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Extended Library Hours May 7 - 11
The Briscoe Library will be open extended hours Sunday, May 7 through Thursday, May 11. During these five days the Library will remain open until 2:00 a.m. instead of closing at midnight.
The Library is staying open additional hours at the request of students who wanted extended hours to study for final exams. Due to staffing and financial constraints, the Library cannot remain open until 2:00 a.m during the entire four weeks that final exams last for all of the UTHSCSA Schools. The Library selected the week with the most final exams to stay open extended hours. If the Library is heavily used between midnight and 2:00 a.m. during these five days, it is likely the Library will stay open extended hours during one week of final exams in both the Fall and Spring semesters.
For more information about the extended hours, please contact the Library Information Desk at 210-567-2450 or AskALibrarian@uthscsa.edu.
Melissa De Santis, M.L.I.S.
Assistant Director for Public Services
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CINAHL Access Changing June 1
The UTHSCSA Library’s access to CINAHL, the nursing and allied health database, will be changing on June 1. At that time, access will be through EBSCO, rather than Ovid. Currently, you can “test drive” the new version of CINAHL by selecting it from the Library’s alphabetic list of databases, available by clicking the Databases tab on the Library website (http://www.library.uthscsa.edu). Off-campus access to EBSCO CINAHL is available to UTHSCSA students, faculty, and staff who have registered with the Library and set a PIN.
Like Ovid, EBSCO is a database vendor, providing access to many databases. Most databases are produced by a separate organization, which makes the data available to database vendors for a fee. For example, MEDLINE is produced by the National Library of Medicine, which provides its own interface (PubMed) as well as providing the same MEDLINE data to various vendors. EBSCO has recently purchased all CINAHL operations and now produces the database itself. With this change, EBSCO has decided that it will no longer lease data to other vendors. Ovid’s agreement with CINAHL is not up until 2008; however, our contract with Ovid expires this summer, so we will be making the switch to EBSCO at that time.
Although the interface looks different, the information included in the database remains the same and most of the same important database features are available through EBSCO. For example, click on the link that says CINAHL Headings to search using subject headings. To help ease the transition, we have produced a tipsheet on EBSCO CINAHL, available at http://www.library.uthscsa.edu/consultation/pdf/ebscocinahl.pdf (or go to the Library’s website at http://www.library.uthscsa.edu and select the Tutorials and Tipsheets link in the left column. The CINAHL tipsheet is available in the “Database Tipsheets” section.)
Library staff members are working with faculty at the School of Nursing and the School of Allied Health during this transition. We will also add workshops on EBSCO CINAHL to our monthly roster during the summer months. One-on-one consults are also available. For more information, contact the Briscoe Library Information Desk at 210-567-2450 or AskALibrarian@uthscsa.edu.
Janna Lawrence, M.L.I.S.
Reference & Instructional Services Coordinator
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Using Library Resources to Find Citation Information
Whether you want to track a path of scientific research, hope to publish in a highly-respected journal in your field, or need to summarize citations to your publications for promotion and tenure purposes, the Library has several tools to help you. Learning to use Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Journal Citation Reports will make it easy for you to work with citation information. These databases are available from the Databases tab on the Library’s website at http://www.library.uthscsa.edu. Remote access is restricted to UTHSCSA students, faculty, and staff who are registered Library borrowers and who have set a PIN.
Web of Science
Web of Science is the online version of the print tools Science Citation Index and the Social Sciences Index, and it covers nearly 8700 research journals. Starting with a known “source citation,” you can use Web of Science to find the papers cited in the bibliography of that article, and you can find the papers which have cited the source paper in their bibliographies. Web of Science also includes an Alerts feature. You can select a source citation or citations and request that you be notified whenever that paper has been included in a bibliography. The Library’s subscription to Web of Science includes publication and citation information from 1989 to the present.
SCOPUS
SCOPUS is a fairly new database resource for the Library. This database covers a broad range of information in the physical sciences, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences dating back to 1960. SCOPUS is an excellent tool for finding bibliographic information on a particular topic, and the database has recently been enhanced with citation information as well. From a list of articles generated by a subject search, you can sort the articles using the “cited by” field to see the most highly cited articles and by whom they were cited. You can also create a document citation alert, which will generate an email to you each time a specified article is cited.
You can also search by an author’s name and create a “citation overview” with detailed citation information from the last ten years. Overview information can be sorted by year or by most (or least) cited, although there is a ten-year limit to the overview. [Note: citation information from SCOPUS cannot be considered comprehensive for an author, because of the ten year limit.] This feature of SCOPUS is also useful for determining the h index for a particular author. The h index is dependent on both the number of publications an author has and the number of times those publications have been cited, presumably correlating with the author’s importance in a field of research. For example, Dr. Smith’s h index is 14 if Dr. Smith has written 14 articles that have each been cited 14 or more times. (For an in-depth explanation of the h index and how it is determined, see Hirsch JE. An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. PNAS 2005; 102(46): 16569-72.)
Journal Citation Reports
Journal Citation Reports (JCR on the Web) is a resource that provides information about citation information in specific journals. This includes the impact factor, which was developed by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI). The impact factor is determined by dividing the number of times articles from a journal have been cited in the last two years, divided by the number of articles published in the journal during the same time frame. Journals can be grouped by subject category for comparison, or they can be searched individually. For example, a search by the subject category Microbiology yields a list of 84 journals that then can be sorted by total citations, impact factor, immediacy index, which indicates how current citations in the journal are, and the cited half-life (the median age of articles cited).
Want to learn more? Later this summer, Library staff will offer a new workshop called “20-20 Hind-Cite: Finding and Using Citing Information Tools.” See the Briscoe Library’s Classes page at http://www.library.uthscsa.edu/consultation/schedule.cfm for the date and time and to register.
If you have questions about these or other Library resources, contact the Library’s Information Desk at 210-567-2450 or by email to AskALibrarian@uthscsa.edu.
Linda Levy, M.L.S.
Database Services Coordinator
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Science of Synthesis Demonstration June 8
On June 8 from 2:00 to 3:30 in Library Room 2A, Michael Poynter from Thieme Medical Publishers will demonstrate the online version of Science of Synthesis. Science of Synthesis (in print and online) represents a new edition of the series Houben-Weyl Methods of Organic Chemistry, a standard reference work first published in the early 1900s and frequently updated. Science of Synthesis covers the field of organic chemistry from the early 1800s and contains a comprehensive collection of synthetic methods selected by world-renowned chemists, giving full experimental procedures and background information. The electronic version has an information retrieval system which allows for searching of structures, substructures, and reactions. This demonstration is open to all faculty, staff, and students without pre-registration.
The Library trial of Science of Synthesis will continue through mid-June. We welcome your comments about the value of this resource. To try Science of Synthesis prior to the demonstration, you can link either through “What’s New” or through the Database tab on the Library’s website. Science of Synthesis is PC compatible (supports Windows NT 4.0/95/98/2000/XP) and requires Internet Explorer 5.0 and above. (Science of Synthesis is not available for Macs or Firefox.) Using Science of Synthesis requires that you turn off pop-up blocks. The full directions for use are available at http://www.library.uthscsa.edu/basics/new.cfm?Title=422. Questions? Contact the Library’s Information Desk at 567-2450 or via email to AskALibrarian@uthscsa.edu.
Linda Levy, M.L.S.
Database Services Coordinator
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PubChem: An Entrez Database of Small Molecules
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has announced important enhancements for its free chemistry database PubChem. PubChem is comprised of three individual databases: PubChem Substance, PubChem Compound, and PubChem Bioassay. As part of the Entrez system, the three PubChem databases are linked to several related Entrez databases, including PubMed, Protein, and Structure.
PubChem Substance contains over 800,000 chemical samples imported from 14 public sources. Chemical entities in PubChem Substance records that have known structures are validated, converted to a standardized form, and imported into PubChem Compound. This standardizing allows NCBI to compute chemical parameters and similarity relationships between compounds and to group the compounds into levels of chemical similarity. PubChem Compound also indexes these chemicals using 34 fields, many of which represent computed chemical properties such as the number of chiral centers, the number of hydrogen bond donors/acceptors, molecular formula and weight, total formal charge, and octanol-water partition coefficients (XlogP). These groups are provided as Entrez links that allow similar compounds to be retrieved quickly. The third database, PubChem Bioassay, currently includes 173 bioactivity studies from the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the National Cancer Institute, and each of these studies is linked to records in PubChem Substance. The PubChem Bioassay interface allows users to view substances that meet certain activity and/or chemical criteria, and the matching records can either be viewed in PubChem Substance or downloaded in several formats.
For more information, see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/jf05/jf05_pubchem.html. PubChem can be accessed from the Library’s Databases tab at http://www.library.uthscsa.edu. Because PubChem is free and open to the public, it is also available at http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. However, since it links to PubMed references, and the full-text of those references is usually available only to subscribers, accessing PubChem through the Library website will provide more full-text information.
Linda Levy, M.L.S.
Database Services Coordinator
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BioMed Central Institutional Membership Discontinued
The UTHSCSA Library has maintained an institutional membership to BioMed Central, the open access publisher, since 2003. Institutional membership allows UTHSCSA authors to publish articles in BioMed Central journals without paying an article submission fee. In 2006, BioMed Central changed its pricing model for institutional membership, making it no longer cost effective for the Library to continue an institutional membership. Instead, we encourage UTHSCSA authors to pay article publication fees for open access with grant funds whenever possible. The UTHSCSA continues to support the concept of open access; however, our budget does not allow us to continue to pay article submission fees for the increasing number of open access options available to authors, including BioMed Central. We hope UTHSCSA authors will continue to publish in BioMed Central and seek additional options for making their research results accessible to a wider audience. If you have any questions about the Library’s decision to discontinue BioMed Central membership, please contact Rajia Tobia, Associate Library Director for Collection Development, at tobia@uthscsa.edu.
Rajia Tobia, A.M.L.S.
Associate Library Director for Collection Development
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Top Journals Still Used in Print
The UTHSCSA Library has converted many journals to online subscriptions due to the convenience of having journal content available when and where it is needed. The Library currently has paid subscriptions to over 2,600 electronic journals and access to over 17,000 online journals linked through the Library’s new A-Z electronic journals list (see story in January-February 2006 Library News). The Library also has approximately 200 journals that are only available in print and 380 print titles for which electronic access is also available. Despite the popularity of electronic journals, many of the Library’s print journals are still used frequently. At the end of February each year, Briscoe Library staff tally the number of times print journals were used during the previous year. The following journals represent the twenty journals that were most heavily used in print format during 2005.
| Title |
Print Circulation |
| New England Journal of Medicine |
440 |
| Journal of the American Medical Association |
342 |
| Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics |
252 |
| Nature |
209 |
| Science |
200 |
| Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry |
197 |
| Lancet |
196 |
| Spine |
183 |
| Annals of Internal Medicine |
174 |
| Foot & Ankle International |
157 |
| Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. American volume |
155 |
| Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research |
149 |
| American Journal of Occupational Therapy |
143 |
| New Scientist |
143 |
| Cancer |
139 |
| Journal of the American Dental Association |
131 |
| American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology |
123 |
| American Medical News |
123 |
| American Journal of Medicine |
121 |
| Archives of Internal Medicine |
121 |
Rajia Tobia, A.M.L.S.
Associate Library Director for Collection Development
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Two Open Access Bills Introduced in Congress
Two bills have recently been introduced in Congress to make federally funded research more accessible to the public. The Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006 has been introduced into the U.S. Senate by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT). This legislation would require that federally funded research appearing in peer-reviewed journals be made openly accessible in digital repositories within six months of publication. Specifically the legislation would require:
- All federal agencies with annual extramural research budgets of 100 million or more to implement a public access policy
- Researchers funded totally or partially by those agencies to submit electronic copies of their final peer-reviewed manuscripts that have been accepted for publication
- Peer-reviewed manuscripts to be preserved in digital repositories maintained by those agencies or in other suitable repositories.
- Free online access to taxpayer-funded manuscripts to be available as soon as possible and no later than six months after publication in a peer-reviewed journal
The Federal Research Public Access Act would not affect copyright laws. It also would not apply to classified research or to works not submitted or accepted for publication. The legislation exempts laboratory notes, preliminary data analysis, author notes, phone logs and other information used to produce the final manuscript.
The Act would extend and improve upon the public access policy of the National Institutes of Health, which was implemented in May 2005. That policy is voluntary for researchers and allows up to twelve months following publication for research to be made publicly accessible in NIH’s PubMed Central online digital archive. NIH estimates that only four percent of eligible research is making its way into PubMed Central under their current policy.
The American Centers for Cures Act of 2005 (S.2104), introduced December 7, 2005 by Senator Lieberman and Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS), also includes provisions for public access to federally funded research results. This legislation would create the American Center for Cures to orchestrate focused research and development of specific solutions to pressing ailments and speed biomedical research and development. The Center’s mission would be to translate basic research into practical therapies. Among its provisions, the Cures bill would establish free public access to articles stemming from research funded by agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The bill also would require that the research be made available in PubMed Central within six months of publication in a peer-reviewed journal. It also stipulates that non-compliance may be grounds for the sponsoring agency to refuse future funding.
Rajia Tobia, A.M.L.S.
Associate Library Director for Collection Development
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Upcoming Briscoe Library Workshops
A variety of hands-on workshops are offered at the Briscoe Library each month. Over the next few months, we will continue to teach our traditional workshops and add some new ones. New workshops include “20-20 Hind-Cite: Finding and Using Citation Information Tools,” “Using ERes for Course Reserves,” and “Using EBSCO CINAHL to Locate Nursing & Allied Health Information.”
Workshops are open to the public. Advance registration is appreciated; online registration, along with the current schedule and class descriptions, is available on the Library Classes web page at http://www.library.uthscsa.edu/consultation/schedule.cfm. Currently scheduled workshops are listed below. Watch the Library Classes web page for updated information. If you are not able to attend a workshop at the scheduled time, we are happy to arrange a one-on-one consultation or to set up a class especially for your group. For more information, contact Janna Lawrence, Reference and Instructional Services Coordinator, at 210-567-2450 or jlawrence@uthscsa.edu.
Ovid Tips & Tricks: Getting Started with MEDLINE
Friday, May 12, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday, June 14, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
Using EBSCO CINAHL to Locate Nursing & Allied Health Information
Thursday, June 1, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Friday, June 23, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday, July 11, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
PubMed: Getting the Most Out of PubMed
Tuesday, May 16, 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 15, 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m.
Searching the Web for Biomedical Information
Wednesday, June 14, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Advanced Web Searching & Evaluating of Biomedical Information
Thursday, May 4, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Using ERes for Course Reserves: A Workshop for Faculty
Wednesday, June 28, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
20-20 Hind-Cite: Finding and Using Citing Information Tools
Wednesday, July 12, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Library Basics
Thursday, May 11, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Introduction to RefWorks
Wednesday, May 17, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, June 29, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Introduction to EndNote
Thursday, May 18, 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m.
Friday, June 16, 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m.
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Editor of the Library News is Janna Lawrence (jlawrence@uthscsa.edu).
Suggestions, questions, and comments should be directed to AskaLibrarian@uthscsa.edu
