Human resources, Quality management, Information management, Abstracts, Index
Subscribing to the full Anbar Management Intelligence Service nets you a subscription to 54 paper journals, 4 issues of Anbar Management Magazine, 4 CD‐ROM updates, and 500 article credits. The article credits can be used to get the full text of any article in the database within 24 hours. The CD‐ROM database indexes and abstracts 400 management journals containing all recent articles in the journals and selected ones back to 1989.
You can also choose to subscribe to only one or more parts of the database. There are seven parts to choose from including Accounting & Finance, Information Management & Technology, Marketing & Distribution, Operations & Production Management, Personnel & Training, Top Management, and Management of Quality. Subscribing to only a single part of the database nets you only 125 journal credits instead of 500; and the price is also reduced. A journal credit can be used to receive a full text article from those abstracted in the database. Articles from 1‐10 pages in length require one credit, 11‐50 pages require 2 credits, and 51 or more pages take 3 credits. Value Added Tax is also charged in addition to the journal credits and an extra credit is charged for two‐hour fax service instead of the normal 24‐hour turnaround. Journal credits must be used within the subscription period and are lost if not used within that time.
Minimum system requirements to run the database include a 386 or higher CPU with at least 4 MB of RAM; a VGA monitor, MS‐DOS 3.3 or higher with 540 KB minimum free memory to run in DOS mode) or Windows 3.1 or higher (compatible with Windows 95); 10 MB minimum free hard disk space; and a CD‐ROM drive, of course. The database can be searched in either the DOS or Windows mode. It is fully compatible with Windows 95.
Installation was smooth and error‐free but installation can only be completed by contacting customer service with the Request Code generated by the program on installation. This can be done by fax or email; and you will be supplied with the correct reply code to unlock whatever portion of the database you have chosen to purchase.
Searching in Windows mode can be done through browsing author, title, journal, date, subject, thesaurus term, or other options. Alternatively you can search using a fill‐in‐the‐blank form that easily allows you to type in key words for whatever fields you choose, link them with “and,” “or,” or “andnot,” and choose to use automatic truncation. You can also limit your search by checking the “recent only” box which searches only the most recent few months of articles in the database. There is also a more flexible “expert search” option that is more on the order of a command‐line search. Choosing between the two methods of searching would normally be a matter of the searcher’s taste. You can only enter one term in each blank on the form search; but there are eight blanks and truncation is available on each of them. Any search containing more than eight terms would have to be done in the expert mode. Saving and reloading searches can be in either mode, a real time‐saver for complex sea
rches.
Articles included in the database are graded from one to three stars. A three‐star (the highest grade) article makes specific implications for further research, has clear implications for practitioners, is particularly easy for the non‐specialist to understand, or is highly original in either approach or concept. The searcher can use grading as a search qualifier if desired.
The results of a search can be either saved to disk or printed. In the brief display format, one can save up to 50 citations at a time; but in full display format, only one at a time can be saved. This database needs an option to mark particular records during browsing for later printing or saving. This handy option is found on nearly all other CD‐ROM indexes I have examined and is very useful, particularly to inexperienced searchers who may retrieve far more material than they really need.
Searching in DOS mode is similar to using Windows mode. Browsing for subjects is possible as well as a variety of command line searches (though it takes place in a search box). Boolean operators are available and one can limit the search to particular portions of the database, i.e., words found in titles, subjects, abstracts, etc. The thesaurus is also available in DOS as well as the “recent only” feature and the ability to limit searches by “quality” grades. As in Windows, there is no way to mark particular records for downloading or printing. Downloading or printing of full records must be done one at a time.
This is an excellent business database and, with the inclusion of the 54 paper journal subscriptions and journal article credits, a good value.
