Presents my findings from analyzing the Library, Information Sciences & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) database. Points of analysis included keyword versus natural language queries, specificity, exhaustivity, indexes and access points, types of searches and search protocols, coverage, currency, predictability, retrievability, user-friendliness, and search help.

1. Library, Information Science &
Technology Abstracts (LISTA)
Database Analysis

2. LISTA is accessible through EBSCOHost at:
http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2069/ehost/search?vid=138&hid=107&sid=d820db6d-
0c40-4c32-a2dc-028162916a3e%40sessionmgr104
• Formerly known as Information Science & Technology Abstracts (ISTA),
LISTA has been expanded to increase its coverage of library science
materials. This expansion included 149 ISTA titles that were upgraded to
core coverage and an addition of 121 new periodicals. LISTA indexes
journal articles from more than 600 publications, plus books, research
reports, and conference proceedings.
• Subject coverage includes librarianship, classification, cataloging,
bibliometrics, online information retrieval, information management, search
engines, printed and electronic information sources, the information
industry, scholarly communication, and electronic publishing. With coverage
extending back to 1966, it is the oldest continuously produced database
covering the field of information science.
– EBSCOHost Research Databases (
http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2069/ehost/selectdb?vid=2&hid=14&sid=e2395da8-8f9d-48fd-a59
)
• LISTA contains Full-Text articles, Abstracts of articles, and Bibliographic
entries. It does not contain any Multimedia data.

3. Why LISTA?
• LISTA is a good tool for Library and Information Science Scholars
because it contains a wide range of Library and Information Science
journals.
• LISTA provides scholarly and peer-reviewed articles specific to the field.
• It is easy to narrow a search in LISTA to specific sources, dates,
languages, authors, and more.
• LISTA is indexed and allows for multiple search types

4. • LISTA utilizes Controlled Language in the form
of Subject Terms and Keywords
• Authors can also provide Keywords
• LISTA does not utilize Natural Language queries
LISTA Representation Language

5. Specificity Test
• Searching for Joint-Use indicates good specificity
• However, the indexes do not indicate broader or
narrower terms
• LISTA allows users to select from multiple indexes to
browse

6. Exhaustivity Test
• LISTA does not contain a Thesaurus
• However, when looking at an individual record, the
subject terms are moderately exhaustive

7. Exhaustivity
• The exhaustivity is enhanced when the author supplies keywords

8. Default Index and Access Points
• LISTA default fields for unqualified searches are the
following:
All Authors
All Subjects
All Keywords
All Title Information (including source title)
All Abstracts
• Other fields can be selected for searching using
Searchable Tag codes.
These codes can be found in the “More about” LISTA information pages, where it is
also indicated how the field is indexed. For example, AD = Author Affiliation which is
Phrase Indexed

9. LISTA Searches
• LISTA provides Basic Search, Advanced
Search, and Visual Search options.
• LISTA also allows users to search using its
Indexes, Cited References, and specific
Publications.

10. Advanced Search Features
• The Advanced Search supports Boolean searching, which is facilitated
by drop-down And/Or/Not boxes.
• LISTA also allows users to nest Boolean searches using parentheses
and Boolean operators within a text field.
• The Advanced Search also provides drop-down boxes allowing users to
select a specific field, including:
• All Text
• Author
• Title
• Subject Terms
• Abstract or Author-Supplied Abstract
• Author Supplied Keywords
• Geographic Terms
• People
• Reviews & Products
• Company Entity
• NAICS Code or Description
• DUNS Number
• Ticker Symbol
• Publication Name
• ISSN
• ISBN
• Accession Number
Other specific fields can be specified by typing their codes the Fill In boxes along with
search terms. For example:
DE = Heading or Keyword and performs an exact search of the subject headings,
companies, people, and author-supplied keywords for terms describing a document's
contents.

11. Search Protocols
• Limiters
 Full Text Only
 References Available Only
 Peer Reviewed Only
 Publication Dates
 Specific Publication
 Publication Types
 Document Types
 Number of Pages
• Expanders
 Apply additional terms to
query
 Also search within full text of
articles
 Automatically “And” search
terms
• LISTA allows users to truncate using the [*] command.
• LISTA also utilizes the wildcard command [?], With commands [W1,
W2, etc.] for words in a specific order, and Near commands [N1, N2,
etc.] for words together in any order.
• During an advanced search, users can limit or expand the search
using the “Refine Search” screen.

12. Output Format: Basic & Advanced Searches
• The output for the Basic and Advanced searches provides basic
bibliographic information, as well as information about cited references and
full text availability.
• The output can be sorted by Date, Source, Author, Relevance
– No information on how relevance is decided is given.
• The initial list of hits from a search is only moderately helpful in deciding the
relevance of an item.
• Most of the items in LISTA contain detailed abstracts, because of this, users
can evaluate the relevance of an item by opening the items in the initial list.

13. Visual Search

14. Visual Search Features
• The Visual Search option starts off with a basic search.
• The results of this search are presented on a map made up of
circles and squares.
– The large circles represent the
main categories into which the
results fall.
– These large circles contain
smaller circles. The smaller circles
represent subcategories.
– Within the circles are squares.
The squares represent articles.
– By selecting a larger circle, users
can enlarge the smaller circles
and in turn enlarge the squares.
– Mousing-over a square brings up
bibliographic information for each
article.

15. Searching the Indexes
• LISTA allows users to perform browsing searches through the
following indexes:
– Author
– Author-Supplied Keywords
– Company Entity
– Document Type
– DUNS Number
– Entry Date
– Geographic Terms
– ISBN
– ISSN
– Language
– NAICS Code or Description
– People
– Publication Name
– Subject Terms
– Ticker Symbol
– Year of Publication

16. Searching the Cited References
• LISTA provides a way to search the cited references in the
database’s articles.
• The searchable fields include:
Cited Author Cited Title Cited Source Cited Year All Citation Fields

17. Finding the Citing Articles
• Once the citations are found, users can pull up the citing articles
easily through the options provided.

18. Citing Articles

19. Searching Specific Publications
• LISTA also allows users to view the contents of specific journals in
the database using a browse option.

20. Searching Specific Publications
• By selecting a specific journal, users call up a description screen
that contains a list of all the issues contained in LISTA.

21. Searching Help
• Because LISTA is provided through EBSCOHOST, the help options
are those provided by EBSCOHost.
• Sometimes this means that the help does not exactly match the
database.
• For example, when using the EBSCOHost Help Screens and
Tutorials to find a Thesaurus in LISTA, the Help Screen says:
– To browse a list of subject headings available in the
database, click the Thesaurus link on the green sub-toolbar.
– However, there is no Thesaurus tab on the green sub-
toolbar for LISTA.

22. Sample Building Block Search
• I searched for:
• S1 = School Media Center or School library = 135861
• S2 = Grades or Scores = 14094
• S3 = Scientific Evidence or Studies or Scientific Data = 49834
• S1 + S2 + S3 = School Media Center or School Library + Grades or Scores + Scientific
Evidence or Studies or Scientific Data = 135
• Limited S1 to search only Abstract or Author-Supplied Abstract (To eliminate School Library
Journal as a match point) = 31

23. Search Conclusions
• Of the 31 items found
– 16 are highly relevant
– 6 are moderately relevant
– 9 are not relevant
• When examining the non-relevant items, it appears
that although some phrases were given in
quotation marks, they were not searched for as
exact phrases: such as School Media Center.
• However, 22 items of relevance out of 31
items found is reasonable

24. Database Evaluation
Search Evaluation
Coverage
Currency
Predictability
Retrievability
Usability
User Friendliness
Search Screens
Help Screens
Conclusion

25. Coverage Test
• Using the “Selected Readings” section of Foundations of Library and
Information Science, by Richard E. Rubin, I created a core list of the 17
journals which were cited most frequently. LISTA contained issues of all of
the journals; however, American Studies and Annual Review of Information
Science and Technology were not listed as being part of the database nor
were they current in the database. The 17 journals were:
American Studies
Annual Review of Information Science and Technology
Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science & Technology
College & Research Libraries News
IFLA Journal
Information Processing & Management
Journal of Academic Librarianship
Journal of Education for Library & Information Science
Journal of Library Administration
Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology
Libraries & the Cultural Record
Library & Information Science Research
Library Journal
Library Quarterly
Library Trends
Public Libraries
School Library Journal

26. Coverage Test
• To further test LISTA’s coverage, I used the following bibliographies
to create a 105 article list for comparing between LISTA, Library
Literature, and LISA: Library and Information Science Abstracts:
Farmer, L. (Spring 2007). Bibliography on partnerships. CSLA Journal. 30 (2). 39.
Retrieved November 8, 2007
Grassin, E. et al (2007). Stumbling, bumbling, teleporting and flying...librarian
avatars in Second Life: selected bibliography. Reference Services Review. 35
(1). 90-97. Retrieved November 8, 2007
Margeton, S. G. (Winter 2005). Law library design bookshelf: an annotated
bibliography. Law Library Journal. 97 (1). 77-102
Priddis, M. (2006). The well-read librarian: Nextgen resources. Indiana Libraries. 25
(3). 52-53. Retrieved November 8, 2007
Walden, G. R. (2006). Focus group interviewing in the library literature: A selective
annotated bibliography 1996-2005. Reference Services Review. 34 (2). 222-241.
Retrieved November 8, 2007
Wang, R. (Dec. 2006). Undergraduate research: an annotated bibliography. Serials
Review. 32 (4). 227-232. Retrieved November 8, 2007

27. Coverage Test
• In this comparison, LISTA came out second missing 45 of the 105
articles.
• Library Literature ranked highest missing only 40 of the 105 articles.
• LISA came in very close to LISTA missing 46 of the 105 articles.
• The Library Law Design bibliography inflates LISTA’s numbers,
however, and if the bibliography is removed from the search criteria,
LISTA ranks lowest.
Total
Missing in
LISTA
Missing in
Lib Lit
Missing
in
LISA
105 45 40 46
without Library Law Design 37 20 33

28. Coverage Test
• LISTA also ranks lowest when it comes to being the only database
missing an article
• However, it does better in the comparison when we look at which
database is the only one to contain an article
Tota
l LISTA Library Literature LISA
105 14 6 10
Tota
l Article only in LISTA
Article only in Library
Literature Article only in LISA
105 9 6 4

29. Currency Test
• Using the LISTA list of included journals, I looked up the most recent
volumes of several different journals and compared those volumes
to the information at the journal’s website as of November 9th.
• Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, Oct2007, Vol. 45 Issue 2
– Website indicates that the most recent issue is November 2007
• Horn Book Magazine, Nov2007, Vol. 83 Issue 6
– Website indicates that this is the most current issue
• Voice of Youth Advocates, Oct2007, Vol. 30 Issue 4
– Website indicates that this is the most current issue
• Public Library Quarterly, 2006, Vol. 25 Issue 3/4
– Website indicates that the most recent issue is Spring 2007, Volume 26, No. 1
• School Library Journal, Oct 2007
– Website indicates that the most recent issue is Nov 2007
• Public Library Journal, Autumn2007, Vol. 22 Issue 3
– Website indicates that this is the most recent issue

30. Currency Test
• Three of the journals searched were updated to the most
recent issue
• Three of the journals searched were one issue behind
• Judging by this, the currency of the database is good but
not excellent

31. Predictability
• From initial list, in the default setting, a user cannot tell much about
the relevance of an item.
– The title, article’s source, and publication date are displayed
– All of these pieces of information are marginally helpful, especially when
searching for a known item, source, or publication range
• However, the user can change preferences to the Detailed format,
which displays the abstract in the initial list of returned items.
• Abstracts are included for most items in LISTA. The abstracts are
reasonably informative about each article and provide a moderate
judge of relevance.
• Along with the abstract, the complete record shows the subject
terms, which are also informative.
• If the item is available in HTML, the complete text is shown.

32. Retrievability
• I searched for 10 of the Focus Group
articles that I knew were in LISTA
– Using individual Author Searches, I found all 10 articles
– Searching for Focus Group using an Author-Supplied Keyword
search, 14 articles were found, but none of them were the
articles I was looking for
– Searching for Focus Group using a Subject Term search,
nothing came up
– Searching for Focus Group using a Title search, 8 of the 10
came up
• LISTA appears to have some difficulty with
subtitles

33. Usability
Ease of use/ User Friendliness
– LISTA is easy to use, especially if one has experience using
Boolean search strategies
– LISTA’s search options are clearly market
– The print is easy to read and the screens are not overly crowded
– Screen loading and searches are reasonably quick
– LISTA allows users to email, export, or save bibliographic
information for an individual article or for a group of selected
articles
– LISTA allows users to save searches or create a RSS alert for a
specific search

34. User Friendliness
The Advanced Search screen is particularly
intuitive with:
• Clearly labeled search boxes
• Fill in text boxes
• Drop down connector boxes with And/ Or/ Not options
• Field selection drop down boxes for searching specific fields
• Ability to add additional rows if a search has more than 3
facets
• Ability to limit or expand a search from the initial search
screen or from the results screen

35. Help Screens
• LISTA is offered through EBSCOHost, and the main help
screens for the database are generic to EBSCOHost
• The help screens are helpful and comprehensive
• However, because they are generic, they do not always
match LISTA
– For example, on the help screen, it says users can find the Thesaurus
by selecting the Thesaurus tab along the green tabs; however, there is
no Thesaurus tab for LISTA. I double checked against some of the other
databases through EBSCOHost, and in those, I could indeed find the
Thesaurus by selecting it along the green tabs.

36. Conclusion
• LISTA is an important database for anyone studying Library and
Information Science. It provides good currency, is easy to use, and
covers a broad range of library and information science journals.
• While it is an important database to have at an academic library that
caters to Library Science and Information Science scholars, it is not
a necessary database for most libraries, certainly not public or
school libraries.
• LISTA is a good resource; however, it is best used in conjunction
with Library Literature and LISA if one is doing extensive research.
– This was made clearest to me during the comparison between the three
databases.
– Although LISTA didn’t fair as well in a straight number comparison, it was the only
database to have most of the articles from the Law Library Design bibliography.
This bibliography consisted of more