The Lab Library has created a user survey to gauge demand for online access to the Institute for Scientific Information’s Web of Science. A unique citation database index, Web of Science provides a metric on whether a particular paper or author has been cited in other published works. Being able to determine this can help strengthen funding proposals.

However, this is a very expensive resource. Web of Science would cost approximately $120,000 for Labwide access for the current year and citations for up to five years prior. Depending on scientific interest, this may or may not be enough back years. (The cost increases even more for 10 years of back files.)

Under current financial constraints, $120,000 worth of journals would need to be cut or reduced to online access only. The Library proposes to end their hard-copy subscriptions to a number of lesser-used journal titles. Paper copies of about 100 journal titles currently received in the libraries of Buildings 50, 62 and 90 would be eliminated in order to partially fund the purchase of Web of Science. Check out the list of these journals, which would be available online only, as a result of this decision. Based on statistical use reports, some lesser utilized journals will be removed completely. In addition, the Library may reduce access to certain journals to a limited audience of specialized scientists.

"We need to make certain decisions, and that involves compromise," said Jane Tierney, head of ITSD's Technical and Electronic Information Department. "It's a balancing act."

Currently, the library has access to other online databases, but they do not provide information about the number of times your work has been cited in other publications. Current Contents (which costs about $19,000 per year through the California Digital Library) allows searches by subject, title or author, and you can search how many articles have been written by a particular author. Another current resource is the DIALOG citation database, which operates on a "pay on demand" service model. The library pays per query, based on the volume of data, and any downloads of articles cost extra. This means each search may cost as much as $500 to $750. (Only library staff can use this service on your behalf, since it requires knowledge of special query software language.)

Please respond to the survey (login required) by Fri. Aug. 13.