From=20your 1997-98 OCLC Users' Council Delegates:
   Bernard Strong         Marcia Talley
   [log in to unmask]        [log in to unmask]
   ph: 202-287-9463       ph: 410-293-6905
=09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tam Dalrymple +1-614-761-5054
[log in to unmask]
Nita Dean +1-614-761-5002
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IAC HEALTH INFORMATION DATABASES TO BE ADDED TO FIRSTSEARCH/EPIC

DUBLIN, Ohio, Aug. 18, 1997--Three Information Access Company (IAC)
full-text databases will be added to the OCLC FirstSearch and EPIC services=
=2E
 The Health Reference Center, Health Reference Center--Academic, and
=A1Informe! databases offer unique advantages to libraries with users who s=
eek
a wide range of medical information, as well as to libraries serving
Hispanic populations.  Each database will include information from the
current year, plus the previous three years.

"Information Access Company is increasingly looking for new and effective
access points to our information for our customers, and OCLC provides an
extremely attractive and very, very popular service to the library
community," said Dan Woods, vice president, Consumer and Education
Marketing, IAC.  "We think this is a win-win for both companies."

"OCLC welcomes the opportunity to offer full-text services that combine the
strengths of the OCLC and IAC organizations," said Lee  D. Olvey, vice
president and assistant to the president.  "We believe FirstSearch librarie=
s
and users worldwide will benefit from this relationship.  Information on
health-related issues is important for all types of libraries, and =A1Infor=
me!
furthers a key OCLC strategic goal of expanding our services to better serv=
e
our global membership."

Health Reference Center, a multisource database for health and wellness
research, draws from medical and consumer periodicals, health newsletters,
reference books, referral information, topical overviews and pamphlets.
 Designed especially for lay research, it provides information in clearly
understandable terms.  It includes indexing for 165 medical journals and
consumer health magazines, with full text of more than 110 of these titles;
full text of more than 500 health pamphlets; full text of health-related
articles from more than 1,500 general-interest periodicals; more than 1,800
medical topic overviews from _Clinical Reference Systems_; contact
information for support groups, hotlines and research centers from _The
Complete Directory for People with Chronic Illness_; and full text of
several medical reference books:  _Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied
Health Dictionary_; _The People's Book of Medical Tests_;_ The Columbia
University College of Physicians and Surgeons Complete Home Medical Guide_;=
_
USP-DI Volume II: Advice for the Patient_; _Drug Information in Lay
Language_; and _The Consumer Health Information Source Book_.

Health Reference Center--Academic provides access to all of the reference
books and topics covered by Health Reference Center.  In addition, it
provides the full text of nursing and allied health journals, plus a wide
variety of personal health information sources: journals, newsletters,
pamphlets, reference books and more.  The 40 full-text nursing and allied
health journals, as well as leading medical journals, provide the latest
information specific to students' courses and careers.  The sources include
indexing for over 200 (and full text for over 150) journals; more than 500
full-text pamphlets, and selected health-related articles from an additiona=
l
1,500 general-interest magazines.

=A1Informe! is a Spanish language reference tool that provides indexing and
full-text access to 60 Spanish language magazines and 100 pamphlets.  The
=A1Informe! database includes the most popular and well-read titles among
Hispanic library users.  =A1Informe! features citation titles in both Engli=
sh
and Spanish, so non-Spanish-speaking library staff can assist users more
easily.

Headquartered in Foster City, California, Information Access Company is an
indirect subsidiary of The Thomson Corporation.  IAC is acknowledged as one
of the premier providers of electronic information services to corporations
throughout the world, delivering timely, intelligent solutions to several
million people each day through online, CD-ROM and Web-based products.

OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit, membership, computer
library service and research organization whose computer network and
services link more than 25,000 libraries in 63 countries
and territories.  The OCLC Home Page is located at www.oclc.org
on the World Wide Web.                  (BW/ND)
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