Web of Science filter

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drh_001
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:11 pm

Web of Science filter

Post by drh_001 »

Hi folks. I'm trying to search Web of Science using the "Online Search" button in BE. It seemed to work a while back, but not now. When I do this from home through my employer's VPN, I get a "No matches found for IP XXX.XX.X.XX" followed by a "No response from the Web of Science Server". I tried it again at work and I get the same thing.

I'm trying to track down where the problems exists, as I can use a browser window and I get through. I can do it the hard way, grabbing the citations and then having to go through them one-by-one to check for duplicates as the "find duplicates" function doesn't seem to work well due to how the references are put into the database (dates have additional stuff, author's names misspelled, titles not matching, and other stuff I just can't seem to find the reason for). The above issues regarding duplication are not something I would expect can be found every time by BE as these issues are due to human error; they necessitate multiple passes through the database using varying strategies, followed finally by a visual check. This, however, isn't the problem I'm asking about.

I don't think we are using WoS "Lite" as work is a research institution, but it is possible. Has anyone else had problems with WoS?

PS. Just saw the update. I'm installing now and will see if this makes a difference.

PSS. No change. It may be operator error, or not. Please advise.
Jon
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Re: Web of Science filter

Post by Jon »

I can check tomorrow. It's possible that WoS changed something, but it's also possible that either their direct access servers acting up. Let's see if anyone else reports this problem.

Jon
Sonny Software
drh_001
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:11 pm

Re: Web of Science filter

Post by drh_001 »

Thanks Jon. We'll see what others say.

Anyone? :)
Jon
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Re: Web of Science filter

Post by Jon »

I tried the WoS direct search from a location where there is ip authentication and it worked. Searching for "cancer" returned 3571061 hits. Importing worked as expected.

So the issue isn't WoS itself or the filter. There must be some local issue (for example. a firewall, and Bookends isn't whitelisted?).

Jon
Sonny Software
drh_001
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:11 pm

Re: Web of Science filter

Post by drh_001 »

Thanks. I'll check on my end.
drh_001
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:11 pm

Re: Web of Science filter

Post by drh_001 »

Well this just is "JUST DANDY."

WoS doesn't work. I will consider all ideas, no matter how ridiculous it may sound.

This is what I have tried:

1. I have tried using the WoS filter to find references in the search function. Does not work.
2. I have turned off the firewall, then tried the WoS filter. Does not work.
3. I have found what "whitelisting" I can find on the Mac, "whitelisted" Bookends, and then tried the WoS filter. Does not work.
3a. Tried to get Bookends whitelisted at work, and apparently it has fallen on deaf ears.
4. I have tried using WoS in the in-house browser in Bookends, and then getting the references. I get about 50-60% of what WoS claims is there, and the in-house browser cannot even see the references I am missing but I can clearly see them in WoS. How much? I tried getting some 101 references, but only actually receiving 52. I CANNOT get the remainder.
5. I have downloaded the references in a file and then tried to import them into Bookends, with varying success.
5a. Text file, cannot get anything using WoS filter.
5b. HTML file, cannot get anything using WoS filter.
5c. Tried using RIS filter, got maybe 7 out of 50.
5d. Tried all the filters I could think of that might even be somewhat relative, unsuccessful.
5e. Tried to download it as an EndNote file, but that predictably didn't work as Bookends wants to get stuff directly from the installed EndNote program and not the downloaded file. EndNote is NOT installed on this computer.
5f. I tried manipulating the file using information that was (admittedly) old, and that failed as well.
6. Gave up trying to get anything through the VPN at home, or through the Mac at work CONNECTED to the work servers, and just went to the PC. This should eliminate all VPN issues as well as my Mac as the PC is work-supplied. Tried all the above. Does not work.

Then I made the mistake of looking up a topic using Google Scholar and comparing to what WoS was giving me. 110,000 or so from GS, 5400 or so from WoS. Yes, GS is going to give me duplicates and stuff that may not be related to the topic (as far as I can see), but I'm already spending a LOT of time going through WoS results and getting rid of duplicates, consolidating information, etc using what WoS had previously given me. Now WoS is not working at all. At least GS may be more inclusive than WoS, even if Bookends will only let me download some 200 or so references with no place I can find to increase that number.

The only thing I haven't tried is to download EndNote, get the references, export them or see if Bookends will do it that way. I left EndNote because it wouldn't do as I needed it to do; this path appears to be an unnecessary duplication of effort but I'm already spending way too much time on this with no viable result. Any ideas will be entertained.

System:

MacOS Mojave, 10.14.6
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015)
16 GB memory

Diana
Jon
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Re: Web of Science filter

Post by Jon »

There are a number of reasons why the WoS direct search might fail, you've listed some of the. GS results are always going to give you far more than any other search engine, it's not very high quality data.

Have you tried searching WoS in Bookends Browser?

Jon
Sonny Software
drh_001
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:11 pm

Re: Web of Science filter

Post by drh_001 »

Hi Jon,

Yes I tried Bookends browser. See number 4 in the previous post. Bookends allows me to access WoS. I can then try to download the references to my specified topic but only get some 50-60% of what WoS says it found. The remaining 40% or so references are not acknowledged by Bookends, even when I specifically mark said reference in the browser window and try to download it. It does not show up in the list that Bookends presents and thus Bookends treats it as not existing.

Diana
Jon
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:27 pm
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Re: Web of Science filter

Post by Jon »

When you say "reference", do you mean PDF (because otherwise what you write is confusing, since Bookends should be able to get the metadata from all WoS articles? That's to be expected -- each publisher is different, and they change constantly, so finding the PDF by scraping the HTML is never going to be 100%. However, in Bookends Browser if you navigate to the PDF so that it's on display, you can download it regardless of publisher using the PDF proxy icon (drag and drop or right click on it).

Jon
Sonny Software
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