Some of the most useful databases are those maintained by Chemical Abstracts Service in Columbus, Ohio. We are able to search them using a program called Scifinder. Scifinder is available on the Macintosh computers in the lab as "Scifinder Scholar" in the dock. It is also available on the workstations in the Science and Engineering Library. You can download the program for your personal computer from:
When using Scifinder, the program leads you through the searching process in a very user-friendly way. A manual is really not needed. NOte that the program allos one to search the database in a number of fashions, including author, topic, and structure searches. Structure searches, in particular, are quite powerful, since one is capable of not only searching substances, but also substances used as reactants, substances used as products, and reactions. Hence, there is really no excuse for not knowing if (a) a compound you are making is a known compound, or (b) if there is a relevant procedure that you can use to prepare a new compound.
Beilstein is a handbook of information on all known organic compounds. An almost unbelieveable undertaking started by Friedrich Konrad Beilstein in 1881, the first five editions of Beilstein are available in print version in the library. The first four editions of Beilstein are in German, while the fifth is in English. Knowing how to navigate the print edition of Beilstein is a talent not easily acquired, but that all organic chemists should possess.
However, in concert with the Information Age, Beilstein Informationssysteme GmbH, based in Frankfurt, Germany, and Beilstein Information Systems Inc., with offices in San Leandro, CA, USA, are the developers of the CrossFire System, the online version of the Beilstein (and the inorganic version Gmelin) database(s). We at UA have desktop access to the Crossfire system. It is available on the Macintosh computers in the lab as "Beilstien Commander" in the dock. Beilstein is also located on the workstations located in the Science and Engineering Library. Some instruction is necessary for using Crossfire efficiently. When used correctly, Crossfire is by far our most powerful resource! There is no excuse for not knowing how to use Crossfire or not using it often! Crossfire's most useful for searching specific compounds or reactions, but it can also be used for author and other texttype searches.
One of the most spectacular advances in information science in the 1990s has been the availability of information over the World Wide Web. The chemistry literature is no exception. The U of A libraries have access to many chemistry journals online. This allows desktop access to electronic versions of journal articles from approximately 1996 (varies with publisher). Never has it been so easy to access the literature!
Jim Martin, the Chemistry Librarian (martinj@bird.library.arizona.edu), maintains a list of chemistry journals available online. Also available below is a list of the Dewey Decimal designations of many of the more common organic/polymer/materials chemistry journals. Since the journals in the library are shelved by the Dewey Decimal system, you may find this list useful to bring with you if you must indeed access the paper copy of a journal.
Many of our resources for searching the current chemical literature, as well as other databases, are on the World Wide Web. The following table is a compilation of the most useful that we have found. Note that most are for searching limited databases, such as only RSC or ACS journals. Always remember that no database is complete, and should always be used as a leading source!
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Science Citation Index |
URL: http://www.webofscience.com (or through UA library site) |
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Search What?: Search for all major journals from 1971. Very powerful tool. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
You can search references cited by a paper or papers that cited a certain reference. Searchable by keywords, names, journals, etc. You can also get abstracts for papers. Only sources from 1973. Can not search for compounds. Can only get reference but no online downloadable papers. |
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Uncover Web 2.0 |
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Search What?: Search most major journals from 1988. Searchable by keywords, names, journals, etc. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
You can search for FREE. Cover most major journals. Only cover sources after 1988. If you want to get the paper delivered to you, you need to pay. |
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Chemical Science References |
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Search What?: Including links to multiple databases. Search abbreviation of chemicals, hazardous data, et. al. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
Cover a wide range of data. Searching is free. No downloadable papers. Limited source. |
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SDBS |
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Search What?: Cover spectra for about 30,000 compounds. Searchable by formula, by names. Including 6 type of spectra. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
Free access. Cover most common chemicals. You can easily get NMR spectra for your reference. Limited to 50 spectra per day for every single IP address. No structure searching. |
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Science Direct |
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Search What?: Search all journals published by Elsevier. Including Tetrahedron serious. Searchable by keywords, by names, by title, or by articles. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
You can get PDF files of the online paper for print. It’s free for UA customers (for a certain time). Only cover materials back to 1996. |
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Online journals for the Royal Society of Chemistry |
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Search What?: Search all journals published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Searchable by keywords, names, titles or articles. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
You can get full papers in PDF format for printing. Only cover materials after 1997. You need a user name and password to access the PDF files. |
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Intellectual Property Network |
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Search What?: Searchable by patent numbers, by text, by keywords or by names. Get information for more than 3 million US patents issued since 1971. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
Free. Very powerful tool to search US patents and some of European patents. You can only VIEW the image of the patents. If you want to get a high quality PDF file, you need to pay for it ($3.00 for every patent). Only cover materials after 1971. |
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ACS publications |
URL: http://pubs.acs.org |
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Search What?: Search all 23 ACS journals online. You can search by authors, by title, by keywords, or by paper (page number and year). Although we can not get the online full text file for papers, this is still an EXCELLENT site to visit. All supporting materials are FREE to download. Highly recommended! |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
All searching is FREE. Besides, you get free supporting materials online. Only cover materials from 1996. |
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NIST |
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Search What?: Searching for information of about 5000 known compounds. You can search by name, formula, CAS registration number or by properties of the compounds. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
It’s free. You can get some physical properties of compounds you want to search if they are in the database. Only cover 5,000 compound. |
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ChemWeb |
URL: http://chemweb.com/ |
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Search What?: Searching for information of more than 400,000 known compounds. You can search by name, formula, or by structure. You can get information for how to order a known compound, where to find it and the price. The basic service is free. You need to register yourself on their site for free membership. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
It’s free. It covers almost all major chemical venders (Aldrich, Lancaster, TCI, and some European company). You can also search by structure by using the advanced searching. Not always cover the most recent changes of the chemical companies. |
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Wiley Interscience |
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Search What?: Searching all Wiley-VCH journals online (ACEE, European J. of Org. Chem. E. J. of Inorg. Chem., et. al.). You need to register yourself as either a guest or an authorized user (need info for the Customer ID and Registration Key from the library that I found impossible because the librarian doesn’t want to release them). You can still search the website as a guest. If you don’t want to register by yourself, you can still use Hongfeng’s account which is the default on Yosemite to search. Searchable by names, by keywords, or by title. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
The basic searching is free. We can not get the online PDF file for papers. Covers materials only after 1995 (for ACEE) or after 1998 (for the other two chemical journals). |
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The US Patent and Trademark Office |
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Search What?: Search all US patents after 1976. Searchable by names, by keywords, or by title. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
The basic searching is free. You can get the full text of a patent, or a full image of it. Also you get the most up to date update of the patent information. Only cover materials from 1976. |
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Vermont SIRI MSDS Collection |
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Search What?: Search for chemical hazardous data. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
It's free. Get hazardous data for most dangerous compounds.
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UConn - Environmental Health & Safety Homepage |
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Search What?: Search for chemical MSDS data. Maintained by the University of Connecticut. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
Free online source. Also includes biochemical safety data. Includes chemical resistant glove guide and some other useful databases.
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Hazardous Chemical Database in Akron |
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Search What?: Search for chemical MSDS data. Mantained by Department of Chemistry, University of Akron. |
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Advantages & Disadvantages |
Free online source. Can search by CAS registration number.
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Email comments to mcgrath@u.arizona.edu
Last updated on August 2005 by DVM