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The Catalyst: The Swain Library Newsletter

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June 1998

Contents

1. SciFinder Scholar Now Available
2. SciSearch Search Tip – Sorting Results
3. Biosis via LANL – New URL
4. Tagged Record Displays/Using EndNote
5. Computing Handouts Available on the Web
6. On the Net

SciFinder Scholar Now Available

I am very pleased to announce that access to SciFinder Scholar (SFS) is now available to the campus community. SFS is a software package that enables users to do a variety of basic searches in Chemical Abstracts Online with no training. Types of searches it is possible to do include:

• author searches
• subject searches as a “natural language query”
• chemical substance searches by chemical name, formula, CAS Registry Number, chemical structure (exact or family)
• chemical reaction searches by drawing one structure
• patent number searches

Both Macintosh and PC versions of SFS are available. SFS is available for use during CAS regular academic hours: Monday-Thursday 5pm-5am, Friday 5pm-Saturday 3pm, and Sunday 3pm-Monday 5am. To learn about required conditions of use you must agree to as well as instructions for copying SFS to your computer, please go to this URL: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/swain/collections/databases/cas/scifi/index.html

Note: you must be connected directly to the campus network in order to use SFS. It will not work from an off-campus location. Please contact Grace Baysinger (graceb@stanford.edu, 5-1039) for more information.

SciSearch Search Tip – Sorting Results

There are five ways general search results can be sorted in SciSearch: first author, date, relevancy rank, times cited, and source.

Of these methods, sorting results by times cited is the most powerful. However, to see your search results from different vantage points, you might try sorting them several ways.

• Sorting by date will enable you to easily see what's the latest papers added to SCI.
• Relevancy rank sorting is based on the number of times a word occurs in a record and where it occurs (e.g. occurrence of a word in the title is weighted heavier than if it occurs in the abstract).
• Times cited ranking allows you to see items that were referenced or cited the most times in other author's bibliographies.
• Sorting by source may be useful because Swain shelves materials alphabetically by source name.

Biosis via LANL – New URL

There’s a new, improved (and permanent) URL for Biosis via LANL. Covering 1969 to the present, Biosis or Biological Abstracts Online is availble to the campus community via a web interface from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Biosis is also still available via Folio but covers 1988 to the present.

Tagged Record Displays/Using EndNote

I've had several people ask about using EndNote 3.0 to search databases such as CAS and SciSearch at Stanford. The short answer is that the authentication method used by the Stanford Libraries to restrict access to Stanford users is incompatible with EndNote 3.0. So, instead you will need to save search results to your hard disk and then import them into EndNote. I will let you know if this situation changes.

Here's the display formats you would use for selected files in order to import search results into EndNote or any other database management software package.

Database Name	Display Format	Comments
Biosis via Folio	export	Contains full contents of a record
Biosis via LANL	[not available]	Not sure when it will be available
CAS Online	bib noh	BIB=bibliographic citation NOH=no highlighting Add ABS to also include the abstract
Ei/Compendex	export	Contains full contents of a record
INSPEC	export	Contains full contents of a record
MEDLINE	tagged
SciSearch	tagged	Also specify part(s) of record to display
Socrates I & II	[not available]	Not sure when it will be available

Computing Handouts Available on the Web

Looking for documentation on how to create a web page or to add graphics or a table to a web page you've already created? Trying to scan slides for a presentation you want to give? Wondering how to get connected to the campus network from home? You can find the answers to these questions and more by going to the RITS Publications page on the web at: http://rits.stanford.edu/ritspub/

On the Net

BioChemNet
http://schmidel.com/bionet.htm

Contains links to biology and chemistry educational resources.

ChemSources Online
http://www.chemsources.com/chemonline.html

One of the most comprehensive directories for chemical products. Search by chemical names, CAS numbers, chemical formulas, trade names, applications, and suppliers. After determining a compound is available, then either come into Swain and look it up in ChemSources USA and ChemSources International, the printed equivalents of ChemSources Online, or pay $3.50/record to display results on the web. The most recent editions of Swain's copies of ChemSources are on Reserve and 2nd oldest editions are in Swain's Reference collection. Request reserve copy at circulation desk.

GrantsNet Database
http://www.grantsnet.org/

Developed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, it contains information on available grants in the biological and medical sciences. Must register to use and receive updates but it is free.

New Journal of Chemistry
http://www.rsc.org/is/journals/current/newjchem/njccon.htm

Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, available for free in 1998.

Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Co.
http://www.sigald.sial.com/

Sigma-Aldrich Chemical's web site features searchable separate catalogs for Sigma, Aldrich, Fluka Supelco, and Riedel-de-Haen brand products.

Swain News
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/swain/about/news.html

Web version of news from Swain.

URL Minder
http://www.netmind.com/html/url-minder.html

Notifies you of changes in your favorite web pages.

WWW Chemicals
http://www.chem.com/

Provides a searchable catalog for over 20 chemical suppliers.

Grace Baysinger
Head Librarian & Bibliographer, Swain Library of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
URL: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/swain/index.html
Head, Science and Engineering Libraries Resource Group