Pubget: get the science, ever faster... Part 2
Jinfo Blog

By Herve Basset

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Introduction

Part 1 of this review described how Pubget's disruptive interface is revolutionising the way to find (not just search) science literature. In Part 2, we dive into specific features and functionality.

Getting started and features

Pubget doesn’t require long hours of training; a likely reason for its popularity among students. The interface is a good mix of Google’s simplicity and PubMed’s complexity. If you are a PubMed addict anyway, you can install the add-on called PaperPlane which is provided by Pubget: once installed in the browser toolbar, you will be able to get the PDF right away while searching in PubMed.

The first instinct will be to type basic keywords in the blank box to quickly retrieve the first PDF files. It is indeed quick, but it will probably only take about 5 seconds before you decide to hone your query in the advanced search area.

Search options in the advanced form are sufficient to satisfy demanding users, with advanced search fields like PMID or DOI numbers, MeSH terms, etc., not always offered by the competition. Export format is compatible with Zotero, EndNote and RefWorks.

Librarians who are MeSH masters and Boolean grammar addicts may find Pubget limited if they try to perform very complex queries. That's not the purpose of Pubget: if you want to play with MeSH try Biblimed. Nor can users draw on semantic features as in GoPubMed to analyse results. The primary goal is to open PDF files as fast as possible.

In addition to web access, Pubget offers a web app aimed at enterprise users called PaperStream, to organise the online and offline documents library at your company or lab. You can create a database to store your downloaded documents, your purchased articles or your internal reports. This allows a project team to share their science information in a single place. Once again, Pubget got it right with this application, as we know that customers are looking for easy solutions to store and share internal and external papers needed for a project.

VIP’s view

Pubget bills itself as the fastest way to access biomedical and life sciences information on the web, and it is certainly the truth. This tool fills a gap (readers want the content, fast!) and makes the literature retrieval process more efficient. It is clearly oriented at the academic market at the moment but I feel that it will impress doctors, school teachers, nurses and researchers at small size companies, etc., as well as the layman who finds it difficult to get science literature.

The interface might take some getting used to, especially if you are an avid user of PubMed or other traditional databases. However it is clear that such tools hold promise for engaging the younger generation and general public with this boring task of finding articles. So don’t hesitate to find out about this new way of getting literature.

Visit Pubget.com for more information.

Hervé Basset holds the position of Librarian, at a large European pharmaceutical company. In parallel, he is an independent consultant and owner of: http://scienceintelligence.wordpress.com. His special expertise is the in-depth analysis of online services, such as Bibliographical databases, E-journals platforms, Knowledge-oriented intranet, etc.

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