Last week I asked, Where Can I Get CINAHL in 2008? I had mentioned that Ovid sent a letter out to their CINAHL customers saying they were in negotiations to extend their CINAHL contract with Ebsco. Later I had received a call from my Ebsco rep. informing me Ovid will no longer be offering CINAHL after 2007. I was a little confused.

Well, I just received an email from Scott Bernier, Director of Communications EBSCO Publishing, explaining the situation. As his letter indicates, it looks like all of us who use CINAHL must get it through Ebsco.

(reprinted email from Scott Bernier, Director of Communications EBSCO)
Ms Kraft:

I wanted to contact you "officially" on behalf of EBSCO Publishing to offer clarification with regard to CINAHL. I’m sending this email after having read your "here can I get CINAHL" post from March 13, and your question, "who should I believe?". Hopefully the following will answer any lingering questions.

As you are likely aware, EBSCO acquired CINAHL in 2003. Because of this, I can speak from a definitive standpoint regarding the availability of CINAHL via platforms other than EBSCOhost (and more specifically, Ovid).

EBSCO's contract with Ovid (allowing for CINAHL's availability via the Ovid platform) will expire in 2007 and will NOT be renewed. Ovid can fulfill subscriptions processed through the end of 2007, which means someone could technically keep access to CINAHL via Ovid through December 31, 2008 if they ordered a 2008 subscription in 2007. However, because EBSCO owns CINAHL, we have established compelling reasons for CINAHL access to be of more value to users if accessed through EBSCOhost. EBSCOhost CINAHL is a lot more current, due to the availability of PreCINAHL. PreCINAHL provides current awareness of new journal articles, and includes a rotating file of limited bibliographic information (no subject indexing) that is available to searchers only while these articles are being indexed. This enables users to gain access to article citations that otherwise would not be available.

For several months now, EBSCO has provided an expanded version of CINAHL called "CINAHL Plus". Additionally, we have created full text versions of each of these indexes (CINAHL with Full Text and CINAHL Plus with Full Text). Again, these are only available via EBSCOhost.

Additional information regarding CINAHL options via EBSCOhost can be found on the following page: http://www.epnet.com/thisTopic.php?marketID=2&topicID=53

I hope this provides clarity as to the future availability of CINAHL. If you have specific questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you,
Scott

Scott Bernier
Director of Communications
EBSCO Publishing
(800)653-2726 ext. 278
http://us.f523.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=sbernier@epnet.com