SciVerse Science Direct

Abstract

ScienceDirect is a full-text database offering journal articles and book chapters from more than 2,500 peer- reviewed journals and 11,000 books. The advanced search feature allows searching by author, title, volume, issue, and page, similar to PubMed's Single Citation Matcher. Keyword, author, and journal search- ing are supported in the mobile application as well as Boolean, wild- card, and truncated searching.

SciVerse Science Direct. Elsevier E-Customer Service Helpdesk, 3251 Riverport Lane, Maryland Heights, MO 63043; 888.615.4500; [email protected]; http:// www.sciencedirect.com. Price: Sub- scriptions only, contact for pricing.

ScienceDirect is a full-text database offering journal articles and book chapters from more than 2,500 peer- reviewed journals and 11,000 books. Older materials (back files) are avail- able as archives for an additional charge. Its intended audience is li- brarians and researchers in the health sciences, life sciences, physical sci- ences, and engineering. It also has a nice complement of materials in the social sciences and business subject areas. It is PC compatible with Inter- net Explorer 7, 8, and 9, as well as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Mac compatible browsers are Google Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.

This database uses a federated search mechanism, which is a single search portal to search and retrieve results from several electronic resourc- es at once. Meta searching or broadcast searching are other terms commonly used for this search mechanism. Scien- ceDirect uses natural language search- ing similar to a Google search. It does not have a controlled vocabulary like PubMed's Medical Subject Head- ings (MeSH). The advanced search feature allows searching by author, title, volume, issue, and page, similar to PubMed's Single Citation Matcher. Natural language searching using Boolean operators can be filtered by subject and dates of publication. Searching can be limited to journals, books, images, and reference works. Tips for wildcard, truncation, and proximity searching are clearly de- scribed. Tutorials are available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Russian.

Use of the personal login account activates the full capabilities for this database. Really simple syndication (RSS) feeds and alerts are set up and accessed through the personalized account feature. The account holder can access specialized free and for-fee applications (e.g., cancer, podcast, etc.). Quick links to a user's favorite books or journals are enabled. Through the "Manage Your Settings" page, Ref- Works users are able to automatically log in and export citations to RefWorks. Past searches are accessed through the personalized account.

Mobile applications for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices are set up by registering through the per- sonal account. The free mobile app is available through the iTunes store. The display is clean and easy to read. Keyword, author, and journal search- ing are supported in the mobile application as well as Boolean, wild- card, and truncated searching. Re- trieved articles show the abstract and outline. Full text and figures display if the institution has a subscription. The registration can be used on up to three devices such as an iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Articles saved on a mobile device cannot be accessed from a user's ScienceDirect account. To get access, articles must be emailed.

Retrieved articles provide links to the article's abstract, references, related articles, and supplementary material. A link to a portable docu- ment format (PDF) file is provided if the organization subscribes to the journal. Citations export to Reference Manager, ProCite, EndNote, Ref- Works, and BibTex formats. Retrieved articles can be printed, emailed, or shared using Facebook, Twitter, and CiteULike social media sites.

Search history is limited to 500 items. If that number is exceeded, the oldest citations are deleted. This database is owned by Elsevier, and much of its content is limited to Elsevier-published journals and books. The database is focused on articles and materials published 1995 to the present. The publisher is aggressive in adding more pre-1995 content to its back files. Athens login is no longer available with the December 2012 update.