Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, September 2001

SCAD relocation

SCAD ceased to be updated from the 1st March 2001 but it has nevertheless remained accessible at its old address http://europa.eu.int/scad/. However from 1st October it will move to the website of the European Commission Central Library at http://europa.eu.int/comm/libraries/bibliotheques_en.htm. The data included in Sector C, periodical articles, has been transferred to the ECLAS database and is being updated there.

CORDIS update

There have been a number of recent developments on the CORDIS website http://www.cordis.lu/ that are worth noting. The guidance page of the Commission's Research and Development Information Service at http://www.cordis.lu/guidance has been re-designed in order to provide a simpler overview of the service and easier access to assistance and promotional materials. A range of brochures and flyers are available to download or print either through the link from the guidance page or by going directly to http://www.cordis.lu/brochures/. Multiple copies can also be ordered free of charge from here for use at events or training sessions.

One of the less welcome changes is the new search interface reached via the Databases heading on the home page. The simple search option in one of the individual CORDIS databases now only permits the user to enter one or more search term and then click on the “search” button to run the search. Anything more sophisticated is considered a specialized search, which needs to be conducted using either the Advanced or the Professional option for which registration is essential. Although registration is free and can be done simply through the website, it is yet one more username and password to remember. Previously even the basic search function allowed users to limit searches by a time period such as the last week or month, while the more advanced option offered Boolean searches.

The need for registration is linked, amongst other reasons, to one of the features of the Advanced Search, which enables users to save searches for future use. Other benefits of this search method are the ability to search more fields, to sort the results in a number of ways, to limit the number of records to be retrieved and to see a report of the number of records matching the search terms before displaying results. The New Search and Clear functions may seem to duplicate each other but in fact the Clear function simply takes one step back where the modification of a search has not produced the desired result and you want to return to the previous search strategy. Of course if you use the Clear button after constructing a search but not making changes to it, it will then have the same effect of resetting the search form and clearing it completely as using the New Search button.

The Professional Search interface is designed to meet the needs of those who used to use the CCL search language or Watch-CORDIS interface. It offers more flexibility, additional search fields, Boolean operators between fields as well as within, syntax checking and an expression builder function. The search expression is “built” in a window using selections from the two windows immediately below labelled “Groups and Fields available” and “Pre-Defined Values”. The process looks unnecessarily complex and confusing but undoubtedly allows very precise searches to be constructed, including identifying a specific record number or date.

Like the Advanced Search, the Professional Search enables users to save profiles which can be re-run, amended or deleted as required. While there is no limit on the number of profiles which can be saved, each profile can cover only one database. Cross-database searching is not possible. Profiles can also be saved in RAPIDUS, the e-mail alert service, and will remain valid for 12 months. As the expiry date approaches an e-mail reminder will be sent to enable the profile to be extended if required.

The RAPIDUS e-mail alert service has been running since 1997, so many existing profiles will have been constructed under the old CORDIS search interface, which is the equivalent of the new Advanced Search. Because of differences in the way the search works now, these old profiles will not display properly in the Advanced Search, particularly for searches in the Projects database and the Partners database. The search however is still executed correctly but any amendments other than the simple extension of the expiry date now need to be carried out in the Professional Search mode.

There is now a new RAPIDUS feature called QuickPick which allows users to set up a profile with a very simple two-step process using check boxes and selecting from menu options. These predefined options are based on the most popular profiles. Only one set of profiles can be saved in this way but there is still the opportunity to create as many bespoke profiles as desired using your own choice of

Keywords. Updates will be sent out by e-mail whenever records matching the profiles are added to the databases. Visit http://www.cordis.lu/rapidus/ to register and create your profiles.

Registration, in addition to allowing access to saved profiles, e-mail alerts and the more detailed search interfaces, also permits companies seeking collaborators for EU programmes to enter data into the Partners database and keep it up to date. The DOCMAIL service has been designed to overcome the problems often encountered when trying to download large documents. You can now have them sent to you by e-mail.

Regular users of CORDIS News will have noticed the introduction this year of pictures illustrating the main daily news items. This was the first step towards the development of a multimedia news service which is also to include video and audio. An interactive facility allows users to contact the News team using Hotmail.

Finally, the Innovation Scoreboard, which was an initiative of the Lisbon European Council in March 2000, is due to be posted at http://www.cordis.lu/scoreboard/ during this month. The scoreboard is a benchmarking tool which allows countries to assess their innovative performance in comparison with other member states as well as Japan and the US. A set of 17 performance indicators is used under four main headings such as knowledge creation and application of knowledge. Examples of indicators included are numbers of science graduates or patents filed, and government and business investment in R&D as a percentage of GDP. There has been an outline scoreboard available since September 2000 but the expanded and updated version due shortly will contain historical as well as current data so will be useful in identifying trends. Although the Scoreboard is designed to provide valuable data for policy makers it does not however go down to regional level so cannot be used to draw correlations, for example, between areas receiving structural funds and more wealthy regions. The Scoreboard can be viewed in Flash 5 (downloadable from the CORDIS home page) or HTML. Three headings offer access to the list of indicators, the methodology, and the Scoreboard itself. A sub menu links to background information, a summary table with all the countries' data, a map route to selecting information on a particular country, and some general comments on the findings. Researchers will find plenty of food for diverging interpretations of the disparities in country results. Also of interest to users of this site will be the recently published innovation policy studies Building an innovative economy in Europe at http://www.cordis.lu/innovation-policy/studies/ca_study1.htm. Twelve reports cover issues such as technology transfer and regional approaches.