UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 28, Page 2
April 22, 1993
Delaware entries to be part of BEST

     The University of Delaware entries for the BEST North America data
base are now in the process of being put online, as entries are being
approved by participating faculty and staff, according to Deanna Benson,
administrator of research services in the Office of the Vice Provost for
Research.
     BEST North America is a national, private, research-oriented data base
of universities, colleges and supporting corporations.
     Approximately 600 Delaware faculty and staff members, including some
graduate students, have taken advantage of the opportunity to be part of
the BEST North America network.
     More than 500 records have been entered in the data base so far,
Benson said.
     New entries are still being accepted if any faculty and staff are
interested in being included.
     In addition to a profile of each member institution, BEST North
America contains information about faculty and professional researchers'
expertise, research and publications. It also lists research parks,
centers, special equipment, laboratories and intellectual property, such as
patents.
     Information collated for BEST North America also will be used for BEST
Delaware, a campus data base that will list supplemental information about
participants, such as recent grants and publications, avocations and
proposal review experience.
     As tapes of Delaware data are returned from BEST North America, the
information will be combined with the supplementary information to create
BEST Delaware, which will soon be accessible through U-Discover!
     BEST North America can be accessed on campus free of charge in the
Office of Vice Provost for Research by making an appointment with Hugh
Campbell at 831-2136. For a specific item of information, Campbell can
access the network and relay the answer to an inquirer, Benson said.
     BEST North America is an excellent tool for researchers, libraries and
the media for information on scholars and their work and available
resources in different disciplines. It also is an opportunity to present
the research, publications and expertise of the University of Delaware to a
national consortium, Benson said.
     More than 125 universities and research institutions are members of
BEST North America, including Brown University, Dartmouth College, McGill
University, Yale University and Northwestern University.
     Among the 67 supporting corporate members are ARCO Chemical Co.,
American Cyanamid, Bausch & Lomb, Digital Equipment Corp., DuPont Co.,
DuPont-Merck Pharmaceutical Co., Kraft General Foods and Southwestern Bell
Technology Resources, Inc.
     For further information or a demonstration of BEST North America, call
831-2186.
                                        --Sue Swyers Moncure