Many UAB researchers use Pubget, the biomedical search engine that provides the results as PDFs. PubGet includes all of PubMed and more, and provides one-click access to the articles that UAB licenses. 
The PubGet Mobile website allows researchers to read articles on their cell phones and is especially useful for browsing the latest issue of key journals, but it requires the reader to be online.
The new PubGet iPad app is now free to download at the Apple app store. This app features:
- PubMed ArXiv, JSTOR, & IEEE abstracts and articles
- Author, journal or topic searching
- Advanced searching
- Customizable list for browsing latest issues of journals
- PDFs of the articles that UAB licenses and any freely available
PDFs can be saved to the library for viewing later even when offline. So you can read your saved articles on airplanes, which is great for travelers.
Below is a screenshot of a Pubget search result list from the app. You can expand the screen as shown on the right, and enlarge fonts, graphs or images when reading the PDFs using your fingers on the touch screen. You can also type notes and save them
with the PDFs.
Limitations:
According to the team at Pubget, there are planned updates to improve the functionality of the library. Right now, it is not possible to sort or search by author or journal, organize into folders, or delete articles that have been read. Articles from certain publishers do not display well. And there is no app for Android or other platforms.
In the meantime, Pubget users who would find the limitations restricting can use the Pubget Mobile website while online, and export the articles they select into another app they have downloaded. The free Apple iBooks app works well for this, and allows deleting and sorting by title, author and category. There is a similar free eBook app in the Android Market. Both save the PDFs for viewing offline. Another option is to search Pubget on your computer and save the PDFs you select to a cloud app like Dropbox that syncs with your tablet or smart phone for later viewing offline.
The PubGet support team is very responsive to suggestions and problem-solving. There is a support button under the Settings icon found on each page.
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.