[Libs-Or] ChiltonLibrary Results

[Matthew Baiocchi]

The results are in! And they're divided. (You knew that was going to happen.)


Turns out 50% felt slightly unflattering things about the database and 50% gave some grudging okays.


On the Nay side: "when I was a librarian in...Oregon, I ran into the scenario you described (can find the vehicle, the info isn't that helpful, printing is poor quality) fairly regularly." and "My experience using it here...always ends in disappointment. It is often frustrating for both the patrons and staff. The details and useful data... seems absent. "


On the Yay side: Y'all saw Jim's response (he sent it to the listserv). Using his example of a "1999 Dodge Ram"/"removal and installation of valve cover"  I was able to find the instructions that would help a patron (by searching simply for "valve cover." Searching for "install valve cover" yielded no search results. Also, from another response, "we recently switched to Chilton from Auto Repair Source (EBSCO product) and have had a lot more success with it. It's definitely not perfect, but we're glad that we switched. We had the same problems with ARC in terms of finding very specific things, but even worse because it didn't have as much content" which is great info to have about the Auto Repair Source database.


Personally, what I usually do with patrons is have them help me drill down to the right area, and when that inevitably fails I do a couple of fruitless searches. However, Jim has given me some hope! If I use very simple search terms about specific parts, perhaps I'll be able to better help patrons. I hope to use his printing tips as well.


Thanks for all your feedback. It was greatly appreciated and has given me some new hope in using this database more successfully.


Have a good day, everyone.




Matthew Baiocchi
REFERENCE LIBRARIAN
__

City of Lincoln City  |  Driftwood Public Library
801 SW Hwy 101  |  PO Box 50  |  Lincoln City, OR
P: 541.557.1116  |  E: mbaiocchi at lincolncity.org<mailto:mbaiocchi at lincolncity.org>
W: Driftwoodlib.org | W: LincolnCity.org

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