Announcements to NLM Data Licensees: Year 2016

2016 MEDLINE/PubMed Baseline Data; CatfilePlus and Serfile XML Baseline Files

December 15, 2015

1. AVAILABILITY OF 2016 MEDLINE/PUBMED BASELINE DATA
   The 2016 MEDLINE/PubMed baseline files, which replace all previously distributed MEDLINE/PubMed data are now available for FTP. Licensees have been e-mailed the location of the FTP access instructions with additional information.
   
   
2. 2016 UPDATE FILES
   The first group of 2016 update files and the special PMID list text file (see item 3 below) are also available. Please be sure to read the _notes.txt file that is on the server accompanying the first update file medline16n0813. Update files should be processed after the baseline files in ascending file name numeric sequence (see item 3 below for exception) to ensure that all new records are added and the most current and accurate version of each record is retained.
   
   
3. ADDITIONAL PMID LIST FILE
   A text file containing PMIDs of records in MedlineCitation Status = In-Process and MedlineCitation Status = In-Data-Review that have been retained in the 2016 version of PubMed at the time the 2016 baseline files were loaded and that are not exported to licensees in the first batch of update files is available. These records will eventually be exported in update files as completed records in MedlineCitation Status = MEDLINE or MedlineCitation Status = PubMed-not-MEDLINE or as deleted PMIDs in DeleteCitationSet. Licensees who wish to create a database as close as possible to the record content in PubMed on December 14, 2015 will want to include these records now.
   
   The file, named SpecialPubMedPMIDList_2016.txt, resides in the update file directory. Licensees may use the Entrez Utilities to download the records using the list of PMIDs.
   
   *IMPORTANT*: If you elect to add these records to your version of MEDLINE/PubMed, they must be added to your 2016 MEDLINE/PubMed database either 1) immediately after the baseline files and before any update files or, 2) immediately after update files medline16n0813 through medline16n0885 to ensure retaining the most current version of those records as subsequent update files are loaded. Do not add the records identified in SpecialPubMedPMIDList_2016.txt after you have processed medline16n0886 as this may result in retention of an earlier and inaccurate version of the records.
   
   
4. 2015 MEDLINE/PUBMED FILES TO MOVE TO NEW DIRECTORY
   The 2015 update files are moved to a new directory where they will remain for several weeks. Contact NLM at nlmdatadistrib@nlm.nih.gov if you need access to those files.
   
   
5. DOCUMENTATION
   Documentation for the MEDLINE/PubMed baseline database is available from links in the Data Availability and Maintenance section of NLM’s information page for MEDLINE/PubMed licensees. Also see the MEDLINE/PubMed Maintenance Overview for information about and points to consider for processing update files. Announcements during the year will be added as they become available.
   
   
6. MEDLINE/PUBMED BASELINE REPOSITORY (MBR)
   The 2015 baseline data will be included at a later date in the MEDLINE/PubMed Baseline Repository (MBR) resources. If you wish to search the baseline data via the MBR Query Tool, be sure to use the same IP address registered with NLM for access to MEDLINE/PubMed from NLM’s FTP server.
   
   

CatfilePlus and Serfile XML Baseline Files

The updated XML base files for CatfilePlus and Serfile are available on the NLM FTP server. CatfilePlus is in 4 parts, named "catplusbase1of4.2016.xml", "catplusbase2of4.2016.xml", etc. The Serfile base file is complete in a single file, named "serfilebase.2016.xml". The baseline files contain all records through November 26, 2015 and should be used to completely replace all records previously distributed. The first XML update files for CatfilePlus and Serfile were made available December 1, 2015 and include all updates since November 1, 2015.