Thomson Launches Information Resource for Libraries

Posted on October 23, 2002

The Thomson Corporation, through Gale, its research and reference publisher for libraries, and Dialog, its provider of online-based information services, has introduced ReferenceLink, an online information gateway designed for public and educational libraries. The new product enables library patrons and students to search thousands of news sources and databases simultaneously through a single interface without having to jump between individual websites or access multiple online information services. The product is the first to be introduced in a line of planned online products and services serving academic and public libraries worldwide.

"The Web is full of news and current awareness services, but the process of searching for and then managing the needed information can be daunting," said Roy M. Martin, Jr., Dialog president and CEO. "ReferenceLink from Dialog and Gale will greatly simplify how library patrons and students undertake research of news sources."

ReferenceLink is a multidisciplinary database containing medical, reference, health, science, technical and regulatory sources, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Consumer Reports, Medline, GeoRef and thousands of other widely used sources. News coverage contains nearly 50 databases with more than 1,500 newspaper and journal titles pulled from the Dialog NewsRoom online service, including The Boston Globe, USA Today and Global Reporter.

Libraries may subscribe to only the newspaper database, which provides access to the news content, or in combination with ReferenceLink to get the broader full content set. ReferenceLink is replacement service for former customers of Dialog@CARL, an electronic resource that was popular in the late 1990s.