How it works?
BLB is an updatable database comprising hyperlinks collected from the abstracts of PubMed articles. Each link directs to certain bioinformatic tool, database or supplementary data file related to the particular biological study. This database provides a one stop search engine for all the biological databases and associated tools referenced in the PubMed. The data from PubMed are obtained in the XML format; articles with viable hyperlinks are periodically extracted in semi-automated mode.
The search can be performed in two modes. The simplest is the fulltext index search where in the title and abstracts of all the articles are searched for relevant keywords. Advanced search can be performed using additional fields, for example, link status (Active or dead) or date of publication. Users can retrieve hyperlinks associated with the corresponding articles. Search results allow one to get a glimpse of the abstract with the title hyperlinked to the corresponding tool or database associated with the publication.
Users can add new hyperlinks to the database and associated them with PubMed ID. The dead links, demarkated in a read color, can be updated by users. Once the updated and newly added links are curated manually, they will be accessible for public use. Periodical curation is a part of the database mainteinance performed to keep BLB up to date with the Pubmed repository.