new version of the NLM Gateway will be released in mid-December 2003. This release introduces three new features:

• LinkOut for Journal Citations
  
  LinkOut will display links to the Web sites of publishers, aggregators, libraries, databases, and other resources. The links can take you to the provider's site to obtain the full-text of articles. There may be a fee to access the text or data. An asterisk on the LinkOut entry will indicate that a subscription, membership, or fee for access is required.
  
  
• Direct links to full text in PubMed Central^™ on Brief and Expanded displays of Journal Citations
  
  The default Brief display of Journal Citations for articles that are Free in PubMed Central will be flagged with a link to the full text of the article. In addition to the existing display of the link on the Document Ordering Page, the link will also appear on the Expanded display of the item.
  
  
• British and American spellings
  
  Gateway will identify a MeSH^® concept when either the British or American spelling is used. For example, when the British spelling labour [MH] is searched, it will be identified and searched as the MeSH term Labor, Obstetric [MeSH Term].
  
  This process will also apply to unqualified searches of MeSH concepts. If you enter either labour or labor as the search query, Gateway will search labour [Text Word] OR labor [Text Word] OR Labor, Obstetric [MeSH Term].
  
  Gateway searches will retrieve the same citations regardless of whether the British or the American spelling is used.

Access to More Data
Also new in this version of the Gateway will be access to two additional collections: OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man) and HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank). OMIM is a catalog of human genes and genetic disorders that contains textual information and references. HSDB is a comprehensive, scientifically reviewed, factual database containing records for over 4500 toxic or potentially toxic chemicals. It contains extensive information in such areas as toxicity, emergency handling procedures, human exposure, chemical safety, waste disposal, and regulatory requirements. You will find these collections in the category: Other Collections.

By Andrea Demsey
MEDLARS Management Section

Demsey A. Enhanced Functionality Plus Access to More Data in the NLM Gateway's Latest Release. NLM Tech Bull. 2003 Nov-Dec;(335):e8.