Chem111 Fall 2015

Chemistry 111: INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE
• Read each section of the assignment and
the questions. Then use this guide to
assist with searching the University
Libraries’ resources.
• If you have problems please ask at the
Evans Library Ask Us Desk, Chat with us
at http://guides.library.tamu.edu/askus or
call 979-845-5741

Use the University Libraries’ online catalog, LibCat, to find a book or
government document on your assigned pollutant.
Example keyword search: Methyl bromide AND pollut?
The question mark after the word “pollut” is a truncation symbol. Using a
truncation symbol will broaden the search and retrieve related terms. For
example, using pollut? will retrieve results that include the pollution,
polluting, pollutant, etc.
LibCat search results are initially ranked according to relevancy. To see
the most recent items, use the pull-down menu to change from “Rank” to
“Publish Date (newest first).”
Finding Books and Government Documents Using LibCat

1. Go to the Libraries’ homepage:
library.tamu.edu
Then click the LibCat link.

2. Enter the search terms provided in your
assignment: Pollutant Name and Keywords
In this example, a truncation symbol “?” was
used to include words that start with “pollut”,
such as pollution, polluting, pollutant, etc.
3. Click Search

4. Change “Sort By” from “Rank” to
“Publish Date (newest first)”
5. Click on the title of the
item to see the record
for additional information
like the location.
NOTE: In the tutorial using
benzene, you are looking for
a book or government document.
DO NOT select an item with
“thesis” in the call number since
those are not books or
government documents
NOTE: Your assigned pollutant and keyword(s) provided will only result in one item.

LibCat Record for an Individual Item
NOTE: This government document is only available
online. See next slide for an example of a
government document available in microfiche
with location information.
6. Note Location
and Call Number

NOTE: This government document is available in microfiche.
Print books and government documents also indicate the
location, link to a floorplan/map, and indicate its status
(i.e., whether it’s checked out or not).
8. Note Location, Call Number,
and Status
7. Click the link to see the
floor/location in the library
LibCat Record for an Individual Item

Searching the Professional Journal Literature
For this exercise, you will be using Web of Science to search the
professional journal literature. Using a database is more efficient and
faster than searching individual journals for a given topic.
When communicating with other professionals, you need to provide all
the information they need so others can find the article for themselves.
Below is the proper citation format for a journal article using the ACS
Style Guide (a bibliographic style).
Authors separated by semicolons, Article Title, Journal Name in Italics,
Year in Bold, Volume in Italics, and Page Numbers.
Example: Mawk, E. J.; Hyman, M.; Rowe, M. W. Re-examination of Ancient
DNA in Texas Rock Paintings. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2002, 29, 301-306.

library.tamu.edu
Then click the Databases tab.
2. Enter the name of the
database you want to search
3. Click
Search

4. If off-campus, you may be asked to authenticate
using your NetID and password.

5. Click “Web of Science”
to access the database

6. Enter the search terms provided in your assignment. In this
example, the search terms below were searched and the
publication years limited to the last five years.
NOTE: In the benzene tutorial, you may need to look
through several pages of results to find the article needed.
7. If needed, limit by
publication date range
8. Click Search

9. If needed, limit “Document Types” to Article and click Refine

10. Review the results to find the article listed in your assignment.
To see the details, click on the article title to open the full record.
NOTE: Your article may not be on the first page of results.

11. Full record showing the citation information for the article.
12. Click the “Find Text @TAMU” button to determine if the
University Libraries has online access or print.

13. This article is available online.
Click the link to access the article
14. If the article is not available online, click
the LibCat link to see if we have it in print.

Governmental Information Sources
In this section, use ChemIDplus to locate the CASRN*, synonyms, molecular formula,
and toxicity data for your pollutant. Use any source, including EPA sites
(http://www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms/lterms.html) to find brief definitions for the following
terms used in toxicity studies and regulations: LD, LD50, LC, LC50, and LOAEL.
* A Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number (CASRN) is a unique numerical
identifier assigned to each substance reported in the chemical literature. A number
of databases can be searched using the CASRN, which is very useful since many
chemical substances have numerous common and systematic names.

library.tamu.edu
Then click the Databases tab.
2. Enter the name of the
database you want to search
3. Click
Search
Governmental Information Sources: ChemIDplus

4. Click “ChemIDplus”
to access the database

5. Enter your pollutant as the search
term. Then click Search.

7. Click the Names & Synonyms tab to see
alternatives names for your pollutant
including systematic/IUPAC names.
8. Click the Toxicity tab to see the toxicity table.
NOTE: Not all elements or compounds listed in
ChemIDplus have a toxicity table.
7. Molecular formula. This formula
could be written as: CH3Br or even
better as CH3Br
6. CAS RN

9. Definitions for various terms used in toxicity studies and regulations
can be found in many of the glossaries at EPA websites. For example:
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/glossary/index.html
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/hapglossaryrev.html
Governmental Information Sources: Definitions

Finding Information in Chemical Handbooks
Use the Combined Chemical Dictionary, part of an online collection of eBooks
within the CHEMnetBASE database, to find information on sources, uses, melting
point, and boiling point for your pollutant.

6. Enter the name of the pollutant.
Then click Search.
NOTE: Try searching by CASRN
(instead of chemical name) if the
chemical name search yields no
results.

7. Click on Details icon.
Methyl Bromide is also called Bromomethane

8. This pages contains information on sources,
uses, and physical properties for methyl bromide.

Locating Superfund Sites in Texas by County
Using the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) website,
https://www.tceq.texas.gov/remediation/superfund/sites/county/County,
locate the requested information about your assigned Superfund site. The list is
organized by both counties and alphabetically by site.
NOTE: Students have the reports on Sapling
and should use those for their assigned pollutants.

2. Select your assigned county.
1. Go to the following URL:
https://www.tceq.texas.gov/remediation/superfund/sites/county/County

3. Select your assigned site.

4. After clicking on the link to your assigned site,
obtain the information you need from the website.
NOTE: Not all TCEQ webpages will have the
information in a tabular form. Some will require
reading through the text on the webpage to find
the information.

Chem111 Fall 2015

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