VAST database to be improved with the addition of ScienceDirect Freedom Collection

19/09/2011

The digital library of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) has been expanded to include many foreign publications, both improving the quantity and quality of the information avalible to staff. Despite its limited information the digital library of the VAST has been serving the technological science staff in the academy for the past two years. In order to better serve the professional work of these staff, the Institute for Scientific Information has made extra efforts in supplementing the digital library with basic databases and online magazines of prestigious publishers such as the ScienceDirect database by Elsevier Publisher. Other online magazines like APS and AIP of the American Physical Society, IOP of the British Institute of Physics, and ACS of the American Chemical Society have also been added to the VAST database.

To help scientists in the academy easily access, seek and utilise information effectively from the updated database, the Institute for Scientific Information coordinated with Singapore’s Elsevier Publisher on May 17th to organize a ceremony to introduce and instruct staff and researchers who work at Hai Phong city and Hanoi on how to best use the new databases information.

The ceremony drew the participation of Dr. Nguyen Tien Dat, director of the Institute for Scientific Information, Mr. Lionel New, experts for customer consultancy from Elsevier Publisher and leaders and scientists from units under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in Hanoi and Hai Phong city.

Dr. Nguyen Tien Dat, director of the Institute for Scientific Information, made a speech to open the ceremony

Scientists listened to Mr. Lionel News’s introduction about the content of the ScienceDirect database and were instructed on how to access and use ScienceDirect effectively.

ScienceDirect is one of the worlds leading database collections providing essential information sources for millions of scientific researchers. This is the only full collection, covering key scientific documents and influential magazines such as The Lancet, Cell and Tetrahedron. ScienceDirect also expands data sources to other forms such as online reference documents, textbooks and e-books in every field. So far, ScienceDirect has published over one forth of full-text journal articles in the world in the fields of science, technology and medicine, and updated over eight million online articles and 11,000 e-books in over 2,500 magazines.

Lionel New, customer consultant from Elsevier Publisher introduced the ScienceDirect Freedom Collection database

An outstanding feature of the ScienceDirect database is that there is no limitation to the number of people downloading and accessing at the same time. Users can also access the fulltext content of booked collections, as well as accessing brief contents of all magazines from vol.1 and issue.1. ScienceDirect also uses fulltext formatting (HTML and PDF), supports sharp goggle tools in all articles and fulltext briefs with multichoice in order to aid users search according to their demands.

Each article on ScienceDirect has a links to supporting references and links in other related articles. The integration with outside databases (such as NextBio and Pangaea) of ScienceDirect helps users approach information more deeply. The service individualization features – which inform a users of new volumes or issues - also bring convenience in updating information. Apart from these functions, many other useful features of ScienceDirect were also introduced to staff and researchers.

ScienceDirect recently developed free applications for iPhone and permitted members to goggle, keep and establish messages on ScienceDirect. However, individual accounts of users must be established from a static IP address of units on the ScienceDirect website. When a user becomes a member of the digital library of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, they can access the database through the digital library’s website or through the ScienceDirect website of the Publisher. They can then select columns according to the demand of the individual researcher.

During the ceremony, scientists exchanged and shared effective methods for using the ScienceDirect Freedom Collection database. Nowadays, with the sharp development of science and technology, the digital library becomes a bridge to connect useful information for scientists in the academy with the world of science.

The same ceremony to introduce the ScienceDirect Freedom Collection for scientists from VAST in southern provinces took place in Ho Chi Minh city on May 16th.

Introducing ScienceDirect database to scientists from VAST in Ho Chi Minh city

Translated by Tuyet Nhung
Link to Vietnamese version

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