CABI re-index improves searching and retrieval for database products

Seamless searching and one-click retrieval are now realities for customers of life sciences publisher CABI’s world-leading abstracts databases, thanks to a major re-indexing project.

All 9 million+ records on CAB Direct have been re-indexed to bring them into line with the controlled vocabulary of the updated 2011 CAB Thesaurus. This has standardized indexing and searching across all database records from 1910 to the present day, enabling the retrieval of all records for an organism or concept using the current up-to-date name, despite the fact that over time it may have been indexed using older names or terminology.

CABI also added more than 415,000 new Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to older database records, which allows a direct click through to the original publisher record and often to the full text article.

“We are strongly committed to the continuous improvement of all of our products,” said Janet Halsall, Head of Publishing Operations, CABI. “This re-indexing has improved the database products by adding extra searchability and more links out to newly digitized source material. This includes DOIs for journal articles indexed by CABI back through time to 1910. Now customers can click through to the original journal article which has since been digitized by the publishe