e-Resources

Ovid Technologies, platform for the databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, AMED (and others) has released a major change to its search interface, called OvidSP.

The new user interface features both Basic and Syntax search options. The "Ovid Syntax" mode is closest to the current default search screen in OVID, and includes features like term mapping, focus/explode, and scope notes. The new Basic mode uses natural language searching and relevancy ranking. The results display has also been modified and improved.

The new interface will become the default on February 4th, 2008. You can preview OvidSP now by clicking "Try OvidSP!" at the top of the Ovid database list, or when you are in an Ovid database.

Give it a try, and if you have questions please visit the reference desk, or contact us at ext.22327 or hslib@mcmaster.ca.

The Health Sciences Library is running a trial of a new resource: Henry Stewart Talks: The Biomedical and Life Sciences Collection.

This resource is a collection of over 700 seminar style talks geared towards research scientists, graduate students and advanced undergraduates. All of the seminars have been specially commissioned by leading scientists and are presented in a format of animated slides with synchronized narration.

Please take a look at this new resource and give us feedback through the Recommend to your Librarian form accessible from within the trial website (3rd option in blue-only; takes 60 seconds) or simply send an e-mail to thomall@mcmaster.ca with your feedback and contact details.

The Biomedical and Life Sciences Collection is constantly being expanded and updated and the current trial provides access from March 1st to April 30th, 2008.

Try it now! : http://libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://www.hstalks.com/trial

Questions or Comments? Send to thomall@mcmaster.ca

In December, EBL experienced an unexpected error with Adobe Content Server (ACS) software. The error disabled all EBL downloading and required EBL to reload all of their content into ACS.

EBL reports that this process has been completed and that downloads are now working normally.

Under pressure from the US Congress, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a draft report of Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in 26 U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern Released.

ISI databases available through the Web of Knowledge / Web of Science now have a new interface. Features include the ability to add additional search boxes and to focus results via a new "refine search" menu which appears to the left of the initial results.

For more details, see http://isiwebofknowledge.com/currentuser_wokhome/cu_new/

Easy-to-use search boxes and search aids make sophisticated searching easy

• Whether searching all databases or an individual collection, users can use the search boxes to perform general searches. With the click of a mouse they can easily add more search boxes to add more search fields.
• They can also click on the search aid button to the right of the pull-down menu to access search aids such as those with specialized terminology and publication names.

RESULTS PAGES

Results pages now show more detail

• Searching in all databases or a single database yields results pages that display the bibliographic information for records, as well as full-text links and OpenURL linking.
• Users can choose to display 10, 25, or 50 records per page.

Analyze and refine searches from Results pages

• Without having to go back and repeat a search, a user can narrow down results using a checkbox to the left of the Results page.
• Refine by categories meaningful to the search, including subject area, document type, author, language, and other terms that help pinpoint the data the user needs.
• With a click of the mouse, the user can analyze up to 100,000 results, set display and search options, view the records, and save the analysis to a file.

FULL RECORDS PAGES DISPLAY MORE INFORMATION AND LINKS

• Full records display Web of Science citation information -- Citation results and Related Records searching are clearly highlighted in individual full records, providing these powerful tools to help the user find a wider variety of relevant articles.
• In the right-hand panel, the user sees how many times the record was cited in Web of Science, and the three most recent citations. The user can link to citing articles, Related Records, and the item's cited references. The user can also set a citation alert. (Web of Science subscription required.)
• There are links to other available subscription data, including the journal's impact factor (depending on your institution's subscription).

The former version can still be accessed until January 27 by following the "Access Previous Interface" link after accessing the database.

Update: Access to the Springer ebooks has been restored.

Original post: We are currently experiencing access problems with e-books published by Springer and provided through MyiLibrary. Users are receiving the error Your login by IP authentication has expired (1/9/2008). We are working to restore access through MyiLibrary.

In the meantime, MyiLibrary titles can be accessed through SpringerLink: http://libaccess.mcmaster.ca/login?url=http://link.springer-ny.com/.

Search for the book title in SpringerLink, then limit the results by clicking Books under Content Type in the menu on the right.

A year ago, McMaster University Libraries provided access to 50,000 e-Books.

Status Epilepticus, Mechanisms and Management,

Edited by Claude G. Wasterlain and David M. Treiman

Interest in status epilepticus--the most extreme form of epilepsy, involving continuous seizures--has surged in the last 20 years. The book focuses on the two areas in which progress has been most rapid: basic mechanisms and treatment. After an overview of history, classification, and epidemiology, the contributors consider clinical phenomenology, biological markers, pathophysiology, brain damage, epileptogenesis, therapeutic principles, pharmacology, and therapeutic management.

About the Editors:
Claude G. Wasterlain is Chief of the Department of Neurology at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center and Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Neurology at UCLA.
David M. Treiman is Director of the Epilepsy Center at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix.

The Portico service offers a permanent archive of electronic scholarly journals, thereby providing protection against the potential loss of access to e-literature integral to a library's collection.

Portico provides all libraries supporting the archive with campus-wide access to archived content when specific trigger events occur, and when titles are no longer available from the publisher or other source. Trigger events include:

• A publisher stops operations; or
• A publisher ceases to publish a title; or
• A publisher no longer offers back issues; or
• Upon catastrophic and sustained failure of a publisher's delivery platform.

Portico also provides a reliable means to secure perpetual access, if participating publishers choose to designate Portico as a provider of post-cancellation access. In addition, select librarians at participating libraries are granted password-controlled access for verification and audit purposes only.

A list of our participating publishers is available. A list of committed journal titles is also available.

In a demonstration of support for their program mandate and service to the library community, CRKN are proud to offer their endorsement of the Portico archive.