1. Information Search
in Databases.
Adminstrative and
Legal Information
Veronika Rogalevich, veronik@tlu.ee
Tallinn University Institute of Information Studies

2. Database
• a collection of data/information that is organized so
that it can be easily accessed, managed, and
updated
• Is a phone directory on paper or dictioanry a
database?
• Database can be presented/created on different
medias
• Electronic database consists of digital records and
usually works in dialog-form – user sends query using
computer device and database presents results
(information records relevant to users’ query)
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3. Databases’ classification
• According to publication type: patents, legal
documents, standards, scientific journals etc.
• According to access possibilities: open access and
licensed databases;
• According to content type: bibliographic, full-text,
numeric, images;
• Online and offline: most of them are online
nowdays, but You can still find databases on
compact disks or hard disks of computers for local
use.
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4. Classification by
Carol Tenopir
10 types of databases by content:
1. Primary legal documents (laws, treaties, court
regulations)
2. Adminstrative and governmental
information, regulations, patents and other ofiicial
publications;
3. News and press-releases for journalists or other
press-specialists;
4. Newspapers’ news
5. News Agencies’ services
6. Information bulletans, broschures, papers
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5. Continues...
7. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference
guides, travel guides, lexicons;
8. Books (bibilographic descriptions) and e-books;
9. Scientific articles;
10. General non-specified articles;
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6. Database industry
• Electronic databases exist from early 1960-s
• Online databases’ production industry developed
in 1980-ies.
• There are many different institutions , who are
producing and developing databases: scientific
centres, universities, commercial organisations
• But also publishers, who are publishing scientific
journals and books;
• News agencies;
• Database distributors;
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7. Publishers:
electronic journals
• Most publishers have electronic versions of their
journals and many are publishing only electronical
journals and articles;
• Electronic journals are available only through
internet (online);
• How to search them:
o Browsing by titles of the journals
o Browsing in thematic catalogs or online catalogs
o Searching in search engines using Advanced search
• Example: Journals, avaiable in Tallinn University
Library:
http://atoz.ebsco.com/Titles/4161?lang=en&lang.menu=en&l
ang.subject=en
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8. Main publishers
• Wiley: http://eu.wiley.com/
• Elsevier, http://www.elsevier.com/
• Springer, http://www.springer.com
• SAGE: http://www.uk.sagepub.com
• Karger: http://www.karger.com/ (biomedical
science)
• Pearson: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/
• Academic journals are mostly expensive and
educational institutions buy an access to full texts
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9. Electronic books or e-books
• A book-length publication in digital
form, consisting of text, images, or both,
• Produced, published and readable on
computers or other electronic devices
• Many academic publishers produce
electronic versions of their textbooks and
study literature
• Some e-book publishers: Harper
Collins, Barnes & Noble, Academic
Press, Cambridge University
Press, O’Reilly, Palgrave
McMillan, Routledge etc.
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10. Ebrary
• Ebrary: http://www.ebrary.com/ e-books distributor
to libraries
• more than 4,500 library customers around the world
serving more than 19.2 million end-users
• Mostly static PDF-files with metadata
• Part of ProQuest, available through databases,
• It is possible to borrow e-books for short time through
ebrary
• Tallinn University Library has access to Academic
Complete database on eBrary – an e-book
collection spanning all academic subject areas.
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11. Search possibilities
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14. And more...
• Borrow an e-book using ELLIBS Library
• ESTER pin-code is needed!
• List of publications (e-books) available for
borrowing:
http://www.tlulib.ee/files/arts/200/Ellib03306c8e0a9
95f0c749b4c3c5bba6d94.pdf
• Different loan periods: from 1 day to 14 days.
• For borrowing you need to download and install
Adobe Digital Editions.
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15. Free e-books
• Questia (www.questia.com),
• Project Gutenberg
(http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page) ,
• Google Books: http://books.google.com/ – digitized
(skanned) e-books, not allowed to copy or print
• http://www.e-book.com.au/freebooks.htm
• Amazon textbook rental (20% of book cost, 30
days):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8
&docId=1000702481
• free Kindle reading apps for mobile devices
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16. Database manufacturers
or publishers
• Produce databases for libraries and other
information institutions
• Emerald, ISI, EBSCOHost, Bowker-Saur, Lexis-
Nexis, OCLC, Ingenta
• Development:
• Bibliographic index databases (only short
bibliographic records);
• Bibliographic databases with annotations;
• Full text articles’ databases
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17. Database distributors
• Companies that distribute databases from
producers to end-users.
• Usually they provide database using
environments, web-based interfaces for searching
in one or several databases.
• Database producers can also be distributors
• OCLC, WilsonWeb, EBSCOhost
• Distributors offer different types of databases from
different producers
• Sometimes it is better to co-operate with distributors
and sometimes with producers (if You are looking
for certain quality)
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18. Licenced databased in
Estonia
• Estonian Libraries Network Consortium (ELNET
Consortium): is purchasing many licenced
databases of e-resources for Estonian academic
libraries;
• The list: http://www.elnet.ee/projektid/yhishange/
• Money for purchasing: consortium membership fees
+ subsidies from governement
• Every University or institution can order additional
databases and e-resources
• Tallinn University Academic Library list of e-resources
and databases:
http://www.tlulib.ee/?LangID=2&CatID=267
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19. EHIS- databases
integrated search
• Login, select necessary databases (they are
grouped by discipline) and click Continue-button.
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21. Integrated search
possibilities
• Quick and Advanced search
• Refine search;
• Sorting the results (by date, by relevance);
• Limitation of the results;
• Saving the results to personal Folder;
• Subject’s keywords list (thesaurus term);
• List of found publications (by title);
• Download/save full texts;
• Sharing
• Permalink
• Articles in audio-form (in English only)
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23. E-newspapers
• PressDisplay database:
http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.a
spx;
• provides access to over 1700 newspapers and
magazines from more than 90 countries in 48
languages.
• Access to up to 60 days of back issues for each title.
Limited to 5 concurrent users.
• Advanced search: boolean operators, newspaper
title, language, date,
• Browsing possibilites on main page of database
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24. News agencies
• News agencies create and sell news in real time
• News databases, archives, portals
• Possibilities: to read/listen/watch news, search by
different parameters and sort the results
• BNS: http://www.bns.ee/en/
• BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/
• Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/
• Associated Press: http://www.ap.org/
• Interfax: http://www.interfax.ru/
• STT (Finland): http://www.stt.fi/en
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25. Open Access databases of
scholar publications: DOAJ
• Directory of Open Access Journals www.doaj.org:
7314 journals, 3428 journals searchable at article
level, 685 945 articles
• Browsing by Journals or topics (disciplines)
• Search by keywords (from articles)
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26. Open access databases
• Open Science Directory: (journals mostly for
developing countries, but also for other research
institutions) http://www.opensciencedirectory.net/
• Resource Library: http://findarticles.com/ (Business
specific articles, dated from 1950-ies)
• Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/:
articles, theses, books, abstracts and court
opinions, from academic publishers, professional
societies, online repositories, universities etc.
• Advanced Search and Search Preferences, sorting
results, refine search
• InfoMine (Scholarly internet Resource Collection)
http://infomine.ucr.edu/
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27. State and administrative
information
• eGovernment: use of information and
communication technology to provide and
improve government services, transactions and
interactions with citizens, businesses, and other arms
of government.
• All European countries show eGovernment
initiatives, mainly related to the improvement of
governance at the national level.
• Significant eGovernment activities also take place
at the European Commission level
• Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EGovernment_in_Europe
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28. eGovernment services in
Estonia
• In Estonia: http://www.eesti.ee/eng
• information and e-solutions for
citizens, entrepreneurs and officials
• Requires login (with ID-card, through internet-bank
or through foreign citizen’s login)
• General state information
• X-road: e-services, official forms
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30. X-road possibilities for
citizens
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31. Services for enterpreneurs
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32. Sources of legal/law
information
• Bibliography of estonian legal information:
http://bie.nlib.ee/ (BIE database);
• Riigi Teataja (State Gazette):
https://www.riigiteataja.ee/ (official online
publication of Estonia, all the legislation texts in
electronic form)
• Introduction in English:
https://www.riigiteataja.ee/tutvustus.html?m=1
• Free of charge
• Complex advanced search in database
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33. European legal information
• EUR-Lex: http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/en/index.htm
(European Union Law)
• Pre-Lex:
http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/apc
net.cfm?CL=en (database on
inter-institutional procedures
follows the major stages of the
decision-making process
between the Commission and
the other institutions)
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34. International law
databases
• http://www.law.nyu.edu/library/research/foreign_intl/ind
ex.htm (Guide to legal databases around the world)
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35. Databases of legal
information by country
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36. Literature
• Sharing of good eGovernment practices:
http://www.epractice.eu/
• eGovernemnt in Europe:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EGovernment_in_Europe (Article
in Wikipedia)
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