Catch the Lightning: Keeping Current with the Net

摘要

For online searchers in the not-so-distant past, the number of new databases, new features, and price changes from the online commercial services were sometimes overwhelming. As DIALOG, LEXIS-NEXIS, or STN added new databases or introduced a new search feature, searchers scrambled to learn the latest developments and develop new searching strategies. But the handful of changes each month on the commercial online services hardly compares to the rate of change we see on the Internet. Hundreds of new Web pages appear each day, while established Web sites reorganize, add new data, or remove documents. The software used on the Internet is often distributed there as well—allowing software developers to release frequent updates, patches, and new beta versions.