e-psyche is available in electronic format only and the sole distributors are the three vendors reviewed here. CSA and EBSCO are familiar to most TCA readers. iGroup consists of a group of companies in the information industry across Asia-Pacific and serves over 90 percent of the institutes of higher learning in the region.

Mark Robertson has written an excellent article comparing the content of e-psyche and PsycINFO in Behavioral and Social Sciences Librarian (vol.20, issue 1, 2001). The following paragraph attempts to summarize some of the findings of that article.

e-psyche is a new index for psychology produced by the Database Access Group. Dennis Auld, co-founder of Database Access Group and former head of PsycINFO, states that e-psyche plans to be more comprehensive in its coverage than PsycINFO, targeting the needs of researchers and practitioners in all areas of psychology. When the database is complete, it will index approximately 4,000 sources compared to PsycINFO’s 1,600. Using a sample of titles from each database, Robertson’s analysis shows that 94% of the titles in the PsycINFO sample are covered by e-psyche and that only 39% of the titles in the e-psyche sample were indexed in PsycINFO. Further analysis indicates that e-psyche will eventually index from a broader range of sources but will index more selectively than PsycINFO. Using Ulrich’s, Robertson found that 93% of the titles indexed by PsycINFO are journals in comparison to 59% for e-psyche. A total of 29% of the titles indexed in e-psyche are series, annuals, and newsletters. This indicates that e-psyche has expanded its coverage list by adopting more relaxed coverage criteria than PsycINFO. Robertson’s analysis of subject coverage of the two databases suggests that e-psyche is shifting its subject emphasis away from clinical psychology. Furthermore, his analysis also indicated that while e-psyche will index from a broader range of sources, it will include a smaller proportion of journals and refereed sources.

All of the vendors receive the same content; therefore, this review will concentrate on how effectively the different interfaces search the database by rating each on searchability using the following criteria:

1. Interface: appearance, ease of use, navigation, help, output options.

2. Search features: basic and advanced searching, indexes, thesauri, limiting, fielded searching, other search options.

3. Added value features: help selecting relevant subject terms, focus of item, links to holdings and full-text, etc.

4. Consistency of search results across vendor interfaces: examine identical sample searches and compare number of citations retrieved and any added value features that will enhance the search results. The sample search will be run as a default or keyword search, and again as an advanced search using either the thesaurus (if available for searching) and/or descriptor (or subject) searching. All sample searches were conducted from April 1 through May 1, 2002.

This interface offers Quick Search and Advanced Search options. Options to print, save, or e-mail results are available. A text box displayed with search results can be used to modify the current search strategy. Previous search sets can be displayed from Search History and combined using Boolean connectors. Search strategies can be saved for later use. Help screens are generic to all CSA databases, not specific to the database being used. Each search screen displays links to Help and Database Information via “i” icons located adjacent to search functions and Results sets. These screens open in a new window, providing easy reference while still allowing access to the current search.

Search Features

The Quick Search screen offers searching as Keyword, Title, Author, Journal Name, or Anywhere from a drop-down dialog box. Search terms are entered into a text box that also accepts fielded searching. Keyword searches the title, abstract, and descriptors fields. Anywhere searches all fields in the record. The option to search for an exact phrase (ADJ), all of the words (AND), or any of the words (OR) entered is also allowed. The user should be aware that using the Anywhere search will return results from the cited references in each article. This will greatly increase results. A Quick Search on the term “eyewitness testimony” as an exact phrase in the Keyword option returns 46 results; the same search with the Anywhere option returns 121 results.

The Advanced Search screen presents four text boxes for entering terms. Limiting is allowed from drop-down lists adjacent to text-entry boxes. The drop-down menus offer a large choice of fields, but some are not relevant to e-psyche records. For instance, limiting on the CP: Country of Publication field is available, but the e-psyche record does not have a CP field. A search on CP=United States returned no results in e-psyche. Values for the fields are not available from the search screen or from Help screens. The Advanced Search screen also provides a Command Line text box for users familiar with field codes and values.

The interactive Thesaurus Search feature is available from either the Quick Search or Advanced Search screens. The Thesaurus Search screen offers the option to look up entered terms in the thesaurus (hierarchical), rotated index (permuted list), or from an alphabetical list. The results screen from any of the above choices displays terms with check boxes to mark terms for searching. The left frame of this screen offers options to combine marked terms with Boolean AND or OR statements and to explode narrower terms. However, these options are only available for terms marked on the currently displayed screen. Once the Thesaurus is invoked again for another term, the previously marked terms do not apply when using the Boolean or Explode options in the left frame. This makes the combination of disparate Thesaurus terms available only from the Search History area.

Once results from any of the above searches are displayed, the left frame displays a text box labeled “Your Search, Edit Here and Search Again” containing the search terms in command line format, e.g., de=((eyewitness testimony)). This text box is the only place in which a user may modify the current search. Clicking the Quick Search, Advanced Search, or Thesaurus Search buttons from a results screen offers a new, blank search form. It is interesting to note that the Browse Indexes button offers only the e-psyche indexes for Author and Publication type.

Added Value Features

The e-psyche database includes a searchable file of cited references for each article. If the displayed citation in the Results List has been cited in other records in the e-psyche database, a link is offered to those citations. If others have cited any of the cited references in an entry in the e-psyche database, a link to those citations is also provided. This feature can be very valuable in broadening a current search, but it can also lead the searcher down a winding path. For example, a searcher displays a citation and peruses the list of cited references. He sees a reference that was cited in four other e-psyche citations and then follows the link and displays those four citations. From these four, there are two citations cited by others and the searcher displays these. Now, where are we? Each time a “cited by” link is chosen, a completely new AN=(accession number) search is executed. The searcher is now two searches removed from the original. The “Your Search, Edit Here” box displays the Accession Number search (AN=). There is no option to return to the original results list. The searcher must use the browser Back button four times to get back to the original results list.

The Search History screen allows users to mark and save search strategies for later use and to mark searches as Alerts. To set up Alerts, the user is prompted for an e-mail address and a user-generated password.

Recent References is a service provided by CSA that is tied to the subject area in which the database searched is located. When IDS databases are searched, this supplemental database is searched simultaneously. If the search produces any matches to the regular IDS search, the user will see the choice for Recent References Related to the Social Sciences as a separate set of results.

Web Resources is another supplemental database similar to Recent References that returns results to selected Web resources related to the subject areas of the searched database.

CSA provides the ability to search multiple databases simultaneously. Also available is the ability to link from search results to the local online catalog and to selected fulltext resources to which the local library has a subscription. Some of these include: Science Direct, SWETS, CatchWord, IDEAL, Project Muse, EBSCO Online, FirstSearch ECO, ingenta, and others. Also, Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are present in citation records (if available) for those libraries utilizing OpenURL, CrossREF, SFX or other open linking software. CSA can also set up a link, via a customizable form, to a library’s Interlibrary Loan Department.

Sample Search Results: The sample search on the phrase “eyewitness testimony” was performed as Keyword (phrase), Anywhere (phrase), Descriptor, and Thesaurus. Results: Keyword=47; Anywhere=121; Descriptor=40; and Thesaurus=40.

The top frame of the screen displays links to a number of functions and is readily available from the citations and record displays. This frame provides links to: New Search, Subject Search (thesaurus), Publication Search, Choose Databases Option, Online Help, and Exit. This frame also contains links to Basic, Guided and Expert search screens. A link to Options allows users to set up the results list by number of citations per page and title only, brief, or detailed citation displays. The Choose Databases allows the user to search multiple EBSCO databases and offers more detailed information about the selected database including searching tips, searchable fields and field definitions. The Online Help link opens the generic EBSCOhost help screen in a new window. It is not context-sensitive to the current function or chosen database. The most helpful information on searching e-psyche is in Choose Databases, which is not the most visible location for users. The Results screen displayed after a search is executed offers a toolbar with options to Refine Search, Save, Print, or E-mail results, and the option to execute a Web search using the current search terms. Cited references appear as links on the Results screens rather than appended to the end of the record.

Search Features

Subscribers have the option to set the default search screen for their users. The Basic Search displays a single text box with options for Standard Search, All Words (AND), Any Words (OR) and Exact Phrase. There are also links to Field Codes and Search Tips, but they are generic and not specific to e-psyche. There is no explanation as to which fields are searched in Standard mode, but a search on “eyewitness testimony” in Standard and Exact Phrase mode returns the same number of results. An examination of these results indicates that the Standard Search and Exact Phrase searches the Author, Title, Abstract, Keyword and Subject fields. There is not an option in Basic mode to search all fields in the record as with CSA’s Anywhere option. The Basic Search screen also offers a Limit Your Results area. Limiting by Journal Name is available as well as limiting in specific e-psyche fields such as Population and Age Groups. Document Type and Year of Publication are also offered as limiters. Limiting to Full Text is an available option for those titles common to both e-psyche and other EBSCOHost fulltext databases available to the user.

The Guided Search screen offers four text boxes for entering search terms with corresponding boxes for selecting fields for those terms. The field text boxes have drop-down menus that let the user choose All Fields or each of the indexed fields of the e-psyche record, including the Author, Source, Title, and Publication Year of the cited references records. Limiting is available from a “standard” limits box offering limits on full text, magazine name, and date. The “special limiters for e-psyche” found on the Basic Search screen is also available here. “Expand Your Search Option” allows users to search for related words and words contained in the full text of the article. The “Related words” option searches for synonyms and plurals of the entered search terms.

The Expert Search screen offers a single text box and is a default keyword search, although field codes can be used. The e-psyche limiters discussed in Basic and Advanced searches are also present. The main difference between Expert and Guided is the presence of the search history and options to save queries and set alerts. Search History is not available in the Basic and Guided search screens. Inexperienced searchers might not initially opt for Expert mode.

Choosing Subject Search from the main toolbar activates the Thesaurus. Results can be listed alphabetically or ranked by relevance. The relevancy ranked option behaves much as the Rotated Index option in CSA, picking up the entered term regardless of its position in the heading. Multiple terms may be selected to perform a default Boolean OR search and, unlike CSA, terms selected from different searches or browse displays are retained for searching. There is not an Explode option for narrower terms. To explode a term, each narrower term must be displayed and marked for searching.

When selecting cited references from citations in the Results List, the user is actually moved to a totally separate search in the same fashion as the CSA version. Using the Refine Search option, the user is presented with an accession number search with no link to the original Results List. Again, as with CSA, the user must use the browser Back button to return to the original search.

Added Value Features

The “Special Limiters for e-psyche” available in all search modes is the most valuable feature. Having all of the e-psyche limiting fields along with the values is very important to novice and expert searchers. Digital Object Identifiers are included in citation records as in CSA. The Find More option from a displayed record retrieves records related to the subject headings of that record. Alerts and saved searches are options, but the user must set up a personal account for a user name and password.

Sample Search: The sample search on the phrase “eyewitness testimony” was performed as: Standard Search (phrase)=48; Subject (SU)=41; All Fields=48; Thesaurus=38. Results are consistent with CSA. The difference in results between SU and Thesaurus is that SU also searches the Keyword field of the record. Note again that not all records in the e-psyche database have Keyword fields.

The iGroup interface defaults to the Basic Search screen. A toolbar allows the selection of Advanced Search, Descriptors, Journals, Marked List, Saved Queries, Tip (help) and About (information about the product). Results can be printed, saved, or e-mailed. An A to Z display is offered in a frame that directs the user to information about the publishers of e-psyche sources. Queries may be saved for future use. The Results screens offer an option to “Search within this Result” and is a quick and effective way to refine the current search.

Search Features

The Basic Search screen allows entered terms to be searched in All Fields or the Author, Title, Descriptor, Journal, or Abstract by the selection of radio buttons. Multiple options are not possible in Basic search. The references for each article may be searched by selecting the RefSearch option and may be searched by Author, Title or Source. Another radio button is available to search the entered term from the Thesaurus. Basic Search tips are posted on this screen as well. As with CSA, the references are appended to the end of each article record and searches by All Fields will return results from the cited references in each record.

The Advanced Search screen offers six text boxes for entry of terms with drop-down menus for selecting fields. The fields offered here are the same as those available via radio buttons in the Basic Search and the RefSearch options (see above). The only advantage over Basic is that the fields can be searched simultaneously. The disadvantage is that the available fields do not include some of the more important fields in the e-psyche record. Fields for population, age group, document type and language are not searchable fields. In essence, the only limiting allowed is by publication date and journal. The Tip (help) screen that lists field names and abbreviations lists only author, title, descriptors, ISN, journal and abstract, so even Boolean command-line searching of all fields in the record is not possible. For example, using iGroup’s syntax for field searching, the following search retrieves no results: (100 Birth–12 yrs (Child)):AGE CATEGORY and (eyewitness testimony):DESCRIPTORS. The e-psyche record definitely has the two fields searched above, but they are not searchable using the iGroup interface. The Advanced Search screen also has text boxes for Journal and Descriptors with associated buttons to display the journal and descriptor lists. These options are redundant since they are also available from the drop-down menus of the other text boxes.

This reviewer was somewhat confused by the difference between the descriptor list (available from the persistent toolbar, basic search radio button and advanced search via drop-down menu and/or text box) and the Thesaurus. The only occurrence of the term Thesaurus is the radio button option in Basic Search. When a term is entered in Basic Search and the Thesaurus option is selected, the Thesaurus term is displayed and clicking on the term will initiate the search. When Descriptors is selected from the toolbar, an alphabetical list is returned, with an A to Z display in the left frame for jumping through the list. In Advanced Search, the function of the Descriptors text box is not clear to the user. It would seem that if a term were entered in the text box and Descriptor List button clicked, the descriptor term would display as in the Thesaurus feature in Basic Search. This is not the case. No matter what term is entered, clicking the Descriptor List button takes the user to the alphabetical display of descriptors, beginning with “A.” The only “true” Thesaurus is available in Basic Search. The exact term must be entered to retrieve a thesaurus entry with broader or narrower terms. Terms cannot be exploded. Choosing a term from the descriptors list initiates a search and does not display a list of terms.

Added Value Features

As with CSA and EBSCO, cited references available in the e-psyche database are hotlinked. A link is also provided to articles that cited the displayed record. DOIs are included when available in the record.

Sample Search Results: Sample search on the phrase “eyewitness testimony” in All Fields: 108 (includes hits in references); Descriptors: 37; Thesaurus: 24.

Hogan, Tom. “Soon-to-Launch e-psyche Database Challenges Established Psychology Information Source.” Information Today. 17.3 (March 2000):7.

Jasco, Peter. “E-psyche: A Better Mousetrap?” Information Today. 17.11 (Dec. 2000):32.

McCaffery, Erin. “E-psyche.” Library Journal. 126.9 (May 15, 2001):170.

Robertson, Mark. “E-psyche: A Comparison Of Content With PsycINFO.” Behavioral and Social Sciences Librarian. 20.1 (2001):1–13.

“e-psyche.” EContent 23.5 (2000): 12.

“e-psyche Is Now Available Via EBSCOhost.” Computers in Libraries 21.2 (2001): 22.