After a trial and comparison with other databases, I started a subscription to IJP this month. As databases go, the price of $850 seemed reasonable. I didn't compare the periodicals lists of RAMBI vs. IJP (http://www.jewishperiodicals.com/02journalsword.htm ) .... though that might be enlightening. In any case, RAMBI includes articles from many other sources than periodicals, and is much more "diverse" in both language and country of publication, so I will continue to point to it on our web pages of databases. I would probably even continue to subscribe to the print RAMBI (if it still existed in print) because of its indexing and its topical browseability . But it see it as a resource for more advanced researchers. I've always been hesitant to recommend RAMBI to undergraduate students .... except for the fact that it was the only database available for the interdisciplinary field of "Jewish/Judaic" Studies.
IJP Online seemed worth getting on several counts: (1) The CDROM version of IJP has a minimal interface (2) The Ebsco IJP interface is much friendlier than RAMBI, much easier for students to use. (3) Ebsco is big enough that they might be able to assist IJP in coming out more frequently than once a year (4) The price is reasonable (5) I reviewed potential overlap of other databases that might logically seem to cover similar territory: Only 25 percent of IJP journals could be found in the ATLA Religion Database; only about 5 percent were in Ethnic Newswatch. (6) The "open URLs" in Ebsco databases make it possible for us to link directly from the citations to a E-journal text, if available. If not then we get a link to holdings in our local catalog; if not local, then to the University of California Union catalog. So what are often hard to find IJP publications are a lot easier to locate .... and its less likely than undergraduates especially will give up. Elliot ________________________________________________________ Elliot Kanter Librarian for Communication, Judaic Studies and United States History Social Sciences & Humanities Library University of California, San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, CA 92093-0175 _________________________________________________________ EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WEB: http://sshl.ucsd.edu/services/people/kanter VOICE: (858) 534-1263 FAX: (858) 534-7548 Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the AJL =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
