Resources for Chemistry and
Coatings & Polymeric Materials

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Databases

There are a number of databases which NDSU researchers in Chemistry and Polymers & Coatings should find useful. The following are covered in order of priority.

SciFinder Scholar

SciFinder Scholar provides access to CAplus for accessing scholarly literature (over 21,500,000 records, from 1907 onward), CAS Registry for accessing information about compounds, CASREACT for organic chemical reaction research (journals: 1974 onward; patents: 1982-1984 and 1991 onward), CHEMLIST for regulatory information, CHEMCATS for commercial chemical availability, and Medline for biomedical research. CAS also provides a brief usage tutorial.

To begin using SciFinder Scholar, you will need to download the client application (available for Macintosh (classic only) or Windows computers) and save site.prf to the folder where you installed the SciFinder application.

To understand how SciFinder Scholar integrates the various CAS databases, the University of Buffalo provides this SciFinder Scholar "under the hood" diagram [local copy]. (NDSU Only)

SPIRS Databases

CSA Engineering Databases

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts has produced a number of engineering databases which may be useful for chemists: (NDSU Only)

Patents

Full text of many patents is now available free via the Web. Coverage includes 1976 to present.
Patent Searching via IBM
Patent Searching via USPTO and CNIDR

FirstSearch Databases

 The most relevant FirstSearch databases are Dissertation Abstracts Online, Applied Sciences and Technology Literature, Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management, and WorldCat. FirstSearch databases can be accessed via the Web. (NDSU Only)

The Dissertation Abstracts database is valuable for finding other dissertations on your subject, and should be checked before initiating your research. WorldCat searches the holdings of libraries worldwide for books about your subject.

Science Citation Index

Science Citation Index is extremely useful for tracking the progress of information forward in time by finding out who has cited older, seminal articles. It is the only database which does this. NDSU has Science Citation Index in the Main Library on CD-ROM for the years 1996 to present. Older issues are in print format in the Main Library. A librarian can also conduct a search of the electronic version of Science Citation Index via Dialog, however costs for the search will be billed to you or your department. You must be present during the search, and your search should be carefully planned to minimize charges.

Chemical Abstracts

A complete set of Chemical Abstracts and CA Indexes are available in print format in the Chemistry Library. You may also use SciFinder Scholar to search Chemical Abstracts.

 

CURRENT AWARENESS

There are several ways to receive up-to-date information on your areas of interest, besides browsing the current issues of journals owned by NDSU:

Ingenta Reveal Tables of Contents Service

You can have tables of contents of specific journals e-mailed to you on a regular basis from Ingenta Reveal. To open an account, you must set up a "profile". You may do this by following the directions at: http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/reference/reveal.html. In addition to tables of contents of journals, you may also have the results of subject or author searches e-mailed to you on a regular basis. If you would like help setting up your account, contact Jeremy Brown (231-1050).

Current Contents

You can access tables of contents of many journals at any time via Current Contents, one of the SPIRS databases. Current Contents provides cover-to-cover indexing of circa 7,000 journals and abstracts for about 85% of the articles. You can subscribe to a listserv which will notify you when a new issue of Current Contents has been loaded. We have also made a brief guide to Current contents available

 

PRINT RESOURCES

The Library contains many print resources, including a complete set of Chemical Abstracts and the collective indexes to Chemical Abstracts. You should be aware that many of the electronic indexes only cover material published since the 1980's. If you rely only on the electronic indexes, you may be missing important information. To determine the Reference Resources held by the Library, consult the Online Catalog, the Library Staff, and/or the Selective Guide to Reference Materials for Chemistry and Polymers and Coatings.

The NDSU Online Catalog

NDSU is a member of ODIN,and you can access the on-line catalog to search for materials housed at NDSU.


Other

Many other databases are available. If you have a specific need and you have not been able to find sufficient information, or if you would like assistance with any of the above databases, please contact the Physical Sciences Librarian.

INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR CHEMISTRY AND POLYMERS & COATINGS - Includes Web Links