I am also concerned that we will not be able to use the Ovid interface, so don't quite understand what the NHS is purchasing from Ovid.
A small scale study a colleague and I are currently writing up on 3 different interfaces for the same search on the same database has thrown up some extremely interesting results. All database interfaces are definitely not created equal, and in our study, intriguingly, it's actually DIALOG that threw up more relevant hits initially than either Ovid or EbscoHOST. Federated searching in general is a poisoned chalice as well as the Holy Grail, and even DIALOG as part of the Thomson corporation, with megabillions behind it, can't get its federated searching to work across more than one database consistently.
I haven't done any systematic study of the NLH search engine in the same way, but I do know that using the current search engine on the NLH site often does not retrieve results that I know are there if you search the various parts of the site individually. Perhaps I'm just using the wrong search terms.
Paula Younger
Electronic Resources Librarian
Exeter Health Library
Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust
Barrack Road
Exeter
EX2 5DW
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