Why doesn Metasearch work for some databases?
• MetaLib works best using IE6 and is a developing product so some vendors do not allow or have not yet created compliancy with their databases. Of our 296 databases, about 100 databases do not metasearch. These may be divided into three categories: a) Database providers not permitting metasearching • OCLC/FirstSearch (although 13 of the 27 OCLC/FirstSearch databases are permitted to metasearch), LOC (Library of Congress), NetLibrary, Lexis, Westlaw. b) Metasearching does not work with non article databases like directories, publisher’s websites, encyclopedias, ready reference sources, citation managers, and statistics resources. Examples of vendors producing these kind of databases are Standard and Poors, CCH, Compustat,Value Line, Bowker, Cabell’s, Mergent, RDS, StatUSA, Silver Platter’s Mental Measurements Yearbook, PALMM, and GALE (of the 23 Gale Databases, 12 are not conducive to metasearching). c) Some sets of databases may only be searched as a group (metasearched) from the data
