Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies News

MEL’s Database of the Week for 3/5/10

March 5th, 2010

Welcome to Database of the Week — a feature from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). These database snapshots will give you basic information about our most relevant and beneficial online resources.

This Week’s Featured Database: BioScan, from BioWorld.

Link: www.lib.purdue.edu/mel, in the pull down Quick Access to Business Databases alpha list right below the Libraries’ search box.

Description/focus: BioScan is an online directory that gives access to information about biotechnology companies.

Start with this hint: In the BioScan interface you can enter the name of a company to get its listing.  BioScan includes both US and international public companies such as Novartis, but also includes privately owned companies.  Try, for example Bayer or Tranzyme. You can also use the Keyword box on the bottom of the search page to identify companies that have particular information in their entries, including products such as Humulin, areas of research such as bioinformatics software, conditions such as Parkinson’s, partnering non-profit organizations such as the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, or any general term. We do not recommend the BioScan advanced search which will give you search results in periodicals not available through our BioScan subscription.  The best place to obtain access to these journals is to enter the title into eJournals, which is the third tab on the Libraries’ search box on our home page.

Why you should know this database: BioScan content includes products in development, strategic alliances with other entities, mergers, investors, financial information, licensing and R&D agreements and other bits.

How this database can be integrated into the curriculum: Students working on a project with a biotech focus, especially with an entrepreneurial aspect, would find useful company information in this database.  The information includes names of the key personnel, product categories, and products on the market.

Cost: Paid annually by Purdue University Libraries..

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Database of the Week comes to you from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). Our intent is to give you a brief introduction to a database that you may not know. If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact kranlib@purdue.edu. Database of the Week is archived at https://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/category/mgmt/database/. For more Purdue Libraries news, follow us on Twitter (@PurdueLibraries).

If you would like us to promote your favorite database, send an email to mdugan@purdue.edu.