Computer and Library Learning (Archived)

Toronto Public Library has a large number of
full-text databases to assist customers with research queries. After clicking
on the Articles
& Online Research button on the TPL homepage to reach the corresponding
Articles
& Online Research page, one has a choice of accessing information with
the “Quick search across selected databases”, or clicking on the A – Z list of all databases
and selecting the database of interest, or accessing “Databases by category”.

This time, let us take a look at the InfoTrac
Computer Database developed by Gale
Cengage Learning. Gale Cengage Learning has provided a two-page tip sheet
to assist customers using the database. Customers with a valid Toronto Public
Library card can log into the database in a library branch location, or
remotely with available internet access, through the Toronto Public Library
website.

Computer Database

Description: Articles
from journals covering computer, telecommunications and electronics industries.

Availability: Available anywhere

Sign
in with library card

Access Online

As
with other databases, one can do basic searches by subject, keyword,
publication title, or entire document, or use the advanced search to combine
search parameters as well as limit searches by full-text documents,
peer-reviewed publications, and/or documents with images. One may find
information from different sources including academic journals, magazines,
reference books, news sources, images, videos, and podcasts. Customers can
access a PDF version that might be linked to an article, have the ability to
email an article in HTML or plain-text format, create citations using either
the MLA 7^th edition or APA 6^th edition format with the
option to export citations to software such as Endnote, ProCite, Reference
Manager, and RefWorks. One can also bookmark articles or share them in a
variety of ways, including Blogger, email, Delicious, Diigo and Facebook.

Gale
Cengage Learning expanded its on-demand language translation capability to
include Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, and Korean in addition
to the already-supported Arabic, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese,
Russian, and Spanish. One also has the audio option of listening to an English voice read an
article accompanied by text highlighting on the screen to reflect the location
within the article and even downloading a MP3 file.

InfoTrac
Computer Database may be useful for researching: comparative analysis of
high-technology companies and their products and services; trends in industries
such as electronics, robotics, and telecommunications; information about the
Internet; research on LAN/WAN technology; reviews of recent consumer products; and,
background information for employment seekers. For information on InfoTrac
Computer Database and other databases, please contact staff at your local library
branch.