What is Research Pro Beta?
Research Pro is a federated search engine designed by the company that powers the PASCAL Delivers system.
Federated search products like Research Pro allow users to search in several places at once. For example, a search on “electoral college” in the “General and Academic” category will search the database Academic Search Premier (an Ebsco product) alongside Academic Onefile (a complementary Gale product) as well as several other databases. Federated search may help you locate articles you would have missed otherwise because users typically return to databases they’ve used before, missing other useful resources.
PASCAL is testing Research Pro, and we may be evaluating similar products from other sources in the future.
What databases are in Research Pro Beta?
At this time, only databases with a state-wide license are available for searching through Research Pro Beta. These databases are licensed either by PASCAL or DISCUS. So, if your library has access to America History and Life, for instance, it is not included in Research Pro Beta because it is purchased by your library and not centrally. While budget cuts have severely reduced PASCAL’s offering of databases, many useful and often overlooked resources are still available in Research Pro Beta.
How do I interpret search results?
Research Pro Beta displays results in tabs by database name; the database that completes its search first displays results first. Results are listed by date and not by relevance.
What libraries are part of this project?
Eventually, all PASCAL member libraries will be included in Research Pro Beta. Several new technologies are employed for the first time in this version of Research Pro Beta. We are using a staged rollout to make sure that the search engine is stable. Initially, we will include the first fifteen libraries that respond to our invitation to participate in the test. We hope to add additional libraries, perhaps in sets of fifteen, within the next 30 days. If the product is sufficiently reliable, we may be able to accelerate the launch and add more libraries more quickly.
Off-campus user authentication is handled by the same software that runs our Pascal Delivers catalog. Libraries that are not yet in the Pascal Delivers catalog (at this time there are six) will not be able to use Research Pro Beta from off-campus. All libraries will, however, be able to use Research Pro Beta from on-campus.
Why does this look like PASCAL Delivers?
Research Pro Beta is based on the same software as our PASCAL Delivers catalog.
Is Research Pro Beta searching for both articles and books?
We have included the Pascal Delivers book catalog in almost all of our categories, so yes, books are included as one tab in the search results screen. You can omit the book search by deslecting that check-box from your category.
I found a problem and/or a suggestion. How do I report it?
Please submit your response using our web form: Research Pro Feedback .
What is “PASCAL eSearch”?
PASCAL eSearch is the name of our federated search, although we may be evaluating similar products from other sources in the future. “Research Pro” is the name of the Innovative Interfaces federated search product.
Research Pro Feedback
PASCAL is beta-testing this product and we welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please let us know if you would like to receive a reply. Thank you for your interest.
