-resource access and
management tools for libraries."

From Serials Solutions' FAQ:

"Serials Solutions has been given responsibility for incorporating WebFeat into the ProQuest family of companies and for integrating the product offerings. Both companies provide federated search tools. Over time, the best aspects of each company’s products will be combined into a single, superior product."

New on WilsonWeb - Biography Index Retrospective (1946-1983)

Library users can now search more than 40 years of Wilson's classic biographical resource Biography Index in a single, easy-to-use database. With citations on people from antiquity through 1980s headline-makers, Biography Index Retrospective brings convenient WilsonWeb searching to the in-depth data that earned Biography Index decades of popularity as a print reference.

Researchers will find coverage of notables across all disciplines and subject areas: writers, artists, statesmen, sports figures, politicians, religious leaders, scientists, educators, military leaders, teachers, actors, business people, and more. A cross-section of the database unearths more than 18,000 profiles of painters worldwide, back to the 19th century; nearly 12,000 profiles of generals, from Douglas MacArthur to Hannibal; 5,000 profiles of physicists, from Isaac Newton to Stephen Hawking; more than 21,000 profiles of poets, from James Joyce to Sonia Sanchez; more than 3,100 profiles of pianists; almost 10,000 profiles of state governors back as far as the 1940s; more than 120 profiles of race car drivers, and much more.

Access by subject, author, publication year, publication name and issue (plus a wide array of other fields), makes Biography Index Retrospective a great tool for research not only on prominent individuals, but also on attitudes toward these individuals in specific media outlets, in specific eras, and by specific authors. Updated terms for professions allow searching using contemporary language, and name variations are reconciled, ensuring thorough research throughout the decades of coverage and multitude of sources.

Gentle Reads, and Their Opposite - From Reader's Advisor Online

Laura Calderone of Libraries Unlimited, a Greenwood Publishing Group member, writes in her recent update e-mail:

"At the monthly [Reader's Advisor Online] webinars, Sarah [Statz Cords] and I frequently hear requests to find gentle reads or reads without certain kinds of content. Our editorial team has been discussing this and we are expanding the use of Gentle Reads and Inspirational as subject terms; and are proposing to add new subject tags for Strong Language, Explicit Sexuality and Explicit Violence. This would cover the extremes, but not attempt to "rate" each book. Would this help you meet the needs of your patrons? We'd like to discuss this on the Blog; we will have a posting on this topic soon. You can also email me directly at laura.calderone@lu.com. The point is not censorship, but to match readers and books! Readers and readers' advisors (or librarians) already have their own techniques for identifying appropriate reading, and we want to make it easier for them."

You can post your thoughts on the Reader's Advisor Online Blog soon http://www.readersadvisoronline.com/blog/index.php, or, as mentioned, contact Laura directly.

Oxford Islamic Studies Online Gets a "10"

Cheryl LaGuardia of Library Journal gives Oxford Islamic Studies Online a "10." See the whole review at:

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6516112.html