The Internet links users around the world with a vast and rich collection of information resources, said Rick Noble, vice president, OCLC reference services. Unfortunately, the resources are unorganized and often unevaluated, making effective searching and retrieval very difficult, particularly for the novice searcher. NetFirst provides unparalleled access to Internet resources by applying proven abstracting and indexing practices to this enormous network of unclassified materials. Users map their course before jumping into the uncharted waters of the Internet. Users won t have to wade through long lists of extraneous objects.
Users can determine the relevance of a resource without leaving the database.
This makes Internet discovery far more efficient than is possible with indexes that contain only an address, title and the first few words or sentences contained in the resource. LCSH allow users to search the database by subject area in addition to keyword searching. DDC numbers organize resources using a convenient, hierarchical structure that will be ideal for browsing of resources by subject area. Hot links are automatically verified on an ongoing basis, as well as the resources themselves, for changes in content. May 1 through July 31, OCLC will offer free access to the NetFirst database via the World Wide Web.