PubMed to Replace Ovid Medline on July 1, 2006
Effective July 1, 2006, the Hardin Library will offer Medline exclusively through PubMed, the National Library of Medicine’s free search service that includes over 16 million citations from Medline and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. Although we will continue to offer the Ovid search interface for several specialized databases, the Ovid version of Medline will be discontinued after June 30. Previously we subscribed to Medline through Ovid because we considered its searching interface to be superior. However, within recent years the searching capabilities of PubMed have improved significantly, and are now at the point that they make Ovid Medline an unnecessary duplication. The most important factor in this decision is one of cost and our commitment to be responsible stewards of the limited resources in our collections budget, which is struggling with inflation and the rapid growth and demand for new electronic resources. By making this move, we can be more flexible in acquiring resources that support the educational, research, and patient care missions of the health campus.
Because many Hardin Library users have already begun using PubMed as their Medline entry point we expect this transition to go smoothly. For those users who would like help in making the transition to PubMed, an introductory course is available and will be offered six times during spring and early summer. Please register for one of these courses. Hardin librarians are also happy to come to your department or class for Hardin House Calls – tailored research consultations and instructional sessions. Online PubMed training is also available from the National Library of Medicine.
