UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Library Home Page UICCAT Library Catalog Services About the Library Resources Web Site Search Contact The Library

Issue no. 88, February 23, 2001

New Resource for Chemical Information

SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts)

The UIC Library is pleased to announce the availability of Chemical Abstract Service's SciFinder Scholar. This client/server database is a desktop research tool designed especially for use by students and faculty to search the information in Chemical Abstracts databases. SciFinder Scholar supports searching of the chemical literature through a variety of ways-author name, research topic, substance identifier, chemical structure, or chemical reaction. The database contains references to articles in more than 8,000 journals as well as patents, conference proceedings, dissertations, technical reports, and books. SciFinder Scholar currently indexes more than 28 million chemical substances in literature dating back to 1967. The database provides automatic links to many of UIC's electronic journals making it easy to navigate from search results to the full text of an article.

SciFinder Scholar is licensed for use only by UIC-affiliated users. The client is currently installed on workstations in the Science Library. It is also available for installation on campus computers in laboratories and offices. To install SciFinder Scholar on your computer see the Science Library Web page at http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/science/ for links to Macintosh and Windows installation instructions. The client will not be installed on workstations in the Daley, Mathematics, and Art and Architecture Libraries.

Upgrade for the Beilstein/Gmelin Databases

A new version of the Beilstein Commander client is available to search the Beilstein database of organic chemistry and the Gmelin database of inorganic chemistry. For instructions on downloading the latest version of the client see the Science Library Web page. Beilstein Commander 2000 offers new features not previously available, including a simplified data entry screen for searching factual information about substances. If you are currently using an older version of the Beilstein client, it is recommend that you upgrade your software.

Which database should I use?

UIC users of chemical information now have three powerful tools available for searching the literature: the SciFinder Scholar and the Beilstein/Gmelin databases available on client servers and the Web of Science available on the Web. Depending on your query, one or the other may be easier to use and/or more likely to lead you to the information you are seeking. For many searches the databases can be considered complementary.

The Web of Science indexes approximately 5,700 journals in all disciplines, with about 600 pertaining to chemistry. UIC's license for Web of Science provides access to the literature back to 1987. SciFinder Scholar indexes approximately 8,000 journals in chemistry and related fields back to 1967. It, also, covers patents, conference proceedings, dissertations, technical reports, and some books. Both the Beilstein (organic chemistry) and Gmelin (inorganic and organometallic chemistry) databases are focused on property, preparation, and reaction information found in literature back to the 1770s. SciFinder Scholar, Beilstein, Gmelin, and Web of Science offer different searching capabilities and interfaces. Each covers some of the same literature, but each offers unique access to other literature.

Please direct any questions you have concerning these databases to LIB-SCI@uic.edu.

University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago
801 S. Morgan, M/C 234 Chicago, Illinois 60607 USA Administration: 312-996-2716