Selecting Digital Resources One at a Time

Marshall Cavendish offers librarians a new model

Selecting digital resources can be difficult for many reasons. The quality of the content can be questionable. You may be frustrated in knowing whether the content is being used or not. And finding those funds for yearly renewals is a budgetary nightmare. If these issues have been stopping you from adding digital content to your collection, then perhaps the option to choose the exact digital content without yearly renewal fees will help you decide that now is the time to start building your digital library.

Grades 6-12+

Cost

All subscriptions are five years in length. Subscriptions are for individual products, with no annual fee, remote access, and unlimited concurrent users. For schools, pricing is based on single building usage with discounts for multiple buildings and/or multiple product purchases. Individual product prices start at $395 for a single building. For public libraries, prices are based on the number of cardholders, with prices beginning at $395 for libraries with under 7,500 cardholders.

The Big Picture

A trusted print publisher for over 30 years, Marshall Cavendish now offers a digital package that allows librarians to build their own digital collections by purchasing only those resources that fit the specific needs of their students. There are no subscriptions to renew or packages to buy. Each title can be purchased individually and added to the library’s digital collection.

New titles are being added to Marshall Cavendish Digital regularly, and articles and information are updated as necessary to stay abreast of scholarly developments. Features of the site include both Quick and Advanced searches, a guided tour, research by category or by title, and refinement of results by articles, images, diagrams, and maps. Images of all types can be zoomed in or out and printed separately or within their respective articles.

The "My Folder" function allows students to create and maintain independent online folders for their research, including saved bookmarks, notes, images, and articles. Additionally, students have the option to e-mail the contents of their folders for access at home or off-campus. The "Cite This" tool allows students to quickly and easily cite an article using MLA, APA, or Chicago Style Manual format, and the incorporated Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary provides ready definitions of unknown terms.

Look & Feel

Marshall Cavendish Digital provides users with a simple access point that immediately showcases the titles in that school's digital collection. Users can perform a Quick Search through the search box or browse the Categories (Such as science, animals and plants, biographies, and health, or specific titles such as Animal and Plant Anatomy or Earth and Space Science.)

An Advanced Search allows users to refine their search by limiting to specific media types such as only articles, photographs, or drawings, or expand a search to include multiple categories or titles within the digital collection.

Browsing by categories or titles allows the user to select a specific subject, such as science, to review digital content articles, select digital photographs or drawings, or investigate more detailed subject areas within the subject. For example, by browsing life sciences the user can easily narrow the subject to genetics by selecting the subtopic from a list. This ability to browse either the categories or the digital titles provides users with the opportunity to easily locate information without the need for intricate search strategies often found in other online databases or digital collections.

How it Works

As mentioned, Marshall Cavendish Digital offers students the ability to research specific titles or browse several titles at once. Some of the titles currently available include: Life Sciences, Animal and Plant Anatomy, How It Works, Technology and Applied Science, Family Health, The Facts About Drugs, Explorers and Exploration, Exploring the Middle Ages, Aquatic World, and others. (A complete list of titles is available at: http://www.marshallcavendishdigital.com/index.php?option=com_marketing&type=displayall) Using "health" as a Category Search, students may initiate a subject search or browse the title by clicking the contents icon. The student is then directed to a new page which displays an alphabetic list of subjects with the option of selecting the items on the page or redirecting the search to a different topic by using the alphabetical search guide.

To determine the type of materials available in this topic, I selected the topic "anesthesia." Immediately, the article page displayed the subject search contents which included photographs, as well as specially highlighted "Core Facts" from within the article that were set apart in a green box. The "Core Facts" summarize the information to allow for ease in browsing or searching for specific information quickly. In addition, the article included another green box, entitled "Connections," which included additional information with hyperlinked terms that directed me to even more.

Throughout Marshall Cavendish Digital, articles contain additional boxes which offer more detailed information on the subject being explored. For example, "A Closer Look" provides a more in-depth review of one particular element within the article; "Discoverers" presents information about the scientists involved in the research subject; "Evolution" gives a historical look at evolutionary elements of subjects such as plants or animals; and "At Risk" highlights information about those animals at risk for overpopulation or extinction or parts of the human body which are at risk for developing diseases or infections.

At the top of the article page are several icons: Article Outline (main points within the article), Printer Friendly, E-mail, Bookmark, Cite This (with three different citation styles), Dictionary, and Take Notes (which provides a digital note card). Each digital note card includes the subject (in this case "anesthesia") and the title from which the subject is being reviewed (Life Sciences) and a full citation of the article information along with the date the notes were written. The article page also provides access to the student's My Folder which allows the user to insert note cards, images, and bookmarks into online folders that the student is allowed to name and access through a personal username and password.

At the bottom of the article are links to additional resources, as well as titles for further reading and the complete bibliographic citation of the article. One unique feature of Marshall Cavendish Digital is the ability to change the font size of an article up to a 16 point font. This feature, along with the ADA complaint web-accessibility for students with visual impairments or other disabilities, provides users with a unique opportunity to access the content in a variety of adaptive formats not found in many digital libraries or databases.

For Students and Teachers

Teachers and librarians who appreciate the Marshall Cavendish print collection will be happy to find some of the best resources available in a digital format. With the ability to add only the titles that specifically address the needs of their students, Marshall Cavendish Digital provides librarians with the confidence to build digital libraries that truly reflect user needs.

Students will appreciate the ability to easily locate research information to add to their personal digital folders or take notes on subjects while utilizing the contents online. Through the ease of bookmarks, digital note cards, and online folders, research assignments can easily be accessed and utilized from school or home. For students just beginning the research process, Marshall Cavendish Digital provides the opportunity to remain organized without the fear of lost note cards or missing books.

Report Card

Marshall Cavendish Digital has entered the online resource market with only a few titles currently available; however, as their product line continues to grow, this unique digital resource will meet the needs of a large number of school and public librarians that want the ability to add only the digital resources that they need. With the addition of the other enhancements, cited above, Marshall Cavendish Digital will soon find itself a digital mainstay in both school and public libraries. As a creative solution to the needs of librarians building their digital library collections, Marshall Cavendish Digital deserves an A for its unique options and quality of content.