Inside CDL

CDLINFO LISTSERV, August 23, 2001, Vol.4, No.15

CONTENTS

  1. CDL Database Transitions
    1. RILM Changes (Michael Colby, Resource Liaison for RILM)
    2. ABI/Inform Changes (Michael Oppenheim, Resource Liaison for ABI/Inform)
    3. Updated Web Pages
    4. Status of Vendor Negotiations
  2. New Resources Available
    1. Blackwell Academic Publishing Journals
    2. American Mathematical Society Journals
    3. Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
    4. Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
    5. American Institute of Physics Journals
  3. California Digital Library Standards Documents
  4. For More Information
    1. CDL News
    2. Contacts for Questions or Problems
    3. Information about CDLINFO

1. CDL Database Transitions

a. RILM Changes (Michael Colby, Resource Liaison for RILM)
On August 15, RILM transitioned from the OCLC interface accessible via the CDL-hosted databases interface, to the native interface offered by NISC. UC access to RILM can now be found at http://biblioline.nisc.com/scripts/login.dll?BiblioLine. At first we will be losing some of the features that had been available through the CDL Z39.30 implementation of RILM, such as links to holdings and hyperlinked headings. Some of these features will be returning with NISC in the near future, however. There are also some new features available with this interface: three searching modes, proximity searching and access to an online thesaurus. And it provides automatic searching of international variant spellings, compound words and singular-plural forms of words.

RILM (Rėpertoire International de Littėrature Musicale, RILM Abstracts of Music Literature) (1969-present) is the world's largest, continuously updated bibliography of music literature providing broad international coverage including records in over 100 languages from 3,700 journals. RILM indexes books, conference proceedings, Festschrifts and well as periodical literature. Coverage includes the world of music, from Western and Eastern classical to pop, folk, and jazz.

With NISC, UC will have more access to RILM. While our OCLC contract was for five simultaneous users UC-wide, our NISC contract allows five simultaneous users for each campus (except UCSF, which has a single user limit).

As the UC Resource Liaison for RILM, I would appreciate receiving feedback on RILM issues at mdcolby@ucdavis.edu.

[Note: Below is detailed information on specific features and functionality of RILM from NISC]

Search Options

NISC offers three search interfaces: Quick Search, Advanced Search and Expert Search. Quick Search provides a simplified user interface, utilizing only the most commonly used search and display features; searching is similar to that found in many web search engines. Advanced Search is a full-featured fill-in-the-blank search, offering all available search fields and the use of Boolean operators (and, or, not). Expert Search is a sophisticated interface for the experienced searcher. It offers the use of command language as well as allowing one to borrow or reuse portions of previous searches in order to construct new searches

Display Options

There are two display modes available for viewing records: Summary Record Display Mode and the Full Record Display Mode

Sorting

An added feature of the NISC interface is the ability to sort display results. Results can be sorted by title, author, journal, source, language or year of publication.

Save Options

Print/Save commands are found at the bottom of the screen. One can select marked citations only, marked full records only, marked titles only, all citations, or all full records.

Coming Features

Some new developments to the interface are expected in the fall of 2001. These will include hooks to holdings and support for bibliographic software.

Help

Context-sensitive help is provided through the use of pop-up windows on any screen.

b. ABI/Inform Changes (Michael Oppenheim, Resource Liaison for ABI/Inform)

If you've checked out ABI/Inform any time since August 15th, you already know there's something new: on that day, the CDL brought up Bell & Howell's "ProQuest" edition of ABI/Inform Global, the considerably enhanced version of this incomparable, first-stop business information database.

What's new and vastly improved? The ABI/Inform thesaurus is now online, a click away within the database. Proximity searching that's as sophisticated as any database offers is finally available, as well as a search limit for "peer-reviewed" articles. Arguably the most eagerly anticipated and welcome enhancement of all is article graphics and page images. With ProQuest, not only do we get article text for all the titles that we've known in CDL ABI/Inform (and even more), we also get the viewing options of Text + Graphics, or page images in PDF format-often all three options are available simultaneously.

ABI/INFORM Global contains records for articles in more than 1,000 scholarly journals, magazines, and "high-profile" trade and industry titles in business, management, finance, and economics. Not just for "pure" business information seekers only, the database has high value for the "business" side of the physical sciences, engineering, and medicine, as well. Publication year coverage begins with 1971. All citations include abstracts. Full text coverage began in 1991 with 100 titles, and has since grown to more than 600.

As the UC Resource Liaison for ABI/Inform Global, I'm anxious to receive any and all feedback about the database. Please contact me at moppenhe@library.ucla.edu.

[Note: Below is detailed information on specific features and functionality of ProQuest's ABI/Inform]

What's Changed for UC Users

here are some tradeoffs: certain functions that are available in CDL ABI/Inform are not available at this time with the ProQuest version. These include the integration of library holdings with database citations; saving items between search sessions, and saving personal information as a Profile; different display options (i.e., short or long, with or without abstracts and or text); customizable printing or e-mailing options; and being able to search the entire database at once (Bell & Howell does plan to add this functionality next year).

Why the hit counts may differ using ProQuest

ABI/INFORM Global does have significantly more content than the CDL version, so the user may retrieve more items. In the CDL interface, a Keyword search looks at the Title, Subject terms and words from the abstract. In the ProQuest interface, a basic search covers these fields plus all other fields (including author) except for the actual text of the item. Multiple word searches are treated differently by CDL and by ProQuest interfaces. The ProQuest interface treats two words as a phrase unless the user inserts an "and" between the terms. If more than two terms are entered, they are searched as though the user added "and" between the words. The CDL interface treats all multiple word searches as though there was an "and" between the words.

What UC Users Have Gained

In addition to the searching and display enhancements already noted above, ProQuest ABI/Inform Global is updated continuously (as opposed to CDL ABI/Inform's weekly updates); search terms are highlighted in results; and full article text is searchable (as opposed to CDL ABI/Inform's citation and abstract searching only). Significant examples of content enhancement include the full text for such titles as Advertising Age, Business Week, and the Far Eastern Economic Review. None of these has text in CDL ABI/Inform, and in ProQuest, Advertising Age and the Far Eastern Economic Review even come with text + graphics and full page images! ProQuest's "Durable Link" feature allows users to click an icon to create a copyright-cleared link to an article that's good for 30 days. Links appear as citations that users can e-mail to themselves or drop into a bibliography.

Search Options

ProQuest ABI/Inform offers five search options, each of which is illuminated by context-sensitive help. "Basic" is the default search--no "search type" need be selected, but the user may want to change the date range ("Current," which is 1999 to present, is the default), and may want to pick the "full text" search option, rather than the default "citations and abstracts."

The difference between "Basic" and "Advanced" mode is that the latter provides immediate access, on the lower part of the screen, to concise but information-packed "help." The user can instantly consult the ABI/Inform Subject Classification Code, or double check all the valid ways to type in a search using particular field labels (i.e., ab, sub, geographic name, etc.).

"Guided" should look a little familiar to users of CDL's "Power Mode" interface. It guides the searcher step-by-step in using search fields, Boolean operators (and, or, and not, within 3, pre/1), specific date ranges, and article types (only one at a time of the latter may be selected, though).

"Publication" allows the user to browse a favorite magazine or journal, and then link to all the articles in a given issue. The user may search for an exact publication title, or by key words in the title

"Natural Language," which looks just like "Basic," allows the user to search for articles using questions and phrases just as they would be expressed in ordinary conversation--no knowledge of subject terms, or special search symbols, is needed.

Pre-Set Indexes

Under the "Browse Lists" icon, four authoritative, pre-set indexes are available for verifying terms used in the database. These include Personal Names, Locations and Places, Companies, and Subjects (the afore-mentioned online thesaurus of official ABI/Inform "concept" terms--missing in action from CDL ABI/Inform for as long as its Web version has been available). Each item in these indexes appears as a link click on a link to execute a search on it automatically.

You Want a Taxonomy?

If you're having trouble thinking of concepts or keywords, another unique ProQuest feature, "Topic Finder," allows you to "walk through" six pre-defined conceptual hierarchies, proceeding from the broadest down to the narrowest expressions of a topic. The hierarchies available under the "Topic Finder" icon are Business & Industry, Computers & Internet, Economics & Trade, Environment, Government & Law, and Social Issues & Policy. When the terms in a hierarchy cease to be links, you've reached the level of subject indexing terms. Click on the red "go" next to a term to execute a search.

Display Options

The default display option is full indexing plus abstract. A text icon alone means full indexing, abstract, and text. A camera icon superimposed on a text icon means all of the preceding, plus graphics. A camera icon alone means full page image, in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. An imaged article may be viewed (and downloaded or printed) in its entirety, or by individual page.

Sorting

When searching by publication, results may be sorted, issue-by-issue, either alphabetically by article title, or in page-number order within the issue.

Working with Results, and Output Options

Within a results list, click the box to the left of the citation-"mark" it--to create a list for subsequent e-mailing, printing, or saving. If you want to save any "Durable Links," click on the green "Save Link" icon in the upper left-hand corner. Citations only--no full text--will be included when printing items from a marked list, or saving them to a disk.

Every checked citation in a marked list may be e-mailed with a single command--the articles will be delivered, however, one e-mail message at a time, in plain text format. To save, print, or e-mail articles in either text + graphics or full image formats, you must display the individual article, and then follow the e-mailing, printing, or saving instructions which are available only from the display screen.

Help

Context-sensitive, highly detailed and indexed help is always as close as a click on the blue "?Help" in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Under Help is the "Search Guide"-the same handy "cheat-sheet-like" overview that appears in "Advanced" search mode.

Coming Features

Remedies are on the horizon for some of the tradeoffs mentioned above. Bell & Howell's technical capabilities, to be fully developed in the coming months, include linking to library holdings, thanks to compliance with the Open URL standard; bibliographic software support (filters are available, and use of Z39.80 will be considered); authentication using certificates (IP filtering is currently used); and searching of ProQuest ABI/Inform via SearchLight.

c. Updated Web Pages

A&I Libstaff Page

The main A&I libstaff page has been revamped and streamlined to focus more on the implementation phase, with the evaluation phase materials moved off the first page or removed if no longer applicable. (http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/sharedcoll/a-i-trans/). Detailed descriptions of the new vendor database services are available in RTF version from the Staff Briefing Kit web page (http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/a-i-trans/) so that you can cut and paste for publicity and informational purposes.

CDL Public News Pages

A timeline on which you can see milestones of both transitions together is now available (http://www.cdlib.org/news/transitiontimeline.html). In addition, there is now a table on both public and staff pages that lists the CDL-hosted A&I databases that are transitioning to new databases (http://www.cdlib.org/news/databasestatus.html). The chart includes information about each database (e.g, date no longer available via the CDL, services available in the new versions). This page will be updated as changes occur.

Outreach and Instruction Materials

Adaptable Outreach and Instructional Materials page has been restructured and updated so that the transitioning databases are at the top of the page (http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/comm/outreach/). The Resource Liaisons have begun sending links to instructional materials to make available for database users. These include materials created by the vendors and by campus staff. Some examples of excellent materials are those produced by the PubMed Team for the PubMed transition, and a guide on using Alert in GeoRef via CSA, created at UCSD. (Note that this guide can also be used with any CSA database.) Many of these materials are in RTF versions, so campuses may adapt these for their users.

Thanks to the many people who worked on these pages, both at CDL and the campuses. These pages are intended to keep library staff and patrons Informed. If there are ways we can make them more useful to you, please don't hesitate to let us know.

d. Status of Vendor Negotiations

Just a reminder that negotiations are still in progress for the remaining databases including Current Contents, BIOSIS Previews, INSPEC, PsycINFO, and MLA Bibliography. The CDL is investigating the Transition Steering Committee's first and second choice vendors.

The TSC will also make recommendations for Compendex at its August 27 meeting after reviewing analysis provided by Resource Liaison Michelle Potter, UCR.

The goal is to settle on vendor(s) by early fall so that preliminary work and testing can begin during the fall term, so that the new versions can be available by winter term.

CDL-hosted databases will remain until December 2002 unless circumstances require retiring them earlier. The TSC has developed principles to guide these decisions and will make recommendations on a case by case basis [see http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/a-i-trans/principles.html] Exceptions are CDL-hosted versions of MEDLINE/HealthSTAR [see v4, n7, MEDLINE Timeline (http://www.cdlib.org/news/cdlinfo/cdlinfo042601.html)] and WorldCat, PapersFirst and ProceedingsFirst [see v4, n11, Access to OCLC Databases Changing Soon (http://www.cdlib.org/news/cdlinfo/cdlinfo062801.html)] which will retire in December 2001.


2. New Resources Available

NOTE: New resources listed below are not yet in the CDL Directory of Collections and Services; they will be added within the next 2 weeks. You can access them directly from the URL provided.

A list of recently added content is always available at: http://www.cdlib.org/news/whatsnew.html

a. Blackwell Academic Publishing

Full-text access for all campuses to all titles from Blackwell Academic Publishing is now available. This package represent a significant addition of over 225 new titles to our electronic holdings in the subject areas of Social Sciences and Humanities, as well as, the first results of our partnership with EBSCO Subscription Services to serve as our agent in negotiating access to electronic products.

List of journals at: http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/listofj.asp (those available electronically are marked with an "e").

General information for the Blackwell journals is at http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/jnl_holding_pg.asp

We are currently working with EBSCO Online to support adding article level links to citations in the CDL-hosted databases for all journal packages negotiated through EBSCO using the current CDL linking technology.

For all publisher packages included in the EBSCO project the CDL is negotiating for and paying access to the electronic content, with libraries then able to purchase print at a deep discount based on the needs of their users. We are also seeking one print archive copy to be held as a back-up for libraries who wish to cancel print completely. This package meets those criteria.

We hope to be announcing additional social sciences and humanities content in the near future. Campus Acquisitions Contacts have full details of the business plans for the packages.

b. American Mathematical Society
Also as part of the EBSCO project, full-text access to all nine American Mathematical Society journals [http://www.ams.org/journals] is now available to all campuses. We do have an obligation to maintain subscriptions to the four primary AMS journals, although these can be electronic subscriptions. Campuses are free to cancel print.
c. Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology [http://uclibs.org/PID/12129] is now available to all campuses, except UCR. It is being added to the CDL Wiley license and is funded by the campuses.

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia features over 27,000 pages and 800 articles; this 27-volume encyclopedia includes: CAS registry numbers, over 5,000 photos, charts, graphs, figures and tables, in-depth up to-date information on regulations, patents and licensing.

In addition to updating traditional subjects, the Fourth Edition will include expanded coverage of biotechnology, materials science, computer technology, energy sources and conversion techniques, and environmental issues such as pollution control, toxicology, and recycling technology.

The Encyclopedia also includes miscellaneous topics such as:

  • Instrumentation and quality control
  • Information retrieval
  • Maintenance
  • Market research
  • Material allocation and supply
  • Legal issues
  • Process development and design
  • Product development and technical service
  • Research and operations management
  • Transportation of chemical products
d. Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry

Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry Online [http://uclibs.org/PID/12130] is now available to all campuses, except UCR. It is being added to the CDL Wiley license and is funded by the campuses.

Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry is a reference work, international in scope and coverage, encompassing all the disciplines and current practice of industrial chemistry and chemical engineering around the world. Its 1000 major articles by 3,000 leaders from research and industrial organizations are well-illustrated with charts and figures and extensive bibliographies.

Subject areas include:

  • Inorganic and organic chemicals
  • Advanced materials
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Polymers and plastics
  • Metals and alloys
  • Biotechnology and biotechnological products
  • Food chemistry
  • Process engineering and unit operations
  • Analytical methods
  • Environmental protection and more.

New articles will be posted on the Web as soon as they are available, complete with illustrative animations for clear presentation of concepts. For each chemical substance information on physical and chemical properties, production, applications, economic data, toxicology and occupational health is given. The chemical substances that are described in detail range from raw materials via bulk products to fine and specialty chemicals. Relevant patent information is given wherever available.

The encyclopedia is fully searchable by keywords, author, CAS registry number in the fulltext and even in tables and figures. Cross references and bibliographies are extensively hyperlinked for added convenience.

Table of contents available at: http://www.vchgroup.de/contents/ullmann/index.html

e. American Institute of Physics Journals

After protracted negotiations with the American Institute of Physics, the CDL is pleased to announce it has secured a three-year contract with AIP (2001-2003). In addition to offering full text access UC-wide for all the AIP and Maik Nauka journals, AIP was able to negotiate access for the journals of the Acoustical Society of America, American Association of Physics Teachers, American Vacuum Society, International Centre for Diffraction Data (Powder Diffraction) and the Society of Rheology. The CDL, on behalf of the UC campuses, made a donation in support of Acoustics Research Letters Online (ARLO), a new entrepreneurial electronic journal, and fulltext access for that journal is also included.

Article level links are being added to citations in the CDL-hosted databases using the current CDL linking technology for all journal titles included in the AIP contract.

Access to all journals is available through AIP's Online Journal Publishing Service (OJPS) located at http://ojps.aip.org/.


3. California Digital Library Standards Documents

The CDL has recently adopted several guidelines for the use of standards in its collections and services which it supports and hosts. Notable among them are guidelines for the creation and encoding of digital objects, and best practices for the encoding of finding aids using the encoded archival description standard. The documents may be found at the CDL publications page at http://www.cdlib.org/about/publications/.

"CDL Digital Object Standard: Metadata, Content and Encoding" states the minimum standards for encoding digital objects to be added to CDL collections. The document explains the CDL's adoption of an XML DTD based upon a DTD originally created for the Making of America II project - as a means to encode administrative, structural, and descriptive metadata for the objects.

"Digital Image Format Standards" is a companion document which names CDL standards for the creation of digital image surrogates of primary source materials. The documents were written by CDL's advisory working group on Strategic Technology, Architecture and Standards, consisting of digital library experts, faculty, and researchers from throughout the University of California System, and were reviewed widely by CDL partners and experts from the field Together the two pieces replace the earlier CDL Digital Image Collection Standards from 1999.

The "Online Archive of California Best Practices Guidelines Version 1.0: Encoding New Finding Aids Using Encoded Archival Description," establishes a number of requirements for the consistent creation of encoded finding aids for the Online Archive of California (OAC) [http://oac.cdlib.org/]. The document was produced by the OAC Working Group, under leadership from Bill Landis (UCI), Brad Westbrook (UCSD), and Robin Chandler (CDL).


4. For More Information

a. CDL News
Several items of interest, including "Milestones," "Progress Reports," "What's New," and previous issues of CDLINFO are posted on the CDL web site (http://www.cdlib.org/) under News and Developments. Please share news of this resource with your colleagues!

Remember also that reports, working documents, and status information of particular interest to library staff, are all available at http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/.

b. Contacts for Questions or Problems
If you have problems accessing or using the system or have questions, including questions about the status of electronic journal collections and Internet resources, you can contact CDL staff in one of the following ways:
  • For immediate assistance, call the CDL Helpline at (510) 987-0555. Callers with TDD equipment, please call 1-800-735-2929 in California for the telephone relay operator.
  • Send an e-mail message to cdl@www.cdlib.org.
  • Click on "News" at http://www.dbs.cdlib.org/ (also known as http://www.melvyl.ucop.edu) for information about system outages, problems with particular databases, the status of a resource, etc.

For information about whether your UC campus has access to a particular electronic journal or Internet resource, contact your local collection development officer.

c. Information about CDLINFO

CDLINFO is designed to inform UC Librarians, and the UC community, about the progress of the CDL, policy issues under discussion, and newly available electronic resources. We hope that subscribers from the UC libraries will pass on selected information from the newsletter to faculty, staff, and students on their campuses, as appropriate. More complete information about the CDL, as well as the Directory of Collections and Services which leads to digital resources, is available at the CDL website at http://www.cdlib.org.

Eligible subscribers: UC library employees

To subscribe for email distribution: Please send the following line to listserv@listserv.ucop.edu: SUBSCRIBE CDLINFO-L (your name)

CDLINFO is also published on the web at http://www.cdlib.org/news/cdlinfo/

Frequency of publication: Biweekly, or as new information warrants.

Communicating with the Listserv: While the CDL Listserv does not accept submissions, subscribers are encouraged to send suggestions, thoughts, and comments on material in the Listserv or on related issues to the CDL at cdl@www.cdlib.org.