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The Featured File for the Month on ProQuest Dialog is CAB ABSTRACTS, a comprehensive database in the medical and healthcare and agricultural areas covering a wide range of subjects. This overview provides details about the database, how you can use it, the advantages of doing so, how you can find a record on ProQuest Dialog and what records look like.
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CABI, the producer of CAB ABSTRACTS, can trace its origins back to 1910. It began as an entomological research committee, then developed into a Commonwealth organization before becoming a truly international service in agricultural information, pest identification and biological control. CABI is committed to providing high value scholarly databases and books to meet the needs of the scientific community. CAB Abstracts (File 50 on legacy Dialog) is a leading English language bibliographic database providing access to the world's applied life sciences and agricultural literature. Its coverage is from 1973 to the present and updated weekly.
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CAB Abstracts contains approximately 6.3 million records with 300,000 new records added each year. These records come from over 116 countries in more than 50 languages. 95 percent of the records include an abstract, and for non-English records the abstracts are translated into English. CAB Abstracts contains more than 7,000 academic journals and approximately 3,500 other documents including books,
book chapters, reports, 'grey' literature, and conferences proceedings. According to a published study, CAB Abstracts covered more of the 'core agricultural serials' than any other database examined. Out of 545 serials identified as 'core agricultural serials' CAB Abstracts indexed 498 — 91.4%.
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The subject coverage is extensive. CAB Abstracts includes agriculture, including animal production and welfare, horticulture, crop science and protection, applied economics and rural studies, animal and veterinary sciences, environmental sciences, human health, food and nutrition, including food science and communicable diseases, leisure and tourism, microbiology and parasitology and plant sciences. This extended coverage makes CAB Abstracts the ideal resource to answer your varied needs.
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Sources in CAB Abstracts are gathered worldwide. For all regions, states, and countries, research and knowledge produced locally is of key relevance. The sources are published locally, nationally, and internationally and aim to include information that would otherwise be difficult to find.
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CABI has a selective editorial policy. Subject specialists assess thousands of serials. Key titles, where all the papers are likely to be relevant, are indexed cover-to-cover, while for other titles, only those articles that fall within the scope of the database are selected. As well as selecting from thousands of core scientific journals, the database also offers extensive coverage of 'grey' literature from around the world, such as Annual reports, General reports, Books and book chapters, Handbooks, Bulletins, Monographs, Conference proceedings, Newsletters, Discussion papers, Technical information, Field notes, and Theses. The inclusion of this material ensures users have access to all the important research being undertaken around the world, not just the research published in core academic journals.
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The database has a unique focus on developing countries at approximately 27 percent. In addition, it contains non-English language information including Chinese, German, French, and other data from Europe and Asia.
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Although CAB Abstracts emphasizes agriculture, the main thing that sets CAB Abstracts apart from other databases is that records from less well-known publications, including foreign language journals, independent publishers and learned societies are included. This means you get the most thorough picture of the research going on globally in your field at any one time. CAB Abstracts is the leading database in many areas not traditionally associated with agriculture. For example, it is a primary source of information on key environmental topics such as climate change and its effect on disease.
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It is easy to search effectively in CAB ABSTRACTS. The CAB Thesaurus provides a controlled vocabulary of more than 48,000 descriptive terms. Subject classification and indexing of all records is carried out by specialist editors. Each record contains indexing including Subject terms or the CAB thesaurus of controlled vocabulary. Geographic names let you narrow a search to specific parts of the world, and CABICODES identify categories you can search using the codes in parentheses. This indexing helps to make each search more targeted and more effective.
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The following example illustrates the type of information you can find in CAB ABSTRACTS. In this example are the results of a search on infectious diseases as they relate to Somalia. When you log on to ProQuest Dialog and select your database, you see a brief description of the database. Enter your search terms in the search box.
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Results are narrowed by date to 2010 forward. Notice above the list of results you can print, save, email a record or save it to My Research, your personal workspace in ProQuest Dialog. Click the title to see the entire record.
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This record lists the title, author, journal information and publication year so you can obtain the full article. The language of the concise abstract is English and the article is from a journal. However, you can translate the abstract to other languages by clicking the Translate link. Subject words provide vocabulary you can use in your search. On the right side notice there are 8 references. Click the link to see them.
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The record continues with CABICODES providing linked codes to search for a similar topic. The author is also linked so you can see other articles by the author. Publication information — title, publication date, volume, issue and page numbers are given. Click the publication title to search for more articles in the Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. If you click the URL, you can find the full text.
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When you click the URL, you can browse articles in this journal. Click Full Text in PDF or HTML to see the entire article.
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This is a PDF copy with the references listed at the bottom of the article.
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As you can see, CAB ABSTRACTS provides unique, comprehensive information about agricultural and medical issues worldwide. To learn more about CAB, review the ProSheet for ProQuest Dialog or the Bluesheet when searching legacy Dialog. Read the story on the Featured File in the Chronolog and learn what CAB ABSTRACTS can do for you! Make sure you are signed up for the Chronolog to see all the news at Dialog and learn more about other featured files each month. If you have any questions, you can also contact the Knowledge Center by phone or email at .
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This completes our overview of CAB ABSTRACTS. We know you will find this comprehensive database helpful in both agricultural and medical searches you conduct. Make it a priority to use when you need authoritative information. Be sure to visit www.dialog.com/proquestdialog, where you will find additional training and support and valuable information on getting the most out of ProQuest Dialog.