Lunar landing - 40 years

2008 data for Journal Citation Reports is now available

Journal Citation Reports^® is a comprehensive resource that allows you to evaluate and compare journals using citation data drawn from over 7,500 scholarly and technical journals from more than 3,300 publishers in over 60 countries. It is the only source of citation data on journals, and includes virtually all areas of science, technology, and social sciences. Journal Citation Reports can show you the:

• Most frequently cited journals in a field
• Highest impact journals in a field
• Largest journals in a field

Citation and article counts are important indicators of how frequently current researchers are using individual journals. By tabulating and aggregating citation and article counts, JCR offers a unique perspective for journal evaluation and comparison. JCR is updated annually and with 2008 figures now available you can compare journals from 2003-2008.

Diarmuid

Survival blog for scientists

"In this blog, professional scientists write about their scientific life. Contributors are scientists in various stages of their career, from junior positions to senior positions. The aim is to supply scientists with tips on how to survive in science. Typical subjects include the writing of articles, delivering scientific presentations and career planning. This blog is a continuation of the book The Survival Guide for Scientists by Ad Lagendijk, published by Amsterdam University Press in 2008. Sample chapters are supplied (Writing guide, Presentation guide, Email guide)." (from: www.intute.ac.uk)
http://www.sciencesurvivalblog.com/

--- Michael ---

CABI preview new interface for CAB Abstracts

CABI plan to switch over to a new platform on 1st September this year. This new platform will see some major changes in how you interact with CAB abstracts. Among the new features are

• MyCABDirect – a personalised area where users can set-up email alerts and RSS feeds based on their search results; share information, and save important searches
• Faceted searching – users can finely filter information to fit their research needs, based on CABI’s indexing terms and metadata
• The capability to view full text at the search results level
• Improved user experience, through a more intuitive interface
• Suggestions for spelling variations

If you want to preview the new platform you can go to http://www.cabdirect2.org and try it out. Currently this will only work while on campus.
Diarmuid

Library Summer Opening Hours

The Library has started Summer Opening Hours, running from June through August:
James Joyce Library will be open Monday-Friday 8.30-17.30 (weekend closed)
Veterinary Library will be open Monday-Friday 9.00-17.00 (weekend closed)
Health Science Library will be open in June Monday-Friday 8.30-21.45, Saturday 9.30-17.00 (Sunday closed); July and August Monday-Friday 9.00-17.00 (weekend closed)

A complete list Summer Opening Hous can be found at the Library's web site.

--- Michael ---

New Search Engine Launched

Wolfram Alpha, a new search engines that gives you answers rather than directing you to a list of website has just been launched. You can express your question in natural language and It will search a variety of databases to give you the answer. The creators' aim is to "build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries."
You can ask a wide range of questions such as comparing two stocks, get information on a mineral , get historical weather information, a list of Nobel prize winners for chemistry
At the moment it is somewhat biased towards American information, but that should change over time.
You can try it out using the search box at the top of the post.
Diarmuid

NCBI Biosystems Database now available

The NCBI Biosystems database has now gone public. The NCBI BioSystems Database currently contains biological pathways from two source databases, KEGG and the EcoCyc subset of BioCyc. As an added bonus it uses the same search interface as other NCBI databases as pubmed and Entrez Gene.
You can use the database to:
List the genes, proteins, and small molecules that are involved in a biological pathway. Find out more
Find the pathways in which a given gene or protein is involved. Find out more.
Find the pathways in which a specific small molecule is involved. Find out more.
Retrieve 3D structures for proteins involved in a biosystem. Find out more
Find related biosystems that are linked to each other because they share an identical protein sequence or have another relationship. Find out more.
Diarmuid

CABI creates Swine Flu Dashboard

CABI has put together a number of resources to help you keep up to date with the latest developments in the emerging influenza A(H1N1) outbreak, commonly being referred to as "swine flu".
The information on the dashboard is organised into the following different areas:

• Resources from CABI: links to selected abstracts from our databases, updates from our blog and a feed of valuable information selected by our subject experts
• Global Health: free access to CABI’s Global Health database, including prepared searches in this area
• Center for Disease Control and World Health Organisation: latest updates from these two organisations
• Wikipedia: latest updates
• Google: relevant search trend information
• Maps: two of the best visualisations showing information about swine flu

Diarmuid

New Library Patent Information Web Page

Information on patents and access to patents becomes increasingly important for research and innovation everywhere. Therefore the library has launched a new web site with patent information. It bundles links to full text patents databases and search engines as well as information on patent application and patent statistics. Links to relevant patent journals and some patent blogs are also provided.

---- Michael ----

IReL Impact Survey 2009

Are you an avid researcher? Do you regularly use library resources such as the ACM Digital Library, ESDU, GeoScienceWorld, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Nature Journals, Optics Infobase, Project Euclid, or SpringerLink? If so, here is your chance to support the Irish Research e-Library initiative by taking 5 minutes of your time to fill in the IReL impact survey.

IReL currently provides access to 22,000 e-journals and over 40,000 books. It's important that we don't take this valuable initiative for granted and let the funders know how essential it is for research in Ireland!

--Josh