Chemistry spring-2012

HOW TO FIND INFORMATION IN CHEMISTRY, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Bruce Slutsky Robert Van Houten Library NJIT

The Scientific Method The scientific method is the process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate representation of the world. There are various thought processes that are used when the scientific method is employed.

Information Retrieval Scientists, engineers and students must be able to find information at all levels from a multitude of information resources available to them.

Similarities between the Scientific Method and Information Retrieval Scientific Method Know the subject Require new knowledge Propose an experiment to find new knowledge Conduct the experiment Observe and interpret the results Revise the experiment Interpret the final outcome of the experiment Information Retrieval Know the scope of and contents of databases in his/her field of endeavor Require new knowledge Devise an initial search strategy using relevant terminology in subject databases Examine the initial answer set Revise the strategy based on findings from the initial answer set Explore alternative search options Examine the final answer set Find the relevant documents Use the information found

Formats of the Scientific and Technical Literature Journal Conference Proceeding Magazine Review Journal Research Level Book (monograph) Encyclopedia Data Compilation

What is a Journal? A journal is a publication issued periodically that reports original research. Peer Review Process Detailed articles with experimental procedures Highly Specialized

Some Journals in Chemistry, Environmental Science and Chemical Engineering Analytical Chemistry Combustion and Flame Environmental Science and Technology Journal of Membrane Science Environmental Science & Policy

What is a Conference Proceeding? Organized by professional societies such as the American Chemical Society and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Scientists and engineers report their research findings there A conference proceedings is a permanent record of the presentation

Examples of Conference Proceedings Radical polymerization : kinetics and mechanism ; selected contributions from the conference in Il Ciocco (Italy), September 3-8, 2006 / International Flavor Conference (11th : 2004 : Samos, Greece)

Review Journals Condensed version of a research journal Summarizes research developments over a short time Omits detailed experimental procedures

Examples of Review Journals Annual Review of Biochemistry Annual Review of Physical Chemistry Chemical Reviews

Magazines Scientific and technical articles are translated into a language suited for a more general audience Written by journalists rather than researchers

Examples of Magazines Chemical and Engineering News - received by members of the American Chemical Society Chemical Engineering Progress - received by members of the American Insitute of Chemical Engineers Chemical Week - a business publication Scientific American - for the lay public

Monographs Another name for a book May be written at all levels Reports research over a longer period of time Brings the research to a much wider audience

Data Compilations Extract selected pieces of information from the journal literature May be limited by type of compound or property May be print or electronic

Examples of Data Compilations Chemspider CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics NIST-JANAF Thermochemical Tables – available in print at NJIT NIST Web Book

Encyclopedias Encyclopedias introduce researchers to specialize fields of study. Some encyclopedias in chemistry and chemical engineering available in print at NJIT: The Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering Wikipedia

Is Wikipedia Reliable? Can it be trusted as a source of chemical information?

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Wikipedia Advantages: Good for obtaining background knowledge on a topic Articles can be revised and edited quickly. Information about recent events will appear there Disadvantages: Does not undergo the peer review process Anyone can write or edit an article anonymously Suggestion: Do not cite it in your bibliography

Flow of Scientific Information Scientists and engineers conceive ideas and perform experiments in the laboratory. They want to make the results of their research public. The published information flows from the top of the chart (next slide) to the bottom. Students needing information must start their research at the bottom of the chart. Tertiary literature such as handbooks, encyclopedias, and textbooks should be consulted first.

Flow of Scientific Information

Types of Databases Bibliographic - includes the elements needed to identify the document Author(s) Title Journal, Year, Volume, Issue Number, Pages Abstract - a one paragraph summary of the article to help the researcher decide if it is relevant to the research question Full-Text - includes the entire article in electronic format Numeric (Data Compilation) - includes only specific data elements such as thermodynamic or spectral data

History of Database Formats Print - Very cumbersome and difficult to use Online (1970s to the present) – Dial into a database CD-ROM (1980s to the present) - Only so much information can fit on one disk World Wide Web (1990s to the present)

Limitations of Databases Subject coverage Journal Coverage Dates of Publication Full-text - Not all databases provide full-text of the retrieved documents or links to them

Chemistry/Chemical Engineering related databases from the NJIT Library Scifinder Scholar Scopus Medline American Chemical Society Publications Science Direct

Scifinder Scholar Electronic Version of Chemical Abstracts (1907 to the present) It contains many links to full-text articles Searchable by chemical substance, reaction, research topic, author or affiliation

Scifinder Scholar How-to guides for the various operations in the database may be found at: http://www.cas.org/support/scifi/htguides.html

Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number Is a unique numeric identifier Designates only one substance Has no chemical significance Is a link to a wealth of information about a specific chemical substance Search Scifinder and many handbooks and databases using this CAS number

Scopus Scopus is a multidisciplinary database that contains records going back to the mid 1960s, offering newly-linked citations across the widest body of scientific abstracts available in one place. Please keep in mind that the coverage and indexing of Scifinder Scholar and Scopus differ. It is always advisable to search more than one database when an exhaustive search is needed. You can now use Scopus on the iPhone

Publisher Databases at NJIT American Chemical Society Journals American Institute of Physics American Society of Civil Engineers American Society of Mechanical Engineers IEEE/IEL Electronic Library Institute of Physics Science Direct (Elsevier) SIAM Journals Online (Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) Springer Wiley Journals Online

American Chemical Society Journals Selected List Accounts of Chemical Research Analytical Chemistry Biochemistry Environmental Science and Technology Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research Journal of Physical Chemistry A

American Chemical Society Journal Archives NJIT subscribes to this database which includes the electronic version of all ACS journals from there inception to 1995 NJIT has current subscriptions only to selected ACS Journal

Science Direct Selected List of chem/chem eng titles Analytica Chimica Acta Chemical Engineering Science Computational Biology and Chemistry Fluid Phase Equilibria Journal of Membrane Science Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling Process Biochemistry Progress in Energy and Combustion Science Separation and Purification Technology Tetrahedron

Availability of Journals Print only Electronic Only Print and Electronic Dates of electronic availability vary Check Serials Solutions Database Open Access Journals Not available at NJIT - order through interlibrary loan

NJIT Library Home Page http://library.njit.edu Catalog (Voyager) Database of the print holdings of NJIT Library Databases Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Form Selected resources on the Internet Selected resources in chemistry and chemical engineering How to find physical properties of substances

Voyager, the NJIT Library Catalog Books Journals (print) Technical Reports Conference Proceedings Theses and Dissertations (by NJIT students

Interlibrary Loan The NJIT Library will attempt to locate books and articles not held in our library needed to support research by faculty and students. We usually get these materials from other universities Please be as complete as possible when submitting a request for an article or book Very often bibliographies in journal articles don’t provide the complete information needed to locate an article

Advantages of Electronic Journals Allows for remote access Allows links to the references in the bibliography Most publishers provide HTML and PDF versions of their papers

Selected Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Sources on the Web http://researchguides.njit.edu/chemistry How to find information in chemistry and chemical engineering http://researchguides.njit.edu/physical_properties How to find physical property data

Boolean Logic AND The Boolean AND narrows your search by retrieving only documents that contain every one of the keywords that you enter. The more terms you enter, the narrower your search becomes. EXAMPLE: vapor liquid equilibrium AND benzene EXAMPLE: vapor liquid equilibrium AND benzene AND toluene

Boolean Logic OR The Boolean OR expands your search by returning documents in which either or both keywords appear. The more keywords you enter, the more documents you retrieve. EXAMPLE: benzene OR toluene EXAMPLE: benzene OR toluene OR xylene

Boolean Logic NOT The Boolean NOT limits your search by returning only the first keyword but not the second, even if the first word appears in that document, too EXAMPLE toluene NOT xylene EXAMPLE benzene NOT chloroform

Devising Optimal Search Strategies Choose the proper database(s) Be aware of the scope and limitations Use all relevant search terms and appropriate Boolean logic Think of concepts not words Devise a search strategy for: Precise search Expand strategy if too few are found Exhaustive search Cut down if too many citations are retrieved

Is Your Answer Reasonable? If not, what can you do differently? Keep in mind that the thought processes involved in applying the scientific method to laboratory experiments apply in the search for technical information Library Reference desk in person or at 973-596-3210. Chat reference is now available The library is on Twitter @NJITREF The library is on Facebook – Friends of the NJIT Library Bruce Slutsky, Technical Reference Librarian, at [email_address] or 973-642-4950

Some Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Resources for Smart Phones ACS Mobile (iPhone) $2.99 Chemspider -Physical Property data ChemMobi (iPhone) – Physical Property Data PubMed for handheld Scopus (iPhone) Scifinder Scholar

Bruce Slutsky Technical Reference Librarian Chemistry and Environmental Science Chemical Engineering Biomedical Engineering Civil and Environmental Engineering Physics Biology Contact information [email_address] 973-642-4950 http://njitbruce.blogspot.com

Chemistry spring-2012

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