Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico - June 23, 2004 - In celebration of the their
purchase of Web of Science® and Current Contents Connect®,
the Universidad de Guadalajara (UDG) and Thomson held a day-long event, which
featured inspiring speeches and informative presentations. The Universidad de
Guadalajara purchased all three Thomson ISI databases that comprise Web of
Science-Science Citation Index Expanded™, Social Sciences Citation
Index®, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index®-back to
1996. In addition, the university will provide their information and research
communities with all seven editions of Current Contents Connect. They
are:
- Agriculture, Biology, & Environmental Sciences
- Arts & Humanities
- Clinical Medicine
- Engineering, Computing, & Technology
- Life Sciences
- Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences
- Social & Behavioral Sciences.
Web of Science and Current Contents Connect are key components
of ISI Web of KnowledgeSM, which facilitates discovery by
offering seamless navigation to the highest-quality, multidisciplinary journal
literature, patent data, Web content, evaluation tools, and bibliographic management
products. Web of Science indexes approximately 8,700 of the world's most
influential scholarly journals, offering complete bibliographic data, searchable
author abstracts, and cited references from content back to 1945. Current
Contents Connect is the companion current awareness resource, providing
access to complete bibliographic information from over 8,000 of the world's
leading scholarly journals, 2,000 books, and a premium collection of evaluated
scholarly Web sites.
While other prominent institutions in Mexico where still renewing subscriptions
to these resources in traditional formats, the Universidad de Guadalajara was
among the first universities in Mexico to purchase Web-based versions of these
renowned, multidisciplinary information solutions.
The Universidad de Guadalajara
The University of Guadalajara is a public, decentralized body of the Mexican
State of Jalisco Government, whose objective is to form and update the technical,
bachelors, professional technicians, professionals, graduates and other human
resources required for socioeconomic development; to organize, perform, foster
and divulge all scientific, humanistic and technological research; to rescue,
preserve, increase and divulge all culture, science and technology.
The Universidad de Guadalajara was established in 1792, with one building of
the College of Saint Thomas. In 1826, the university was closed and reopened
as the Institute of Sciences of the State of Jalisco, introducing such subjects
as Grammar, Mathematics, Architecture, Forensic Medicine, and Constitutional
Law, among others. In 1917, the Universidad de Guadalajara was reborn from a
series of dispersed institutions into a State University. Today, University
of Guadalajara is among the largest and most respected institutions of higher
learning in Mexico, arguably in all of Latin America.
The Event: Integrated Web Solutions for Scientific and Scholarly Research
Held at the University's Auditorio del Centro de Recursos Informativos (Center
of Information Resources Auditorium), the event was attended by more than 100
university dignitaries, information professionals, and students.
Q.F.B. Ruth Padilla Muñoz-Coordinadora General Académica (General
Academic Coordinator) commenced the ceremonies by thanking guests and welcoming
attendees. Q.F.B. Padilla also explained the importance of Web of Science and
Current Contents Connect to the university, and expressed the pride she and
other university officials shared for being able to offer these effective research
tools to their scientific community. "The availability of these resources
will enable our researchers to compete on the world stage of scientific discovery,"
commented Padilla.
After greeting the university officials and attendees, and thanking them for
there support of Thomson Scientific, Carlos Martinez, director for Latin American
and the Caribbean, Thomson Scientific, delivered a presentation entitled: "Thomson
ISI: Linking Scientific and Scholarly Research in the 21st Century." In
his talk, Martinez provided an overview of the company's tradition of excellence
and long-standing reputation for providing the global research community with
the highest-quality products and services. "ISI has been the leading secondary
publisher, focusing on multidisciplinary scholarly journal literature for over
40 years and produces some of the most heavily used, unique research tools in
the industry," explained Martinez.
The presentation continued with an overview of the markets that Thomson ISI
serves, reaching nearly eight million researchers worldwide. Martinez also explained
the composition of the Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com)
who acquired ISI® in 1992. "Thomson ISI is a business of the Thomson
Scientific & Healthcare market group, and its products assist professionals
at every stage of research and development-from discovery to analysis to product
development and distribution," said Martinez.
The presentation concluded with a look into the Thomson Scientific product
offerings, explaining that there are more than 200 site-wide Web customers in
Latin America and more than 2,200 institutions that subscribe to Web of Science
worldwide.
Next, Jeff Clovis, director of product support for Thomson Scientific, provided
an overview of the key factors that make ISI Web of Knowledge an invaluable
information solution. Clovis began by outlining the core content from Thomson
Scientific, including Web of Science, Current Contents Connect
and Derwent Innovations IndexSM. ISI Web of Knowledge
integrates this core content with analytical and evaluation tools (Essential
Science IndicatorsSM and Journal Citation Reports®),
proceedings information (ISI ProceedingsSM), life sciences
literature (BIOSIS Previews®), structural chemistry (ISI ChemistrySM),
bibliographic management resources (EndNote®, ProCite®,
Reference Manager®), hosted content (INSPEC, PsycINFO, CAB Abstracts,
and Food Science & Technology Abstracts).
"ISI Web of Knowledge does not simply play host to quality databases
and provide for Cross Search of these resources. Information within all
databases is integrated, so that wherever a common element exists a link is
made-including inter-database links and links to full text, cited references,
times cited, and citing articles," explained Clovis.
Clovis wrapped-up by outlining key enhancements to ISI Web of Knowledge,
including a redesign of the homepage, unlimited number of records retrieved,
summary analysis (by author, publication year, category, journal, etc.), citation
alert from a single button click, and the addition of author e-mail addresses.
Guadalupe Jimenez, regional manager for Mexico and Central America, Thomson
Scientific, followed with presentations of three components of ISI Web of
Knowledge: Web of Science, Current Contents Connect (CC
Connect®) and Journal Citation Reports® on the Web (JCR
Web®). First, Jimenez explained that Web of Science enables users
to search current and retrospective multidisciplinary information from nearly
8,700 of the world's most influential research journals. Jimenez detailed the
Web of Science powerful search capabilities, which enable users to instantly
find the most relevant information to their research. She also explained cited
reference searching-the unique Web of Science feature that allows users
to navigate through an era, taking a seminal idea, researching its origins,
and discovering its impact over time.
Next, Jimenez focused on Current Contents Connect-the multidisciplinary
current awareness resource that provides access to complete table of contents,
and bibliographic information from nearly 8,000 leading scholarly journals and
more than 2,000 books and proceedings published worldwide. Specifically, she
detailed the Current Contents eSearch and eFirst technology. Current
Contents eSearch applies advanced search criteria to mine the content of
pre-evaluated and selected Web sites. "Current Contents eSearch
extracts the relevant documents within each site to deliver essential information
about preprints, funding and grants, and other research activities (proceedings,
dissertations, meeting abstracts, and reviews of scholarly Web sites),"
explained Jimenez.
Jimenez went on to explain that eFirst significantly enhances the value
of CC Connect by providing access to the bibliographic information from
peer reviewed journal articles in electronic form before the complete journal
issue is published. "eFirst offers the author and user communities the
advantage of a shortened publishing cycle, and benefits publishers by helping
them to differentiate between their electronic and print products," she
said.
Her final presentation outlined Journal Citation Reports on the Web
(JCR Web) explaining that the statistical data in JCR Web provides
a systematic and objective way to determine journals with the highest impact
within a given subject area. JCR Web is available in science and the
social science editions, collectively covering approximately 7,000 journals
within 200 disciplines.
Jeff Clovis concluded the lectures with a presentation entitled "Essential
Science IndicatorsSM: An Analytical Look at the Scientific Landscape".
He began by discussing ISI Web of Knowledge stating that the goal is
to enhance the entire research process by allowing both novice and expert users
to quickly locate the essential, relevant information they need, when the need
it, directly from the desktop. As an integral part of ISI Web of Knowledge,
Clovis also explained that Essential Science Indicators is an evaluation
tool that helps researchers, administrators, deans, and directors measure the
productivity, influence, and impact of worldwide research activity in 22 fields
of science and the social sciences.
The event culminated with Carlos Martinez presenting Dr. MVZ Albert Hector
Medel Ruiz, Secretario de la Coordinación General Académica (Secretary
of the General Administration for Academics), with a plaque in recognition of
the Universidad de Guadalajara's commitment to scientific and scholarly research
in Mexico and worldwide. Following the presentation of the plaque, guests enjoyed
a catered lunch.
After a the lunch, attendees were given product training sessions, which was
followed by a cocktail reception and dinner at the Hotel Quinta Real where quests
enjoyed fine food and the opportunity to socialize with colleagues and new associates.