Science Library Updates

Three databases hosted by EbscoHOST -- MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and PsycArticles, have recently added a "Visual Search" feature. Visual Searching allows you to start with a broad topic and narrow your results by looking at a map of clusters of related topics. This is very useful for those who may be more visual thinkers rather than linear thinkers, and it gives everyone a new look into searching strategies and the relationships between documents.

NOTE: You must have Java to use this tool.

To begin a Visual Search, go to one of the databases mentioned above. At the top of the screen, click on the "Visual Search" tab. Type your search in the "Find" text box.

Check out this resource on these databases! A tutorial for this feature is available at http://support.epnet.com/training/flash_videos/VisualSearch.html.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 1:34 PM | Permalink

Biochemical Journal is celebrating 100 years by providing full-text open access to all issues at http://www.biochemj.org/bj/toc.htm.

This journal is published on behalf of The Biochemical Society by Portland Press. Many of the recent issues not only provide PDF format for viewing, but also EESI-View, a new way to view journal articles. Older issues provide PDF.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 7:53 PM | Permalink

Another open access journal has been launched: Biointerphases. Edited by Michael Grunze (University of Heidelberg), and with an editorial board including premier scientists, this will likely become another pioneer in the open access movement. Biointerphases is published by AVS.

From the journal's homepage:

The Biointerphases journal provides an interdisciplinary platform for scientific exchange among the biology, chemistry, physics, and materials sciences communities. It offers a discussion forum for rapid dissemination of scientific theories, results, and interpretations. Biointerphases serves as a global vehicle for the biomaterials interface community as well as a platform that encourages dialog between scientists and the public with respect to cogent policy issues.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 8:48 AM | Permalink

According to ScienceCommons.org, the world's largest protein database now has a Creative Commons license. This means it is free for use by the public, and is another step into the fight for Open Access. Please read the following statement from the Science Commons blog:

Uniprot.org, the world's most comprehensive catalog of information on proteins, is now using Creative Commons licensing. We spent a lot of time talking to the Uniprot folks over the last year. I'd encourage everyone to check out the FAQ we wrote on database licensing and Creative Commons licenses to understand exactly which elements of the database are copyrighted and which are not.

But the important thing is, as the terms state, you are now free to copy, distribute, display and make commercial use of these databases, provided you give credit where it's due. That means the data, the layouts, the entry sheets, everything. Congratulations to the Uniprot consortium and to Eric Jain.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 8:40 PM | Permalink

BioMed Central, the open access publisher, has released its forthcoming titles in Biology.

Cell Division
Diagnostic Pathology
Journal of Biomedical Discovery and Collaboration
Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine
Synthetic and Systems Biology
. . . and many more.

BioMed Central (BMC) is a for-profit Open Access journal publisher. BMC hosts independent, Open Access journals in addition to publishing the BMC series and a few others. Currently BMC hosts 81 active independent, Open Access journals

Continue reading "New Open Access Journals for Biology" »

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 1:54 PM | Permalink