Costs of medline and CD-ROM searching

BITNIS — Bridging the information gap before the web

Before the modern internet and World Wide Web drastically simplified our access to scientific information, accessing the authoritative information of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) from outside the U.S. was for many very difficult. Compared to the totality of people with access to computers globally at the time, only a privileged group of biomedical researchers and practitioners could afford this access. The NLM was making great contributions developing products and collaborations to reduce the information gap for many underserved communities. This article describes a remarkable initiative started from the other end, underserved information users creating a solution to help the international community reach the NLM resources. Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D., the NLM Director and health informatics pioneer, believed in letting users guide the NLM down its path of service. The BITNIS project is a successful example of his leadership philosophy at a turning point in health informatics history.

A 30-year citation analysis of bibliometric trends at the Archives Of Environmental Health, 1975-2004

This article describes a 30-year citation analysis of the Archives of Environmental Health (AEH), from the earliest available data in 1975, to 2004, when it became the Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health (AEOH). Longitudinal trends were examined regarding the number of items published, the number of citations received, the immediacy index, and the journal's impact factor. A list of the 5 most highly cited articles was also established, including citation frequency and citation lag times. Overall, this study demonstrates that citation analysis can provide an interesting look at the development of a journal over time. The examination of what articles, themes, and topics were being published, cited, or ignored also offers a unique insight into the direction of not only a particular journal, but also the discipline within which it exists.

Assessment of bibliographic databases performance in information retrieval for occupational and environmental toxicology

OBJECTIVE

To determine the efficiency of the major bibliographic databases by assessing the percentage of references among the total literature available that can be retrieved from each database. We also evaluated the best database combinations to carry out an exhaustive search.

METHODS

BIOSIS, EMBASE, MEDLINE, NIOSH-TIC, and TOXLINE were searched on two topics: allergy to latex and asbestos and mesothelioma, in the title, abstract, or keywords (textwords). This search was performed for the years 1994 and 1995. All the records were classified by journal and author's name and were verified for each record whether or not it was indexed in each database. Statistical analysis was performed with chi 2 test.

RESULTS

777 articles in 510 issues were found. The efficiency of each database (percentage of articles recovered) and of combinations varied between 11% and 63% for one database and between 42% and 86% for a combination of two databases. The reasons why these differences exist between databases, and within a database, between two different subjects or two different years are reported.

CONCLUSION

Firstly, it is not advisable to assert that a bibliography is complete when only one database is searched. Secondly, the efficiency of the databases may be quite different. Finally, it is suggested that the best way to be as exhaustive as possible is to search two or more databases-for example, in EMBASE and TOXLINE, or to a lesser extent EMBASE and MEDLINE. This seems to be the best compromise solution between time consumed for searching and efficiency.

MEDLINE: the options for health professionals

The bibliographic database MEDLINE, produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), is a computerized index to the world's biomedical literature. The database can be searched back to 1966 and contains 6.8 million records. The various means of access are divided, for the purposes of this article, into three categories: logging onto a remote host computer by telephone and modem or by the Internet; subscribing to part or all of the database on compact disc (CD-ROM); and leasing the data on a transport medium such as magnetic tape or CDs for loading on a local host computer. Decisions about which method is preferable in a given situation depend on cost, availability of hardware and software, local expertise, and the size of the intended user population. Trends include increased access to the Internet by health professionals, increased network speed, links from MEDLINE records to full-text databases or online journals, and integration of MEDLINE into wider health information systems.