Astrophysics Data System: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:25, 14 January 2024

Revision as of 03:13, 20 January 2024

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The '''SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System''' ('''ADS''') is an [[online database]] of over 16 million papers developed by the [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) on [[Astronomy & Astrophysics|astronomy]] and [[physics]]. [[abstract (summary)|Abstracts]] are freely available for most articles, and fully scanned articles may be available in [[Graphics Interchange Format]] (GIF) and [[Portable Document Format]] (PDF). Hosted papers may be from [[peer review]]ed and/or non-peer-reviewed sources. ADS is managed by the [[Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory]].

Since its beginning in 1992, ADS is a powerful research tool that has significant impact on the efficiency of astronomical research.<ref name="announcement">{{cite journal |last=Kurtz |first=M.J. |display-authors=et al. |year=1993 |title=Intelligent Text Retrieval in the NASA Astrophysics Data System |journal=Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems II |volume=52 |page=132 |bibcode=1993ASPC...52..132K}}</ref> ADS also greatly reduces the time it used to or normally would take to complete literature searches, due to the fact it is customized specifically for astronomical needs. Studies have found that the monetary benefit to astronomy that ADS contributes is equivalent to several hundred million in [[USD|US dollars]] every year (2005).<ref name="overview" /><ref name="impact">{{cite journal |last=Kurtz |first=M.J. |author2=Eichhorn G. |author3=Accomazzi A. |author4=Grant C.S. |author5=Demleitner M. |author6=Murray S.S. |year=2005 |title=Worldwide Use and Impact of the NASA Astrophysics Data System Digital Library |journal=Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=36–45 |arxiv=0909.4786 |bibcode=2005JASIS..56...36K |doi=10.1002/asi.20095 |s2cid=15181632}} ([http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kurtz/jasis-abstract.html Preprint])</ref>

The '''SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System''' ('''ADS''') usage statistics can be used to analyze global trends in astronomical research due to it being used amongst astronomers worldwide. Those statistics revealed the direct correlation between both the number of astronomers and the amount of research an astronomer carries out and the per capita [[gross domestic product]] (GDP) of the country from where the scientist is based.

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The first suggestion of a database of journal paper abstracts was made at a conference on ''Astronomy from Large Data-Bases'' held in [[Garching bei München]] in 1987.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Squibb |first1=G.F. |last2=Cheung |first2=C.Y. |title=NASA astrophysics data system (ADS) study |journal=European Southern Observatory Conference and Workshop Proceedings |year=1988 |volume=28 |page=489 |bibcode=1988ESOC...28..489S}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last1=Adorf |first1=H.-M. |last2=Busch |first2=E.K. |title=Intelligent access to a bibliographical full text data base |journal=European Southern Observatory Conference and Workshop Proceedings |year=1988 |volume=28 |page=143 |bibcode=1988ESOC...28..143A}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Rey-Watson |first=J.M. |title=Access to astronomical literature through commercial databases |journal=European Southern Observatory Conference and Workshop Proceedings |year=1988 |volume=28 |page=453 |bibcode=1988ESOC...28..453R}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last1=Rhodes |first1=C. |last2=Kurtz |first2=M.J. |last3=Rey-Watson |first3=J.M. |title=A library collection of software documentation specific to astronomical data reduction |journal=European Southern Observatory Conference and Workshop Proceedings |year=1988 |volume=28 |page=459 |bibcode=1988ESOC...28..459R}}</ref> Initial development of an electronic system for accessing astrophysical abstracts took place during the following five years. In 1991 discussions took place on how to integrate ADS with the [[SIMBAD]] database, containing all available catalog designations for objects outside the [[Solar System]], to create a system where astronomers could search for all the papers written about a given object.<ref name="overview">{{cite journal |last=Kurtz |first=M.J. |author2=Eichhorn G. |author3=Accomazzi A. |author4=Grant C.S. |author5=Murray S.S. |author6=Watson J.M. |year=2000 |title=The NASA Astrophysics Data System: Overview |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series |volume=143 |issue=1 |pages=41–59 |doi=10.1051/aas:2000170 |bibcode=2000A&AS..143...41K |arxiv=astro-ph/0002104 |s2cid=17583122}}</ref>

An initial version of ADS, with a database consisting of 40 papers, was created as a [[proof of concept]] in 1988. The ADS Abstract Service was announced in November 1992 <ref name='"announcement'">{{cite journal |last=Kurtz |first=M.J. |display-authors=et al. |year=1993 |title=Intelligent Text Retrieval in the NASA Astrophysics Data System |journal=Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems II |volume=52 |page=132 |bibcode=1993ASPC...52..132K}}</ref> and was released for general use in April 1993. The ADS database was successfully connected with the SIMBAD database in the summer of 1993. The creators believed this was the first use of the Internet to allow simultaneous querying of transatlantic scientific databases. Until 1994 the service was available via proprietary network software, but it was transferred to the nascent [[World Wide Web]] early that year. The number of users of the service quadrupled in the five weeks following the introduction of the ADS web-based service.<ref name="overview" />

At first, the journal articles available via ADS were [[Image scanner|scan]]ned [[bitmap]]s created from the paper journals, but from 1995 onwards, the ''[[Astrophysical Journal]]'' began to publish an on-line edition, soon followed by the other main journals such as ''[[Astronomy and Astrophysics]]'' and the ''[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]]''. ADS provided links to these electronic editions from their first appearance. Since the year 1995, the number of ADS users has doubled roughly every two years. ADS now has agreements with almost all astronomical journals, who supply abstracts. Scanned articles from as far back as the early 19th century are available via the service, which now contains over eight million documents.

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==Impact on astronomy==

ADS is almost universally used as a research tool among astronomers, and there are several studies that have estimated quantitatively how much more efficient ADS has made astronomy; one estimated that ADS increased the efficiency of astronomical research by 333 full-time equivalent research years per year,<ref name="overview" /> and another found that in 2002 its effect was equivalent to 736&nbsp;full-time researchers, or all the astronomical research done in France.<ref name="impact">{{cite journal |last=Kurtz |first=M.J. |author2=Eichhorn G. |author3=Accomazzi A. |author4=Grant C.S. |author5=Demleitner M. |author6=Murray S.S. |year=2005 |title=Worldwide Use and Impact of the NASA Astrophysics Data System Digital Library |journal=Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=36–45 |arxiv=0909.4786 |bibcode=2005JASIS..56...36K |doi=10.1002/asi.20095 |s2cid=15181632}} ([http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kurtz/jasis-abstract.html Preprint])</ref> ADS has allowed literature searches that would previously have taken days or weeks to carry out to be completed in seconds, and it is estimated that ADS has increased the readership and use of the astronomical literature by a factor of about three since its inception.<ref name="impact" />

In monetary terms, this increase in efficiency represents a considerable amount. There are about 12,000&nbsp;active astronomical researchers worldwide, so ADS is the equivalent of about 5% of the working population of astronomers. The global astronomical research budget is estimated at between 4,000 and US$5,000&nbsp;million,<ref name="woltjer">{{cite conference |last=Woltjer |first=L. |year=1998 |title=Economic Consequences of the Deterioration of the Astronomical Environment |conference=23rd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union |book-title=Preserving The Astronomical Windows. Proceedings of Joint Discussion number 5 of the 23rd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union held in Kyoto, Japan 22–23 August 1997 |volume=139 |pages=243 |bibcode=1998ASPC..139..243W}}</ref> so the value of ADS to astronomy would be about 200–250&nbsp;million USD annually. Its operating budget is a small fraction of this amount.<ref name="impact" />