Chemistry Research

Chemistry research is usually disseminated through journal articles, so this is almost always what you will focus on when doing chemistry research.

Start with these databases:

ScienceDirect
More than 1,500 full-text scientific journals are available through ScienceDirect, including a couple hundred directly relevant to chemistry.

SpringerLink
SpringerLink provides access to more than 1,750 journals. While it is a multidisciplinary collection, its strengths are in its science, technology, and math coverage.

Academic Search Premier via EBSCOhost
This is a multidisciplinary database that contains quite a bit of full text.

American Chemical Society Journals
Full-text access to more than 30 journals published by the American Chemical Society.

Then move on to SciFinder Scholar, the definitive and comprehensive tool to use for chemistry research.

SciFinder Scholar allows you to explore:

• references from over 9,500 currently published journals and patent information from more than 50 active patent issuing authorities
• an online version of Chemical Abstracts
• important discoveries that span the scientific century back to 1900
• the latest scientific breakthroughs almost as soon as they are published with references added daily and some patent information as recent as two days ago
• complete coverage of chemistry and the life sciences including biochemistry, biology, pharmacology, medicine, and related disciplines
• the world's largest collection of organic and inorganic substance information, including CAS Registry data and chemical structure information

You can learn more about SciFinder by visiting http://www.cas.org/support/academic/index.html.

Usage of SciFinder is limited to members of the Chemistry and Biology Departments. It is only accessible from on campus, and registration is required. Please contact David Schoen, Chemistry Library Liaison, at schoen@niagara.edu for access information.

A few things to note about SciFinder:

• Niagara University shares two logins with three other colleges, so if you can't login, please try again in a few minutes.
• SciFinder is a reference database in that it provides chemical information and data and a bibliographic database, meaning that it identifies articles written about your topic. It is not a full-text database, but it will link out to full-text articles that are available through ScienceDirect.
• SciFinder Scholar can be used by students, faculty, and staff in Niagara University's Chemistry and Biology departments for educational and not-for-profit research purposes.

The Library also subscribes to two additional chemistry journals online:

• The Journal of Biological Chemistry
• Journal of Medicinal Chemistry

Both are available from any computer on campus.

Books are not as important an aspect of the chemistry literature review, though they can be helpful if you are looking for overviews or are doing research on the history of chemistry or famous chemists.

To locate books owned by Niagara University Library, use the Library Catalog.

The ebrary electronic book collection offers full-text access to many titles.

If you want to search for books owned by other libraries, too, then try searching WorldCat, a catalog that contains references to more than 57 million items owned by 9,000 libraries worldwide. Don't worry - if you need a book owned by another library, you can request it. To learn how, jump to the section called Obtaining Materials NU Library Does Not Own.

There are two places to look for educational video and documentaries owned by Niagara University Library.

1. The Educational DVD Collection is located on the first floor of the Library.
   This collection exceeds 1,500 titles and can be viewed and searched via the NU Library Catalog.
2. Films on Demand. More than 6,000 video titles are available for streaming anywhere on campus
3. The web is a good source of video as well. Refseek links to some of the best sites: http://www.refseek.com/directory/educational_videos.html

The Chemistry Library on the second floor of DePaul Hall contains some reference books and manuals.

The Reference Collection on the first floor of the main Library contains some reference books as well. Look for call number Ref QD 4 to see titles like:

• MacMillan Encyclopedia of Chemistry
• Van Nostand Encyclopedia of Chemistry
• Handbook of Chemistry and Physics

It has become nearly impossible to link to all the useful biology and life sciences reference databases in one place. The Internet Public Library has pointed to some of the better ones on its web site.

If you need an article or a book that NU Library does not own, you can make use of Interlibrary Loan to obtain it.

Tip: In a hurry? If the article or book you need is owned by another library in Western New York, you can visit that library and use their resources on site (view a list of Western New York library web sites).

Please note: If you wish to borrow a book from another Western New York library, you can get an InfoPass card at the Reference Desk.

The Chemistry Department does not require the use of a particular style manual, so check with your professor.

If no preference is indicated, you might want to to use the American Chemical Society (ACS) Style Guide, located in the Reference Collection on the first floor at call number Ref QD8.5 .A25 2006.

You can find other unofficial web sites that offer guidance on ACS Style by searching for "ACS Style" on Google.

You may also wish to take a look at a journal published by the American Chemical Society and mimic the way an article cites sources. For example, the Library subscribes to the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry online, which can be viewed from any computer on campus.

Tip: Please talk to your professor if you have questions about how to cite your sources.