Information Resources for Chemistry and Biochemistry

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Commercial Information Providers

Beilstein Information System
The Beilstein Information System is the producer of the largest compendium of organic chemical data in the world, the Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry. This site provides information on Beilstein electronic products and services, among which is the Beilstein Abstracts database, which provides searchable bibliographic data and abstracts of articles from 140 leading journals in organic chemistry from 1980 to the present. Beilstein Abstracts is available free by registration on ChemWeb. The primary Beilstein database is available in various forms, including online access through STN and Dialog, and the client-server form, CrossFire.
Bell+Howell Information and Learning
Formerly known as UMI, Bell+Howell Information and Learning is the primary supplier of copies of dissertations from academic institutions worldwide. UMI's site allows online ordering of dissertations in PDF file, microform or print versions. They also provides a number of databases on the Web and on CD-ROM, including their own Dissertation Abstracts, which is currently available on the Web free of charge for the currrent year and immediately previous year's dissertations, but requires a subscription to search the full file. DA is also available on CD-ROM and from a variety of online vendors.
Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre
The CCDC builds and maintains the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), the largest searchable database of experimentally determined crystal structures, covering organic and organometallic compounds.
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts provides a number of subscriber-only databases and collections of Web-accessible science resources which can be reached through this site, including a number of biochemical databases, the METADEX metals and materials database, and the Ceramic Abstracts/World Ceramics Abstracts file. UCSB users only can access selected Cambridge databases, including the biochemical files and Ceramic Abstracts.
Chemical Abstracts Service
Chemical Abstracts Service, a division of the American Chemical Society, is the premier provider of current information from the literature of chemistry. This site includes information on CAS's print and electronic products and services, including documentation on STN International (the online service provided by CAS) and its commands and databases. If you have an STN account, you can access a number of STN databases via the STNEasy Web menu interface, the STNWeb Web command language interface or STN Online via TELNET to search the original STN command line interface.
Chemical Information System
Chemical Information Service, a service of the Oxford Molecular Group, provides access to over thirry databases with chemical information, especially environmental data. This site gives a list of the databases available on CIS, and contact information.
Derwent, Inc.
Derwent is the world's leading producer of patent information databases, including the Derwent World Patents Index, and a number of specialty databases. This site includes some brief descriptions of the nature of patents and the patenting process. Derwent also maintains the Patent Explorer site, a Web-based tool for searching and displaying U.S. and European Patent Office patents. Membership is required, and there are fees for displaying patents, but membership is free for now.
The Dialog Corporation
The Dialog Corporation is the world's largest provider of information access, including both traditional online and Web access to the DIALOG and DataStar systems. The site above is the new home site for Dialog, and some of the information at the Web site is still in transition from the old web site, but there are links to the older site where necessary.
Fachinformationszentrum Chemie
FIZ Chemie is the producer of the Cheminform chemical reactions database, among others. The site includes demos of some of their databases.
Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe
FIZ Karlsruhe produces several databases and is the German host of STN International)
IFI/Plenum Data Corporation
IFI/Plenum produces a family of U.S. patent databases, including some with sophisticated chemical and polymer indexing.
Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)
ISI is the publisher of Current Contents and Science Citation Index. Their Web products include: Web of Science, the Web version of Science Citation Index with many advanced features; ISI Chemistry Server, a reactions and chemicals database and Innovations Index, a patent bibliographic and citation index.
The ISI site includes a "What's Hot in Research" section, with articles on recent highly-cited research, and citation impact studies of various fields, institutions and researchers.
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
OCLC produces the WorldCat international library catalog and provides access to many other databases through its FirstSearch and EPIC services. These may be accessed by subscribers via TELNET from this site.
Prous Science Publishers
Prous Science is a leading publisher of information on pharmaceuticals and medicinal chemistry.
Questel/Orbit
Questel/Orbit is an international online information company specializing in patent, trademark, scientific, chemical, business and news information. This web site contains numerous links to other Web information, especially on patents, trademarks and other intellectual property. If you have a current Questel or Orbit account, you can TELNET to search their databases from here.
SilverPlatter Information
SilverPlatter is a major distributor of databases on CD-ROM and over the Internet (by subscription only.)
Technical Database Services, Inc.
TDS provides access to a large number of chemical property databases, especially dealing with thermodynamic and environmental properties of chemicals. This web site includes an online form for submitting requests for data on chemicals or mixtures of chemicals. There is a charge per value retrieved, with a minimum fee of $50.
UMI: See Bell+Howell Information and Learning.

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Chemistry Databases for UCSB Users

The following is an alphabetical list of databases with references to primary literature (journals, patents, dissertations, etc.) which may be of use to chemists. Most are available via the Web. Links available only to ucsb.edu users are marked with

Alternate access to such databases may be available from one or more of the information providers listed above. URL's are listed for publicly accessible databases.

Analytical Abstracts (http://www.rsc.org/CFAA/AASearchPage.cfm)
This is an index devoted specifically to the literature of analytical chemistry. The indexing is specific and well-done. This web version covers 1980 to the present and is free to any user; however, only institutions subscribing to the print edition can display the full citation record and abstract. Non-subscribers get only the article title and date of publication.
Since UCSB stopped its print subscription in 1989, make sure to record the article title, and date of publication. You will then need to look up the article by title word on an appropriate database to find the authors and journal source information. Depending on the date, Current Contents or Web of Science may be appropriate choices.
Beilstein Abstracts via ChemWeb (http://chemweb.com)
Beilstein Abstracts is a bibliographic index (author, keyword, etc.) to key journals in the organic chemistry literature from 1980-present. It is available as part of ChemWeb, a World Wide Web "club for the chemical community." You must register to use Beilstein Abstracts or other services, but registration is free to all users.
Biological Sciences Database
This database, from Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, is very strong in biochemistry, and covers the journal and conference literauter 1982 to present.
BIOSIS
The BIOSIS database is the premier index to the biological sciences literature, covering the journal and conference literature, including much biochemistry. BIOSIS on CDL covers 1985-present; if you need earlier years, we have the database on CD-ROM from 1980-87. BIOSIS on CDL links to electronic full text articles from a number of publishers where available.
Ceramic Abstracts/World Ceramics Abstracts
WCA indexes papers and patents that pertain to the formulation, fabrication and application of ceramics and related materials, including zeolites and other mesoporous materials, aerogels and ceramic superconductors. Contains over 283,000 records, with about 950 new records added monthly from over 300 journals and other sources.
Chemical Abstracts -- SciFinder Scholar
This is the most complete and comprehensive index to the chemical literature, including journals, patents, conference papers, technical reports and dissertations. For 1967-present, use SciFinder Scholar, an end-user oriented interface to the Chemical Abstracts, REGISTRY and CASREACT databases. It allows structure, substructure and reaction searching, and links to the full text of articles and patents from selected publishers.
SciFinder Scholar is not a Web database, but requires its own client software to be installed on the user's terminal. Users of Mac or PC workstations on the UCSB campus may download the client via the Web page given above. In the UCSB Library, SciFinder is available at the five workstations adjacent to the SEL Reference Desk.
For older literature, consult the print Chemical Abstracts (1907-present.), or the CAOLD database, available through any of the STN interfaces listed above for users with STN accounts.
Current Contents
Current Contents surveys a large part of the analytical chemistry literature, back to 1989. However, be aware that you can only search by the words in the title of the article. There is no detailed indexing, and so you may miss relevant material if you search here only. However, it does contain recent material, and primarily in journals that UCSB owns. Current Contents on CDL links to electronic full text articles from a number of publishers where available.
DOE Information Bridge (http://www.osti.gov/bridge/home.html)
DOE Information Bridge provides free, convenient, and quick access to full-text DOE research and development reports in physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental sciences, energy technologies, engineering, computer and information science, renewable energy, and other topics from 1996-present.
Digital Dissertations
The database includes citations for materials ranging from the first U.S. dissertation, accepted in 1861, to those accepted as recently as last semester; those published from 1980 forward also include 350-word abstracts, written by the author. Citations for master's theses from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. The database represents the work of authors from over 1,000 North American graduate schools and European universities. Some 47,000 new dissertations and 12,000 new theses are added to the database each year.
Of the 1.5 million titles listed, the database producer, offers over a million in full text. For these titles, the database citation includes UMI's order number. Digital Dissertations offers subscribers access to dissertations in digital format starting with titles published from 1997 forward (including FREE return access to University of California dissertations.) Dissertations may be requested on a ucsb.edu terminal and later (within 72 hours maximum) downloaded on ANY computer with a web connection using the URL and PIN number provided.
The related site Current Research at http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsb/main/ allows any Web user to search UCSB dissertations.
HSDB: Hazardous Substances Data Base (http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?HSDB)
HSDB frequently contains brief information on analysis, physical properties and uses, as well as toxicity of the substance in various media. Search for your target substance either by Chemical Abstracts Registry Number or by name. Display the primary record for the substance and click on the desired section in the Table of Contents in the left-hand frame. Each piece of information lists the source reference and whether it is peer-reviewed.
IBM Intellectual Property Network (http://www.patents.ibm.com/ibm.html)
The IBM Intellectual Property Network (IPN) has evolved into a premier Web site for searching, viewing, and analyzing patent documents. The IPN provides you with free access to a wide variety of data collections and patent information including: United States patents (full text searchable), European patents and patent applications, PCT application data from the World Intellectual Property Office, Patent Abstracts of Japan and IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletins.
Along with simple keyword search, IPN offers alternative searches by patent number, boolean text, and advanced text that allows for multiple field searching. Browsing provides an organized approach to searching for patents. Through a review of specific classifications, you can identify topics and patents of interest. All collections are cross referenced and forward and backward linked to all other referencing documents for immediate access to related information. Full text of many patents is displayable. For more publicly available full-text patent searching, see Espa@cenet at http://ep.espacenet.com/ or U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
INSPEC
INSPEC is the premier database of physics, electronics and computing literature, covering the journal and conference literature from 1969-present. As such, it has significant coverage of chemical physics and physical chemistry, and materials chemistry of electronic materials. It has molecular formula indexing of inorganic compounds with role indicators. INSPEC on CDL links to electronic full text articles from a number of publishers where available.
Magazine & Journal Articles (MAGS)
MAGS, also known as Expanded Academic Index, contains records for articles from popular magazines, general interest journals, and scholarly journals in a wide range of fields from 1989 to present. Its primary usefulness for chemists is that it indexes general science magazines like Science News, New Scientist and Scientific American which can provide useful news and overview articles for the non-specialist. MAGS on CDL links to electronic full text articles from a number of publishers where available.
MEDLINE
MEDLINE indexes the world's medical literature, and as such is useful for finding articles on chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology of medical importance. The California Digital Library version of MEDLINE can be searched by CAS Registry Number. The subheadings "chemistry", "metabolism" and/or "pharmacology" can often be used to home in on articles of chemical and biochemical relevance. MEDLINE on CDL covers 1966-present and links to electronic full text articles from a number of publishers where available. The MEDLINE database is also publicly available as PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed).
NTIS
NTIS indexes unclassified research reports from agencies of the federal government; some coverage of state and foreign technical reports. It contains over 636,000 records from 1990 to the present, with an average of 70,000 added per year, including a great deal of material in many areas of chemistry. The UCSB Sciences-Engineering Reference Desk has the database on CD-ROM back to 1983, and it is available from a variety of commerical vendors back to 1969.
PrePRINT Network (http://www.osti.gov/preprints/)
The Department of Energy's PrePRINT Network is a searchable gateway to preprint servers that deal with scientific and technical disciplines of concern to DOE. Such disciplines include the great bulk of physics, materials, and chemistry, as well as portions of biology, environmental sciences and nuclear medicine. With a single query, users can search one or a collection of existing preprint servers. The Network pulses the search engines of such servers, compiles the results, and returns them to the users.
PubSCIENCE (http://pubsci.osti.gov/)
PubSCIENCE is a broad science database, produced by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Government Printing Office (GPO). It contains current article information taken from the journals of over a dozen participating science publishers, plus all the citations from the DOE Energy database (citations more than 10 years old must be searched in the archive file.) Most records include abstracts. PubSCIENCE offers a simple search interface and has begun to add links to full text articles in electronic form (requires subscription to the corresponding journal), but only a small fraction are available at present.
Web of Science (Science Citation Index)
The Science Citation Index database in Web of Science indexes 5,300 science journals. It covers 1945-present, and for recent years has searchable abstracts. Most importantly, it has searchable cited references, so you can track an older reference on, for instance, a synthetic method forward to more recent applications or to other related records; a most powerful tool for extending topic searches. Web of Science links to full text electronic articles from selected publishers where available.

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Author: Chuck Huber (huber@library.ucsb.edu). Last modified: July 12, 2000
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