Hygiena 2025, 70(4):153-155 | DOI: 10.21101/hygiena.a1903

A retrospective on information retrieval – how scientific papers used to be acquired

František Kožíšek

Státní zdravotní ústav, Centrum zdraví a životního prostření, Oddělení hygieny vody, Praha, Česká republika

Prior to the digital revolution, the journal Current Contents served as the fundamental bibliographic resource for tracking new publications. Published in several thematic series, it was part of the collections of the professional library of the National Institute of Public Health. Articles from journals not directly owned by the library were procured via interlibrary loan services; alternatively, researchers could solicit reprints directly from the authors. Compared to contemporary standards, the acquisition of scientific information was significantly more arduous and protracted. The modern proliferation of scholarly literature and its immediate accessibility now necessitate new information to be more rigorously selected and critically appraised.

Keywords: scientific information - acquisition, Current Contents, history

Received: December 2025; Accepted: December 29, 2025; Published: December 31, 2025  Show citation