 |
 |
It would be quite helpful to know the problems that Ovid has, that Dialog does not. It's a shame the NHS staff you refer to didn't reply to the list. Could you summarise the main points to the list please Scott? Regards Sue Merriott -----Original Message----- From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Scott Gibbens Sent: 16 June 2005 18:52 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: OVID vs DIALOG Apologies to those who are getting bored of this - these are my final comments on this discussion.. So far I have had a number of personal emails from NHS library staff telling me they prefer Dialog and pointing out problems with OVID that Dialog does not have. No system is perfect - but the core content team picked the resources after carfeully evalutating them on a number of criteria. This team is made up of NHS librarians with many years of experience. This team choose Dialog. This resource HAS proved to be successful - 8 million searches in a year - and has been endorsed with long term funding from the SHAs. I stand by the decision to work with Dialog, and the personal emails I have recived from NHS librarians back up that view, Regards Scott Gibbens NHS Core Content Manager On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 16:14:28 +0100, Gordon Smith <Gordon.Smith@EPSOM- STHELIER.NHS.UK> wrote: >No mention of Ovid here that I can see. Does anyone who has the choice >of Ovid and Dialog actually prefer Dialog? > >Gordon. > > > >Gordon Smith >The Sally Howell Library >Epsom General Hospital >Dorking Road >Epsom, Surrey, KT18 7EG >Tel. 01372-735688, Fax 01372-735687 >NULJ=HOWE, HLN=EP > ><<Cela est bien dit>> rEpondit Candide ><<mais il faut cultiver notre jardin>>. - Voltaire. > >>>> Scott Gibbens <[log in to unmask]> 16/06/2005 13:46:36 >>> >Dear All > >For your information I enclose some information on the comments below, >as I >know that our Account Manager at Dialog is out of the country at the >moment >and unable to reply. The NHS has a Technical Reference Group which >works >with all our information providers in improving the service they >provide, >and as such a number of improvements are always in the pipeline. > >Regards >Scott Gibbens >NHS National Core Content Manager > >Dialog: > >* Confusing language e.g. "link to fully indexed abstract" and not >immediately obvious what different functions do (e.g. split, rank) >SG: NHS staff have been asked what they would like "link to fully >indexed >abstract" to say instead as this text can be easily changed. I think it >is >better then "link to full reference" which most end users think means >full >text! > >* Still being worked on/amended. Changes from day to day! >SG: The service it being amended and improved based on customer >feddback >and certainly does not change day to day. I would much prefer to work >with >an information provider that does respond so positively to customer >feedback > >* Not very intuitive. Less obvious how to navigate through pages, >download references etc... >SG: Seems easy to me - click on next titles to see the next 20. Go to >the >bottom of the page to save, print or email. > > >* 2 searches are registered whenever you use thesaurus mapping (so >end up with much longer search history than necessary) >SG: The standard results and thesaurus mapping results are both shown. >I >would have thought this is a major advantage. > >* Downloading references is much more complicated/time consuming. >Not immediately obvious how to go about it. Not all details of >citation >are entered into Ref man. Missed out year, and volume, issue and page >numbers. >SG: This depends on how much information you choose to download via >the >Short, Medium or Full format of records > >* Often problems with links to full text journals from Dialog >SG: This is one of the issues ANY linking system will have. The term >often >implies this happens a lot - rarely would be a much better term. > >* Thesaurus mapping algorithms are different. Terms are displayed >with the most common first so often get a bizarre list of terms to >choose from in Dialog, rather than relevant related terms. >SG: The Thesaurus mapping comment is often received. it should be made >clear that Dialog use standard thesaurus mapping - NOT vocaulary >mapping as >some other providers do. > >* Discrepancies when exploding descriptors: selecting Explode >under Thesaurus mapping in Medline and Embase returns less results >than >if each of the related terms under all trees are selected. >SG: Reasons for this have been discussed on the NHS Core Content list >before > > >* Sometimes very slow. Often down. >SG: This is simply not true. We monitor ALL the core content >resources. >Dialog is the best performing of all of them and is usually only down >during SCHEDULED downtime on a Saturday morning > >* No access to ACP journal club >SG: This is not a resource the NHS subscribes to and is certainly not >a >Dialog issue! > >* Dialog is inadequate for systematic reviews as it can't cope >with unlimited truncation >SG: Yes it can - you just need to understand how to use the system >properly! > >* Dialog is found to be fairly unresponsive, interface is too >generic for people who like to focus on Medline and some of it's >terminology can be misleading and/or confusing >SG: Is the answer to have a radically different interface to each >database - >that would be a disaster.