Library Briefings

SciFinder Scholar: An update

SciFinder Scholar is the online version of Chemical Abstracts, one of the premier databases covering all areas of chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, and related subjects. University Library’s contract with the publisher permits five users to access the database simultaneously at any given time. SciFinder Scholar is available to researchers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.* In the last six months, researchers trying to access the database have experienced busy signals. The Library is working on ways to resolve this, but the following will help to ensure that a larger group of Northwestern researchers will have access:

1. Please be sure to exit this service when finished so another researcher is not inadvertently turned away.

2. If you use local software, set the time out on your machine to 15 minutes or less. The time setting is in the “site.prf” file.

3. Search during slower periods to ensure access. The Library has analyzed two months of usage data and will continue to monitor for changes. During the period analyzed, there were no turn-aways logged at the following times:

All hours during the weekends
Before 10:30 a.m., Monday - Friday
After 7 p.m., Monday - Friday

4. Slower periods included:

6-8 p.m., Monday - Friday
1-2 p.m., Monday - Friday
Friday afternoons

5. Busy periods included the noon hour and 3-6 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Although some of the researchers who were turned away during this period were able to gain access five minutes to a half an hour later, not all were successful during these periods.

6. Please make sure your students are aware of other databases that may work as well or better than SciFinder for a given search. The databases below are available 24/7 and allow access to an unlimited number of users. All of these databases can be found at http://er.library.northwestern.edu/ or from the Science & Engineering Library's main page at http://www.library.northwestern.edu/sel/index.html. Click on the link for "Electronic Indexes to Articles in Science and Engineering."

Beilstein and Gemlin
Information on chemical reactions, organic compounds, inorganic and organometalic compounds, and millions more property data fields. The Beilstein database includes information on more than 7 million organic chemical structures and more than 5 million organic reactions. The Gemlin database includes properties and literature references for about 470,000 coordination compounds, 55,000 alloys, 14,000 glasses and ceramics, and 3,200 minerals.

INSPEC
Citations with abstracts to the worldwide literature in physics, electronics and electrical engineering, computers and control, and information technology. Sources include more than 4,200 journals and more than 1,000 conference proceedings, books and reports.

COMPENDEX
Citations with abstracts to articles appearing in over 2,600 engineering journals, conference papers and technical reports from around the world. Areas covered include engineering and related issues such as mechanical, civil, environmental, electrical, structural, process, materials science, solid state physics and superconductivity, bioengineering, energy, chemical, optics, air and water pollution, solid waste management, hazardous waste, road transportation, and transportation safety.

Biosis
Citations and abstracts to articles from more than 6,500 periodicals and selected monographs in the life sciences, including botany, zoology, and microbiology, as well as experimental, clinical, and veterinary medicine. Also includes interdisciplinary fields such as biochemistry, biophysics, and bioengineering.

Web of Science
Citations and abstracts from articles from more than 5,700 journals in the sciences, more than 1,700 in the social sciences, and more than 1,100 in the arts and humanities. Users may search by topic, author, source title, or by cited reference: authors and titles from an article's bibliography. Searches may also lead to related records -- articles with citations in common. The Library subscribes to 23 ports for this database.

PubMed
The National Library of Medicine's search service provides access to over 11 million citations in MEDLINE, PreMEDLINE, and other related databases, with full text linking to participating online journals.

We appreciate your help in making this important research available to all Northwestern users. If you have any questions on how to access the databases listed above, or if you'd like further information on SciFinder Scholar, please contact the Science and Engineering Library at x1-3362 or sel@northwestern.edu.

* The database is down for routine maintenance from 10 p.m. (EST) each Saturday until 1 a.m. on Sunday. The first Saturday of each month this time period is extended from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m (EST).