Consumers and others interested in learning about commercial products by searching electronic resources must deal with an incalculable quantity of data. This situation can be confusing even for expert researchers. Electronic access to Consumers Index, a standard reference, is more than a breadcrumb on the path to new information. Public and academic librarians and their patrons will value a single extensive index to consumer education information. This reviewer highly recommends the electronic version of the familiar print index that researchers learned to trust long ago.
Consumers Index is updated monthly and contains over 180,000 entries: product reviews, recommendations, and background articles. The online description indicates there are more than 100,000 entries for product evaluations, tests, alerts, warnings, and recalls of products, services and facilities. This information is taken from about 120 periodicals as well as news releases from US federal agencies. A listing of periodical titles and dates covered is available online. Researchers will benefit from over 75,000 article citations with abstracts on the topics of consumerism and consumer protection. Individuals who wish to check what’s on the Web will find the 35,000 indexed URLs to be handy. A broad range of products representing land and water transportation, photography, audio systems and components, home appliances and equipment, food and beverages, and numerous others appear in one or more types of entries.
There are two interface options. The standard interface uses JavaScript and frames. Envision, the second interface, uses neither of these and is designed for the visually impaired or other persons using screen‐reading software.
In the product category, searches by name, manufacturer, and/or generic subject are possible. Users have a choice of simple, browse, and advanced search levels. In the advanced search, variations of a word can be retrieved by placing an asterisk after a portion of the word (thus, candy* retrieves candy, candies, candymaker, etc). Searches can cover all fields or be limited by choosing from the subject, title, and author fields. In the “Information type” portion of the structured search, users may limit by “alert or warning”, “a best rating”, “crash test results”, “evaluation or test”, “recalls”, or “legal action”. Those comparing the print and electronic version will notice that the “alert and warning” section no longer appears in the print copy.
Buttons facilitate searching and navigating through the process. These options appear in a line at the bottom of the screen. Among them are “search/citation tips”, “additional navigation buttons”, “new search”,“revised search” and “current history of searching”. Browsing through search results is accomplished by selecting from these options: “first”, “prior”, “next”, and “last” document. Help instructions are quickly brought forward with a click of the mouse.
This detailed discussion of structuring searches and navigating through results should not mislead potential customers. The database is very easy to search and it responds speedily. The ability to limit searches and specify information needed is a terrific timesaver.
