In other words, Custom Folders provide the kinds of search refinements that can otherwise only be obtained by expert searchers using command systems. Custom folders may not be as effective as a well-crafted command search, but nobody will honestly claim that command searches are themselves free from frequent error or misstep. More to the point, most of NL s users will never have recourse to command systems. For them, NL s Custom Folders are not an alternative to command searching, they are an alternative to an undifferentiated set of hundreds or thousands of hits, and a welcome one at that. Users pay only for full-text articles selected from a Special Collection search.
Institutional accounts are available.
This is a bold and risky strategy, since it assumes that customers will continue beyond the NL Web search and into the Special Collection results, where they will buy enough articles to keep the whole operation afloat. NL is gambling that its potential customers will recognize the added value in the Special Collection sources. Since Web surfers are notoriously resistant to paying for information, the validity of NL s business model has yet to be demonstrated. If these users don t buy enough Special Collection articles, NL may have to look at other revenue streams or start knocking on the doors of institutional clients. NL s Special Collection is deep enough to get its foot in some of those doors, but after that it becomes a hard sell.