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INDEX TO ONTARIO EDUCATION RESEARCH: ONTERIS, VOLUMES 1 AND 2



Toronto , Ministry of Education, c1982.
various paging, $15.00.
ISBN 0-7743-7110-2.


Professional.
Reviewed by P. J. Hammel.

Volume 11 Number 6.
1983 November.


Onteris (Ontario Education Resources Information System) is "a computerized online storage and retrieval system which acquires and organizes a wide range of Ontario education information." This, one of its publications, is an index that provides "access by author, by title, and by subject to a comprehensive body of research material produced in Ontario." Consisting of two volumes, it includes four parts. Volume 1 comprises Part 1, List of Documents; Part 2, 'Author Index; Part 3, Title Index, and Volume 2, Part 4, Subject Index.

The List of Documents includes 2,187 items dating from approximately 1960 to 1981. Each is preceded by a serial number that is the indexing link between the other indexes and this one, which contains all the bibliographic information necessary to identify the documents. This information includes: author(s), full title, institution of origin, year of the publication, and number of pages. These entries are in no apparent order, an arrangement that makes one wonder— since the list is computer generated-why a chronological one might not have been imposed. The Author Index, as expected, is an alphabetical listing. The full title of each document is included.

Generally, the Title Index is also in alphabetical order; however, several inconsistencies appear. The alphabetical list is preceded by seven entries in which the first element of the title is a date; these are in chronological order by that date. Following immediately are six titles in the French language and in no particular order, a seeming accident, difficult to understand since at least ten other items in French are included in the alphabetical listing. Finally, although most entries include the full title, there are some which, for no apparent reason, are entered under abbreviated title.

The Subject Index, Part 4, is produced by "a subject analysis and contextual indexing system called PRECIS," which provides, usually, for several entries by which a searcher might find an item. For example: The document entitled, "A Survey of Elementary School Teachers' and Principals' Attitudes to Mathematics and Utilizing Mini Calculators," may be located under: "Attitudes," "Calculators," "Mathematics," "Principals," and "Teachers." This makes for a most helpful subject index; both the experienced and inexperienced searcher will be pleased by the ease with which a document may be located.


P. J. Hammel, College of Education, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK.
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