Elsevier Bibliographic Databases Platform Comparison Documents Platform Feature EMBASE.com SilverPlatter Target User Group End-users Information professionals, end users Pricing Flat-fee licensing for desired Flat-fee licenses: databases. Tiered prices for based on number of users. academic / corporate users. Currency (Update Frequency) Full-text Links Thesaurus Automatic EMTREE Term Mapping Live User Training Databases Offered Multi-database Searching incl. deduplication User-defined Output Options Export Functionality Automatic Email Alerts Daily (EMBASE) Weekly (MEDLINE) All Elsevier, Springer, Karger, Cell Press, IngentaSelect, CrossRef publisher LTF titles available. 50% of records dating back 10 years have links to full-text Open URL available EMTREE with MeSH terms incorporated All MeSH terms are mapped to preferred EMTREE terminology For select customers only, on request to EBD. Computer-based training available User documumentation on BD site unique MEDLINE (integrated) Duplicate citations removed Duplicates already removed Each record is unique No Short and full records only Sort by year or relevance : Endnote, Procite, Reference Manager, plain text (ASCII) Weekly Unlimited alerts available Browse journal collection by title or subject. Browseable tables of contents Monthly Quarterly (CD-ROM specialty series), via WebSPIRS interface only using SilverLInker and LinkWizard Supports open URL to display local library holdings and Web resources Integrated within EMBASE files Permuted display available MeSH and EMTREE separately No No Online support only 200+, incl. MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CINAHL, IPA, etc. No deduplication available No, via WebSPIRS interface only Weekly Other Notable Software Features Live e-mail links, links to sequence databases, journal publisher & title sites Document delivery ordering available Drug and Disease links searchable Graphical EMTREE browser SCIRUS web search engine integration Folder organization for saved queries; easy to find, modify, reexecute Record displays can be customized to show local library holdings. Link to Web resources such as preprints, subject gateways, search engines, drug and genome information, portals, chemical structures, drug information, patents, etc. External document ordering available May 2004
BD Page 2 Originally a CD-ROM vendor; also offers databases on Web. 21 EMBASE CD-ROM Specialty Series, 10-year rolling files Miscellaneous Has MEDLINE back to 1966 Has EMBASE back to 1974 Search interface not as sophisticated as most other vendors in terms of EMBASE-specific features (limits, etc.) Owned by Wolters Kluwer -- corporate web presence is via Ovid No future development of SP platform is planned; Ovid intends to migrate all SP customers to Ovid platform
Elsevier Bibliographic Databases Documents Platform Features: Platform Comparison Target User Group: Similar: end-users, information professionals SilverPlatter market: academic medical institutions, hospitals, national health organizations, medical societies, healthcare corporations EMBASE.com market: covers pharmaceutical companies, academic medical libraries, hospitals and medical clinics because of its pharmacology and biomedical coverage, but also government agencies and research institutes Pricing Model: EMBASE.com: subscription model SilverPlatter: Flat-fee licensing for desired databases; tiered prices for academic/corporate users. SilverPlatter (CD-ROM): subscription model Databases Offered, including file segments: EMBASE.com: EMBASE plus MEDLINE combined into one single web-based platform, 1966 onwards SilverPlatter: over 200 databases including MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CINAHL, IPA, etc. EMBASE on SilverPlatter: offered in subsets (by date) and by subject specialty -- EMBASE (various date segments), EMBASE Alert, plus subject specialty subsets (anesthesiology, cardiology, dermatology, drugs & pharmacology, evidence based medicine, gastroenterology, geriatrics & gerontology, immunology & AIDS, nephrology, neurosciences, obstetrics & gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, pathology, pediatrics, pharmacoeconomics & disease management, pharmacy, pollution & toxicology, psychiatry, radiology & nuclear medicine, rehabilitation & physical medicine) EMBASE on SilverPlatter (CD-ROM): 21 specialty subsets as above (10-year rolling files), EMBASE Alert Currency (Update Frequency): EMBASE on SilverPlatter: Monthly EMBASE on SilverPlatter (CD-ROM Specialty series): Quarterly EMBASE.com: Daily, the most current access to EMBASE records NB. MEDLINE records are added weekly at present, but daily updates are planned (coming very soon) Full-text Access, including links, document delivery: EMBASE.com: provides links from database records to articles available in ScienceDirect plus via DOI (CrossRef, if enabled) IngentaSelect and other participating publishers (Karger, Springer, etc.). May 2004
BD Page 4 SilverPlatter: provides links from database records to articles on publisher s website if the library subscribes to the SilverLinker database -- over 3,000 journals via Ovid FT service EMBASE.com: document delivery service is offered via Infotrieve to all users SilverPlatter: copies of articles can be ordered online (British Library, CISTI, BiBSYS, PICA, etc.), if set-up SilverPlatter: open URL support allows a search hit list to be run against the library s local holdings and subscription based Web resources, when set-up NB: no CrossRef membership EMTREE Thesaurus: EMBASE.com: fully browseable graphical layout with a searchable look-up, including Permuted Term display and Tree Structure EMBASE on SilverPlatter: text-based, alphabetical (permuted) display rather than hierarchical (contextual) layout. By clicking EMTRÉE term in the permuted display, tree is displayed in two lists, narrower terms and broader terms Term Mapping, including explosion searching: EMBASE.com: mapping to EMTREE preferred terminology available by default on Advanced, Drug and Disease Search forms; no mapping available on Quick Search form (free-text default) EMBASE on SilverPlatter: no automatic search term mapping available. User must search the thesaurus to identify correct EMTREE terms. EMBASE.com: option for explosion searching on all forms except Quick Search form (free-text default) SilverPlatter: term explosion available Multi-database Searching, including deduplication: EMBASE.com: simultaneous searching of EMBASE and MEDLINE in one single database by default SilverPlatter: multi-database searching available EMBASE.com: no need to remove duplicate records since each record retrieved is unique SilverPlatter: duplicate records frequently occur in life science databases; deduplication available User-defined Output Options: EMBASE.com: number of records displayed on search results page is fixed at 25 SilverPlatter: user can define number of records displayed on search results page (1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100)
BD Page 5 EMBASE.com: display options from search results page include citation, short record, full record, full-text access, where available SilverPlatter: 5 pre-defined display formats available (title, citation, cit+abstract, complete record, cit+abstract+indexing+fulltext), plus view complete record from any display format; user can specify individual data fields displayed and field label format (no label, short label, long label, short and long label), plus user can sort output in ascending or descending order by any data field. SilverPlatter: user preferences with session history, display intermediate results in search history, display results by database in search history, show records immediately after searching Export Functionality: EMBASE.com: EndNote, Procite, Reference Manager and ASCII (plain text); EMBASE.com defaults to complete record SilverPlatter: search hit list can be saved as ASCII (text file) only Email Search Results: Available for both platforms EMBASE.com: EMBASE.com offers two formats (text or HTML) SilverPlatter: option to include or exclude search history Automatic Email Alerts: Available for both platforms EMBASE.com: weekly; unlimited alerts available SilverPlatter: must be enabled. Plus alerts can be subscribed to for a preset search created by a librarian or a WebSPIRS administrator, if enabled Search History, including session history: EMBASE.com: Search sessions can be saved by user into folders for later editing and re-execution whenever needed. Folder layout enables easy organization of saved queries. SilverPlatter: search history is deleted at end of each search session. Marking at least two search steps and then clicking a Boolean operator, logically link the marked search steps. SilverPlatter: session history can be saved, reloaded or deleted Additional Features, including search engine links, save search:
BD Page 6 EMBASE.com: Quick Search offers a web feel to searching by omitting term mapping and defaulting to Boolean operator AND while allowing for phrase searching by the use of quotation marks; search statement appears in Search History SilverPlatter: Search Builder button on search form provides guided or assisted searching SilverPlatter: search from a record display by clicking on the hypertext linked indexed terms (authors, journal name, EMTREE terms, trade names, manufacturers) SilverPlatter: beginning a search statement with an operator or proximity connector automatically combines that statement with the previous one EMBASE.com: each search statement is populated into a SCIRUS search box affording the opportunity to broaden the search to include retrieval from the Web EMBASE.com: searchable look-up for indexed fields via Search Fields form EMBASE on SilverPlatter: offers onscreen menus of sort fields, output formats, limits, etc. SilverPlatter: search terms are highlighted in complete record display (when not a hotlink) EMBASE.com: browse EMBASE journal collection by title or subject with browseable tables of contents SilverPlatter: no subject browsing of journals Comments: SilverPlatter: Find Relevant Database button before selecting a database to search, gives a search to decide the database that offers the best coverage for the desired topic; the results display is ranked by the number of hits EMBASE.com: links to all features and search forms available on the Home page; comparable layout on STN SilverPlatter: Limits remain set until changed or until termination of the search session SilverPlatter: key system functions are accessible via buttons and a left-hand navigation menu
BD Page 7 Search Features Summary: Search Forms and Modes: EMBASE.com: All search forms allow for basic and advanced searching, plus unique search forms are available for drug searching, disease searching and specific article searching SilverPlatter: Search Builder button on search form provides guided or assisted searching SilverPlatter: All search functions available via command language (SPIRS) for older, more experienced users. Command Language: EMBASE.com: Bibliotek SilverPlatter: WebSPIRS (SilverPlatter Information Retrieval System for the Web) SilverPlatter (CD-ROM): WinSPIRS (SilverPlatter Information Retrieval System for Windows) and MacSPIRS (SilverPlatter Information Retrieval System for Macintosh) to provide a local version Default Boolean Operator: EMBASE.com: AND SilverPlatter: search terms next to each other but word order not specified; and, not case sensitive SilverPlatter: unless specific search fields are indicated, system automatically searches all fields Boolean capabilities, including nesting: EMBASE.com: AND, OR, NOT, nesting, plus implied Boolean operator AND in Quick Search, and Boolean operator OR in Search Fields SilverPlatter: AND, OR, NOT, nesting Proximity Connectors: EMBASE.com: phrase searching, within (*nn) SilverPlatter: phrase searching (ADJ), same field (WITH), in any order (NEAR) Truncation and Stemming: EMBASE.com: wildcard, single character SilverPlatter: wildcard, single or multiple character
BD Page 8 Field Searching: EMBASE.com: (40 fields) all fields including bibliographical elements, subject indexing and additional specialized indexing; plus specific search fields can be searched using the Search Fields form. EMBASE on SilverPlatter: all fields including bibliographical elements, subject indexing and additional specialized indexing are searchable from the Free Text Index (General Index), Field-Specific Indexes which are also limit fields, or by using the IN or = connectors Limits: EMBASE.com: specific and relevant limits are available on Quick Search and Advanced Search forms including publication years, human subjects, gender and age groups, article languages, records added since, areas of focus, publication types, and animal studies; and on Drug Search and Disease Search forms including publication years, priority journals, abstracts only, human limits, and major focus EMBASE on SilverPlatter: Limits include publication year, country of publication, language, language of summary, EMCLAS classification, publication type, document type, number of references, update code and record feature SilverPlatter: the XREC field (record feature) enables a limit to records with specific attributes such as abstract or trade name SilverPlatter: Limits remain set until changed or until termination of the search session Sorting: EMBASE.com: sort by publication year or relevance using link on search results page or by making a choice on the Drug Search and Disease search forms; the default is publication year SilverPlatter: sort by any field including update code, author and journal name (source), ascending or descending. Default is publication year descending Other Features: EMBASE.com: link subheadings are available from Drug Search and Disease Search forms as appropriate SilverPlatter: search from a record display by clicking on the hypertext linked indexed terms (authors, journal name, EMTREE terms, trade names, manufacturers) EMBASE.com: each search statement is populated into a SCIRUS search box affording the opportunity to broaden the search to include retrieval from the Web SilverPlatter: beginning a search statement with an operator or proximity connector automatically combines that statement with the previous one
BD Page 9 EMBASE.com: the Search query form on search results page allows for modifying the search via the advanced search mode and includes term mapping, explosion search and time period I have SilverPlatter. Why EMBASE.com? Daily EMBASE updates: the most current version of EMBASE available. Complete integration of MEDLINE; deduplication already done, all records unique. No need for manual deduplication, as on DataStar. Graphical, intuitive EMTREE thesaurus enables easier navigation, term explosions. Direct links from molecular sequence accession numbers to NCBI data on PubMed; essential for biotechnology research. Direct links from author e-mail addresses. Portal to SCIRUS web search engine enables instant access to pre-evaluated, high quality STM web content. EMBASE.com subscription can be bundled with other Elsevier print and electronic products. Publisher commitment to ongoing product development and support. Choice of IP or username access available.