Historical Abstracts/America: History and Life

Dear Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life subscribers,

Celebrating 50 years of reference publishing in 2005, ABC-CLIO embarked on a multi-year program to upgrade and enhance Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life. With a redesigned interface and over 1.2 million entries and 330,000 full-text links, these landmark resources are the first place to begin any search in the area of history—now more than ever.

A beta version of both databases was made available to you on December 1, whereby you could choose to access either the existing database version or the enhanced beta site version, for the entire month of December. On Monday, January 2, ABC-CLIO will switch from the current database version to the newly enhanced version, and that newer version will be the sole access option for you to access either database.

For those of you who access the Administrator Module for these databases, there have been changes made to the module access process, and to OpenURL resolver setup, and several support features have been added to the module as well. For instructions on accessing the Administrator Module and for OpenURL resolver setup, and a listing of new support features effective January 2, click here to link to the pdf.

The following enhancements are accessible to you now via the beta site version of Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life, and will be part of the newly enhanced databases that will become the sole access option for your institution, and patrons, on Monday, January 2:

* New interface
* that will allow users to get to the information they need quickly and easily, with fewer page downloads and fewer mouse clicks A combined simple and advanced search screen that allows the user to control the display of search fields and search results
* New pop-up help tips
* to assist the user in constructing successful searches New retrospective coverage
* from JSTOR journals dating from 1838-2005, resulting in an increase of nearly 78% in full-text links by project’s end New search history functionality
* that records search criteria, allowing users to rerun previous searches New expand and collapse record functionality
that streamlines the process of viewing results by displaying and hiding abstracts at the click of a mouse

Other Useful Enhancements

* A new Export to Citation Manager feature that will allow the user to save results directly to EndNote, ProCite, or Reference Manager (RefWorks will remain an export option)
* New setup functionality for non-OpenURL resolvers, permitting linking to non-OpenURL catalogs
* A User’s Forum that will provide technical and database content support and a place for discussions related to the databases
* Full-text links to over 330,000 sources, including ProQuest’s Dissertations and Theses Database

We are confident that you and your patrons will find the redesigned interface and enhancements welcome improvements and an even more helpful resource. Your comments and feedback are always welcome.

Best regards,

The team at ABC-CLIO
130 Cremona Drive
Santa Barbara, CA 93117