Chemical Literature

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
Harvey A. Andruss Library

Introduction to the Chemical Literature

1. Reference Sources
For background information on a topic or for the answer to a simple question (like the definition of a chemical term), one of the following reference books may be helpful:

TITLE	ITEM LOCATION	CALL NO.
*CRC handbook of chemistry and physics*	Reference Collection (most recent edition kept at Ref. Desk)	QD65 .H3
Dictionary of Organic Compounds 6^th ed. (9 volumes)	Reference Collection	QD246 .D5 1996
Dictionary of Organometallic Compounds (3^rd suppl.)	Reference Collection	QD411 .D53 1984, Suppl.3
*Dictionary* of Inorganic Compounds. (5 vols.)	Reference Collection	QD148 .D5 1992
Fieser and Fieser's Reagents for Organic Synthesis (22 volumes)	Reference Collection	QD262 .F5
*Kirk-Othmer* Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology	Reference Collection	TP9 .E685 1991
Lange's Handbook of Chemistry	Reference Collection	QD65 .L36 1992
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology	Reference Collection	Q121 .M3 2002
*The Merck Index: An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals*	Reference Collection	RS51 .M4 1996
Named Organic Reactions	Reference Collection	QD291 .L3513 2005
Organic Reactions	General Collection (annual)	QD251 .O7
Organic syntheses based on name reactions	General Collection	QD262 .H324 2002
Periodical title abbreviations	Reference Desk	Z6945.A2 P47
Physician's Desk Reference	Reference Collection (latest at Ref. Desk)	RS75 .P51
Rodd's Chemistry of Carbon Compounds; a Modern Comprehensive Treatise.	General Collection	QD251 .R62
*Sadtler Handbook of Proton NMR Spectra*	Reference Collection	QC762 .S3 1978
Information Sources in Chemistry	Reference Collection	QD8.5 .I47 1993
*Using Government Information Sources: Electronic and Print*	Reference Collection	Z1223.Z7 S4 2001

2. Chemistry Journals
You will need to consult the professional journal literature, including trade publications and scholarly journals, for primary and secondary sources. The Library subscribes to most of the American Chemical Society journals, accessible through the ACS Publications database.

To see if the Library has a specific journal, consult our Periodical Title List, accessible from our Web page.

3. Databases for research
To search for articles on a specific topic (including chemical substances, patents, CA Registry Numbers, and subjects), consult one of the Library's databases. They are listed either by broad subject category (under 'Find Articles & More') or by title (on the 'Databases (A-Z)' page). Those which index the chemical literature include the following:

Database name	Description
Academic Search Premier	Our largest interdisciplinary abstract service of over 8,000 magazines and journals. Over 4,500 journals are available in full text.
Applied Science and Technology Index	Indexes more than 560 core English-language, scientific and technical publications. Topics include engineering, acoustics, chemistry, computers, metallurgy, physics, plastics, telecommunications, transportation, and waste management. 1983 - present.
American Chemical Society (ACS) Journals	Provides full-text to current and back issues of over 30 journals published by the American Chemical Society. 1909 - present.
Annual Reviews - Physical Sciences	Full text of the paper copy to which we subscribe. If you are asked for a password, we do not subscribe to that title. 1930 - present.
Science Citation Index Expanded	Subset of ISI's Web of Science. Select 'Science Citation Index Expanded' on the 'Web of Science' search screen to limit your search to 6400+ major journals across 71 disciplines. Useful for finding who has cited a particular author.
Chemical Abstracts	The world's largest and most up-to-date collection of chemical information, with over 18 million abstracts of journal articles, etc. STN Easy is accessible ONLY from 5p.m. to 5a.m. M-F, 3 a.m. to 6p.m. Sat., and 6p.m. to 5 a.m. Su. Click on the green button "Start You Session" (no password required). 1907 - present. No full-text, abstracts only.
Clinical Pharmacology	Access up-to-date, concise and clinically-relevant drug monographs for all U.S. prescription Drugs, hard-to-find herbal and nutritional supplements, over-the-counter products and new and investigational drugs. Current, full-text.
J-STOR	A searchable collection of over 300 full text journals, some dating back to the 19th century or earlier. For example, the database contains the full-text of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London dating back to the late 1700s, which published many articles on chemistry.
MEDLINE	Maintained by the National Library of Medicine, this essential database provides abstracts from over 4,600 current biomedical journals; use the MESH thesaurus to narrow your search. 1966 - present. There is a free version of this database available also, available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi.
Research Library	Another interdisciplinary database providing abstracts from more than 2600 periodicals. Nearly two thirds of the titles are in full text.

FOR OFF-CAMPUS ACCESS: Access to all subscribed databases is through the Library's Web pages. If off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your Library Account Number, a fourteen-digit number found on the lower left hand corner of your Bloomsburg University ID.

4. InterLibrary Loan

If a book or article is NOT available via Andruss Library, you may request it from another library at no cost, using one of our interlibrary loan options. Consult our Web page for more information.
Before submitting a request, please double-check to make sure we do not own the item. If the item is a book, check PILOT, our online catalog. If the item is a journal article, check our Periodical Title List, searching by journal name to see if we have access. Following is a sample record:

The above screen shot shows that the Journal of organic chemistry is available electronically through both the ACS Journal Archives (from 1936 to 1999) and the ACS Web Editions (from 2000 to the present) as well as in print in the Andruss Library.

To view the article in the electronic journal, just click on the name of the database in which it is available and keep clicking until you reach the article. Keep in mind the citation: the date, the volume and issue number, and the pages of the article you want. Be persistent!
To find the print journal, click on the link for 'Andruss Library Holdings'. This brings up a record in PILOT with information on where in the Library the journal may be found. Remember that the Current Periodicals and Microfilm Collections are on the 1st floor and the Bound Periodicals Collection is on the 1st and 4th floors (pre-1989 journals). Journals in these locations are arranged alphabetically by title.
If the journal is NOT listed in the Periodical Title List (Serials Solution), then you may assume that we do not have it and request it through interlibrary loan.

3. Some Selected Internet Sites
The following Web sites provide additional, useful information:

Name of Site	URL	Description
Sigma Aldrich Advanced Products Search	http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/search/AdvancedSearchPage	Search for MSDSs and structure (free Web site)
Chem.com Product Catalogs	http://www.chem.com/catalogs/search.shtml	Search WWW Chemicals and WWW Specialty Chemicals Catalogs by chemical name, molecular formula, CAS number plus other options
Chmoogle	http://www.chmoogle.com/	A free, open-access chemistry search engine searchable by structure. Allows you to either draw a molecule using the structure drawing tool and search by substructure or exact molecule
Journal Title Abbreviations (Core Journals Covered in CAplus)	http://www.cas.org/sent.html	Lists the journal abbreviation (short title), complete journal title and other info for the key/core journals indexed in the CAplus file on STN.
United States Patent and Trademark Office	http://www.uspto.gov/index.html	Click on "Search" to access full-text issued patents (from 1976 - present) or published applications (since 2001)
NIST Chemistry WebBook	http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/	The National Institute of Standards and Technology provides chemical and physical property data on over 40000 compounds. Search by formula, name, CAS registry number, reaction, author, structure, as well as by other physical properties.
USPTO Related Web Sites	http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/other.html	USPTO provides links to other countries' Intellectual Property Offices where non-U.S. patents may be accessed.
ChemFinder	http://www.chemfinder.com/	Offers free searching for chemical structures, physical properties and other information on chemical compounds.
American Chemical Society Reference Style Guidelines	http://pubs.acs.org/books/references.shtml	For help with citing style for the American Chemical Society.
Scirus	http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/advanced/index.jsp	A free search engine, Scirus searches over 167 million science Web pages. Detailed advanced search; includes patents
Spectral Database for Organic Compounds SDBS	http://www.aist.go.jp/RIODB/SDBS/menu-e.html	A free site providing NMR and IR spectra. Click on "Search Compounds/Search NMR & MS/Display Spectra" to begin.

If you have any other questions, please stop by the Reference Desk or call 389-4204 for assistance. You may also e-mail your questions to Reference, using the Ask A Librarian link on our Web page, or contact me for help for one-on-one consultation.

Linda Neyer
Reference Librarian
Health Science/Sciences Specialist
Harvey A. Andruss Library
Ph. 389-4801
lneyer@bloomu.edu
Last updated February, 2006

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