Education for Database Intermediaries: How Library Schools Have Changed (And How They Haven’t).

In 1988, surveys were sent to all 60 of the American Library Association-accredited schools of library and information science in the US and Canada that offer master degrees. The overall response rate was 88%. In more than 80% of the schools, 3/4 or more of the students receive hands-on experience with online searching, and about the same percentage were exposed to CD-ROM databases. In 23 schools, 1/4 or more of the students were exposed to in-house simulation systems. Of the participating schools, 82% had at least one course 100% dedicated to online searching and 25% had more than one. Several schools were trying to incorporate some database experience into all reference classes in the curriculum. DIALOG is used by every school that responded regarding online use. The majority of schools use more than one kind of hardware and have more than one piece of software for online searching. Bibliographic databases were the most popular CD-ROM products, especially ERIC and the WILSONDISC demonstration disk that contains small portions of all H. W. Wilson CD-ROM databases.