Electronic Information Delivery

How do you judge the accuracy, reliability and completeness of an electronic or online database? Can quality be designed in? In the early 1990s, several initiatives were launched, including the influential SCOUG (Southern California Online Users Group) database rating scale. This project was intended to review database performance across ten broad categories: consistency; coverage and scope; timelessness; accuracy/error rate; accessibility/ease of use; integration; output; documentation; customer support and training; value-to-cost ratio. This volume looks at the progress of these initiatives. Contributions are from a variety of perspectives - database producers, online seach services, legal experts, as well as users. All agree on the criteria for judging the quality of an information product or service, and that information products should be subject to the same rules of performance as other goods or services. As well as descriptions of the issues involved in designing and implementing high quality electronic and online products, this book describes the shortcomings of many current products, and presents criteria by which to judge database quality.