SAGE Reference Online

Abstract

[Revisited Dec'09] SAGE Reference Online (SRO) is the publisher's online delivery platform for 100-plus reference works, mainly dealing with the social sciences. When browsing the list of available titles, this reviewer first thought the presentation order was random; further scrutiny revealed that the listing ignores initial words such as "encyclopedia," "handbook," and "SAGE." The content of each fine reference work is completely represented in the online edition.

c 47-3536 [Internet Resource]

SAGE Reference Online. Sage Publications, CA. Encyclopedia/handbook collections, $5,400-$ 9,000; individual titles avail.; contact publisher for info on special discounts.

URL: http://sage-ereference.com/

[Revisited Dec'09] SAGE Reference Online (SRO) is the publisher's online delivery platform for 100-plus reference works, mainly dealing with the social sciences. When browsing the list of available titles, this reviewer first thought the presentation order was random; further scrutiny revealed that the listing ignores initial words such as "encyclopedia," "handbook," and "SAGE." The content of each fine reference work is completely represented in the online edition. Users may search individual titles, subject collections, or the entire collection, using Boolean searches, phrase matching, stemming, and wild card searching. Search results are presented by relevance, with an option to change the order to alphabetical A-Z or Z-A. COUNTER-compliant usage statistics and MARC records are available. Administrative options are limited to generating usage reports, changing authenticated IP ranges and passwords, and updating account information. Users may print, e-mail, or copy/paste articles; automatically generate citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago formats; and download to bibliographic management programs including EndNote (CH, Feb'08, 45-2929), Reference Manager (CH, Jul'09, 46-5932), and RefWorks.

This reviewer found SRO's bibliographic citations often were incomplete and/or incorrectly formatted. For example, the APA citation generated for Clare Hemmings's "The Life and Times of Academic Feminism" in the Handbook of Gender and Women's Studies does not give an autiior for the article or editors for the Handbook, though both are available; the format of the citation is also incorrect in that the first element listed is the date of publication. Users should be cautioned.

SAGE publications also are available via die Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL; version 2, CH, Dec'05, 43-1903); additionally many are available via Credo Reference (CH, Feb'09, 46-2980). Cengage Gale's GVRL presents a wide array of titles from various publishers, an equally usable interface, and in this reviewer's opinion, a superior citation tool. Credo Reference also features a wide variety of publishers and offers search options not available through either Cengage Gale or SAGE. SRO offers excellent reference content and a user-friendly online interface, but libraries will want to investigate other online access options as well. SAGE plans a new version of its platform in 2010. Summing Up: Recommended. ** Lower-level undergraduates and above; general authence. - M. Sylvia, St. Mary's University