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SAO/NASA ADS -> Help -> The ADS Data |
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1.2 - About the Data in the ADS The main body of data in the ADS consists of bibliographic records, which are searchable through our Abstract Service query forms, and full-text scans of much of the astronomical literature which can be browsed though our Browse Service 1.2.1 - Origin The abstracts database contains data from many different sources. The initial dataset was from NASA's Scientific and Technical Information group (STI) and covered the years 1975-1995. After that, we began collecting data directly from the journals as agreements were reached with them individually. In addition, we have collected references from SIMBAD, NED, conference editors, and individual authors. We have created electronic records from table of contents of most journals and conference series back to volume 1 as we have scanned them in order to provide complete bibliographic coverage. All bibliographic records include an Origin field which details where a given abstract came from. In cases where we have the same paper from multiple sources, we currently list them in the order above, but will soon merge the information into one complete record. It should be noted that we no longer receive data from STI, but that those abstracts in the system from STI are rewritten versions of the original author abstract. Our list of origins includes information on where some of our data come from. Click on our Journal Abbreviation List to see a full list of journals and their abbreviations. The full-text scans available in the ADS can be browsed through the ADS Browse Service. The scans were created by digitizing printed issues of astronomical publications. For more information on the full-text archive, please see the Scanned Literature help page. Many articles that are not scanned in the ADS may be ordered from the Center for Aerospace Information (CASI). Many of the dissertation citations contained in the ADS are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600 Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml 1.2.2 - Coverage The abstract databases contain records from hundreds of publications, colloquia, symposia, proceedings, and internal NASA reports. These sources cover diverse loosely astronomy-related subjects, ranging from Electrical Engineering through Optics to Particle Physics. They include the larger American astronomical journals: Astronomical Journal, Astrophysical Journal, Icarus, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, etc, as well as many Non-American journals: Astronomy & Astrophysics, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Publications of the Astronomical Societ of Japan / Australia / India, Astrophysical Journal of the Soviet Union / Australia / Ireland, etc., as well as more general interest journals such as Science, New Scientist, Nature, Mercury, Sky and Telescope, etc.. Complete coverage is only guaranteed for those journals we have scanned and placed online. That information is listed on our article service page. 1.2.3 - Bibliographic Identifiers Creating unique Bibliographic codes (bibcodes from here on) allows us to identify literature in our database. Using a standard bibliographic format, as explained below, we can easily identify different bibliographic records and users can efficiently search for them. The bibliographic code is a 19 digit identifier which describes the journal article. The format was originally adopted by the SIMBAD and NED projects, and follows the syntax:
A list of journal abbreviations already in use is available on-line. Here are some abbreviations for the most popular Journals: ApJ: Astrophysical Journal ApJS: Astrophysical Journal Supplements ApJ: Astrophysical Journal Letters (with an L in the Qualifier position). AJ: Astronomical Journal A&A: Astronomy & Astrophysics A&AS: Astronomy & Astrophysics Supplements MNRAS: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society PASP: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific PASA: Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia PASAu: Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia PASJ: Publications of the Astronomical Society of JapanIn order to accommodate conference proceedings and technical reports, the ADS has modified the original bibliographic code definition in order to present identifiers which are easily recognizable to the user. Conference proceedings, books, colloquia, workshops, and reports in the ADS typically contain a four letter word in the volume field such as conf, book, coll, work, or rept; all other type of proceedings use the identifier proc. For these bibliographic codes, the journal field typically consists of the first letter from important words in the title (e.g. ioda.book for ''Information and On-Line Data in Astronomy''). Several oddities exist for bibcodes which do not fit into this paradigm. PhD theses, for example, contain a counter in lieu of a page number to distinguish between those written during the same year by authors whose surnames start with the same letter. Physical Review bibcodes began using an 6-digit id number in the late 1990's instead of a page number. For these articles, we have converted the first 2-digits of the id (which correspond to the issue number) into a lower-case letter in the 14th column. We then use the remaining 4 digits in the page number field. For conference abstracts submitted by the editors of a proceedings prior to publication, we often do not have page numbers. In this case, we use a counter in lieu of a page number and use an "E" (for Electronic) in the fourteenth column, the qualifier for publication. If these conference abstracts are then published, their bibliographic codes are replaced by a bibliographic code complete with page number. If the conference abstracts are published only on-line, they retain their electronic bibliographic code with its "E" and counter number. We have created two separate interfaces to assist our users and collaborators in searching and verifying the existence of records in our databases:
Updates to our databases are performed approximately every week, then mirrored to all of our mirror sites. Therefore, any new information added or change made to the databases does not become available immediately; rather it may take up to a week to become active. Corrections are always welcome, for example misspellings, missing pages/scans, broken links, etc. We also encourage you to submit original author abstracts to us through our http://adsset.cfa.harvard.edu/adsfeedback/submit_abstract.html Abstract Submission Form. 1.4 - Acknowledgments We would like to thank the following publishers for their contributions and cooperation:
* Heinz Andernach, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico
* Marsha Bishop, NRAO
* Will Graves, CfA
* Chris Erdmann, CfA
* Sergei Grebenev, Space Research Institute, Moscow
* Uta Grothkopf, ESO
* Jill Lagerstrom, SCScI
* Richard Mathar, Sterrewacht Universiteit Leiden
* Megan Nunemaker, NRAO
* Wayne Osborn, Central Michigan University
* Joe Tenn, Sonoma State University
* Lance Utley, NRAO
Additionally we thank those who have donated
materials to be scanned.
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