BIDS - THE GROWTH OF A NETWORKED END-USER BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASE SERVICE

BIDS (Bath Information & Data Services) has been running end-user bibliographic database services since February 1991. Since then, the service has seen steady growth in the number of users, the number of sites subscribing, the range of databases and the facilities provided for users. There is evidence of a widespread awareness of BIDS services, both within the UK academic community, and elsewhere, in industry and overseas. This paper outlines the development of the BIDS service, and the facilities it currently offers. It reviews the growth of the service and looks at the lessons learned. In particular it will look at how user feedback is being taken into account in re-implementing the service on a new platform. It will also review the way in which different support strategies have worked in practice, and consider how the use of network tools such as the World Wide Web could help provide effective end-user support to this and other similar services.