Discovery Spring 2000

Hundreds of Elsevier E-Journals Now Available

The MSU Renne Library is pleased to offer patrons access to the online versions of the titles published by Elsevier Science. The Elsevier Science journal list includes many that are among the most prestigious in their fields. Access is limited to networked computer users on the Bozeman campus and those persons having a Proxy or CatConnect account. At last count, some 1,196 titles are available, with many of the holdings extending back to 1996 or 1997. All are updated regularly and continuously. Our electronic subscription includes hundreds of titles that the Libraries had not subscribed to in paper form.

The server for the Elsevier Science database is located at Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Users may start from the library's Databases and Indexes Page or go directly to the newly revamped Full Text Finder , which also offers access to thousands of additional full-text and electronic journals.

The Elsevier Science database gives users the option to browse particular titles or one of 18 subject areas, including agriculture, physics, science, social sciences and mathematics. Users may search for keywords, author name, and date. The Advanced Search allows these same options as well as allowing users to restrict searches by subject, article type and language.

The articles in the Elsevier Science collection are stored in PDF format and an Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view them. Users who do not have the Reader program may download it for free.

Even with little publicity, the Elsevier Science e-journals appear to be popular with MSU students, faculty and staff. In February alone, nearly 2,600 articles were downloaded by our users. This rate approaches that of some of the "Power Users" in the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Elsevier Science electronic journals were purchased with indirect cost dollars made available by the MSU Office of the Vice President for Research. As a member of the Intermountain Consortium, the Renne Library was able to negotiate access to the Elsevier Science collection at a substantial savings. What's more, renewals for the next two years will be made at an assumed rate of inflation of 7.5 percent, well under the actual industry average of 10 percent to 15 percent.

Indirect cost dollars have also enabled the library to add the INSPEC database. INSPEC is a highly regarded database with coverage that includes physics, electrical engineering, electronics, telecommunications, computers, control technology and information technology. The database contains more than five million records with approximately 300,000 records added annually; it is produced and maintained by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). INSPEC is available from the library's Databases and Indexes Page.

Together, the Elsevier Science electronic journal collection and INSPEC offer the faculty, students, and staff of MSU greatly improved and timely access to information across a broad spectrum of disciplines. Brad Coon is a reference librarian for the MSU Libraries.