QUESTION MASTER, an OCLC Research Project

Please click on one of the following fourteen common reference formats:

1... Abstracting Services	8... Encyclopedias
2... Atlases	9... Government Information
3... Bibliographies	10. Handbooks
4... Biographical Sources	11..Indexes
5... Catalogs	12. Newspapers
6... Dictionaries	13..Statistical Information
7... Directories	14. Yearbooks

NOTE: Clicking on the arabic number will give you more detailed information about each format.

The three-fold mission of this question answering system is: (1) to support the decision making process of librarians by automating some of more routine, fact-type reference questions they encounter and thereby (2) to improve the accuracy of reference tra nsactions as well as (3) to increase end-user satisfaction. Its specific goal is to enhance the role and utility of OCLC Reference Services' databases including WorldCat and FirstSearch.

The system's objective is to select the appropriate electronic resource as well as any relevant print based material to answer the end-user's query. Each module is designed to be used by librarians in OCLC member institutions, but it could obviously b e used by end-users in their respective institutions as well.

Link to the OCLC Reference Collection Development Module

Copyright © 1996 by John V. Richardson Jr., OCLC Visiting Distinguished Scholar