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ASBMB Today, December 2002 [In the January issue, ASBMB Today introduced the new "portal" site from Stanford's HighWire Press, which allows you to search all of Medline plus 330 journals' full-text at once -- including the JBC, of course! We began a monthly series of short articles highlighting tools or features of this new site for researchers' sore eyes. The new site is at http://highwire.stanford.edu ] Handheld "personal digital assistants", or PDAs, are now very popular. In addition to their traditional function as personal organizers, PDAs are being used more and more to access a diverse range of information, from big-name newspapers to baseball scores. JBC is now making journal content available to PDA users through HighWire Press' "HighWire Remote-Control" feature. With HighWire Remote-Control, a PDA user will always have the most recent journal content close at hand.
What do I get?
HighWire Remote provides the current table of contents and abstracts for all regular content from JBC (available in late November). The latest TOC and abstracts are available as soon as the new issue is published on the JBC web site. Each time you "sync," your PDA will check for new-issue content in JBC and, if you wish, in any of the other HighWire-hosted journals that offer this feature. Figure 1 shows what the JBC looks like on a PDA.
Currently, HighWire Remote will copy the TOC and abstracts for the most recent Friday's new JBC issue to your PDA. Each new sync will replace any "old" issue you have on your PDA with the latest one. In the future, we'll be making it possible to get "The Daily JBC" as new content is published several times a day.
How does it work?
This new feature has two simple technical requirements. First, HighWire Remote supports PDAs that run the Palm operating system - from manufacturers like Palm, Handspring and Sony. (The "Pocket PC" operating system is currently not supported.) Second, you must have "syncing" set up between your PDA and an internet-connected PC. "Syncing" is the process by which the PDA exchanges and updates information between the PDA's calendar, datebook, and task list programs with compatible programs on the PC. Syncing is done via a "cradle", which is cabled to the PC.
When you install the HighWire Remote software, a small, custom viewer application (much like a web browser such as Netscape) is loaded on your PDA, and a communication "conduit" is installed on your PC. Then, when you "sync", the most current journal content is delivered from the JBC web server to your PDA, via your PC conduit. All with the touch of a button - literally.
How do I get started?
If you have a PDA that runs the Palm operating system, and you're already set up to sync your PDA with your PC, then getting the HighWire Remote feature is straightforward. Just click the "JBC in your Palm" link on the JBC home page, and follow the instructions. You'll be asked for an e-mail address, where a "serial number" will be sent. Then you'll download a small installer, and run it to load the PDA and PC software. The instructions will ask you to enter the serial number, and to sync your PDA.
Once you've installed HighWire Remote, you can also sign up for content from other participating HighWire journals. To do so, go to HighWire's Portal, http://highwire.stanford.edu, and look under the "My E-mail Alerts" feature.
HighWire Remote will be enhanced with new functionality in the coming months. We think you will find it a dynamic, convenient, and useful new resource. The JBC in your pocket. We bet you can't do that with the print JBC!
...with more to come!
The above articles are online at
Next month we'll look at new techniques to further refine your search when your search retrieves far too many results to examine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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