Inspec is a major indexing database of scientific and technical literature, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and formerly by the

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and information technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Tel ...

(IEE), one of the IET's forerunners. Inspec coverage is extensive in the fields of physics, computing, control, and engineering. Its subject coverage includes astronomy, electronics, communications, computers and computing, computer science, control engineering, electrical engineering, information technology, physics, manufacturing, production and mechanical engineering. Now, due to emerging concept of technology for business, Inspec also includes information technology for business in its portfolio. Inspec indexed few journals publishing high quality research by integrating technology into management, economics and social sciences domains. The sample journals include Annual Review of Financial Economics, Aslib Journal of Information Management, Australian Journal of Management and, International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences. Inspec was started in 1967 as an outgrowth of the ''Science Abstracts'' service. The electronic records were distributed on

magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magnetic ...

. In the 1980s, it was available in the U.S. through the Knowledge Index, a low-priced dial-up version of the Dialog service for individual users, which made it popular. For nearly 50 years, the IET has employed scientists to manually review items to be included in Inspec, hand-indexing the literature using their own expertise of the subject area and make a judgement call about which terms and classification codes should be applied. Thanks to this work, a significant thesaurus has been developed which enables content to be indexed far more accurately and in context, which in turn helps end-users discover relevant literature that may otherwise have remained hidden from typical search queries, making Inspec an essential tool for prior art, patentability searches and patent drafting. Access to Inspec is currently by the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

through ''Inspec Direct'' and various resellers.

Print counterparts

Inspec has several print counterparts:Description and bibliography for Inspec * ''Computer and Control Abstracts'' () * ''Electrical and Electronics Abstracts'' () * ''Physics Abstracts'' () * ''Science Abstracts'' * ''Electrical engineering Abstracts''* ''Electronics Abstracts'' * ''Control theory Abstracts'' * ''Information technology Abstracts'' * ''Physics Indexes'' * ''Electrical engineering Indexes'' * ''Electronics Indexes'' * ''Control theory Indexes'' * ''Information technology Indexes'' * ''Business automation Abstracts (Journals featuring management, economics and Social Sciences; organizations; management information systems related research)''

''Computer and Control Abstracts''

''Computer and Control Abstracts'' ( Frequency: 12 per year) covers computers and computing, and information technology.

''Electrical and Electronics Abstracts''

''Electrical and Electronics Abstracts'' ( Frequency: 12 per year) covers all topics in telecommunications, electronics, radio, electrical power and optoelectronics. Printed indexes by subject, author and other indexes, and a subject guide are produced twice per year.Electrical & Electronics Abstracts (eea) - Uk
2011.

''Physics Abstracts''

''Physics Abstracts'' ( Frequency: 24 per year) is an abstracting and indexing service first published by the

. It was first circulated as ''Science Abstracts'', volume 1 through volume 5 from 1898 to 1902. From 1903 to 1971 the database had different titles. These closely related names were ''Science Abstracts. Section A, Physics'' and ''Science Abstracts. Section A, Physics Abstracts'' from volume 6 to volume 74. By 1972 other

societies A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

were associated as authors of this service such as the American Institute of Physics. In 1975 or 1976 the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

also became an author. By 1980 this database was also issued as INSPEC-Physics on various formats. It was also available as part of INSPEC database. Presently it is part of ''Inspec, Section A - Physics'' database. At the same time, the ''Physics Abstracts'' title was employed throughout the 1990s. Brief description of this database Bibliographic information for this database Bibliographic information for Physics Abstracts Science abstracts. Physics abstracts Subject headings - Outline of Inspec classification Section A - Physics

Notable editor

The science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, with a B.S. degree (

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

honors) ( King's college), was an assistant editor for ''Physics Abstracts'' from 1949 to 1951. This position allowed Clarke to access to "all of the world's leading scientific journals."

''Science Abstracts''

The first issue of ''Science Abstracts'' was published in January 1898. During that first year, a total of 1,423 abstracts were published at monthly intervals, and at the end of the year an author and subject index were added.Bibliographic information for this database The first issue contained 110 abstracts and was divided into 10 sections: * General

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

* Heat *

Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

Electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between Electric potential, electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical change. These reactions involve Electron, electrons moving via an electronic ...

and Chemical Physics * General

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

* Dynamos, Electric Motors and Transformers * Power Distribution, Traction and

Lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. ...

Telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

and

Telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunications services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is ...

''Science Abstracts'' was the result of a joint collaboration between the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and The Physical Society of London. The publication was (at that time) provided without charge to all members of both societies. The cost of the publication was mainly borne by the IEE and The Physical Society. Financial contributions were also received from the Institution of Civil Engineers, The Royal Society and the British Association for the Advancement of Science By 1902, the annual number of abstracts published had increased to 2,362. By May 1903 it was decided to split the publication into two parts: A (

) and B (

). This decision allowed the subject's scope to widen, particularly in physics. As a result, this allowed a larger quantity of material to be covered. Since 1967, electronic access to ''Science Abstracts'' has been provided by INSPEC.

References

{{Reflist

External links

PACC
Physics Abstracts Classification and Contents.

Physics Abstracts - Series A: Science Abstracts. Absolute Backorder Service, Inc. 2011.
Inspec page at the Institution of Engineering and Technology

Inspec Direct page

The History of Science Abstracts and Inspec

Memoirs of Science Abstracts editorial staff
— Arthur C. Clarke Bibliographic databases in engineering Online databases Mathematical databases Publications established in 1898 Institution of Engineering and Technology