Searches on each topic were carried out using the Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) suite of databases, specifically using the following databases:
· Computer and Information Systems Abstracts
· Conferences Papers Abstracts
· Electronic & Communication Abstracts
· ERIC
· Internet & Personal Computing Abstracts
· Library and Information Sciences Abstracts (LISA)
· World Wide Political Science Abstracts
The results that were collected following use of appropriate search terms were analysed for relevance by means of reading the abstract to each article. If an article was perceived to be relevant, then using the bibliographic details of that article the full text was found.
In addition to leading us to journal articles, CSA retrieved a number of URLs in some cases. These were used to gain information from the Web.
Loughborough University subscribes to a number of electronic journals. Using these online journals, a number of further searches were conducted. Relevant articles found were either printed off, or if the article could not be viewed in full text form, we obtained the printed article in Loughborough University Library.
During the period of this research (June - September 2001), we also maintained current awareness by scanning all the latest issues of journals held in the University Library in the subject area of librarianship and information science. Serendipity sometimes led to relevant articles.
A search was run on the Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) database on DIALOG early on in this research. A number of articles of relevance were found. None were found in the areas of authentication, content creation and delivery, metadata or quality of information.
The bulk of the material identified was gathered from the Internet. We searched a number of government Web sites, sometimes using more than one government gateway for the same country. We also used a number of other Web sites that were devoted to certain aspects of the project. The search engines used are described below.
At the beginning of researching each topic, we made a list of what we thought to be the likely relevant keywords. We used the title of each chapter as the leading keyword for searching and then used any terms identified whilst searching to refine searches conducted.
In the case of databases on CSA, when a number of articles were retrieved that were relevant, we inspected and then used the Identifiers and Descriptors used to describe that those articles as search terms to refine searches.
Keywords were difficult to establish for the content delivery and content creation, and information literacy chapters. This may explain why so little information was found on these topics.
The list shown below gives some indication to the words used in trying to retrieve relevant information. In some cases, words were combined using Boolean Logic.
Metadata
Metadata AND Government(s)
Metadata AND (Each country individually)
Metadata AND Government(s) AND (Each country individually)
Metadata AND Government policies
Metadata (policy OR policies) where truncation is a problem
Interoperability
Standards Initiatives
Public policy
Information policy
Information literacy/skills/competencies
Government (federal/ state/local)
The actual name of each country
Heritage and legacy
Data Protection Act
Internet Privacy
The details in the bibliographies of any relevant journal articles were followed up. Some of these produced valuable extra material. An example of this was an article in the journal VINE, which indicated several other articles on metadata that proved to be relevant to metadata standards and implementation.
The following journals were regularly used to retrieve articles giving background information on certain chapters:
Journal of Academic Librarianship
Journal of Government Information
Journal of Information Science
Library Hi Tech
General searches were conducted using the Ingenta journal facility on the Internet. The following journals were checked:
· Information Development
· Information Management Report
· Information Processing Report
· Information Technology and People
· International Journal of Information Management
· Journal of Academic Librarianship
· Journal of Government Information
· Journal of Information Science
· Journal of Librarianship and Information Science
· Library and Information Science Research
· Library Hi Tech
· Library Management
· Library Review
· Online Information Review
· The Information Society
· The International Information and Library Review
In addition to this, the "quick Ingenta search" facility was used to search on all topics within the research. This facility simultaneously searched all journal holdings, which covers a multitude of journals and articles. In addition, the following electronic journals were searched through the Loughborough University library facility:
· Business Information Review
· Information Management
· Information Management and Computer Security
· Information, Communication and Society
· Journal of the American Society for Information Science
· Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal
· Library Hi-Tech News
· Library Management
· Library Review
· The Electronic Library
Similar search terms were used as listed previously.
A citation search was conducted using ISI Web of Science on Nick Moore to see what articles had cited his work, as his publications are considered by many to be key in the area of National Information Policies. However, this search did not provide any new relevant information.
The main Internet search engine used to gather information was Google.
Northern Light was also used on a number of instances. However, we found that both engines were retrieving the same Web pages in response to identical search queries. We also used the HotBot search engine on several occasions. This too, failed to produce significantly new material over Google.
One of the main problems we found was the very large number of false drops. The number of results retrieved for any subject search was always in the thousands, making it impossible to check and follow each hyperlink up. We were as selective as possible with looking at the results, but we no doubt have missed some relevant sites. Trying to narrow the search using a combination of search terms did not improve matters.
A number of private sector sites were retrieved, especially in the field of content creation. As noted earlier, we generally ignored private sector Web sites.