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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
IFEG seminarMay 12th, 2005
Becky Fishman, Xrefer Ltd
Online Reference: a key part of any e-library
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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
• Founded in 1999• Software and
Publishing• Offices in London &
Boston, MA• Aggregation &
Integration
Xrefer company background
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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
Xreferplus: facts, facts and more facts
• 40+ publishing partners• 180 books• 20 subjects covered• 2+ million entries• 70 million internal links between entries• Over 70,000 images
BUTFigures are very boring and meaningless..
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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
Too many books to carry
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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
a few of the publishers we work with:
w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
Some of the major reference publishers:
• Technology: Butterworth Heineman, Wiley• Life Sciences: Academic Press, Elesevier• Social Sciences: Blackwells, Sage• Art: Thames and Hudson, Bridgeman• Biography: Routledge, A&C Black
The Reference Book Market
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In Print Libraries• Kept together• Never taken out• Often near the
librarian• Near other books• Only available during
library opening hours
Why is this?• Too big• Too valuable• Too frequently
consulted• Used with other
resources
How Reference Books are Different
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Biggest difference is in how they’re used:
• Readers usually aren’t looking for a specific entry or piece of reference information in the way that they look for a specific paper.
• They want a ‘quick fix’ of information (raiding the fridge)
• A reference library has to provide the broadest possible array of resources, from an array of publishers, and let the reader choose how to use it
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Range of resultsGreat diversity = large
range of results
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Maps and Geographic Features
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Images and diagrams
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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
Xreferences: making connections across titles, topics and publishers
Results from a number of different resources
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Clusters
Entry headers
A Concept Map expresses this diversity visually
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Key word Linking from other e-resources in the library
Cystic Fibrosis
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Linking seamlessly through to more information in Xreferplus
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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
‘Agile’ Online Reference is a Key E-library
Resource:• It can work in conjunction with other resources• Publishers can co-exist on a platform• Boundaries are crossed
AND• The reader can go anywhere, and is no longer
bound to one book, one publisher or one subject
Summary
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w w w . x r e f e r . c o m
• Ready Reference– 100 or 150 titles– Unlimited (“all you can eat”)
– Remains flexible
• Specialist Reference– For ‘niche’ areas– Titles available as individual
purchase– Can be integrated with your
ready reference collection
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