On-line search service available for trial use

FirstSearch, the on-line search service of the Online Computer Library Center, better known as OCLC, is now available through the University Library for a trial period ending Nov. 30.

FirstSearch is available at the public-access terminals in Regenstein, Crerar and Social Service Administration libraries. Information about accessing and searching the data bases can be found in the Library Information section of UCInfo, the University's gopher server. Law School faculty, staff and students should contact the D'Angelo Law Library for information about using FirstSearch on the Law School gopher.

Among the FirstSearch files is WorldCat, a bibliographic data base that contains more than 30 million catalog records from more than 10,000 member libraries, including many academic, public and special libraries in the Chicago area. ArticleFirst, a file unique to the data base, provides access to more than 11,500 general and multidisciplinary journals and is updated daily. Some other FirstSearch offerings are Disclosure Corporate Snapshots, Newspaper Abstracts, Periodical Abstracts and the Social Sciences and Humanities Indexes.

The FirstSearch trial has been made available through a grant from the Illinois State Library to the Chicago Library System. It is part of an ongoing effort by the University Library to examine and evaluate resources that could be added to the campus network.

Comments about FirstSearch files are important to the Library's decision-making process. Comments may be directed by phone (Regenstein Reference Department, 702-4685), by fax (702-0853) or by e-mail (firstsearch@lib.uchicago.edu).