BIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS

Coverage: Biological and Medical Literature, 1969 –present

Strengths: TAXONOMIC INDEXING

Weaknesses: Clunky interface, difficult to search, no linking

Database access:

*Logon with username: 155693 and password given in class

*Do not share the password and have a search strategy (ANDs and ORs) planned becauseThe Libraries pay per use/time/and records printed

*Select database 0005 for Biosis Previews (=Biological Abstracts) or 0185 for Zoological Record

LOG OFF when you are finished

Navigation:

Oddities: Watch checkbox that says search within last result set (often have to turn off)

History: After you have entered concepts (with optional ORs) as individual searches, you can AND results together e.g. s1 and s3 and s5

Saved Records:Must send selections from each page before moving to next

Search syntax:

Phrase: AUTOMATIC, split terms with and/or

Plurals/Wildcards:manual, ‘?’ s must be used e.g. complex?? = complex or complexes

Truncation:manual, ‘*’ e.g. complex* = complex or complexes or complexity or [etc]

Subject searching:

*Automatic, unmapped: default searches these fields as well

*All species/genes addressed in each article are listed in Organism/Gene fields respectively and Supertaxa are added to organism field—allowing searching by taxonomic grouping

Oddities: Searches for biosystematic classification or Supertaxa name are limited: use organism field

Related Items:

Related Articles: NO

Citing articles (forward): NO

Cited articles (backward): NO

Full text Article Access:Only through Refworks

Export to Refworks:

  • After you select the records you want, choose destination: Email/Fax/Postal and click
  • Output as Text with tags, and format for email addresses No attachment support
  • Under addresses, create new email, enter your username, then email address, and select Email Software Generic (no attachment support)
  • Then, you're stuck because of a bad user interface! Click browser back button 2x and then refresh.
  • Check the box next to the email address you just created and click and then Send now
  • After 5 min or so, you'll receive an email with the records in text form
  • Select & copy the text from the email Starting with 'Record - 1... to the end of the last record ending in ...||'
  • Then
  • open your Refworks Account.
  • Select references menu > Import, then select: Import Filter/Data Source: Dialog (Tagged Format)
  • Under Database: select < Multiple Databases >
  • Then paste into the Import Data from the following Text window, Import and Voila...

...the records are now a part of your database along with those handy buttons.

Comparison of # of hits for a taxonomic search from Major Databases used in Biology

(Scholar hits are in Parentheses because they include duplicates and citation hits)

Term / BA (1969- ) / WOS (1955- ) / PubMed (1950/66- ) / Scholar (??-??)
Lobophytum / 111 / 116 / 22 / (388)
Sarcophyton / 155 / 186 / 48 / (632)
Alcyonium / 141 / 114 / 13 / (772)
Alcyonacea / 136 / 115 / 10 / (676)
Octocorallia / 286 / 417 / 26 / (1370)
Anthozoa / 841 / 651 / 1548 / (4920)
Cnidaria / 25704 / 1539 / 5059 / (10400)
“Soft coral” OR “soft corals” / 39 (!) / 1248 / 41 / (4630)
Systematics or Taxonomy / 701239 / 44478 / 328875 / (53900)

Updated: 20 September 2006Jason 1-8437 (forwards off campus)