Physical Chemistry

Reference Guide: Physical Chemistry Selected Starting Points, Davidson Library, UCSB

Other Chemistry Reference Guides: Analytical Chemistry Biochemistry General Chemistry Inorganic Chemistry Organic Chemistry Physical Chemistry

Locating Books | Data Tables | General Overview Works | Finding Articles | Other Internet Resources

Locating Books

To locate books on your topic, use the PEGASUS Online Catalog (http://pegasus.library.ucsb.edu/F/). As a starting point, use a keyword search on the likely terms. For collections of data, add handbooks or tables to your keywords.

If you find a relevant record, check its subject headings to see if there is alternative terminology you should try. Similarly, use keyword searches to find books on particular analytical methods (mass spectrometry, atomic absorption). You may also want to browse in the book stacks. Useful call nubmer ranges include:

• Spectroscopy QC 450-467 (in chemical analysis, QD 95-97)
• General physical chemistry QD 450-458
• Quantum chemistry QD 462
• Physical inorganic chemistry QD 475
• Physical inorganic chemistry QD 476
• Chemical reaction kinetics, mechanisms, catalysis QD 501-505
• Surface chemistry QD 506-508
• Thermochemistry QD 510-511
• Electrochemistry QD 551-571
• Radiation chemistry QD 601-655
• Photochemistry QD 701-731
• Crystallography QD 901-999

Data Tables

Landolt-Börnstein (QC 61 .L3)
This large set of data tables for physics and chemistry has been published over the past 40+ years. UCSB owns a partial print set (see the call number above), but the complete set is available online to UCSB users. The series is divided into broad groupings as follows:

• Group 1: Elementary Particles, Nuclei and Atomsa>
• Group 2: Molecules and Radicals
• Group 3: Condensed Matter
• Group 4: Physical Chemistry
• Group 5: Geophysics
• Group 6: Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Group 7: Biophysics
• Group 8: Advanced Materials and Technologies

For data tables in specific areas, check the call number ranges above, or search for topic handbooks or topic tables as a keyword search in Pegasus.

General Overview Works

Encyclopedia of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance    (SEL Ref QC 762 .E53 1996)
This encyclopedia has eight volumes (published in 1996) with brief articles on all aspects of nuclear magnetic resonance theory, methods and applications, with a ninth "Advances in NMR" volume added in 2002. The articles have good bibliographies, and the set is well indexed.

Encyclopedia of Spectroscopy and Spectrometry    (SEL Ref QD 95 .E55 2000)
This three-volume encyclopedia has brief articles on theory, methods and applications in nearly all areas of spectroscopy. The articles have good bibliographies, and the set is well indexed.

Handbook of Molecular Physics and Quantum Chemistry    (SEL Ref QD 461 .H25 2003)
This three-volume handbook devotes its first volume to "Fundamentals", the second to "Molecular Electronic Structure" and the third to "Molecules in the Physico-Chemical Environment: Spectroscopy, Dynamics and Bulk Properties". The articles are detailed, by experts in their fields, with good references and cross-referencing.

Catalysis from A to Z    (SEL Ref QD 505 .C383 2003)
A one-volume dictionary of terms and concepts in catalysis.

Encyclopedia of Catalysis    (SEL Ref QD 505 .E53 2003)
This six-volume encyclopedia has chapters by experts in their respective fields on various aspects of the theory and application of homogenous, heterogenous and biological catalysis. Detailed, with good bibliographies.

Encyclopedia of Surface and Colloid Science    (SEL Ref QD 506 .E52 2002)
A four-volume encyclopedia containing brief, highly specific articles on aspects of surface and colloid science. Somewhat difficult to use by browsing, it is fortunately well-indexed.

Locating Articles

INSPEC (1969-present) and INSPEC Archive (1898-1968): INSPEC covers physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computers and control, and information technology, including journals, conference papers and more. Most citations include abstracts. It is extremely useful at the boundary where physical chemistry overlaps chemical physics.

SciFinder Scholar: SFS is an end-user oriented interface to the Chemical Abstracts Service databases: CAPLUS, REGISTRY, CASREACT,and CHEMCATS. Its databases cover the entire literature of chemistry, including journal articles, patents, conference papers and more, from before 1900 to the present, by far the most comprehensive database of the chemical literature. It may be searched by author, topic, corporate source, chemical name, molecular formula or chemical structure (including substructures and reaction diagrams).

It is available in two versions:SciFinder Web uses a Web browser interface. Users must first register, using a valid ucsb.edu e-mail address. It is compatible with the campus proxy server for off campus use. SciFinder Scholar is a client-server system, which requires installation of the SFS client on the terminal where you wish to use it. The client may be downloaded and installed on any Windows or Mac computer by a UCSB user. In the UCSB Davidson Library, SciFinder is available at selected workstations in the Sciences-Engineering Library (2nd floor North).

Other Internet Resources

More and more resources of value to the physical chemist are becoming available over the World Wide Web. Some are available free of charge, some are not. You may try using Internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo, etc.; however, depending on the keywords you choose, you may find nothing, or you may find large amounts of irrelevant material. It can be more effective to seek out sites which are specifically devoted to chemical information. Many such links can be found on the UCSB Library's InfoSurf Chemistry page (http://www.library.ucsb.edu/subjects/chem/chemistr.html).