Support : Publications : Chronolog Archives : June 2001

AgeLine (File 163) Reloaded

AgeLine (File 163), produced by AARP, was recently reloaded with the three new fields—ISSN, ISBN, and Audience; the new document type—Video; expanded information in the Availability field; and updated Descriptors.

About 32% of AgeLine records contain the new Audience field (for Publication Year 1996 onward, with some for 1991-1995). This field is searchable as AD= and is phrase-indexed. Audience indicates intended target audience of a publication and has four options: Research (63%), Public Policy (17%), Professional/Provider (31%), and General Public/Consumer (12%). A record can contain more than one audience type, most commonly Research/Public Policy (e.g., a study of Medicare beneficiaries) or Research/Professional-Provider (e.g., research on quality of life among nursing home residents).

The Availability field (AV=) has been expanded to include journal publisher name and web site URL. Contact information for individual authors is included if provided in the journal, as well as contact information for reports and other non-commercially-published literature, where available.

Records in the reloaded file reflect the most current Descriptors (/DE). For example, a 1996 article about adult children returning home to live with their parents was originally indexed with the Identifier (/ID) "Boomerang Children." That record would then have been changed so that "Boomerang Children" now appears as a descriptor in the record, not as an identifier.

All publications abstracted in AgeLine have an aging focus; and, therefore, it is not necessary to use such terms as "aged" or "geriatric" in a search. However, the Descriptor "Older Adults" is added routinely to almost all AgeLine records to aid in cross-database searching (the exception is articles on middle age). Descriptors "Older Workers" and "Older Computer Users" have been added to facilitate comparisons with younger persons. Age-specific descriptors start at 40+ and continue with 5-year age breaks (e.g., 45+, 50+, 55+ to 90+). The age breaks 18+, 25+, 30+, 35+, and 95+ are currently Identifiers. There are also many broader age terms such as "Young Adults," "Young Old," and "Old Old."

AgeLine's Thesaurus of Aging Terminology, 6th Edition, is available from AARP for $10 prepaid, check made out to AARP (send to AgeLine/RIC, AARP, 601 E St. NW, Washington, DC 20049). A revised edition will be available in January 2002. A list of current Identifiers will be sent as a supplement with all Thesaurus orders.

For more information about changes to Ageline, call the Knowledge Center Help line in the U.S. at 1-800-3DIALOG (334-2564) or your local Help Desk.

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