Large online database collections are quite familiar to anyone writing in an academic setting. Database search services that provide information on works published in a wide variety of disciplines are now available on the internet, and most libraries, as well, allow searching of their holdings on the web. There are scores of smaller, more focussed collections as well that specialize in materials on particular topics.

These large databases, as well as the smaller more focussed collections are indispensable resources for the academic writer. The Citation database system is grounded on the premise that a personalized subset of the information in these larger collections - tailored to an individual’s special area of concern or practice, with editable keywords and comments - is useful to researchers as well.

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