This document provides guidance on searching chemistry literature using library databases. It discusses identifying popular science articles on synthetic chemistry and locating the original scholarly journal articles they are based on. It describes different types of publications and sources, and how to identify articles in newspapers, magazines and journals using library databases, which allow narrowing or broadening searches and manage results. The document contrasts library databases with web search engines and provides examples of general and chemical databases for indexing scholarly literature. It also covers search techniques like truncation and Boolean logic.

1. Searching the Chemistry
Literature Using Library
Databases
Linda Neyer, Science Librarian

2. Goals & objectives
1. Find a popular science article of at least 2
pages (about 1,000 words) on synthetic
chemistry
a. Magazines
b. Newspapers
1. Identify the original scholarly journal article
on which the popular article is based
2. Locate the original scholarly journal article

3. Publications/Source
s
Books Periodicals Gray Lit
(monographs) (serials) (patents, gov
docs, etc.)
General Interest Special Interest
(e.g. Newspapers, (Subject or Discipline
Magazines) Specific)
Trade Publ. Scholarly Publ.
-news -peer-reviewed, refereed
-secondary -primary research
(although also contains
secondary)
-also called ‘academic’
journals
Note: format can be
either print or electronic

4. How do you identify articles in
newspapers, magazines and
journals?
Search Library
Databases --
use either ‘general’ or subject-
specific ones to search
for a topic
Use the
Internet --
but limit to trusted search
engines or sites
Browse
Periodicals --
may be either online or
in print format

5. Special features of Library Databases
vs. Search Engines
Library DBs Web Search Engines
• Provide way to ‘narrow’
or ‘broaden’ search
• Index documents –
articles, patents, etc.
• Let you manage your
results:
--format for bib
• Use ‘controlled’
vocabulary
• Always get results
• User-Friendly
-- email or export
results
• Spell-check
• Use ‘natural’
language
• Link to
library’s
resources
• Search
‘scholarly’
sources
GS
--sort by date, etc.
• Index web pages

6. ‘General’ databases
• Some specific ones:
– Academic Search Complete
– ProQuest Classic
– Lexis-Nexis Academic
• Index newspapers, popular magazines,
and/or scholarly journals
• Good source of secondary sources

7. • Some specific ones:
– Web of Science
– PubMed/MEDLINE
– Chem Abstracts (SciFinder)
• Index specialized, scholarly literature
• Best source of primary (research)
literature
Chemical databases

8. Truncation
To find words that have the
same root or ‘trunk’, use
truncation.
For example, truncate the root
chemi* to retrieve:
chemist
chemical
chemicals
chemistry, etc.

9. Boolean logic
A search for ‘rock AND roll’ will
locate all records containing
both the word "rock" and the
word "roll” (same as ‘all’)
A search for ‘rock OR roll’ will
locate all records containing
either the word "rock" or the
word "roll" -- not necessarily
both (same as ‘any’)
A search for rock
NOT roll will locate
records containing
the word "rock" but
NOT the word "roll"

10. Questions?
Link