Chemical Information

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Chemical Information

• Best Tools
• Quickest Results

David Stern, Chemistry Librarian January, 2004
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Outline

• Strategy
• Tools you can use
• Background information
• Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
• Journal articles
• SciFinder Scholar
• Web of Science
• Current Contents
• SFX links to full text
• Property information
• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
• Combined Chemical Dictionary
• Beilstein/Gmelin CrossFire
• Spectral information
• KnowItAll
• Aldrich Library of Spectra
• Sadtler Library of Spectra
• Other resources

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What type of information do you need?

• Background information overview of topic
• Journal article
• Property information
• Spectral information
• Conditions under which a reaction occurs
• Methods of chemical analysis
• Equipment/purchasing info (WWW)

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Types of Tools

• Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Indexes to Journal Articles
• Handbooks
• Spectral Libraries
• WWW sites

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ONLINE HELP

• Librarian emulator
• Expert knowledge database
• 24 x 7 access
• www.library.yale.edu/science/subject/chemistry.htm
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• Help
• Selected Resources
• Selected Chemistry web resources
• Web search and browse engines
• Quick Links (ILL, Borrow Direct, etc.)

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Subject web pages

• Most used resources
• Top databases
• Discipline-based HELP pages
• www.library.yale.edu/science/subject/chemistry.htm
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• www.library.yale.edu/science/subject/biology.html
• Help
• Selected Web Resources
• Selected Chemistry web resources
• Web search and browse engines
• Quick Links (ILL, Borrow Direct, etc.)

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Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

• Advantages
• Broad overview of a topic
• References to the primary literature (journal
  articles, book chapters, etc.)
• Definition of terms
• Recommended Tools
• Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
• McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science Technology
• Combined Chemical Dictionary

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Journal Articles

• References at the end of articles
• References in book chapters
• Index to the journal literature
• Keywords
• Author
• Substance
• Other references

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How do you choose which database to use?

• Subject chemistry, biology, sciences,
  interdisciplinary
• Scope time period covered, scholarly vs.
  popular literature
• Searching substance searching, citation
  searching

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SciFinder Scholar
Chemical Abstracts Database of citations to
journal articles from over 8,000
journals, patents, and technical reports focusing
on the chemical sciences. 1907 - present.
Medline Databases of citations to journal
articles from over 3,900 medical journals. 1966
- present.
Registry File Database of over 32
million Chemical substances 1957 present.
CASREACT Database of over 3.8 million single-
and multi-step Reactions. Covers only new and
novel reactions.
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Biosis (Biological Abstracts)

• Major biology journal and book index
• Covers thousands of the leading scientific
  journals (has greater depth of coverage than Web
  of Science)
• Covers the literature from 1969 - present
• Excellent abstract and concept/subject searching

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Web of Science

• Interdisciplinary
• Covers 5,600 of the leading scientific journals
  (covers core journals, but does not have the
  depth of coverage that SciFinder Scholar does)
• Covers the literature from 1945 - present
• Citation searching
• Related record searching

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Current Contents

• Contains only current information
• Covers over 7,000 journals in all scientific
  disciplines
• Allows user to set up auto alert conduct a
  search, save the search, automatically receive
  search results

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Choosing an Online Database
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SFX links

• Seamless links to full text articles
• SciFinder Scholar Green House icon
• Web of Science only from Full Record

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Outline

• Tools you can use
• Background information
• Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
• Journal articles
• SciFinder Scholar
• Web of Science
• Current Contents
• SFX links to full text
• Property information
• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
• Combined Chemical Dictionary
• Beilstein/Gmelin CrossFire
• Spectral information
• KnowItAll
• Aldrich Library of Spectra
• Sadtler Library of Spectra
• Other resources

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Property Information

• Handbooks and Chemical Dictionaries
• Take information from journal literature or from
  independent testing
• A lot of overlap, which tool you choose depends
  upon what you need

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CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics

• Advantages
• Familiar, easy to access, easy to use
• Large collection of basic properties of common
  substances
• Disadvantages
• Only covers basic properties and common substances

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Combined Chemical Dictionary

• Advantages
• Information on over 500,000 organic and inorganic
  substances
• Easy to access, easy to use
• References to the literature
• Information on derivatives
• Hazard and Toxicity Information
• Disadvantages
• Only basic chemical and physical property
  information

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Beilstein Gmelin CrossFire

• Advantages
• Extensive information on organic and inorganic
  substances
• Information obtained from the chemical literature
  covers the chemical literature from 1779 to the
  present
• Advanced structure search interface
• Advanced data search interface
• Disadvantages
• May provide more information than necessary
  (requiring additional sorting and evaluation)

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Spectral Information

• KnowItAll (online)
• NIST Chemistry Webbook (online)
• Sigma-Aldrich Library of Spectra
• Sadtler Library of Spectra
• Spectral properties reported in the literature
• Handbooks of spectral information
• You can find the references to the spectrum of
  specific substances by looking up the substance
  in the Aldrich Chemical Catalog.

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Other Resources

• Methods Series
• Crystal Structure Data
• Naming Resources
• Hazardous Properties
• Chemical and Equipment Catalogs
• Presentation and Writing Guides

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WWW Resources

• Browsing Yahoo, WWW Virtual Library
• Mining Google, All the Web
• Contains non-peer reviewed material
• Equipment
• Biographical info
• Special interest group sites
• Requires critical thinking (validity)
• Library web portal/gateway

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Outline

• Tools you can use
• Background information
• Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
• Journal articles
• SciFinder Scholar
• Web of Science
• Current Contents
• SFX links to full text
• Property information
• CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
• Combined Chemical Dictionary
• Beilstein/Gmelin CrossFire
• Spectral information
• KnowItAll
• Aldrich Library of Spectra
• Sadtler Library of Spectra
• Other resources

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Knowledge Management Resources

• Personal Databases citations, annotations, lab
  data, etc
• RefWorks, EndNote, ProCite, etc
• Autoalerts
• RSS feeds (web channels)
• AI (search strategies)
• Google? (keywords)
• Social Bookmarks shared URLs
• Virtual folders (multiple access points)