Report:Inspec/Common Ways to Access/Individual System Details/Engineering Village
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Engineering Village
| Feature | Comments |
| Are all file specific search fields enabled? | Yes, all fields are able to be searched including all indexes using a form of controlled vocabulary. |
| Is the Inspec Thesaurus for controlled vocabulary accessible? | Yes, access to the Thesaurus is available when the database access is purchased. All features of the Thesaurus are available in a graphical interface. |
| Which search operators are available? | Boolean operators; numeric operators*; proximity operators. Proximity operators include directional (fixed order) proximity, and proximity operators that allow a fixed number of terms between words (in either order). Proximity operators in this system cannot be used in combination with truncation operators. |
| Is truncation available? | Yes, limited and unlimited right truncation, unlimited left truncation, limited and unlimited internal truncation. |
| Graphical or command line interface? | Both graphical and command line interfaces available. |
| What dates are covered? | Inspec is available from 1969-date and Inspec Archive is available from 1898-1968. |
| *The Inspec database contains numeric information. Numeric operators allow this data to be searched as a single value, a range of values, or any value above or below a particular number. | |
Additional Commentary
Engineering Village by Elsevier is a non-patent literature provider that contains access to Compendex, NTIS, and Referex in addition to Inspec. Searching can be done in an Easy Search form (one field keyword searching of all databases), Quick Search (drop down menu guided field searching of the searcher’s choice of the databases), and Expert Search (command line interface and choice of databases to search). More information on Engineering Village can be found at the provider specific article, found here.
From the Quick Search section of Engineering Village it can be seen that the coverage of Inspec in Engineering Village only dates back to 1969. The Science Abstracts era of Inspec is covered in the Inspec Archive file available from Engineering Village and access must be purchased separately from access to Inspec. Browsing the Author, Author affiliation, Controlled term, Serial title, and Publisher indexes is available from the Quick Search section.
The Browsing ability allows the searcher to browse through by letter and search to find the term directly.
The drop down menu in Engineering Village allows the user to select the main fields of Inspec, but does not include things such as Chemical or Numerical Indexing, which are only available in the deeper Expert Search.
Editor's Note:The Quick Search does a good job of using a graphical interface for non-expert searchers unused to a command line interface, but does leave some fields without the ability to be searched, trading off ease of use for functionality.
The Expert Search tab of Engineering Village allows for the full use of the searchable fields in Inspec. The codes for all fields are given in a key located on the same screen as the command line interface and an expanded browsing ability is given. The browsing works the same way as the options available from Quick Search, but adds areas for Language, Document type, Treatment type, and Discipline (top level classification). Search operators enabled in Engineering Village can be used in full to search Inspec.
Editor's Note:The Expert Search tab brings a lot of functionality to searching Inspec and makes tailoring a search string using operators and within indexes and fields easy for the expert intellectual property searcher.
Engineering Village also features a version of the Inspec thesaurus with added functionality due to the way it is presented and hyperlinked. The Thesaurus (offered under the Thesaurus tab) can be either browsed or searched by keyword. From the results of a search the user can see related terms, insert them into search fields, or click on a result to find more detailed information.
The additional information available to the user includes various keyword alternatives that are defined by the Thesaurus as “prior terms”, “top terms”, “broader terms”, “related terms”, and “narrower terms”. Also, by clicking the info button next to the selected search term, a pop-up window will appear with the date the term was added to the Thesaurus, as well as the related Inspec classifications.
Inspec Classifications are not browsable or searchable through Engineering Village.
Editor's Note:The Thesaurus implementation in Engineering Village is extremely useful and allows the searcher to find related terms and classifications easily and effectively. The lack of browsable or searchable Classifications is a weak area, but this can be supplemented by searching the Thesaurus and then clicking on the info button to find related classifications according to the term you found.
Engineering Village displays Inspec record results in a list with the title of the record, the author, the author’s association, the source, and links to the abstract or the full (non-full text) record. In some cases a full text link is available. The search results can be narrowed by a sidebar to the right which displays ranked categories that came up in the search results by author, author affiliation, controlled vocabulary, classification code, country, document type, language, year, serial title, and publisher. The search result and viewing capabilities and further limiting features are described in detail in the Engineering Village article, found here.
Editor's Note:Engineering Village offers a highly functional and easy to understand way to access Inspec that puts most of the features at your fingertips in either a more graphical user interface, or a command line interface based on your preference. The Thesaurus has helpful links to other controlled vocabulary and classifications. The one disadvantage is the lack of a searchable or browsable classification code directory. This limitation, however, can be overcome by use of the Thesaurus. Many comparable systems such as the Dialog suite do not display the versatility and ease of use, highlighting the dynamic capabilities of Engineering Village when a user wishes to access Inspec.
