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(Note from the Washington State Library: In order to participate in the Spring 2000 Washington State Databases Trial, each vendor was asked to address questions the Statewide Database Licensing Committee felt were most critical in order for library staff to evaluate products and vendors. Please contact the vendor's representative, listed below, for additional information on this product.)
1. Describe the database product and unique aspects of your interface. Include information on subject scope, percentage of full-text, dates of coverage, target audience (including age ranges), and how often the contents are updated.
The CINAHL (Cumulative Index in Nursing and Allied Health) database is a well-established literature reference source for nursing and allied health programs. It provides comprehensive coverage of approximately 1,200 US and International journals dating back to 1982. The database features the CINAHL thesaurus that is specifically designed for the information retrieval needs of nursing and allied healthcare workers.
Aries Systems provides a search interface called Knowledge Finder that searches medical bibliographic or full-text databases. CINAHL is one of the leading bibliographic databases in our collection.
Aries Systems Corporation provides CINAHL on CD-ROM and on the Internet covering the full CINAHL year range (1982 to present). Updates are provided on a monthly basis. For the purposes of this proposal, we will focus on Internet-based access since we believe that this offers the most flexibility and cost-effective solution for your organization. (However, if you prefer locally hosted CD-ROM access, you will need to install Knowledge Host and a Browser gateway on your local LAN or Intranet server. More information about Knowledge Host can be found at http://www.kfinder.com/newweb/Software/KHost/KHInfo.html.
We provide two ways of accessing CINAHL on the Internet with Knowledge Finder:
| Knowledge Finder - Proprietary Client | Knowledge Finder - Web Browser Edition |
| Advanced Thesaurus searching and browsing | Easy to use natural language interface |
| Advanced Boolean capabilities | No software installation required |
| Optimized performance though a "stateful" Internet (TCP/IP) connection | Available from any authorized computer with a Browser |
| Requires installation of Client Software | http "stateless" Browser-based connection means limited thesaurus browsing capabilities |
We believe that by offering both a proprietary client and Browser-based versions of Knowledge Finder your institution will benefit from the best of both worlds.
The Knowledge Finder solution combines traditional search engine features with many unique advantages:
NEW FEATURE, APRIL 2000:
To receive TOCs at the e-mail address every user has to register with their own e-mail and password, which will be used to log-on the TOCs functionality.
NEW FEATURES, MAY 2000
2. What are the hardware and software requirements for using all the features of the product?
For Browser-based access:
For Client-based access, the best performance of the product is guaranteed by maintaining the following minimal hardware/software requirements:
3. Is remote access included for the subscription price? If there are additional charges or requirements in order to offer remote access, please describe. What methods of remote access are supported?
At this time, there are not additional fees to those detailed in this proposal with respect to access to the CINAHL database with Knowledge Finder.
4. Please discuss any methods or assistance you offer regarding remote access patron verification and authentication.
Access control can be provided through traditional username or password or IP address checking. However, our preferred methodology for controlling access is as follows.
Aries will provide you with a URL to post on your web site. This URL includes an encrypted username and password to the CINAHL database and a "refer" from your URL. Anyone who is authorized to access the web page that includes this link experiences "free" access to the database.
The benefit of this approach is that your institution retains control and maintains user access to this web page by whatever means you consider appropriate (IP, username etc.). The "refer" ensures that users cannot copy the authorization URL for use on other web sites.
5. What end user delivery options, such as printing, emailing or faxing results, are available beyond just viewing results on the computer monitor?
Users can select articles from a summary results page using check-boxes. The selected articles can then be:
6. What customer training is provided, and at what cost?
Knowledge Finder is unique in offering a "gentle slope" user interface. This means that even novice end-users are able to immediately obtain high quality search results by entering queries in natural language, and then gradually become familiar with the more traditional search utilities such as Boolean logic and Thesaurus browsing. Users learn by doing. Knowledge Finder also anticipates typical search requests by providing standard limit options that can be supplemented by your own customized screen design.
The Browser-based interface includes web-based, in-context help screens. Documentation for the more advanced features in the client version can be found at:
7. What customer and technical support is provided, including hours of operation.
Aries Customer and Technical support is available Monday to Friday 9am until 5.30pm EST. We operate a server farm of fault-tolerant, redundant database servers. This means that you can be assured of a high level of system availability without the cost of administering your own CINAHL database servers.
8. Describe the statistics you provide, and discuss whether your statistical reporting complies with guidelines developed by the International Coalition of Library Consortia which may be found at www.library.yale.edu/consortia/webstats.html .
For each institutional customer we record aggregated statistical information such as: date and length of search sessions, number of databases and thesauri searches, documents (abstracts) and summaries viewed. These statistics are available upon request. However, for reasons of privacy, we do not track or record any individual search strings.
9A. Describe your pricing structure for individual libraries.
Database Access Fee Internet Access Fee
| # of Users | Pricing |
| 1 Concurrent User | $1,510 plus $300 per Concurrent User |
| 2-4 Concurrent Users | $1,810 plus $300 per Concurrent User |
| 5-8 Concurrent Users | $2,410 plus $300 per Concurrent User |
9B. Describe your pricing structure for a group purchase. Please explain the basis for your pricing for a group purchase. What conditions must be in place for a discount to occur?
The Aries Internet Access Fee is based on the number of concurrent users regardless of location or institutional affiliation, and is simply based on the aggregate number of Concurrent Users. However, CINAHL (the owners of the CINAHL database) do place restrictions based on institutional affiliation regarding the Database Access Fee. In the event that you wish to license CINAHL for multiple institutions, Aries will pass-on to you the full discount authorized by CINAHL in such circumstances for the Database Access Fee. If you provide specific details regarding the extent of the license we will obtain specific pricing information.
10. Please clarify how you would treat existing library customers with regard to a group purchase.
Aries will pass-on to you the full discount authorized by CINAHL in such circumstances for the Database Access Fee.
11. Please indicate whether libraries from Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and/or Hawaii would be eligible to participate in the group buying process.
Again, the Internet Access Fee is based on the number of aggregate users regardless of their location. With respect to the CINAHL Database Access Fee, we will pass on whatever discount the CINAHL organization is willing to agree to for a specific scenario.
12. Please provide name and contact information (toll-free telephone number, e-mail address, hours, etc.) should libraries wish to make further inquires.
The contact person at Aries Systems for the libraries' requests is Kiril Rachev, 9am - 5.30 pm ET at tel. 978-975-7570; email [email protected].
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