VIVO search engine indexes life sciences resources

A key goal of Cornell's New Life Sciences Initiative is to support collaboration among biologists, engineers, physical and social scientists, mathematicians and computer scientists to enhance both research and education in the life sciences. To help all these people find each other, Cornell University Library has created VIVO: a powerful Web-based index to life sciences resources, instruction, research, personnel and facilities at Cornell.

VIVO, located at http://vivo.library.cornell.edu, brings together in one Web site all the information you need to figure out who's doing what, where, and how in the life sciences at Cornell -- and what library resources are available to support that work. Library officials call it a "virtual life sciences library."

"VIVO provides unparalleled 'one-stop' access to information about the life sciences at Cornell," said Kraig Adler, vice provost for life sciences. "It's a wonderful tool for researchers and graduate students, as well as undergraduates who are looking for research opportunities in faculty labs."

Students and faculty members can use VIVO to search for fellow researchers, recent publications with Cornell first authors, courses, undergraduate majors and graduate fields, events, and just about anything else related to the life sciences at Cornell. A VIVO search transcends campus, college and department divides. It also provides easy access to professional tools including online databases, software and image collections licensed for use by the Cornell community, as well as to important external resources.

"In a sense, VIVO is a virtual community center where students and faculty can not only find the information they need to support their research, but also connect with others who are pursuing similar studies," said Janet McCue, director of Mann Library, which led the development of the site.

Unlike most search engines, VIVO displays results with appropriate cross-referencing to place them in a context that makes sense. For example, a search for "proteomics" in VIVO will display listings for faculty members working in the field at Cornell, classes related to that subject, recent articles published by Cornell faculty, and some helpful online research tools. Each entry is linked directly to the original resource, which could be the full text of a recent journal article, a new genomics service or a Web page describing a faculty member's research.

VIVO was developed by the library's Life Sciences Working Group, a committee of librarians and information technology specialists from the Mann, Engineering, Entomology, Geneva, Physical Sciences, Veterinary and Weill Cornell Medical libraries. Bioinformatics/Life Sciences Librarian Medha Devare chairs the working group. "As the university's Life Sciences Initiative progresses, we plan to expand the array of resources available through VIVO," Devare said. "We encourage faculty and students to contact us with feedback and suggestions for new material to add to the site, or whenever they need help using VIVO."

For more information about VIVO, contact Devare at mhd6@cornell.edu or 255-2199.