The Science Citation Index 50th Anniversary

The Science Citation Index has been going for 50 years and, although I don't remember it that far back, I do remember the days of having to look up subjects in printed annual indexes (see picture), making literature searching an extremely laborious and hit-and-miss affair. The print was so small we had to keep a magnifying glass in the library to lend to users!


There are old videos showing how it used to work (see the one below for a taster), an interview with the founder Eugene Garfield, a timeline of its evolution, a podcast on the recent enhancements and more at this link. Science Citation Index 50th Anniversary page

It's now part of the Web Of Science. See what it looks like now via Birkbeck eLibrary (Bbk staff and students only)

Saturday workshops for science students

The Library's programme of Saturday workshops for the Summer term is now out. This term they are aimed at postgraduates and ones that science students may find useful include: Sat 10th May 2014 11.30am - 1.30pm Improving Your Search Skills. Learn to get the best out of your searches on Library catalogues, databases and the web, with some time for hands-on practice. Sat 24th May 2014 11.30am - 1.00pm Keep up to date using current awareness services. Keep up to date with the latest journal articles in your field by using current awareness services such as ZETOC. Especially useful for PhD students. Sat 31st May 2014 11.30am-1.00pm Introduction to the Web Of Science. An introduction to searching the resources on the Web of Science, including the Arts & Humanities, Science and Social Sciences Citation Indexes) and Medline (biomedical research). Saturday 21st June 2014 11.30am - 1.00pm Managing Your References Using EndNote An introduction to EndNote, reference management software that helps you store, manage and cite your references correctly. There will be an opportunity for some hands-on practice. To book for these or any of the other workshops this term, please visit http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/news/infoskills You might also be interested in booking for workshops on the Academic Writing Day for Postgraduates being put on by colleagues in CLPD – details here http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/academic/birkbeck-academic-writing-day-citing-and-referencing-properly We look forward to seeing you at a workshop. Don’t forget, if you can't make a workshop but need help in any of these areas or anything else to do with Library and information skills or tracking down information, please contact me and I can help out by phone, email or a one-to-one appointment. s.godsell@bbk.ac.uk