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200 + 1200 in the Year 2000:
MIT Libraries Celebrate Electronic Resources

Ruth K. Seidman
Communications Coordinator, MIT Libraries
rks@mit.edu, 617-253-5686
March 30, 2000

On April 5, 2000, 2-4pm, the MIT Libraries will sponsor a celebration of the 200th database and the 1200th electronic journal to become available to the MIT community via the campus website. The event will be held in the Science Library, 14S-100, and will feature demonstrations of the databases and e-journals, refreshments, mementos, and a drawing for a door prize—a gift certificate to the MIT Press Bookstore. A terminal to demonstrate the electronic resources will also be set up in the Student Center from 11am to 1pm.

Derwent Innovations Index, a new web-based resource that allows searching of the worldwide patent literature, is the 200th database to be made available by the MIT Libraries. Coverage for many source patents begins in 1963. Updated weekly, the database can be searched on many elements, including topic, assignee, inventor, and patent number. Full citations and a detailed abstract are presented for each patent.

Science Magazine, the weekly published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is the 1200th electronic journal accessible through the Libraries to the MIT community. Available in full text are issues from October 1995 to the present. This online version of the journal is searchable by such elements as author, title, and topic, as well as by individual words in the title, abstract, or in the entire article.

Ellen Duranceau, Digital Resources Acquisitions Librarian, said: "These 200 databases and 1200 electronic journals—in science and technology, the social sciences, management, architecture and planning, the humanities and the arts—reflect a profound revolution in library service. With the power of the web, we can now offer desktop access to key resources from anywhere on campus. We hope that everyone at MIT will take advantage of this flexible and efficient access, for it is safe to say that with 1400 titles available on all topics, we have something for everyone."

The e-resource celebration will also feature demonstrations of Vera, the Libraries’ newly designed interface for accessing e-resources. For Vera and other information on the MIT Libraries see:
<http://libraries.mit.edu>.