AVLINE and CATLINE Data To Be Removed from Other NLM Databases

AVLINE® and CATLINE® Data To Be Removed from Other NLM Databases [corrected 1999/02/09]

The July-August 1998 NLM Technical Bulletin article titled "Impact of the NLM ILS on CATLINE® /AVLINE® /SERLINE® " describes the impending changes to these three files as NLM transitions to Voyager, the software that will serve as the NLM Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). This Web-based OPAC will become publicly available early in 1999. The transition of the data from these files on to the Web will have a ripple effect of change to other NLM databases that currently contain CATLINE or AVLINE data. The databases that will be affected are listed below.

AIDSLINE
This file currently contains CATLINE and AVLINE data. New data entry from these files ceased in mid-October and, as of the completion of Year-End processing (expected December 14, 1998), CATLINE and AVLINE data will be removed from AIDSLINE. Conference abstracts will still be present in AIDSLINE on ELHILL for now. (Reminder: The International Cancer DataBank (ICDB) subfile in AIDSLINE is also being removed as of the completion of Year-End processing. See the article, CANCERLIT and PDQ To Be Removed from the NLM Databases - Available from NCI's Web Site, in the July-August 1998 issue of the NLM Technical Bulletin for more information about the removal of NCI data from NLM databases).

HealthSTAR
This file currently contains CATLINE data but no AVLINE data. New data entry from CATLINE ceased in mid-October and, as of the completion of Year-End processing (expected January 1999), CATLINE data will be removed from HealthSTAR. Monograph data from sources other than CATLINE, identified by the values HTM, HTA and HTX [corrected 1999/02/09] in the Secondary Source Identifier (SI) field, will still be present in HealthSTAR.

HISTLINE
This file currently contains CATLINE and AVLINE data. New data entry from these files ceased in mid-October and, as of the completion of Year-End processing (expected January 1999), CATLINE and AVLINE data will be removed from HISTLINE. However, analytic citations, that is citations for individual book chapters, will remain in HISTLINE for now and they can be identified by the value HMD in the Secondary Source Identifier (SI) field.

SPACELINE
This file currently contains CATLINE and AVLINE data. New data entry from these files ceased in mid-October and, as of the completion of Year-End processing (expected January 1999), CATLINE and AVLINE data will be removed from SPACELINE. Monograph data and audiovisual data provided by NASA will still be present in SPACELINE and they can be identified by the value NASA in the Secondary Source Identifier (SI) field.

Other Databases
There are two other databases that contain monograph and audiovisual citations not directly provided by NLM through CATLINE: BIOETHICSLINE and POPLINE. These two files will not be immediately affected by the transition to the Web-based OPAC and the data in these files will remain unchanged for now.

Implications for the Searcher
Searchers will need to reorient their way of thinking about where to look for certain types of materials. For many years, the order of organization has been first by database, and then for type of material within that database. For example, the user seeking materials on HIV prevention went to AIDSLINE and then a subject search retrieved journal citations, conference abstracts, newsletter citations, books, and any audiovisual materials available on that subject. In the new system, the searcher will go to AIDSLINE for journal and newsletter citations and conference abstracts and to the NLM OPAC to retrieve citations for monographs and audiovisuals.

Searching the OPAC will be a necessary second step for searchers who need to be comprehensive and include all types of materials in their searches. However, the ease of searching this new combined catalog of books, audiovisual materials, and serial records and the additional information provided in the records for these items will have added value for librarians and end users. Stay tuned for a future article on searching the new NLM OPAC.

--prepared by Toby Port

MEDLARS Management Section

1999-09-01