Questions - Click on question below to go to the answer

1. What is the target audience for each of the three products in the InfoTrac K-12 product line?
2. How many periodical titles in the product are indexed? What is the full text coverage? How many include images? Back file? Topics covered?
3. What reference content is included in the product?
4. How often are the InfoTrac K-12 products updated?
5. How do you select the periodicals that are included in the products?
6. How do you try to ensure the periodicals are age-appropriate?
7. How do you respond to customer suggestions for title additions/deletions.
8. How do you inform customers of new titles or any other title changes?
9. I have found an objectionable article in the product. Can it be deleted?
10. Where can I find title lists? Is there a list of titles organized by subject?
11. Which titles contain images?
12. How can I find/search for images in the products?
13. You offer two interfaces; what is the difference between them?
14. What curriculum support features are found in InfoTrac K-12?
15. Describe your editorial policy as regards inclusion and exclusion of periodical content.
16. Describe your quality control methods.
17. What enhancements are you planning for InfoTrac K-12 and are you going to charge extra for them?

Answers to Questions above

Question 1
What is the target audience for each of the three products in the InfoTrac K-12 product line?

• InfoTrac Student: Grades 9-12 (High School)
• InfoTrac Junior: Grades 5-8 (Middle School/Junior High)
• InfoTrac Kids: Grades K-6 (Elementary)

InfoTrac Student Edition

· 347 titles indexed cover-to-cover
· 279 titles full text cover-to-cover
· Approximately 141 titles with graphics included
· Dates Covered: Comprehensive, so backfiles vary, dating back to 1/1985-present
· Topics Covered: Grades 9-12 General Periodicals
· Also includes newswire, maps and 27 full text reference books

InfoTrac Junior Edition

· 107 titles indexed cover-to-cover
· 97 titles full text cover-to-cover
· Approximately 48 titles with graphics included
· Dates Covered: Rolling 3 year backfile - 2/98-present
· Topics Covered: Grades 5-8 General Periodicals
· Also includes newswire, maps and 15 full text reference books

InfoTrac Kids Edition

· 75 titles indexed cover-to-cover
· 72 titles full text cover-to-cover
· Approximately 36 titles with graphics included
· Dates Covered: Rolling 3 year backfile - 2/98-present
· Topics Covered: Grades K-6 General Periodicals
· Also includes newswire, maps and 17 full text reference books

Question 3
What reference content is included in the product?

See the Reference Sources document (link to file?) for complete details.

· InfoTrac Student
- 27 full text reference books
- 300 full-color maps
- 500 historic images
- Knight-Ridder newswire

· InfoTrac Junior
- 15 full text reference books
- 300 full-color maps
- Knight-Ridder newswire

· InfoTrac Kids
- 15 full text reference books
- 300 full-color maps
- Knight-Ridder newswire

Daily

For the InfoTrac Student Edition, Junior Edition, and Kids Edition products, we select a wide range of materials so that the periodical databases are comprehensive and current. We also try to observe these criteria:

- We include age-appropriate periodicals and many journals of an educational nature.
- We include periodicals that represent different viewpoints on various subjects.
- We make a strong effort to add new titles as soon as they begin publishing.
- We add full-text titles and seek permission to include images whenever available.
- When periodicals cease publication, we evaluate back issues to determine if it's useful to continue including them.
- We regularly poll our customers about additional publications to include.
- When customers question the inclusion of a periodical, we conduct a review and get input from other customers.

Periodically, we have customers review the entire list and recommend additions and deletions.

In order to determine age appropriate journals for Kids Edition, Junior Edition, and Student Edition, we listen to customer feedback, we look at the journal publisher's age recommendations, and we check such sources as Magazines for Libraries, Ulrich's, Children's Book Review Index, Reader's Guide for Young People, and Jr. High Magazine Abstracts.

Question 7
How do you respond to customer suggestions for title additions/deletions.

How do you respond to customer suggestions for title additions/deletions.

Question 8
How do you inform customers of new titles or any other title changes?

Customers are notified of additions and deletions to the title lists via the Title Change Lists on the Titles Lists page on gale.com.

Question 9
I have found an objectionable article in the product. Can it be deleted?

No, our editorial process does not allow for determining inclusion or exclusion on an article by article basis. As described above, we carefully select periodicals for the databases to provide journals of an educational nature that represent different viewpoints on various subjects.

The title lists for each of the three products can be found on the company web site, gale.com. The title lists are available in a number of formats, including Word, HTML, and PDF. The title list page is scheduled to be updated later this year to include product title lists by subject.

Question 11
Which titles contain images?

The title lists described above include a column that indicates image start dates, allowing customers to determine which titles contain images and the dates of coverage.

When installing the products, request that WebInstall provide the AC (content) index. In the advanced search mode, select the AC index and key in "image." This will provide a list of images in the product. The results can be limited by date and journal name using the "Refine Your Search" feature.

A new image search strategy is under development and should be available next year.

Two interfaces are available to InfoTrac Student, Junior, and Kids Edition customers: the standard InfoTrac Web interface or a graphic user interface (GUI) designed for students.

The GUI version is a visually engaging interface for students with icons that allow users to limit their searches by type of document (periodical article, newspaper article, reference book article, map, etc.). The "K-12 interface" also includes a research paper Toolbox with helpful hints on how to choose a topic, create an outline, organize a report, create visual representations of data, and cite sources.

The best example of that in IT K-12 is the Toolbox, which provides tips on research and report organization such as how to choose a topic, create an outline, organize a report, create visual representations of data, and cite sources. (This was a well-received feature of SRC Gold in the May/June 2001 Book Report review by Carol Simpson et al.) Other features found in SRC as well as IT K-12 highlighted as "best features:"

· retains search history
· markable results lists
· fast-loading, dictionary

Of course, we also try to support the various subjects in the curriculum in our balanced selection of periodicals.

The text of each article is provided in its most complete form. Included are:
· feature articles
· reviews
· editorials
· letters to the editor
· columns
· correction notices
· obituaries

Excluded materials include:
· advertisements, indexes to advertisers
· tables of contents, issue indexes
· information for authors, untitled announcements

Question 16
Describe your quality control methods.

The full text data conversion vendors are contractually held to a high standard of 99.95% accuracy. There is ongoing oversight by Gale staff who work closely with vendors. New content to be received via efeed is reviewed in a testing tier by the team that writes the filter specifications, prior to entering production, in order to ensure proper formatting of text.

2. A quality control program for the indexing/abstracting component requires that a minimum of 3% (up to 100% for new staff) of each indexer's work is reviewed and edited. Newer staff are heavily edited for quality until their work meets acceptable standards for product.

Question 17
What enhancements are you planning for InfoTrac K-12 and are you going to charge extra for them?

Recently, the 6th edition of the Columbia Encyclopedia, the World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000, and the World Almanac and Book of Facts 2001 were added to each of the three products.

We continue to add age appropriate and curriculum related periodicals, including:

Student
- Career World
- Drugs, Discovery, and Technology News
- Family Life
- Monkeyshines on Art and Great Artists
- Monkeyshines on Music
- Monkeyshines on the Primates
- Monkeyshines on the U.S. Government
- Scholastic Art
- Sports Illustrated for Women
- Teen People

Junior
- Career World
- Childrens Digest
- Family Life
- Field and Stream
- Hopscotch
- Issues in Sci and Tech
- Monkeyshines on America
- Monkeyshines on America: U.S. Environments
- Monkeyshines on America: U.S. Territories
- Monkeyshines on Rocks and Minerals
- Monkeyshines on the Executive Branch
- Monkeyshines on Voting
- Omni
- Plays
- Presidents and Prime Ministers
- Ranger Rick
- Saturday Evening Post
- Scholastic Art
- Science News
- Sports Illustrated for Women
- Stone Soup
- Teen People
- Time for Kids (World Report)

Kids'
- Boys' Life
- Monkeyshines on America
- Monkeyshines on America: U.S. Environments
- Monkeyshines on America: U.S. Territories
- Monkeyshines on Rocks and Minerals
- Monkeyshines on the Executive Branch
- Monkeyshines on Voting
- National Geographic World
- National Parks
- Parks and Recreation

There is no additional charge for these new content sets.