Greater Electronic Access to Himmelfarb Resources In 2006

The start of 2006 is a perfect time to take a moment to detail briefly Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library’s ongoing efforts to connect our users to an ever greater number of electronic resources. Our library continues to move ahead not only to increase the amount of content available electronically, but also to enhance the ease of utilizing that information both here at the library and from remote locations.

With the clear preference of so many users for electronic resources, we are continuing to reduce the number of journals to which we subscribe in print. For the 2006 subscription year, we continue to work toward our final goal of nearly all-electronic access. Only the Browsing Collection, now housed on the first floor on the 23rd Street side, will be available in both print and electronic formats. All other titles will be available in electronic format only, hopefully by 2007. Currently, 693 titles continue to be available in print, with 140 titles making up the Browsing Collection available on the first floor. All other print journals are shelved on the second floor alphabetically by title. The title list guides near the journal shelves on both the first and second floors will help in identifying the location for a specific title.

Effective January 2006, Himmelfarb was able to negotiate a contract for increased electronic access to Elsevier titles owned by the library. In all, we were able to obtain electronic access from 1995 to the present for 183 journal titles through Elsevier’s Science Direct platform. This is a great increase in electronic journal access for Himmelfarb, both for the current year and for the years back to 1995.

In terms of textbooks, we have also increased the number accessible electronically. Currently, we have 157 textbooks which can be accessed electronically, an increase over the 135 titles we had in 2005.

In 2006, Himmelfarb also acquired access to a new database called “Scopus”, which we are encouraging users to try as an alternative (or in addition to) to databases such as MEDLINE. Scopus combines the content of MEDLINE and another similar database called Embase from 1995 to the present in a new search interface similar to many of the popular search engines. The database also makes it possible to identify how many times any given article has been cited and to link directly to the articles which are cited by or which cite any given article. This can increase the subject access in a fairly simple-to-use manner. The addition of Scopus brings our database total to 65 databases, some of which easily link to the full text electronic journal article.

Changes to print and electronic journals, textbooks and databases are noted on the library’s homepage under the link “Print and Electronic Updates”. Go to www.gwumc.edu/library to check on journal availability. However you find them, please do make use of the many new resources available through Himmelfarb.

Once you have found citations relevant to your research, you may want to keep track of them through RefWorks, a citation management tool. RefWorks is a web-based alternative to other desk-top citation products. Refworks may be used anywhere you have access to the Internet and does not require users to maintain multiple copies of software and databases. For more information, go to the library’s e-database page at http://www.gwumc.edu/library/eresources/edatabase.cfm.

Call or e-mail Kathe Obrig, Associate Director, Collection and Access Services, at 202-994.8906 or mlbkso@gwumc.edu with any questions or feedback about electronic resources.