CQ Press Political Reference Suite of Online Editions | eReviews
By Cheryl LaGuardia
October 15, 2011www.cqpress.com/lib/prs; for a free trial please go to www.cqpress.com/requestfreetrial.asp.
CONTENT CQ Press Political Reference Suite of Online Editions (PRS) combines a number of the publisher's government and political referenceCQ Press Political Reference Suite of Online Editions titles into a single searchable electronic file with such features as keyword searching and focused searches by topic; customizable browsing options; personalization (saving user profiles, document history, and searches); links to external sources; CiteNow!™ (which lets users download citations in MLA, Chicago, Bluebook, and APA styles); and perpetual ownership rights for libraries. The 110 titles (some are multiple volumes in the same series) available in the suite include Supreme Court Yearbook 2011, Guide to Interest Groups and Lobbying in the United States, Vital Statistics on American Politics 2010–2011, Cities in American Political History, Political Handbook of the World 2011, Separatist Movements: A Global Reference, and The New York Times on Gay and Lesbian Issues (the print version is reviewed on page opposite). Users can search or browse the whole Reference Suite at once or work with selected titles. The material presented is generally identical to what is found in the equivalent print work, though the publisher occasionally makes updates before placing material online.
USABILITY The database's opening screen is strikingly full of content, but its design is practical as well as appealing. A single search box, Search Your Online Editions, is accompanied by an advanced search link. Beneath that is the option to Browse Your Online Editions followed by a column of all the titles to which the library subscribes. Your Profile offers links to Log in/Create Your Account, Document History, Favorite Documents, and Saved Searches. I suggest one improvement: make the links of results at screen top (Save to Favorites, Save Search, Modify Search, New Search, View Detailed List) a bit more prominent.
A search for "Fiorello La Guardia" netted 30 results that ranged from "Unions and Labor-Management Relations Legislation, Background, 1900–1945" from Congress and the Nation Online Edition, to "1914–1915 House General Election Returns" from Guide to U.S. Elections Online Edition. The first document references the Norris–La Guardia Anti-Injunction Act of March 23, 1932, in the context of 1930s labor relations; the second is a state-by-state account of the 1914 House of Representatives elections, with candidate names, party affiliations, and the number and percentages of votes each received. A further five resources are found under an alternate spelling of the New York mayor's name, "LaGuardia." These include an image and three excerpts covering his connection to "Fusionism," material that was not unearthed by the first search, showing that it helps to use name variations where they exist.
Advanced Search provides multiple options, including searches of the entire database or of specific titles only, as well as queries that include only certain topics—Congress, The Courts, Elections, Executive and Federal Government, for example. It is also possible to limit by document type, such as case summary or election (an icon labels the type, and an explanation of each is available under User Resources), and by event date. An advanced search for "Fiorello La Guardia," limiting results to biography, quickly returned one result: the entry for Lloyd N. Cutler from the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment (Cutler's father was one of the mayor's law partners).
Next was a mining of the whole database for a subject I recently researched in preparation for a library class at Harvard: immunization refusal. Most of the 33 results were right on target, ranging from information on public health programs to a mention of immunization programs in a state of the union address. Document types, dates (some are undated), and source products were displayed in the results list, with filter options in a column at left, along with omnipresent access to personalization options (profile, document history, etc.). As in previous searches, it is possible to change the display ranking in order of date, number of hits, type, or alphabetically by title or source. The type and quality of information available here is superb: it includes legislative analyses, primary-source materials, encyclopedias, in-depth current issues and archival reports, biographies, maps, chronologies, images, case summaries, bibliographies, and more. Furthermore, form follows function: information is delivered in the most useful, and appropriate, formats.
There's so much that's great here—the design, content (several of the component collections are among the most outstanding e-products I've ever reviewed, and in aggregate they're truly marvelous), speed, displays, and ease of use.
PRICING Titles in the CQ Press Political Reference Suite can be purchased individually (prices vary by title) or as part of a package. The 2011 frontlist package (14 titles) has a starting list price of $3,866. A full backlist package of titles from 2010 and prior (95 individual titles) has a starting list price of $16,016. It is possible to add titles over time—some are available in the format of a growing back file, so the purchase of the new volume adds to the holdings the library's patrons can access. Other titles have new editions published annually that replace the previous year's content, which means the number of titles stays the same, but the material available to patrons is new.
BOTTOM LINE As close to political information magic as I've seen in a resource, this game-changer fulfills much of the promise of e-reference publication and rates a ten. Resoundingly recommended for all library collections serving political science and governmental studies researchers.
| Author Information |
| Cheryl LaGuardia is a Research Librarian for the Widener Library at Harvard University and author of Becoming a Library Teacher (Neal-Schuman, 2000). Readers and producers can contact her at claguard@fas.harvard.edu |
