Reference at Newman Library

3 thoughts on “Sage Reference Online Trial”

  1. I’d say pass on this, as there are other things I’d rather get before this one. Content is mostly from the social sciences (don’t know enough about the reference sources in the social sciences to say if this database has the core sources). Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) offers broader scope of subjects and may be better starting point for the student researcher looking in just one place for background/starter info.

    Both GVRL and Sage offer citation features (click a link and get a formatted citation for a given entry). Neither one follows the latest guidelines released this spring from MLA (which dictates that online resources need not provide the URL).

    Did a test search in GVRL and Sage for YOGA AND STRESS.

    127 hits in GVRL, 56 in Sage

    Sage first hit = “Humanistic Psychology and Mind/Body Medicine” from The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology

    GVRL first hit = Yoga from The Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders

    After clicking through your results to a specific entry, the page that displays the entry does a poor job of distinguishing the screen between the title of entry and the title of the reference work.

    Neither GVRL or Sage give you a stable URL in the address bar for any article you are viewing (JSTOR does this, though). You have to click the “Cite” button in Sage or the When you click on a result, you don’t see a stable or the “Bookmark this document” link in GVRL to get a stable URL (i.e., one that you can share with others with the expectation that the link will point to the same resource you found).

  2. I agree with Stephen’s assessment. The resources in GVRL for sociology and sociological resources alone appears more extensive and focused than that of Sage’s offerings.

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