CDCP is available in both print and online format.

The interface for the online database is fairly straightforward. The most effective searches are most likely full text. The classified headings or “rubrics” are either fairly broad or in some cases unpredictable, such as “Politics & Culture” and “Business & the Economy,” but also “China Fights Antidumping Rule.” The rubric tags also designate articles by type, including “Featured News Stories.” It would be helpful to be able to browse the list of rubrics, as it is not clear if other article-type designators exist.

In the bibliographic citations, the CDCP database is listed as the source for all articles, while the original newspaper source title is tucked into the text of the translated article. Presenting the source title in a fixed field could promote further flexibility of searching, to track the perspectives of particular sources.  

Searches can be limited by dates. Although the limiter for date searches defaults to 1980, since the interface is applicable to cross-database searches of content from East View, the CDCP content goes back only to August 2011. The prompt for “Advance Search” is not prominently displayed from the basic search page.

Browsing individual issues of the digest offers a snapshot of news articles featured in any given week. Access to the issue browse function is available as a tab. Users may also select the title from the source list on the search interface, but since the text does not appear to be hyperlinked, this option may be confusing at first.

One important feature: the individual article entries are crawled by the major web scale discovery services.

Strengths and weaknesses

The CDCP clearly provides a valuable, unique resource for researchers or students who want to integrate a more global perspective into their work in other fields but lack the language or East Asian specialization. It could also be seen as a current awareness tool for more specialized researchers wishing to track trends in the domestic press, except that the time lag between publication of the original article and the translation offered in the digest is a disadvantage for those tracking more recent events or breaking issues, especially in today’s online environment that emphasizes real-time access to news.

Ultimately this tool can provide balance for collections lacking a specialist perspective. One university librarian noted: “Wide coverage of various subjects; sources are cited. Sources are mainly Chinese newspapers in China: this may be a plus-point since we currently do not have a dedicated database of Chinese newspapers.” Another librarian indicated, “CDCP contents  are English translation of  selective Chinese news sources  which mostly are freely available on the web. It is a product for those who need current awareness of China's developments but cannot read Chinese sources.”