Library Bulletin

September 1998

BY OCTOBER 1ST - NEW DATABASES:
TREASURES IN THE LIBRARY!
By Mohamed Hussain

The Medical Research Library of Brooklyn now provides access to a greatly expanded suite of  databases which are all WEB-based and available from any workstation in the Library, LRC or campus network (not available to non-networked, campus dial-in users) from its WEB page.  These new information resources are a direct result of an agreement called "SUNY Connect" and this campus' information technology investment.

Millions of articles are available--some in citation form only, some with abstracts and some in full text.  The databases and search engines include: FirstSearch, Expanded Academic Index (Info Trac), Academic Universe (Lexis-Nexis), and Grolier Online which includes Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia and Encyclopedia Americana as well as the OVID 87 full-text journal collections and the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC).

These enhanced services and resources mean new demands will be made on both Library staff and Library users.  The Library staff, in keeping with its educational commitment, will provide guidance through formal classes, referrals and consultations.  Library users, for their part, need to take full advantage of the guidance offered.   These rich resources are for all of our information needs for learning, teaching, research and patient care.

FIRSTSEARCH:
ArticleFirst--bibliographic citations to the table of contents of 13,000 journals dealing with science, technology, medicine, social science, the humanities and popular culture.
Consumer Index--subject index to over 100 periodicals dealing with consumer related product information including URLs of web sites for full text information.
Contemporary Women's Issues--Over 600 sources dealing with information pertinent to women's concerns including health, human rights, and legal matters.
OCCULT FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online (ECO)-- developing collection of journals all with full-text articles online.
ERIC (Educational Resources Informational Center)--guide to published and unpublished educational resources from 1966.
Facts on File--full text news summaries from 75 newspapers, periodicals, and government online sources.  Includes statistics on sports, Supreme Court decisions, and important speeches.  Also lists the year's most important stories.
FastDoc--online availability of almost 1 million articles from over 1000 thousand journals. (Can be paid for with a personal credit card).
General Science Abstracts--includes astronomy, botany, mathematics, and chemistry. Full text soon available.
GPO Monthly Catalog--reports of congressional procedures from 1976 to the present.
Health Reference Center--health information for the lay person with full text materials, including referrals to newsletters and pamphlets.
Humanities Abstracts--comprehensive coverage of the Humanities.  Full text soon available.
MDX Health Digest--citations and abstracts to consumer-related health information.
Medline--now includes a backfile covering 1965--1984.
Netfirst--bibliographic citations with embedded hot links to selected internet-accessible resources for wide range of interests and age groups.
PapersFirst--major research aid giving access to conference papers.
ProceedingsFirst--tables of contents of papers presented at conferences worldwide.
Readers' Guide Abstracts--indexes a key list of abstracts of popular magazines.  Full text soon available.
Social Science Abstracts--covers 350 core periodicals in the discipline.  Full text soon available.
Sociological Abstracts--covers 1900 journals of all aspects of sociology including urban studies and criminology.
WorldCat--world's most comprehensive catalog with 38 million records in 370 languages representing 4000 years of  knowledge.
World Almanac--covers arts and entertainment, world sport, the environment etc.

ACADEMIC UNIVERSE (LEXIS-NEXIS):
Gives access to: top news, general news topics, company news, industry and market news, government and political news, legal news, company financial information, country profiles, state profiles, biographical information, reference and directories, general medical and health topics, medical abstracts, accounting, auditing and tax, law reviews, federal case law, U.S. Code, Constitution and Court rules, and state legal search.

EXPANDED ACADEMIC (INFOTRAC)
Access to over 3 million articles covering astronomy, religion, law, history, psychology, humanities, current events, sociology, communications, general science and medicine.

On September 1st, the Medical Research Library of Brooklyn launched it's new Consumer Health Room (E115) located in the Library, next to the Photocopy room.  It's purpose is twofold: first, to demonstrate to clinicians, Residents and other interested health care professionals, the possibilities of effectively using computers to help their patients find information through the Internet; and second, to provide a place where Downstate staff can get health-related information , written in layman's language for themselves and their families.

At present, the Consumer Health Room workstation uses the Web to link to NOAH (New York Online Access to Health), and four databases, MDX Health, Well Connected, Contemporary Women's Issues, and Health Reference Center.  There are also non-circulating books for patient education.  We have the entire Health Reference Series.  The following newsletters will also be available: Alternative Medicine Review, Harvard Men's Health Watch, Harvard Women's Health watch, and John's Hopkins Medical Newsletter-Health After 50.

Access to the CHR is by appointment only, M-F, from 10AM until 4PM.  For appointments call Don Dederick at x7452 at least 24 hours before the desired date.

TEXT-BASED OVID SOON TO BE RETIRED
Workstations in the Library will soon no longer support text-based OVID.  Dial-in users with older technology will continue to receive text-based OVID, however, the goal is to eliminate this older format as soon as possible.  The Web version of OVID has been selected as it provides easy access to the OVID suite of 87 full text, online journals.