RE: InfoTrac� College Edition

["DAVID BICKFORD (FAC)" <dlbickfo@email.uophx.edu>]

I've run across this before. I believe the CD-ROM itself does not contain
any InfoTrac data. Instead, the student obtain a four-month account to the
InfoTrac database on the Web. It is similar to what libraries purchase but
with individual user name / name password access instead of IP
authentication.

This seems like a way to reach students at institutions that may not have
the funds or inclination to buy InfoTrac for the Library. Instead, the
InfoTrac access is paid for by the individual student as part of his or
her textbook purchase.

I think that this is a problem only if there are interdepartmental
communication problems within an institution. If the textbook adopters at
a given college or university know the library already subscribes to
InfoTrac, redundant purchases can be avoided.

While this arrangement does not trouble me, I do wonder about the
Findarticles site, at which Gale offers a subset of InfoTrac content for
free:

http://www.findarticles.com

A number of students like this because it has no authentication hassles
and it has the look and feel of the popular Web search engines. I wonder,
however, if anyone is having trouble justifying a paid subscription to
InfoTrac when a subset is available to the world at no cost.

David Bickford
University Librarian
University of Phoenix

-----Original Message-----
From: Hamaker, Chuck
To: Liblicense-L (E-mail)
Sent: 6/21/02 3:48 PM
Subject: InfoTrac� College Edition

Wadsworth, a publisher owned by Thomson, is offering CD roms with some
textbooks and access to something called InfoTrac� College Edition . Has
anyone run into this before? Do we know anything about license
conditions?
Is it just duplicating what many library's are already providing?  or is
it different or unique from the normal InfoTrac online offerings? Is it
more "academic" etc.

[SNIP]