Providing access to locally generated databases over the web

The Grainger Engineering Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has implemented Web-based access to locally developed information resources using the Microsoft (MS) Active Server Pages (ASP) technologies. These local databases, in both MS Access and MS Structured Query Language (SQL) Server format, complement traditional engineering information resources. The databases provide enhanced access to difficult to locate materials and resources that are outside the scope of an online catalog and article databases. The local databases are accessible for any Web user from the top-level menu at Grainger public terminals, from a custom reference desk menu, and from the Grainger Home Page (http://www.library.uiuc.edu/grainger/). These databases have greatly improved the training of reference staff, particularly new graduate assistants, librarians and paraprofessionals. From December 1997 through February 1, 2000, the Grainger local databases have been selected 26,067 times, which makes up approximately 24% of the over 107,000 selections from public terminal main menus. This paper describes how these resources are developed and the improvements that Web technologies have offered.