Mj. Bates et al., RESEARCH PRACTICES OF HUMANITIES SCHOLARS IN AN ONLINE ENVIRONMENT - THE GETTY ONLINE SEARCHING PROJECT REPORT NO-3, Library & information science research, 17(1), 1995, pp. 5-40
Use of online databases by humanities scholars searching as end users
was monitored in a 2-year project conducted by the Getty Art History I
nformation Program. Visiting Scholars at the Getty Center for the Hist
ory of Art and the Humanities in Santa Monica, California, were offere
d the opportunity to do unlimited subsidized searching of DIALOG(R) da
tabases. This third report from the project presents results of interv
iews conducted with the scholars regarding their experiences with sear
ching, the role the searching took in their broader research activitie
s, and their attitudes about the future of online searching in the hum
anities. Scholars found the experience stimulating and novel, with com
ments ranging from its ''addictive'' properties to a ''Sorcerer's Appr
entice'' quality to complaints about the ''industrialization of schola
rship.'' Generally, the scholars saw DIALOG searching as supplementing
their usual research methods, and not changing them in a fundamental
way. Online searching was seen as particularly useful for interdiscipl
inary research, and as possibly setting a new standard for the extent
of literature that should be reviewed. Identified problems were about
equally divided between difficulties with the search interface and lac
k of desired types of resources. All foresaw online searching being us
ed in the future by arts and humanities scholars.