Today Fred and I presented our first workshop on biomedical literature searching. The workshop, called Beyond PubMed focused on selected resources for biomedical literature searching on the Web.We knew from earlier fact finding discussions that staff were interested in searching e-books. Fred started with a demonstration of how to search and browse the NCBI Bookshelf made available from the US National Institutes of Health. We then concentrated on selected journal online services that are available by arrangement with INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications) for free or very low cost online access to the biomedical and health journal literature. INASP was established by the International Council for Science (ICSU) in 1992, as a direct response to a study on how to meet the information needs of scientists in the developing world. INASP operated within the legal entity of ICSU until 2003, and was formalized as an Interdisciplinary Body of ICSU in 2005. INASP has been a limited company in the United Kingdom since 2003 and was registered as a charity in 2004.
The other sources covered included PubMed Central, African Journals Online, Blackwell Publishing and JSTOR. We also covered Google Scholar and Annual Reviews.
A selected list of journals available online was also provided. The network was slow but stable and we experienced no loss of electric power. The workshop was held in the library's 16 computer classroom equipped with a portable video projector. Eight library staff participated and the discussion was keen. The need for knowledge and contact with other institutions of higher learning is palpable.
