Since its launch in 2004, Scopus has rapidly become a premier tool for librarians and researchers who need to find and track the Scientific, Technical, Medical or Social Sciences literature. Featuring the broadest abstract and citation coverage currently available, it includes 15,000 journals from more than 4,000 international publishers. In addition, Scopus searches 386 million scientific Web pages and 22 million patents.

Placing its users first, Scopus has established an international Content Selection and Advisory Board (CSAB), comprised of external and independent experts from all fields of science, whose mission is to evaluate and select information sources for inclusion in Scopus.

Julie Arnheim, Chemistry Librarian and Interim Engineering Librarian at Princeton University and member of the Scopus Content Selection and Advisory Board (CSAB), talks candidly – and enthusiastically – about her assessment of Scopus content and coverage.

"Because I'm fortunate enough to have a behind-the-scenes view of Scopus, I can appreciate what a truly unique resource it is. It merges traditional journals with Web resources and patents, and it evolves in response to reality as the paradigm of scientific publishing continues to evolve. Scopus is a massive undertaking and I'm impressed with Elsevier’s commitment to it." When asked about Scopus’ best feature, Julie responded, "It’s the totality of Scopus that is its best feature. It has tremendous international coverage not only of peer-reviewed titles but also of the Web. That, in combination with the user interface, makes it all so easy!"

"Its international coverage certainly sets Scopus apart from other databases," according to Julie, "It's important for researchers to have better access to work being done in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. Scientific research is not carried out in isolation and we need to take a global approach. This is particularly true for environmental issues that can have worldwide ramifications."

With 40 years of academic and corporate library experience, Julie understands the magnitude of Scopus and the complexity inherent to designing and producing an all science database. While some specific gaps in coverage have been identified since launch, Julie feels that "There is bound to be some missing material in an undertaking of this massive scale. No database is perfect." She adds, "I have found that missing items are being filled in. Also, adding deeper backfiles in areas like physics and chemistry has been proposed and accepted by the CSAB and implementation is planned for the coming months."

As a member of the CSAB, Julie evaluates candidate titles compiled from suggestions from users and CSAB members themselves, as well as from other publishers and Scopus staff. The CSAB then decides on the inclusion of newly proposed titles in Scopus by applying the following policy:

Additionally, having the CSAB at the helm allows for the flexibility needed to accommodate the changing face of scientific publishing and new models for the electronic dissemination of information. Scopus strives to be inclusive of all reputable sources of information, rather than being exclusive, by setting standards for inclusion including, but not limited to, traditional assessment of scientific merit. Patents, dissertations, and book series are searched, as well as courseware, standards and institutional repositories. The results are presented in a simple, tabbed format so the user has all of the results in one place. Julie notes that the ability of Scopus to grow organically as new sources appear is particularly important. "It reflects how scientific information grows with time and how databases must evolve. Elsevier is also looking into the acquisition of large chunks of data, whole complements of journals in specific fields."

Commenting on the importance of a deep backfile, Julie notes that as more publishers have committed resources to mount electronic full-text backfiles, the user community has called for enhanced abstract and citation searching of older journals. While Scopus policy is for comprehensive inclusion from 1996 onwards, 17 million abstracts before 1996 are already covered and more abstracts and bibliographies will be added over time.

Julie Arnheim holds an AB in chemistry from Sweet Briar College (VA) and earned her MLS at Rutgers University. She worked at the Rutgers Library of Science and Medicine in various capacities for 17 years. After several stints in the corporate world, Julie returned to academia in 1995, when she joined Princeton as Chemistry Librarian. At Princeton she is a member of several standing committees within the Library: the Library Integrated System Steering Committee, the Library Web Team and the Digital Resources Advisory Group, the group that oversees Princeton’s electronic journals and databases and their presentation to users. She has been elected to two consecutive terms on the Promotion, Continuing Appointment and Review Committee by her peer librarians.

Outside the University, her recent professional activity centers on the integrated library system users’ group. She is immediate past chair of Endeavor Mid-Atlantic, the regional users group of Endeavor’s Voyager customers, and is serving a second stint as chair of the Voyager OPAC Enhancement Committee.