Stanford University access to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)-hosted OPPIE and FlashPoint came to a close on August 31, 2009. The OPPIE platform provided a simultaneous search option to six article databases: Biosis, Engineering Index, Inspec, and the three citation databases SciSearch, Social SciSearch, and Arts&Humanities. FlashPoint provided an additional front end to the external databases MathSciNet and PubMed.
Why LANL Access Ended
The end of LANL access results from developments both at Stanford and at LANL. With budget pressures increasing, the Stanford Libraries' review of databases found the once innovative multi-database LANL search tool declining in service value. Meanwhile, at LANL, development on the OPPIE interface had been halted and external partners such as Stanford were informed that database services would cease.
The LANL service was innovative when it was launched at Stanford in January 1998. SciSearch at LANL provided Web access to Science Citation Index at least two years before the data owner ISI launched its own product, Web of Science. As LANL continued to locally load records from databases with competing vendors (Biosis, Compendex/Engineering Index, and INSPEC), the result was a unique resource for Stanford researchers: a single search interface to a suite of science and engineering databases with integrated search results, sorting, and alerts. FlashPoint at LANL broadened the scope of databases searched by not only simultaneously searching all the locally loaded data but also returning search results from arXiv, MathSciNet, and PubMed. If you were looking for scientific articles but did not know where to start, then at its height, LANL was your best starting point.
However, by the 2008 transition to the new OPPIE interface, LANL service faced fair criticism; week-long service interruptions, negative user feedback on the new search interface, and the lack of de-duplication in the search results were among the top frustrations that led to a recommendation for Stanford to end access to the LANL database suite.
Alternatives to LANL Databases
Stanford researchers and students have access to all the former LANL databases. Search the Libraries' Databases and Articles page to link to your desired database. Or, launch the new SULAIR Cross Search, just moving into a public beta release this Fall, for a simultaneous search of over 20 databases including all resources formerly found via LANL. See also SULAIR Cross Search in Live Beta and INSPEC Available on the ISI Web of Knowledge Platform in this issue.
