This web page will be available at http://www.library.unh.edu/branches/Chm400librarytalkJan04.html during the Spring '04 semester.
Outline and Web Links
A. General guides
1. Zeke's Guide
2. Copynet info (http://www.printing.unh.edu/copynet.html)
II. Targeting chemical information in all formats
A. For printed information, start with the UNH Library: home page and Chemistry Library web site
B. For subscription web resources, such as SciFinder Scholar or AccessScience, the Library is also the place to connect. For most resources, you can also connect from off-campus, but SciFinder is not available off-campus.
III. Search effectively
A. Consider your question:
What type of information are you looking for?
Can you state your question in a few different ways? Do any synonyms exist? What are broader or narrower terms for your topic, if you are familiar with it?
B. Consider your options:
Do you need a primary or secondary source?
Primary sources are those in which information is being published for the very first time. For example, a scientist usually publishes new research results in a journal article, which may be peer-reviewed, or refereed, for quality control.
Secondary sources are which include information that has already been published. Some examples are a textbook, an encyclopedia, or a reference handbook, such as the Merck Index.
C. If you are searching in a library catalog, which type of information are you working from: author, title, or ideas about your topic, which could be searched as subject headings or key words?
In the UNH Library Catalog, searchable key words may be words from a title, conference name, name of an organization, or sometimes even a book's table of contents -- but never words from subject headings). So, try your words as key words and as subject headings. See how these results differ.
D. If you are using an index to search for articles:
Which is the most appropriate for your question? The choice is often based on topic, but may be based on the type of information source you need, i.e. journal articles versus newspaper articles, for example.
What are the searching rules for the resource you have chosen? Don't forget to try the "Help" or ask library staff if you're not getting satisfactory results.
IV. Starting places for library resources
A. Chemistry Library menu (on Chemistry Library computers)
B. UNH Library web site (http://www.library.unh.edu)
C. UNH Library Catalog (http://library.unh.edu)
1. Looking it up -- how this works
2. Understanding call numbers (Library of Congress classification outline).
Sample catalog record
3. Library terms:
Pers = periodicals = journals
Stacks = shelves where books and journals are kept
V. Using a major library-based resource for Chemistry: SciFinder exercise
A. Use SciFinder Scholar at the Chemistry Library to search Chemical Abstracts for an author's articles. For background on SciFinder Scholar, click here.
B. Use the library catalog to find the journal in which the article was published
C. Finding your way to the journal/article (importance of journals in science)
1. Interpreting the catalog record
2. Understanding citations
3. Making copies
D. When the UNH Library doesn't have it: glance at InterLibrary Loan (https://uofnewhampshire.hosts.atlas-sys.com/illiad/logon.html)
VI. UNH Chemistry Library
A. Chemistry Library web siteWeb site (http://www.library.unh.edu/branches/chemgide.html)
B. Last but not least!!! Chemistry Library Tour with Bob Constantine (Chemistry Library Associate)
Last updated 25 January 2004