Linking to Full Texts

IT HAS BECOME routine for librarians to help a patron compile a comprehensive customized bibliography from online or CD-ROM indexes. In fact, patrons no longer consider it sufficient to compile a list of resources. Although searching indexes and abstracts was never the end of the information seeking process, in the print world an index search was so tedious that users focused energy on the search process. Interlibrary loan could suffice for articles the library didn't hold. Now, as library users become familiar with the convenience of online searching and their expectations rise, they expect instantaneous access to full articles.

To fulfill these expectations, libraries must either provide access to full-text databases, or bibliographic databases must provide links to complete articles. Many online systems offer both full-text searching and bibliographic linking; others offer bibliographic searching only with links to selected texts.

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