EMBASE Classic in Development

PHILADELPHIA, May 16 /PRNewswire/ --

- Electronic Backfile From 1947 - 1973

    Elsevier, producer of EMBASE, announces its plans to build EMBASE 
Classic, a bibliographic database that will make the EMBASE backfile from 
1947-1973 accessible in electronic format for the first time. This fully 
digitized 27-year backfile will be drawn from 43 Excerpta Medica Abstract 
Journal print titles, and will include over 1.6 million records from the 
biomedical and pharmacological literature. It is scheduled for release 
October 2007.



    Part of Elsevier's ongoing commitment to the preservation of scientific
knowledge, the EMBASE Classic release will enable institutional subscribers
within the research community to obtain perpetual access to this important
information.



    Amanda Spiteri, Director of Elsevier's Pharmaceutical Development Group,
commented that, "Feedback from the EMBASE user community clearly indicated
the importance of preserving the Excerpta Medica abstract records published
in print prior to the advent of the EMBASE online file with records from 1974
onwards. Therefore we are extremely pleased that we will be able to make this
unique collection readily available to today's researchers, students,
information professionals and medical historians. Having these records
'alive' will serve to document the history of the life sciences. It will
enable today's researchers to look back at critical research that has paved
the way for advancements in science and medicine."



    The records that will be included in EMBASE Classic date from the
founding of Excerpta Medica (EM) in 1946 by a group of Dutch physicians to
help "the progress of medical knowledge by making available to medical and
related professions information on all basic research and clinical findings
reported in any language throughout the world." Initially EM published 13
abstract journal sections divided along the lines of the medical school
curriculum, including anatomy, pathology, physiology, internal medicine and
other basic scientific and clinical specialties. More sections were added
over time to handle the rapid increase in published biomedical literature and
the emergence of biomedical subspecialties. By the beginning of the 1970s EM
published over 40. The editors, who screened, selected and indexed articles
for inclusion in the EM Abstract Journals and wrote many of the abstracts,
were practicing medical specialists. Indexing was based on the full text of
the articles, not just abstracts.



    In order to build EMBASE Classic a microfilm repository of the 43
Excerpta Medica Abstract Journals issues published between 1947 and 1973 is
currently being scanned. EMBASE Classic will include coverage of articles
published in more than 3,000 source titles and more than 90% of records will
include abstracts. The current EMBASE record format will be followed as
closely as possible including DOIs for linking out to full text where
available.



    The 43 Excerpta Medica titles that will be incorporated into EMBASE
Classic will include the 13 original abstract journals, as well as later
additions covering specialties such as Cancer, Cardiovascular Medicine and
Obstetrics & Gynecology. The growing literature on drugs will be represented
by the sections on Pharmacology and Toxicology (originally bundled with
Physiology and Biochemistry), as well as the important Adverse Reaction
Titles begun in 1966.



    Powerful thesaurus tools will be available for every search. EMTREE,
Elsevier's Life Science Thesaurus, also used for indexing EMBASE, will be
implemented across the file for precision retrieval. The thesaurus contains
over 52,000 preferred terms and more than 210,000 synonyms.



    Historic medical terms have been identified and will be added to the
current version of EMTREE. For example, the pre-penicillin era drugs
oxophenarsine (tradename mapharsen) to treat syphilis and thiazosulfone
(tradename promizole) to treat leprosy and tuberculosis will become EMTREE
terms.



    Contact Magdaleine Margaritis at [e-mail] for
additional information and visit www.info.embaseclassic.com to obtain the
complete list of Excerpta Medica Abstract Journal titles/years covered. To
speak with an Elsevier representative at the MLA 2007 Annual Conference in
Philadelphia, May 19-22 visit Booth #110.



About EMBASE

    EMBASE (http://www.info.embase.com/embase) is a biomedical and
pharmacological database that provides access to the most up-to-date
information about medical and drug-related subjects. Updated weekly, it
contains over 11 million records from 1974 to present, with 600,000+
citations and abstracts added annually. Each record contains the full
bibliographic citation, indexing terms and codes; 70% of all citations in
EMBASE include author-written abstracts. The EMBASE journal collection is
international with over 5,000 biomedical journals from 70 countries. EMBASE
features comprehensive coverage of Drug Research, Pharmacology, Pharmacy,
Pharmacoeconomics, Pharmaceutics and Toxicology; Human Medicine (Clinical and
Experimental); Basic Biological Research; Health Policy and Management;
Public, Occupational and Environmental Health; Substance Dependence and
Abuse; Psychiatry; Forensic Science; and Biomedical Engineering and
Instrumentation.



About Elsevier

    Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and 
medical information products and services. Working in partnership with the 
global science and health communities, Elsevier's 7,000 employees in over 70 
offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 1,900 new books per 
year, in addition to offering a suite of innovative electronic products, 
such as ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com/), MD Consult (
http://www.mdconsult.com/), Scopus (http://www.info.scopus.com/),
bibliographic databases, and online reference works.



    Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/) is a global business headquartered in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide. Elsevier is part of
Reed Elsevier Group plc (http://www.reedelsevier.com/), a world-leading
publisher and information provider. Operating in the science and medical,
legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides
high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing
emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery. Reed Elsevier's ticker
symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and
ENL (New York Stock Exchange).



    
    Magdaleine Margaritis
    [phone]
    [e-mail]