NCJ Number
60971
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 46 Issue: 10 Dated: (OCTOBER 1979) Pages: 10-22
Date Published
1979
Length
3 pages
Annotation
AN 'ONLINE' COMPUTER SYSTEM IS DESCRIBED WHICH WOULD ALLOW TELEPHONE ACCESS TO LARGE QUANTITIES OF UP-TO-THE-MINUTE ABSTRACTED CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION.
Abstract
FOR PRESENTATION PURPOSES, A DATABASE IS CONSIDERED AS AN ORGANIZED SET OF MACHINE-READABLE RECORDS CONTAINING ABSTRACTED INFORMATION FROM PUBLISHED SOURCES. 'ONLINE' IS DEFINED AS THE DIRECT CONTACT BY TELEPHONE BETWEEN THE RESEARCHER AND THE COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION. THE INTERFACE OF USER AND MACHINE REQUIRES A KEYBOARD AND SOME METHOD TO SEE THE 'CONVERSATION,' WHICH MAY BE EITHER ON HARD COPY (PAPER) AT A PRINT TERMINAL OR A VISIBLE READOUT ON A CATHODE RAY TUBE DISPLAY. ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE DATABASES ARE (1) THEY TAKE A FRACTION OF THE TIME OF A MANUAL SEARCH AND CAN BE HALF AS EXPENSIVE; (2) A RESEARCHER CAN BE MORE CONFIDENT THAT IMPORTANT CITATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN OVERLOOKED THAN WHEN AN INTERMEDIARY IS INVOLVED; (3) SEARCH STRATEGY, SCOPE, OR DIRECTION CAN BE MODIFIED WHILE CONNECTED TO THE DATABASE; AND (4) IT IS POSSIBLE TO COMBINE DESCRIPTORS AND SEARCH STRATEGIES IN WAYS THAT COULD NOT BE ACCOMPLISHED IN A CONVENTIONAL LIBRARY SEARCH. THE DISADVANTAGE TO A COMPUTER-AIDED SEARCH IS THAT ONCE PROMISING ABSTRACTS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED, THE RESEARCHER MUST STILL LOCATE A COPY OF THE COMPLETE DOCUMENT. ONLINE SYSTEMS ARE RAPIDLY IMPROVING AS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MASTER INDEXES MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO GET A RANKED LISTING OF ALL DATA BASES IN WHICH A DESCRIPTOR APPEARS. INEXPENSIVE INTERCONTINENTAL SEARCHING THROUGH CONNECTIONS TO EUROPEAN INFOLINE IS BEING DEVELOPED. STEPS IN USING AN ONLINE DATA BASE ARE DESCRIBED. (RCB)