Am I bovered, though?

There have been a few rumours flying around that Thomson Reuters, who own the well-known database 'Web of Knowledge,' were going to withdraw the contents of their database from Primo Central - known to you and I as the 'Articles & more' quick search in Library Search - and other aggregator services such as Summon and Ebsco.

Without trying to denigrate Web of Knowledge at all, my response to this was "Do I look bovered?"  The fact is that most (if not all) the content would still be included from other sources (Elsevier, JSTOR, etc), so it would make little difference. 

In any case, for most of the subjects I support, the existing 'Articles & more' (with or without Web of Knowledge) is of dubious benefit, and I prefer to direct students either to an alternative aggregator (namely Google Scholar) or (and this is my preference) to good quality specialist databases - namely Proquest Art databases, JSTOR, or Art Full Text, or FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals.

The reason for Thomson Reuter's apparent hesitancy with regard to aggregated search was said to be that they wanted users to use their interface as their primary search environment for authoritative search.  And I can see why.  Web of Knowledge is unique amongst multidisciplinary databases in that their principal feature is how few, rather than how many journals it indexes.  They pride themselves on quality, and exclusivity.  In the sciences in particular, this is a great advantage, making this a leading databases in science - and in particular for systematic reviews.

Within the arts and humanities, Web of Knowledge, is used much less frequently, despite there being a specific index for arts & humanities (the Arts & Humanities Citation Index).  This currently indexes only 82 art journals (I think only three of these are specific to photography) and only 33 journals in the areas of film, radio and TV.  So, quite limited;  however, as these are reckoned to be  the most influential journals in the relevant field (by the panel appointed by Web of Science to decide these things) it is worth looking to see which are the chosen journals.

Subsequent to the rumours, Web of Science has issued a statement confirming that they are in fact not withdrawing their records from Primo Central.  They have also announced that they will be collaborating with Google Scholar to provide seamless movement to and from Web of Knowledge, which will be interesting (and might help revitalise both).  This is a neat collaboration given that an early article setting out the principles of Google’s algorithm back in 1998, cited Eugene Garfield - founder of ISI, who originally developed Web of Knowledge.

Web of Knowledge will also be launching a new interface early next year, which should make searching their current - rather difficult - interface easier.  I look forward to it.

Search Web of ScienceSM     Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters

Art Full Text - online introduction

One of the databases searched within Library Search 'Articles & more' is Art Full Text.  You don't have to access the 'native' interface, but there are a few features that you might find useful, so I have embedded an online presentation on Art Full Text below. 

It is not the most exciting presentation in the world, but it does provide a useful summary of some of the features:

Coverage; Subject headings; Images of art works; Search fields; Biographical data; Advanced search menu; Email and RSS alerts; Saving articles; Saving searches; Translation of articles; Conversion to audio / saving audio files; Automated referencing



To access the native interface, go to Library Search and search for 'art full text' within the 'Books, journals & more' tab.  You can also try this with 'art bibliographies modern.'

NB: if you are asked for a username and password, ignore and look for 'Shibboleth access via UK federation'

If you have any questions about Art Full Text, please contact me.

British Film Institute National Library

I visited the British Film Institute National library back in May to learn about using their collections.

The resources available in the Reading Room include: books, periodicals, databases and newspaper cutting files; pressbooks and unpublished scripts; film festival catalogues dating back to the 1930s; and audio material, including interviews with film makers.

It is not free to use (even for BFI members), so take a look at the membership fees before you visit the library, which is just off the Tottenham Court Road.  Also, take a look at their catalogue before you visit and look at some of the special collections – there are over 600.

My advice is that to get the most out of the collection, you should make full use of the staff there.  They are experienced in helping students, researchers, journalists and cineastes of all descriptions.

There are plenty of other BFI resources available online too, and because they can be a little hard to locate online, I have provided some links here:

BFI National Library
     BFI Film and TV Database
     BFI Researchers' Guide
     BFI Resource Guides (16+ Source Guides)
BFI Live (video channel, with interviews and rare footage)
BFI National Archives
     Research Viewing Service
     Screen Online
     BFI YouTube Channel
     BFI InView (British history through the lens)
Sight and Sound Archive


Related posts

Screen online - video clips and full length films

Google Reader - for academics

RSS readers such as Google Reader are great for keeping up to date with blogs and news sites,  but did you know:

1. Most academic journals have feeds for new issues.

2. Many journal databases allow you to create a feed for new content matching a defined search (e.g. keywords, author, citation - keep updated on who is citing you).

3. You can share posts you like with colleagues or students (and the world), with one click.  See my shared items for example.

4. Once you start using RSS, it is addictive!

View the first post of this blog for a quick overview of RSS and Google Reader or ask your librarian for more information.

Screen online - video clips and full length films

I'm reading Alan Bennett currently for a book group and found clips from many of his TV plays on Screen Online, produced by the British Film Institute.  There are a huge number of other clips from other British films and television productions on there too - for example 'Great Expectations' (1946), 'Trainspotting' (1996) and 'The Office' (2001-2003).

There are also some full-length films such as Karel Reisz's 'We Are the Lambeth Boys' (1959) and Shane Meadows' short film 'Where's the money Ronnie!' (1996).

You can search Screen Online for your favourite British director, actor or film etc or browse for films grouped by genre, theme, place or decade.  There are also 'tours' of themes such as 'Cinematography,' 'Britishness,' 'the British sense of humour' and 'writing short films.'

It is a wonderful resource for film students or for anyone interested in film!

Much of the text on Screen Online is available to anyone on the Internet, but you have to be within a school, university or public library to view the clips.

FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Plus

FIAF covers over 350 titles and now comes with over 45 titles available with full-text.  Titles available in full-text include key publications such as Cineaste, Cinema Journal, Film Comment, Film Criticism and Film Quarterly.

A user guide, online demonstration, and complete list of titles available in full-text are available from the FIAF Information Resources page.

Access to the database is via InfoLinX.