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It can be difficult to know how frequently the costly web research services your firm subscribes to are actually used. Many web vendors don't provide any kind of usage data for unlimited, subscription-based services. Elite Research Manager and Research Agent want to help you with that problem.

Thomson Elite unveiled their new Elite Research Manager at AALL last week. ERM is actually a licensed version of Lookup Precision, previously called Online Lookup.

ERM is designed to help recover costs by providing client validation and/or monitor usage for electronic subscriptions, such as Pacer, BNA, CCH, Westlaw, LexisNexis and LiveEdgar, just to name a few.

In addition to Lookup Precision's standard features, ERM also integrates with the Elite billing system so that cost recovery is speedy and accurate, and client-matter information is accurate and up-to-date.

Is Boolean searching suited only for the professional researcher and/or librarian? That's the "The Boolean Debate", much of which has taken place on TVC Alert at The Virtual Chase.

Stephen Abram threw down the gauntlet at a recent panel presentation at Internet Librarian. I always find Abram to be an interesting speaker because he challenges librarians to re-think our commonly-held beliefs. He's done it again by asking whether we need to teach Boolean to the average researcher.

There's much more to the discussion, but I'll leave you to read it for yourselves. I just have a couple of thoughts to add to the mix.

I have been following the Boolean debate, as it has appeared in TVC, with great interest. One of the reasons to complement a database search with other case-finding tools is to help overcome potential weaknesses in Boolean searching.

Thomas O'Keefe, in his article "Navigating the Law: Case-finding Tools Beyond Lexis and Westlaw" (Legal Information Alert, June 2003), makes an excellent case for the usefulness of hard copy case finding tools. He also notes in his concluding paragraph that the strategy of using case finding tools along with online full-text searching can be a difficult one to promote because such tools are disappearing from library shelves. Why are such useful tools going by the wayside? I blame it on the online research vendors and their love affair with full-text searching.