Biomaterial Database

SPIRS, WinSPIRS, and OVID: a comparison of three MEDLINE-on-CD-ROM interfaces. 1996

D Schoonbaert

Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium.

Three MEDLINE-on-CD-ROM interfaces are compared: SPIRS (version 3.11) and WinSPIRS (version 1.0) from SilverPlatter and OVID (version 3.0, DOS and Windows interfaces) from CD Plus Technologies. Though the database is the same, there are substantial differences among the interfaces in the way these data are presented and can be searched. These different approaches are discussed, and a detailed comparative table is included. It is obvious that all three interfaces are quite good yet none of them is perfect; each has desirable and unfortunate features. Together, they offer an enormous range of possibilities. Users would benefit if most of the better features (e.g., easy menu, free-text retrieval, pre-exploded thesaurus terms) were implemented in future versions of these interfaces and if system operators were given greater latitude to determine the system defaults appropriate to their specific situations and customers.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009323	Natural Language Processing	Computer processing of a language with rules that reflect and describe current usage rather than prescribed usage.	Language Processing, Natural,Language Processings, Natural,Natural Language Processings,Processing, Natural Language,Processings, Natural Language
D003626	Data Display	The visual representation of data via a manufactured system.	Information Display,Data Displays,Display, Data,Display, Information,Displays, Data,Displays, Information,Information Displays
D013997	Time Factors	Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.	Time Series,Factor, Time,Time Factor
D014481	United States	A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D014584	User-Computer Interface	The portion of an interactive computer program that issues messages to and receives commands from a user.	Interface, User Computer,Virtual Systems,User Computer Interface,Interface, User-Computer,Interfaces, User Computer,Interfaces, User-Computer,System, Virtual,Systems, Virtual,User Computer Interfaces,User-Computer Interfaces,Virtual System
D016239	MEDLINE	The premier bibliographic database of the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE. MEDLINE® (MEDLARS Online) is the primary subset of PUBMED and can be searched on NLM's Web site in PubMed or the NLM Gateway. MEDLINE references are indexed with MEDICAL SUBJECT HEADINGS (MeSH).	Index Medicus
D016247	Information Storage and Retrieval	Organized activities related to the storage, location, search, and retrieval of information.	Information Retrieval,Data Files,Data Linkage,Data Retrieval,Data Storage,Data Storage and Retrieval,Information Extraction,Information Storage,Machine-Readable Data Files,Data File,Data File, Machine-Readable,Data Files, Machine-Readable,Extraction, Information,Files, Machine-Readable Data,Information Extractions,Machine Readable Data Files,Machine-Readable Data File,Retrieval, Data,Storage, Data
D016251	CD-ROM	An optical disk storage system for computers on which data can be read or from which data can be retrieved but not entered or modified. A CD-ROM unit is almost identical to the compact disk playback device for home use.	Compact Disk Read-Only Memory,CDROM,Compact Disk Read Only Memory
D018875	Vocabulary, Controlled	A specified list of terms with a fixed and unalterable meaning, and from which a selection is made when CATALOGING; ABSTRACTING AND INDEXING; or searching BOOKS; JOURNALS AS TOPIC; and other documents. The control is intended to avoid the scattering of related subjects under different headings (SUBJECT HEADINGS). The list may be altered or extended only by the publisher or issuing agency. (From Harrod's Librarians' Glossary, 7th ed, p163)	Controlled Vocabulary,Thesaurus,Controlled Thesauri,Controlled Thesaurus,Thesauri,Controlled Vocabularies,Thesauri, Controlled,Thesaurus, Controlled,Vocabularies, Controlled