information resoruces for chemists nov08
DESCRIPTION
Slides to go with the lecture and workbook for postgraduate chemistry students and academic staff based at the University of Leicester, UKTRANSCRIPT
Information Resources for Post-
Graduate Chemists
Nov 2008
Gareth J Johnson
David Wilson Library
Slides online at:
Today’s Session
Aims
◦ Get you familiar with accessing Leicester’s
suite of information resources for Chemists
◦ Demonstrate searching techniques
◦ Provide some hands on time with searches
◦ Give you a chance for some 1-2-1 support
with your searching
Session Outline
Accessing information resources on/off
campus
Searching the key resources
Refining search results
Alternatives to databases
Building your own bibliography (briefly)
Professional Networks at Leicester
Resources at Leicester
All accessed via Leicester Digital
Library
Nearly all available off campus too
Each indexes a different range of
journals
To be comprehensive will need to
search more than one!
Specialist Chemistry ones exist
Which Databases to Use?
Depends on your research area
◦ Expect to have to get to know how to use
more than one or two
Some multidisciplinary ones
◦ SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge
Some more subject specific
◦ BIOSIS Previews, Medline, Crossfire
Subject Rooms have some guidance
How Many is Enough?
Comprehensive searching requires using
several
◦ Omissions and overlap between resources
No literature review is 100% authoritative
Rules of thumb
◦ Expect to search 3-5 quality resources
◦ See previous theses for guidance in scope
Bibliographic software can assist in
eliminating duplicate results
Web of Science
Part of the Web of Knowledge◦ Can be searched independently or as part
Keyword searching tools◦ Boolen operators AND, OR, NOT
◦ Brackets () and truncation * available
◦ No phrase searching
Good searches easy to build◦ E.g. (polymeric or solid phase*) and support
Author Searching◦ Malpass J*
Citation searching available
Demo
Scopus
Subject/Keyword Searching◦ Use double quotes for phrases e.g. “ solid phase”
Keyword searching tools◦ Boolen operators AND, OR, NOT
◦ Brackets () and truncation * available
Good searches easy to build◦ E.g. (polymeric or solid phase*) and support
Author Searching◦ Malpass J*
Citation searching available
Demo
Crossfire Commander
A specialist Chemistry database
Available on or off campus
◦ Password Required for off campus access
◦ Available on Library Webpages on Campus
Source of information for chemical information users
Covers material back to the 18th century
◦ 1770s – date
Updated quarterly
Crossfire Commander
Comprises two databases: ◦ Beilstein which covers organic compounds
◦ Gmelin which covers inorganic, organometallicand coordination compounds.
Special software is required to access CrossFire Install from CFS Software 2 Select/Remove option
Using Crossfire it is possible to search using ◦ Chemical structures and sub-structures as
starting points
◦ To look for preparations of compounds, reactions and properties
Searching Crossfire Commander
Structure searching
◦ Uses structure editor
◦ Can search on structure, sub-structure and also reactions
Can also be searched by property values, keywords
◦ Keyword search uses fact editor
◦ Truncation and Boolean operators available
Indexes can be browsed
◦ E.g. chemical names, partial names and formulae
◦ Demo
SciFinder Scholar
A specialist Chemistry database Available on ONLY Campus maximum 2 users at any time
Covers all aspects of chemistry from 1907 onwards◦ Updated Daily
◦ Covers over 8,000 chemistry related journals, patents from 30 countries
◦ Also books, dissertations and reports.
◦ Contains over 20 million records.
Based on the printed abstract publication: Chemical Abstracts. ◦ Covers organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, applied
chemistry, chemical engineering, physical chemistry, biochemistry and macromolecular chemistry
SciFinder Scholar
Includes ChemAbs sub-databases:
◦ CAS registry numbers
◦ Caplus - bibliographic records
◦ CASREACT - reaction information
◦ CHEMCATS - chemical supplier information on and regulatory
◦ CHEMLIST - information
Special software is required to access SciFinder Scholar
◦ Install from CFS Software 2 Select/Remove option
Searching SciFinder Scholar
Can be searched via
◦ phrase, author, chemical name, chemical structure, formula or CAS registry number
Subject/Topic search
◦ Use natural language queries
◦ Identifies keywords/concepts for you
◦ Automatically truncates words
◦ Synonyms and variant spellings are automatically searched
Structure searching possible
Demo
Refining Your Search
Expect to revise your initial search◦ Rarely work exactly right first time
May need to expand◦ Include more synonymous terms or truncation
May to need to focus◦ Use more specific terms or use filters
May need to rethink approach◦ Try different resources
◦ Reconsider search terminology or logic
May need to combine separate searches together
Other Tools
Saved searches
◦ Can be used for search alerts on some resources
Subject index searching
◦ Using controlled terms rather than keywords
Open Access
◦ Freely available quality research
◦ Online search engines available OpenDOAR, BASE Academic Search
◦ No need to worry about if the University subscribes to the journals
◦ Reliable quality alternative
Bibliographic Software
There to aid you in managing your search results◦ Build a personal bibliography
◦ Eliminate duplicate results from multiple databases
◦ Citation insertion into Word documents
◦ Inserts custom bibliography formatted to house or particular journal styles
On campus support for RefWorks and Endnote◦ Further training online or classroom sessions
available
It’s A Small World(z)
If you haven’t already, join the Leicester
Science graduate online community
◦ smallworldz.wetpaint.com
Interact with scientists, academics, fellow
students and research support staff
Discover Twitter feeds, blogs and social
networking identities
Share experiences and peer support
Keep up to date on new developments
Contacts
General enquiries
◦ 0116-252-2043
For searching/database support
◦ Gareth J Johnson (Physical & Biological
Sciences)
Slides
Available online at:
SlideShare