Detailed Description Of New Vendor Versions Of Transitioning Databases
a. Detailed Description Of New Vendor Versions Of Transitioning Databases
On April 11, 2002, INSPEC via Ovid became available to the UC community at http://gateway.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&NEWS=N&PAGE=main&D=insz. Access to INSPEC via CDL-hosted Databases is expected to continue until December 31, 2002.
INSPEC cites scientific and technical journals and conference proceedings in physics and astronomy, electrical engineering and electronics, computers and information technology. INSPEC indexes over 4000 journals, 1000 conferences, and some reports, dissertations and books. Ovid provides INSPEC data from 1969 to the present.
What’s changed?
1. “Phrase searching” is new default
2. Truncation
1. “Phrase searching” is new default – Ovid defaults to adjacency in multiword searches. To go beyond phrase searching users must enter Boolean operators (and, or) between the words; for example, the Keyword search statement “quasiparticle graphite” will give zero results. The search statement “quasiparticle and graphite” will return 22 references.
2. Truncation is enhanced in INSPEC via Ovid.
—Use $ or : to retrieve unlimited suffix variations (gaussian$, to retrieve gaussian, gaussianity)
—Use # to replace a single character within or at the end of a word (gr#y, to retrieve gray or grey)
—Use ? to replace one or no characters within or at the end of a word (model?ing, to retrieve modeling or modelling)
What’s new or better?
1. Online thesaurus
2. Classification Code searching
3. Numeric Data searching
1. Online subject thesaurus
INSPEC utilizes a “thesaurus”, a mapped scheme of subjects that are assigned to articles to facilitate subject searching. Users may now browse terms in the online thesaurus, and users may search the database directly by a thesaurus term/phrase. (While browsing was available for the CDL-hosted telnet version of INSPEC since CDL first implemented it, the thesaurus was never available in the CDL-hosted web interface.)
2. Classification Code
Classification Code searching enhances subject access. Physicists and engineers are quite comfortable with codes and numbers, and the Ovid flavor of INSPEC offers the capability to execute searches using a producer-designed subject Classification Code system. It is a hierarchical scheme but ensures in the electronic realm that the text of a heading can be understood without reference to the hierarchical arrangement.
Searchers who already utilize PACS/Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme, established by American Institute of Physics’ Subcommittee on Classification and Information Retrieval, will see familiar parallels between the British INSPEC classification codes and PACS.
The PACS for optical materials is “42.70”; the INSPEC Classification Code for optical materials is “A4270”. The Classification Codes begin with a single letter, A, B, C, or D, denoting sections of the INSPEC database. Any item may appear in more than one section.
A – Physics and Astronomy
B – Electrical Engineering and Electronics
C – Computers and Control
D – Information Technology
Users can search either the numerical classification code (A9650.cc) or its corresponding textual heading (interplanetary dust.cc). Both searches will retrieve the same documents. Searchers may view and select online from the hierarchical list of codes and corresponding terms.
3. Numeric Data
Numeric Data searching is now available. The Numerical Data (ND) field, which first appeared in 1987, contains structured numeric data. The data is more likely to be operating or experimental parameters rather than measured values or experimental results. Only data that is in the title or abstract or is encountered by the indexer when writing the abstract is considered for inclusion. Users may limit results to articles discussing a particular type (such as Bandwidth, Depth, Distance, Electrical Conductivity, Geocentric Distance, Heliocentric Distance, Magnetic Flux Density, Mass, Pressure, Stellar Mass, Temperature, Time, Velocity) without actually searching on the actual numeric value, by using the Limit / Numeric Data option. Below is an example of Numeric Data indexing in INSPEC from a recent Physical Review Letters article from the Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley (record edited to showcase ND field).
Example of Numeric Data Indexing:
Author
–Spataru CD. Cazalilla MA. Rubio A. Benedict LX. Echenique PM. Louie SG.
Institution
–Dept. of Phys., California Univ., Berkeley, CA, USA.
Title
–Anomalous quasiparticle lifetime in graphite: band structure effects.
Source
–Physical Review Letters, vol.87, no.24, 10 Dec. 2001, pp.246405/1-4. Publisher: APS, USA.
Abstract
–We report ab initio calculations of quasiparticle lifetimes in graphite, as determinedfrom the imaginary part of the self-energy operator within the GW approximation. The inverse lifetime in the energy range from 0.5 to 3.5 eV above the Fermi level presents significant deviations from the quadratic behavior naively expected from Fermi liquid theory. The deviations are explained in terms of the unique features of the band structure of this material. We also discuss the experimental results from different groups and make some predictions for future experiments. (22 References).
Treatment
–Theoretical or mathematical.
Numeric Data
–Electron volt energy 5.0E-01 to 3.5E+00 eV
What’s one neat thing to remember?
Treatment Codes are considered one of the best features in INSPEC. A Treatment Code helps to define what the author’s approach was in writing an article. There are choices of nine treatment codes that can be assigned to records by INSPEC indexers and utilized by searchers to limit searches. Two of these are especially important to physicists, Experimental and Theoretical.
—Applications describes the use or implementation of an instrument, device, etc
—Bibliographic/Literature Survey describes an article that contains many references, usually more than 50.
—Economic Aspects/Market Survey describes any article that deals with economic or commercial aspects, including market forecasts and trends.
—Experimental is assigned to any article that describes an experimental method, observation, or result.
—General or Review treatment code describes articles or documents that deal with the overall view of a subject.
—New Developments describes articles covering something new or novel in the patentable sense and is usually used in conjunction with another code.
—Practical code is assigned to any document of direct practical use, and is useful for engineers and design staff.
—Product Review is used for product comparisons.
—Theoretical is assigned to theoretical or mathematical articles.
What’s coming?
Alerts (updates) are not yet available but are planned for summer 2002.
b. Current Contents via Ovid (Beth Weil, UCB; Resource Liaison)
On April 11, 2002, Current Contents via Ovid will be made available to the UC community at http://gateway.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&NEWS=N&PAGE=main&D=ccall ;. Access to Current Contents via CDL-hosted databases is expected to continue until 12/31/02.
Links to holdings and electronic full text are available through the UC-eLinks service. The Ovid version of Current Contents greatly enhances our access by providing new searching capabilities and new ways of managing the resulting citations.
Ovid provides Current Contents data from 1993 to the present. Current Contents provides access to the tables of contents and bibliographic data from current issues of the world’s leading scholarly research journals and books in the sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities. Cover-to cover indexing of journal articles, reviews, meeting abstracts, editorials, etc., is provided for more than 7500 international journals covering all disciplines. Complete bibliographic information, including English-language author abstracts (for approximately 85% of articles and reviews in the science editions), author keywords, KeyWords Plus, and ISSN’s are provided.
What’s new for UC Users?
1. Abstracts for about 85% of the articles
2. Enhanced subject searching by the availability of abstract words, author keywords and keywords plus
3. Volume and/or issue number are searchable, which can assist in verifying citations
4. Author affiliation (called institution) is now searchable
5. Access to the table of contents is available from any citation
6. Current Contents subfiles list is browsable in limits
7. Adjacency searching allows greater precision in searching
8. Truncation options have expanded
9. Direct importing into Endnote 4 and 5
What has changed for UC Users?
1. CC through Ovid covers 1993-present. Those needing CC bibliographic data prior to 1993 can access it from Web of Science.
2. Phrase searching is the default. Because Ovid defaults to adjacency, if you want to do a word search you must enter Boolean operators between the words.
3. Alerts (updates) are not yet available, but are planned for summer 2002.
4. Command line access devotees will need to learn Ovid command line syntax. (These are generally very similar to old BRS commands.) A summary of commands is listed in Ovid’s help under advanced searching. See: http://gateway1.ovid.com:80/ovidweb.cgi?S=IDNJHKLGKFADLK00D&HC=syntax&
5. # truncation symbol stands for only 1 character truncation
6. Call numbers and full text URL’s can no longer be printed, emailed or imported into personal bibliographic software (such as Endnote).
Searching Options
Ovid offers two searching options, basic and advanced. Basic mode supports author and subject searching with basic limits. Advanced mode allows the user to specify fields, and Boolean or adjacency operators either by using the main search tool bar or by specifying commands in the search box. The search history is displayed in the advanced mode. Although the search history is not displayed in basic mode, Ovid does maintain it and you can easily see previous searches done in basic mode by clicking on the advanced mode button on the main search page. A list of commonly used fields in Current Contents is available in the CDL Current Contents Quick Guide at [http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/comm/outreach/ovidCC.doc]. A complete list of fields is available in the Ovid Current Contents Field Guide in the Ovid Help under Database Information. http://gateway.ovid.com/rel450/server1/fldguide/cc.htm
Truncation
Truncation is greatly enhanced in the Ovid interface.
–Use $ or : to retrieve unlimited suffix variations (e.g. computer$.ti.)
–Use # to replace a single character within or at the end of a (word wom#n.ti)
–Use ? to replace one or no characters within or at the end of a word. (colo?r = color or colour)
Note: You must have at least two characters in a word before any wild card or truncation.
Author Searching
Author searching in the basic version is automatically truncated. In the advanced system you must choose authors from the index or use appropriate truncation in the command line.
Journal Search
Enter a few words of the journal title, just enough so that Ovid can take you to the correct part of the journal index display. Do not use abbreviations.
Subject Searching
Enter your subject keyword or keywords (linked with a Boolean operator or as a phrase), in the main search box and click on the Perform Search button. Titles, abstracts, and author keywords and keywords plus will be searched. Without a Boolean operator, terms will be looked for as a phrase.
Table of Contents
ToC are available from the results page of any search. To browse journal names & issue numbers or Book names click on the Browse Contents Icon on the Searching Tool Bar.
Managing your Results
Citations are emailed, printed or downloaded using the Citation Manager found at the bottom of each screen display of records. The Citation Manager in advanced mode provides a great amount of flexibility regarding which fields are included, which citations are included and the method of delivery. Primary and secondary sort functions are also available. The print function from the browser must be used to print.
Personal Bibliographic Software (i.e Endnote)
Patrons who wish to import data in Endnote have several options; however you must be in Advanced Mode to utilize them. Users of Endnote 4 and 5 can use Ovid’s direct import option if they are searching Ovid from a machine that has Endnote. It is also possible to email or save files for importing into Endnote at a later time. The reprint/Medlars format in the Citation Manager should be used for either of these options.
Telnet Searching
A telnet searching option is available in Ovid. It can be reached by telneting to Ovid.com and pressing return in response to the next two prompts. The telnet access is not user friendly. For those of you looking for a fast command language system we do not recommend telnet access. Using the Ovid command language will be considerably more satisfying