In this talk I will look at the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) from various perspectives. The ADS contains a wealth of data for astronomers and librarians alike, yet the vast majority of usage consists of rudimentary searches. I will provide some suggestions on how to obtain more focused search results by using the various capabilities of the ADS like searching by affiliation, using private libraries, performing "topic searches" and using RSS feeds. Do you know how to disable synonym replacement? Are you interested in knowing how to compile a bibliography and export it in your favorite format? Finally, I'll touch upon some subjects we are and will be exploring, like topic maps, data search and literature recommendation. When you are in the business of information technology, you are never done.

1. SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System Searching millions of records without breaking a sweat … Edwin Henneken, October 19, 2009 The ADS is funded by NASA Grant NNX09AB39G

2. About us… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysics_Data_System

4. Where we are…

6. 1988: initial version (40 papers) to proof concept

7. 1993: connection between ADS and SIMBAD

8. 1994: ADS available through the World Wide Web

9. 1995: scans are current and complete, going back 10 years

10. 1995: electronic ApJ Letters went on-line / ADS Article Service

11. 1996: nearly every astronomy journal in ADS

12. 1996: subset of Science Citation Index given to ADS by AAS

13. 2004: myADS

14. 2005: myADS-arXiv / Private Libraries

15. 2006: Library Links / Basic Search

16. 2008: Collaboration With CrossRef

18. Where we are…

19. Where we are going…Where we are…. Some statistics Some numbers (11/5/2009):

21. Where we are…

22. Where we are going…Where we are…. Some statistics Henneken et al. (2009), Journal of Informetrics 3, 1

24. Where we are…

25. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Collaborating on a paper…using private libraries

27. Where we are…

28. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling You’ll have to be logged in

30. Where we are…

31. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling Specify object for the query

33. Where we are…

34. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling Require abstract word

36. Where we are…

37. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling All results must have a SIMBAD link

39. Where we are…

40. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling Sort the results by citation count

42. Where we are…

43. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling The results: 8 records match our query

45. Where we are…

46. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling I select all papers for my list of interesting papers on this subject

48. Where we are…

49. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling Click on the button “Add selected articles to private library” to create this library

51. Where we are…

52. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling Give the library a name and a description

54. Where we are…

55. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling You can annotate entries in your private libraries

57. Where we are…

58. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling Annotations as a reminder for yourself, but also to share information with others (links to private libraries are public)

60. Where we are…

61. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling The annotations are visible as “private notes”

63. Where we are…

64. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling From your ‘picks’ select the papers for the bibliography of the paper

66. Where we are…

67. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling Give that bibliography its own private library (one of the authors will be the ‘keeper’ of the bibliography)

69. Where we are…

70. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers Example: I’m writing a paper in an international collaboration on the Owl Nebula, with an emphasis on modeling When the papers is ready, simply export the bibliography in e.g. BibTeX Note: a private library can also be useful to maintain an institution’s bibliography

72. Where we are…

73. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Switching off synonym replacement. (Synonym replacement is the default)

75. Where we are…

76. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Switching off synonym replacement. (Synonym replacement is the default) With synonyms, results might be too inclusive

78. Where we are…

79. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Switching off synonym replacement. (Synonym replacement is the default) Select ‘simple logic’ and put ‘=‘ in front of search term to switch off synonyms

81. Where we are…

82. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Switching off synonym replacement. (Synonym replacement is the default) Unwanted results filtered out

84. Where we are…

85. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Searching by affiliation (don’t expect miracles)

87. Where we are…

88. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Searching by affiliation (don’t expect miracles)

90. Where we are…

91. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Searching by affiliation (don’t expect miracles)

93. Where we are…

94. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Searching by affiliation (don’t expect miracles)

96. Where we are…

97. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box

99. Where we are…

100. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box: Rank by best keyword match

102. Where we are…

103. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box: Rank by most recent matches

105. Where we are…

106. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box: Rank by most cited matches

108. Where we are…

109. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box: “Most popular”: papers most frequently read by people interested in the same subject

111. Where we are…

112. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box: “Most useful” (second order query): papers most frequently cited by papers on the subject

114. Where we are…

115. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box: “Most useful” (second order query): papers most frequently cited by papers on the subject Example: “dark energy” First paper has score 77: 77 of the 200 abstracts cited this paper

117. Where we are…

118. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box: “Most instructive” (second order query): papers which cite most frequently the set of recent papers on the topic of interest, ranked by their citations

120. Where we are…

121. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints ADS Topic Searches (beta) Given the keywords specified in the search box: “Most instructive” (second order query): papers which cite most frequently the set of recent papers on the topic of interest, ranked by their citations Example: “dark energy”

123. Where we are…

124. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints myADS Stay up-to-date with the current literature with weekly newsletter or RSS feed

126. Where we are…

127. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints myADS-arXiv Daily newsfeed (e-mail or RSS) of arXive-prints filtered by keywords

129. Where we are…

130. Where we are going…Where we are…. Hints and pointers A couple of useful hints Search by first author: In author search box: ^last name, [first name] Only refereed papers: Use the Filters Section of the Main Query Form to select only refereed publications Only papers from aspecific journal: Use the Filters Section of the Main Query Form to select or deselect specific publications

132. Where we are…

133. Where we are going…Where we are working on…. Proper full text searching Faceted browsing Literature recommendation Data linking / semantic web

134. Thank You! - we welcome questions and feedback: ads@cfa.harvard.edu -