ARCHIVE - Website Updates
(view current issue updates)
Changes in July 2010
7 July 2010
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table below for full details of numbers of records in this latest issue.
Please note: Updates have been made to all the databases in The Cochrane Library this month.
Users can search or browse:
Issue 7 - Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, About The Cochrane Collaboration database
Issue 3 - Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; Cochrane Methodology Register, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Health Technology Assessments database, and NHS Economic Evaluations Database.
Impact Factor News
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews received the 2009 Impact Factor of 5.653, ranked 11th out of 132 medical journals in the ISI category Medicine, General and Internal. For more information see the 2009 Impact Factor frequently asked questions.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008 & 2009, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts.
IMPACT FACTOR NEWS
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews received the 2009 Impact Factor of 5.653, ranked 11th out of 132 medical journals in the ISI category Medicine, General and Internal. For more information see the 2009 Impact Factor frequently asked questions.
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Changes in June 2010
16 June 2010
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table below for full details of numbers of records in this latest issue for all databases. Please note that updates have only been made to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the 'About The Cochrane Collaboration' database, for this issue.
Browse Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
This new browse feature on the homepage has recently been updated to include more Cochrane systematic reviews and to move some reviews into more suitable locations. Cochrane Library users are encouraged to make full use of this feature. Feedback on the placement of reviews within the Browse list should be sent to the Cochrane Editorial Unit (editorial-unit@cochrane.org).
Usage data
The 2009 top reviews (full text downloaded from Wiley InterScience) worldwide and by country report. Download or view this file as an excel sheet or pdf (top 50 worldwide reviews only)
The top 25 Cochrane reviews (full text downloaded from Wiley InterScience) worldwide for 2008 – 2009. Download the PDF.
Usage for 2009 grew by 19% for full text downloads from The Cochrane Library on Wiley InterScience. When considering usage across all web platforms (including Wiley InterScience, Cochrane.org, La Bibliotheca Cochrane Plus, Bireme, OVID and EBSCO) we estimate that there was a search on The Cochrane Library every 1 second, an abstract viewed every 2 seconds and a full text review downloaded every 3 seconds in 2009. Detailed reports are available on request.
Please note that for the 2009 top reviews report we have tried to include as many countries as possible and have included all reviews (note that each new citation version of a review is counted separately). Unfortunately we were still unable to include the review group. To find your reviews you will need to refer to author, title or the CD numbers. The “Summary” worksheet lists the reviews in their world rank order and gives the ranking for individual countries. We have tried to correct all misspelt surnames where the software could not recognise the characters, but apologies if there are still some errors.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008 & 2009, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts.
Record counts
| Database | Total Records |
|---|---|
| Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews* | 6191 |
| Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects | 12594 |
| Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials | 620700 |
| Cochrane Methodology Register | 13164 |
| Health Technology Assessment Database | 8273 |
| NHS Economic Evaluation Database | 28551 |
| About The Cochrane Collaboration† | 82 |
* Comprises 4281 complete reviews and 1910 protocols, of which 34 are new reviews, 78 updated reviews (comprises 21 new search and 5 conclusions changed) and 35 new protocols.
† The Cochrane Collaboration: 1; Cochrane Editorial Unit: 1; Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs): 52; Fields: 14; Methods Groups: 14. There are also 13 Centres (some with specific Branches). Links to their individual websites can be found here.
Changes in May 2010
12 May 2010
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table below for full details of numbers of records in this latest issue for all databases. Please note that updates have only been made to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the 'About The Cochrane Collaboration' database, for this issue.
Browse Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
This new browse feature on the homepage has recently been updated to include more Cochrane systematic reviews and to move some reviews into more suitable locations. Cochrane Library users are encouraged to make full use of this feature. Feedback on the placement of reviews within the Browse list should be sent to the Cochrane Editorial Unit (editorial-unit@cochrane.org).
Usage data
The 2009 top reviews (full text downloaded from Wiley InterScience) worldwide and by country report. Download or view this file as an excel sheet or pdf (top 50 worldwide reviews only)
The top 25 Cochrane reviews (full text downloaded from Wiley InterScience) worldwide for 2008 – 2009. Download the PDF.
Usage for 2009 grew by 19% for full text downloads from The Cochrane Library on Wiley InterScience. When considering usage across all web platforms (including Wiley InterScience, Cochrane.org, La Bibliotheca Cochrane Plus, Bireme, OVID and EBSCO) we estimate that there was a search on The Cochrane Library every 1 second, an abstract viewed every 2 seconds and a full text review downloaded every 3 seconds in 2009. Detailed reports are available on request.
Please note that for the 2009 top reviews report we have tried to include as many countries as possible and have included all reviews (note that each new citation version of a review is counted separately). Unfortunately we were still unable to include the review group. To find your reviews you will need to refer to author, title or the CD numbers. The “Summary” worksheet lists the reviews in their world rank order and gives the ranking for individual countries. We have tried to correct all misspelt surnames where the software could not recognise the characters, but apologies if there are still some errors.
Record counts
| Database | Total Records |
|---|---|
| Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews* | 6162 |
| Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects | 12594 |
| Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials | 620700 |
| Cochrane Methodology Register | 13164 |
| Health Technology Assessment Database | 8273 |
| NHS Economic Evaluation Database | 28551 |
| About The Cochrane Collaboration† | 82 |
* Comprises 4247 complete reviews and 1915 protocols, of which 30 are new reviews, 85 updated reviews (comprises 22 new search and 6 conclusions changed) and 23 new protocols
† The Cochrane Collaboration: 1; Cochrane Editorial Unit: 1; Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs): 52; Fields: 14; Methods Groups: 14. There are also 13 Centres (some with specific Branches). Links to their individual websites can be found here.
changes in April 2010
14 April 2010
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table below for full details of numbers of records in this latest issue for all databases.
Please note that there is a delay publishing the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). Users will still have access to Issue 1 of CENTRAL, published in January 2010, therefore all records marked as “New” in CENTRAL were new in January 2010, not April 2010.
The expected publication of the APRIL 2010 (Issue 2) of CENTRAL is in the next 7 -14 days. Please check The Cochrane Library homepage for updates prior to publication.
All other databases are unaffected and the latest issue of The Cochrane Library will be published online on 14 April (at approximately 15:00 GMT).
Update (27 April 2010) - The April publication of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) is now online.
2010 MeSH Update to The Cochrane Library
This issue has been updated to use the 2010 MeSH thesaurus from the US National Library of Medicine (MeSH terms are present in most of Cochrane Reviews/CDSR, Other Reviews/DARE, Clinical Trials/CENTRAL records taken from MEDLINE, Technology Assessments/HTA and Economic Evaluations/NHS EED).
To assist users in better managing their saved searches, Wiley is providing a series of files which compare MeSH 2009 headings with MeSH 2010 headings. The files are as follows:
replace2010.xls: This is an Excel spreadsheet with two lists: replaced2010, showing 2009 MeSH headings and their 2010 replacements; deleted2009: showing 2009 MeSH headings that do not exist in 2010 MeSH.
mnchg2010.list.txt: This is the list of the 2944 MeSH descriptors that have changed position in the MeSH tree, either by moving wholesale or by having added or deleted positions.
replace2010.txt: This is the NLM source file from which replace2010.xls was generated.
mnchg2010.txt: This the NLM source file from which mnchg2010.list.txt was generated.
mshnew2010.txt: This is the list of the 422 new MeSH descriptors that have been added in the 2010 MeSH tree.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008 & 2009, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts
Record counts
| Database | Total Records |
|---|---|
| Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews* | 6153 |
| Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects | 12,594 |
| Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials | 620,700 |
| Cochrane Methodology Register | 13,164 |
| Health Technology Assessment Database | 8273 |
| NHS Economic Evaluation Database | 28,551 |
| About The Cochrane Collaboration† | 82 |
* Comprises 4217 complete reviews and 1936 protocols, of which 31 are new reviews, 77 updated reviews (comprises 21 new search and 5 conclusions changed) and 46 new protocols
† The Cochrane Collaboration: 1; Cochrane Editorial Unit: 1; Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs): 52; Fields: 14; Methods Groups: 14. There are also 13 Centres (some with specific Branches). Links to their individual websites can be found here.
Changes in March 2010
17 March 2010
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table below for full details of numbers of records in this latest issue for all databases. Please note that updates have only been made to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the 'About The Cochrane Collaboration' database, for this issue.
We are delighted to announce a new homepage for The Cochrane Library
What are the major changes?
The Cochrane Library has a new design for the homepage and related information pages. There are new features, including a browse list for the CDSR (by system, such as “Lungs and airways”), an Editorial, and Special Collections (to highlight specific groupings of reviews). The related information pages, such as “About The Cochrane Library” and “Help”, have been revised and reorganized to make it easier to navigate the content. We have introduced clear linkage to The Cochrane Collaboration site (www.cochrane.org) in the website header. The Collaboration site has also been re-designed and there is now a better navigation between the two sites.
For technical queries about the new Cochrane Library site, please contact Michelle Ames (mames@wiley.com) at John Wiley & Sons.
The Cochrane Library feature details
General look
The homepage aims for a fresh and modern look. It keeps some design elements from the previous site so that end users feel they have arrived at a familiar site. The new design extends to the related pages (e.g. “About The Cochrane Library”), but it does not extend to the individual Cochrane Reviews, or other individual articles or abstracts in other databases in The Cochrane Library.
Site navigation
The site navigation has been simplified and made easier to use. There is one navigation bar along the top with clear hover buttons based on actions users can take: sign up; learn; access; and help.
Browse list
The Cochrane Editorial Unit has developed a new browse list that includes Cochrane Reviews from all Cochrane Review Groups. End users can browse almost all Cochrane Reviews by health topic groups, such as by “Heart & circulation”, “Lungs & airways”, or “Infectious Disease”. There are 29 top layers, and the list goes to a maximum of three layers. The list includes completed reviews only, and reviews may be included in two or more of one of the layers; for example, an influenza review could be located via “Infectious disease” or “Lungs & airways”. The new browse list gives end users (and The Cochrane Collaboration) a new way to view and explore the breadth of content in the CDSR. This browse list is in addition to the usual ways to view CDSR content, such as lists of new and updated reviews, Cochrane Review Group topics lists, and the A-Z lists.
Editorials
The homepage will include an editorial, which will be updated at least monthly upon the publication of each new issue of the CDSR. The objective is to make the editorials a ‘must-read’ for anyone interested in promoting evidence-based healthcare and health policy. The consistent theme will be the contribution that systematic reviews of the medical literature can make to improving health outcomes. An RSS feed is available so that readers can be alerted whenever a new editorial is published.
Special Collections
Special Collections are another new feature. These are collections of reviews that can be used to highlight a specific topic or are collated in response to a global health topic. Each Special Collection will be highlighted on the homepage with an associated image for each, and links to the full collection. Each Special Collection starts with a short introduction followed by the list of reviews. We will include a brief introduction with each review and also hyperlinks to related resources, such as a translated abstract.
Highlighted reviews
Each new CDSR issue will include highlighted reviews. These will feature prominently on the homepage and will have links out to the podcasts and a journal club (if appropriate).
Related pages
The webpages that provide supporting information, such as those about access, publication dates, and information about the databases in The Cochrane Library, have been restructured and the content revised. These pages include improved information about the CDSR, more visible links to individual Cochrane Review Groups and to related pages on www.cochrane.org.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008 & 2009, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts.
Record Counts
| Database | Total Records |
|---|---|
| Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews* | 6110 |
| Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects | 11,887 |
| Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials | 608,405 |
| Cochrane Methodology Register | 12,778 |
| Health Technology Assessment Database | 7724 |
| NHS Economic Evaluation Database | 28,159 |
| About The Cochrane Collaboration† | 82 |
* Comprises 4186 complete reviews and 1924 protocols, of which 34 are new reviews, 57 updated reviews (comprises 43 new search and 14 conclusions changed) and 43 new protocols
† The Cochrane Collaboration: 1; Cochrane Editorial Unit: 1; Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs): 52; Fields: 14; Methods Groups: 14. There are also 13 Centres (some with specific Branches). Links to their individual websites can be found here.
Changes in February 2010
17 February 2010
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table below for full details of numbers of records in this latest issue for all databases.
Please note that updates have only been made to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the 'About The Cochrane Collaboration' database, for this issue.
Information about 2010 publication frequency
Updates have been made to the recent information about 2010 publication frequency. Users can now search the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews by current issue, or by the entire database. Please see updated documentation for more details.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008 & 2009, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts.
Record counts
| Database | Total Records |
|---|---|
| Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews* | 6076 |
| Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects | 11,887 |
| Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials | 608,405 |
| Cochrane Methodology Register | 12,778 |
| Health Technology Assessment Database | 7724 |
| NHS Economic Evaluation Database | 28,159 |
| About the Cochrane Collaboration | 82 |
* Comprises 4152 complete reviews and 1924 protocols, of which 27 are new reviews, 36 updated reviews (comprises 34 new search and 2 conclusions changed) and 41 new protocols
† The Cochrane Collaboration: 1; Cochrane Editorial Unit: 1; Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs): 52; Fields: 14; Methods Groups: 14. There are also 13 Centres (some with specific Branches). Links to their individual websites can be found here.
Changes in January, 2010
20 January 2010
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table for full details of numbers of records in this issue for all databases.
Information about 2010 publication frequency
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) and the “About The Cochrane Collaboration ” database have moved to monthly publication from January 2010. The other databases will remain as quarterly publications, and the DVD-ROM will remain as a quarterly dispatch.
Starting in Issue 1 (January 2010), there will be changes to the Cochrane Review headers (the status and publication date information) and to some of the coloured status icons used in the CDSR contents pages. Users are now able to click through to content from the title of the article shown in search results (the word “Record” has now been removed from the search results display). When sorting search results by date, CDSR articles will now be sorted according to the month and year of the most recent version, regardless of whether this is a new citation version. IMPORTANT: Searches are also affected by these changes - in order to search for current issue content only, users must fill in the date range on the advanced search screen as 2010-2010. This will return results published in the recent January issue only. Saved searches by status will also be affected and must be re-run. Consult the information about 2010 publication frequency PDF for more detail.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008 & 2009, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts.
Updates to the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; Clinical Trials)
There are 46 specialised registers updated in this issue.
Changes with Issue 4, 2009
7 October 2009
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table for full details of numbers of records in this issue for all databases.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts.
Updates to the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; Clinical Trials)
In this issue there are 21,371 new records including those downloaded from MEDLINE, EMBASE, specialised registers and handsearch results.
A search conducted by the UK Cochrane Centre for reports of trials in EMBASE has now been completed for records added to EMBASE in 2008, with 3389 records published in CENTRAL in this issue.
There are 42 specialised registers updated in this issue.
Changes with Issue 3, 2009
8 July 2009
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table for full details of numbers of records in this issue for all databases.
The Cochrane Library is now available on DVD
The CD-ROM version of the Library has now been replaced by a DVD. All you need is a DVD drive for the installation and once installed, the issue will operate exactly the same as the CD-ROM version. The Full installation will still require 3.5 GB of free space on the hard drive and the Limited installation option (1.7 GB) will continue to be available.
We have decided to move to DVD for technical, performance and environmental reasons. The DVD version will allow for quicker and easier installation, less packaging and fewer discs.
View the Access to Cochrane page for more information on how to order the DVD version of The Cochrane Library.
Important Impact Factor news
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews received the 2008 Impact Factor of 5.182, ranked 12th out of 107 medical journals in the ISI category Medicine, General & Internal. For more information about the 2008 Impact Factor see our 2008 Impact Factor frequently asked questions.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts.
Updates to the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; Clinical Trials)
In this issue there are 16982 new records including those downloaded from MEDLINE, EMBASE, specialised registers and handsearch results.
There are 42 specialised registers updated in this issue.
Changes with Issue 2, 2009
15 April 2009
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table for full details of numbers of records in this issue for all databases.
Changes to The Cochrane Library Functionality and Display
PDF optimization continues. In this issue:
• Summary of Findings tables are now in landscape format, giving more space to each column.
• Table font has changed to Swiss Condensed 9pt with “ragged right” justification, to make them easier to read.
• The shorter “Abstract” PDF has been renamed “Summary” PDF. This PDF still contains the same text (Abstract, Plain Language Summary and bibliographic data) but is now labelled “Summary” PDF. The “Standard” and “Full” PDFs remain the same as in previous issues.
Podcasts from The Cochrane Library
Audio summaries of selected new and updated Cochrane Reviews, as well as an archive from 2008, are available at http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts.
2009 MeSH Update to The Cochrane Library
This issue has been updated to use the 2009 MeSH thesaurus from the US National Library of Medicine (MeSH terms are present in most of Cochrane Reviews/CDSR, Other Reviews/DARE, Clinical Trials/CENTRAL records taken from MEDLINE, Technology Assessments/HTA and Economic Evaluations/NHS EED).
To assist users in better managing their saved searches, Wiley is providing a series of files which compare MeSH 2008 headings with MeSH 2009 headings. The files are as follows:
• replace2009.xls: This is an Excel spreadsheet with two lists: replaced2009, showing 2008 MeSH headings and their 2009 replacements; deleted2008: showing 2008 MeSH headings that do not exist in 2009 MeSH.
• mnchg2009.list.txt: This is the list of the 2759 MeSH descriptors that have changed position in the MeSH tree, either by moving wholesale or by having added or deleted positions.
• replace2009.txt: This is the NLM source file from which replace2009.xls was generated.
• mnchg2009.txt: This the NLM source file from which mnchg2009.list.txt was generated.
• mshnew2009.txt: This is the list of the 446 new MeSH descriptors that have been added in the 2009 MeSH tree.
Updates to the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; Clinical Trials)
In this issue there are 15467 new records including those downloaded from MEDLINE, EMBASE, specialised registers and handsearch results.
There are 38 specialised registers updated in this issue.
Changes with Issue 1, 2009
21 January 2009
See the lists of new and updated Cochrane reviews. See the record counts table for full details of numbers of records in this issue for all databases.
Changes to The Cochrane Library Functionality and Display
Issue 1 introduces a new type of review – the Overviews of Reviews. These are intended primarily to overview multiple Cochrane intervention reviews addressing the effects of two or more potential interventions for a single condition or health problem. Cochrane Overviews highlight the Cochrane reviews that address these potential interventions and summarize their results for important outcomes. See the first overview of reviews protocol – Interventions for neovascular age-related macular degeneration in this issue. Overviews of Reviews have also been developed outside the Library and can be viewed in the Evidence-Based Child Health Journal: A Cochrane Review Journal at http://www.evidence-basedchildhealth.com.
PDF optimization work is in progress and users will see several improvements in this issue:
• Tables are now shaded and as a result much easier to interpret. This includes the Summary of Findings tables introduced in Issue 2, 2008 and also the What’s New and History tables;
• Summary of Findings (SoF) tables now start on a new page making them more likely to fit one page and therefore easier to analyse. If they must break over a page, a rule has been implemented to break on a new row wherever possible;
• Summary of Findings tables have been re-named slightly. The first table is now referred to as Summary of findings for the main comparison. Any further tables are now referred to as Additional summary of findings to reduce repetition of headings;
• The spacing within these SoF tables continues to be worked on to reduce the amount of white space and encourage tables to fit onto a single page;
There have also been several bug fixes, including:
• The plain language summary no longer starts on a new page – it immediately follows the end of the abstract;
• Links in the Standard PDF to Analyses and Appendices (which are not present in the Standard version) have been removed;
• Hyperlinks no longer overlap into the next column;
• Occurrences of HTML in the PDF headings are no longer present;
• Page references in the TOCs now correspond to their correct page;
• Missing data when tables continue onto the next page is now re-instated;
• Some errors with Data and Analyses are resolved;
• Table footnotes have been re-instated.
Here is a list of ongoing work in 2009:
• Spacing – those pages where only a few lines appear and then lots of blank space need to be examined;
• Uneven spacing between section headings and paragraphs – spacing needs to become consistent;
• Section headings or table headings appearing at the end of a page and text on the following page – the headings would ideally always start with the text;
• Hyphenation is not always logical;
• Text at the end of the page overlapping with the footer – the page needs to break sooner;
• Text in the left column sometimes starts lower down the page than the right column – this should be even;
• Monitor table text to make sure that no content is missing;
• Summary of Findings tables still require some work to make them more user-friendly.
Searching The Cochrane Library for reviews restricted by Group
Users are now able to restrict their searches to reviews within a specific group. The group code must be entered into the search box between double quotation marks, example: “HM-VASC” and Search all text must be selected from the drop down menu, used to limit the search.
