A c t i o n f o r L i b r a r i e s — J a n u a r y 2 0 0 1

A Free Trial, Discount Subscriptions
Offered to Roth Online Poetry Databases

By Laura Chittivej

In February, BCR member libraries will have an opportunity to test drive Roth Publishing's Web- based poetry databases:

Poem Finder on the Web for public libraries and academic institutions.
The World's Best Poetry Online for K-12 Schools.

Both databases will be available as trial subscriptions from February 1 through March 30. Libraries can subscribe to one or both poetry databases for BCR's discounted price at the end of the trial period.

Both Poem Finder on the Web and The World's Best Poetry Online for K-12 Schools contain more than 80,000 full-text poems. Significant periods, from early English to Elizabethan to post-modernism and contemporary poetry, are fully represented.

The databases include important schools and movements, the complete works of hundreds of poets from every continent, all in English translation. Both databases are constantly updated.

Subject Navigator, in both databases, provides a subject hierarchy organizing more than 8,500 specific subject headings to facilitate efficient searching. In addition to Subject Navigator, users can search by keywords, any word in a poem's title, first line, last line, text, book title and language and by the author's nationality, religion, profession, birth/death dates and gender. Users can also print or download poems.

Both Poem Finder on the Web and The World's Best Poetry Online for K-12 Schools present more than 1,000 contemporary, full-text poems published for the first time during the current year. In a continuing annual cumulative feature, they present a new anthology of the latest work of established and emerging poets (currently 1998-2000). Both Web- based databases offer explanations of more than 750 poems along with thousands of detailed biographies, many with pictures.

Poem Finder indexes more than 3,500 anthologies, 5,000 single-author works and 6,000 periodical issues. Complete coverage is provided of world poetry from antiquity to the present. Kids' Korner provides access to poetry by appealing categories for children such as "Fun and Games," "Animals" and "Family."

The World's Best Poetry Online for K-12 Schools contains more than 80,000 full-text poems plus explanatory material for students and teachers. The database includes poem explanations, biographies, pictures and study guides. The curriculum-oriented collection is compiled by Roth's Editorial Board and Advisory Board, composed of librarians, teachers and poets. Teachers will find the study guides, with suggested assignments and discussion points, a useful lesson planning tool. Poetic terms are defined in the glossary.

To sign up for the free trial, go to www.bcr.org, choose Reference Databases, then Roth. To purchase either database, complete BCR's Web subscription form. All subscriptions will begin April 1. BCR members who currently have a subscription to either product may transfer their subscription once their current annual subscription term is completed. Contact BCR's Laura Chittivej (lchittiv@bcr.org) for more information about subscription pricing.

BCR Publications | Table of Contents

A Free Trial, Discount Subscriptions Offered to Roth Online Poetry Databases

A Free Trial, Discount Subscriptions
Offered to Roth Online Poetry Databases