ISI Web of Knowledge: New Interface

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The ISI Web of Knowledge databases have been given a "makeover" - a new interface! For couple of weeks we have been straggling with access and now we know why. So what is NEW? How can you search this new features? I find this interface user-friendly and easy to use and navigate. It does have RSS feeds, which are useful addition to the database. The availability of simultaneous multiple ISI databases will help researchers to have in-depth search results.

The main features of ISI new interface are:

1. You have an option to either search:

>ALL DATABASES

>SELECT A DATABASE ( Science Citation Index, Currents Contents Connect & Journal Citation Report: JCR) or search

>ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ( Web search tools - Thomson Scientific WebPlus; Web sites - ISIHighlyCited.com, Biology Browser, Index to Organism Names, in-cites, ResearcherID.com, Science Watch, Special Topics & Thomson Scientific). These products and Web sites provide a variety of data and analysis relevant to research.

2. Advanced Search Option

> You have three fields where you can type your: TOPIC/KEYWORD, TITLE, AUTHOR, PUBLICATION NAME or YEAR PUBLISHED. These you select from the drop down menu next to the search box. You can add additional fields if you need more.

> To help you find the right TOPIC/KEYWORD next to the search box have an icon "magnifying glass" or TOPIC INDEX. If you CLICK on that it will take you to the next screen where you can use the browse feature to locate terms to add to your query. Instructions are available.

> You can LIMIT your search to specific years requirements - Latest (current) week, all years, latest 5 years, etc.
> On the RIGHT side of the searching screen you can find more information on the available databases, you can CUSTOMIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE - once you register you can save and manage your references, save and run searches, create alerts and RSS feeds, choose your start page. My ResearcherID is a website where invited researchers can register for a unique researcher ID number. At this site, users can:
* Update their profile information
* Build their publication list using Web of Science search services or uploading a file
* Select to make their profile public or private.

3. Search Results Screen
>Sort Results option: Publication Date, Relevence, First Author & Source Title >Number of Results per page option (find it at the bottom of the results page): 10, 25, 50 >Refine Results option -If there are too many results you can narrow your search by typing additional keyword. You can also refine your search by: General Categories; Subject Areas, Document Type, Author, Source Title, Publication year & Language. For more REFINE search options use: Analyse Results. The system produces a report showing the values in ranked order. >Print, E-mail, Add to Marked list, Save to EndNote options options >If you Click on the TITLE of the individual record you can read the Abstract; have an interactive links to the Author's works; Cited by option; Related Records; Record References, View Additional Information; You can EXPORT the record to EndNote and other Reference software. Under each record you can see options: Links & Full-text.

4. Search History option

You can view your previous search results. You can combined the with the Boolean Operators (AND & OR) to narrow your results to suit your search query.

5. Marked List option

You can view a list with your MARKED records

6. My Cited Articles Alert

In order to create/access My Cited Articles List, you must sign in or register. Benefits of creating My Cited Articles List:
* You will receive an e-mail alert each time an article on the list is cited in a new article
* You will be able to receive an RSS feed to view new articles that cite articles on the list
* You can add an article to the list from its full record page
* You will be able to access your selected articles from any computer at the institution

7. My Journal List
In order to create My Journal List, you must sign in or register. Benefits of creating My Journal List:
* You can receive e-mail alerts of the latest Table of Contents for your selected journals.
* You will be able to receive RSS feeds of the latest Table of Contents for your selected journals.
* You will be able to access your selected journals from any computer at the institution.
* You can open the latest Table of Contents for your selected journals directly from the ISI Web of Knowledge home page.

8. My Saved Searches

In order to access your Search Histories saved to the ISI Web of Knowledge Server, you must sign in. Benefits of saving search histories on the ISI Web of Knowledge Server:
* E-mail alerts can be created from your saved search histories.
* RSS feeds can be created from your saved search histories.
* You will be able to access your saved histories from any computer at the institution.
* You can open saved histories directly from the ISI Web of Knowledge home page.

9. My EndNote Web (RefWorks is not available)

In order to create and access your EndNote Web Library, you must sign in or register. Benefits of creating an EndNote Web Library:
* You can add references to your EndNote Web Library directly from Web of Science and other ISI Web of Knowledge products.
* You can organize references in folders for access and use at any time--collections are retained between sessions.
* You can create formatted reference lists in a variety of publishing styles.
* You will be able to access your EndNote Web Library from any computer at the institution.

10. Help menu

Every time you need help with searches or any other menu option, click on HELP ( top right on the screen).

Contact the Library for any assistance you need

Show me the Data: Impact Factor

The article "Show me the Data" in The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol. 179, no. 6, Dec 2007 the authers' discussed the impact factor data that are gathered and sold by Thomson Scientific (formerly the Institute of Scientific Information, or ISI) and which have a strong influence on the scientific community, affecting decisions on where to publish, whom to promote or hire (1), the success of grant applications (2), and even salary bonuses (3).

The impact factor for a journal in a particular year is declared to be a measure of the average number of times a paper published in the previous two years was cited during the year in question. For example, the 2006 impact factor is the average number of times a paper published in 2004 or 2005 was cited in 2006. There are, however, some quirks about impact factor calculations that have been pointed out by others....

Click on the TITLE to read the 2 pages article.

ISI Web of Knowledge: The New Face of Research

New version of ISI Web of Science is now available simultaneously with the current. When I logged into Science Citation Index Database, on the top of the screen next to the logo is "access the new virsion" option. It seems the link is not yet activated for UJ users, but definetily will be available soon. Our users can then have an opportunity to explore and get used to the new interface.

What's new? The enhancements have been made to help streamline the research process, to better manage your search results and improve security. One of the most important features is the All Databases search, which replaces CrossSearch. The All Databases search allows you to:
- Search across all ISI Web of Knowledge databases our institution subscribes to;
- Retrieve up to 100,000 results, automatically sorted by the journal cover publication date;
- Easily refine and analyze your search results.

Marked List functionality is now available. Use Marked list to help you manage your search results within ISI Web of Knowledge, to easy print, export, save and download records. New! Every record you mark is automatically submitted to the Marked List when you navigate away from the page. You can also click on the Submit Marks button to create your Marked List. Export your Marked List records to EndNote Web or other reference management tools ( such as RefWorks).

New Web tool is WebPlus from "Further information" option. It will complement your research while searching Science Citation Index and other ISI Web of Knowledge databases, by searching highly focused, high-quality Web content.

For more information visit: http://0-newface.newisiknowledge.com.raulib.rau.ac.za/

You can access the ISI Web of Knowledge databases through the Library webpage. The following databases are useful to the Science community:

* ISI Journal Citation Reports

* ISI Current Contents databases (per subjects)

* ISI Science Citation Index

* ISI Social Science Citation Index

Let us know how useful and advanced is the new interface. Your inputs will be used to make future recomendations to the Publisher.