Chemistry databases

other Chemistry resources

SciFinder Scholar (Chemical abstracts, 1907-, and Medline)

This is the most important database of journal articles and other materials on chemical substances, reactions or topics and the only database that indexes chemical substances fully. It also contains the medical database, Medline. Scifinder Scholar also allows cited reference searching from about 1996 onwards for articles that have cited a given article.

For help, see

• the Library's introductory guide
• the Library's video demonstrations (which need Flash player) of:
  a substructure search (4 mins)
  a reaction search (3 mins)
  a search for metal-containing structures using the Analyze function (2 mins)
• SciFinder Scholar's guides

Search SciFinder in the Library on any student computer which asks you to log in or download client software to a computer on the University network.
SciFinder is not licensed for non-University users, who should consider these alternative sources.

Web of Science, 1980- and

Scopus, 1996- and some earlier

Web of science and Scopus are large databases covering science and other subjects and allowing cited reference searching for articles that have cited a given article. The 1980 onwards date range of Web of science makes it the more useful for cited reference searching.
Both databases can also be searched by topic, author, etc but use SciFinder Scholar in preference: it has better chemistry coverage and substance searching ability.
Scopus has brief details of early chemistry articles from some American Chemical Society (1879-) and Springer (1869-) journals.

Journal citation reports gives rankings and impact factors for science journals.

Beilstein Handbuch der organischen Chemie. 4th ed. 1918-1950s, incomplete.

Main collection 547 B42.4
Beilstein is the major collection of data, reactions, methods, literature references on organic compounds. The Library's set is incomplete and is useful only for data to the 1950s.
For help in using Beilstein, see brief guide to Beilstein or in more detail:
How to use Beilstein. Reference collection 547 B42.4.4 supp
The Beilstein guide. 1976. Reference collection 547 B42Z.w
Beilstein's text and indexes are in German. See
German-English dictionary of terms commonly used in Beilstein.
Beilstein Dictionary. German-English. 1988. Reference collection 547 B42.4.4 supp

Dictionary of organic compounds

To search the Dictionary on your own computer, download the browser plug-in available from the Dictionary of organic compounds web site. The Plug-in allows structure searching.
The dictionary is a quick and useful place to start looking for common data on organic compounds. It can be searched by chemical name, molecular formula, structure, properties. Data given are: chemical names (including Chemical abstracts name), CAS registry number, molecular formula, structure, molecular weight, melting point, boiling point, pKa, hazard, biological source, uses, and less commonly density, refractive index, solubility. The references cited indicate articles that cover synthesis, spectra etc.
The earlier printed version: Dictionary of organic compounds (5th ed. 1982. 7 vols and supplements) is at Reference collection 547.003 D554. It has indexes by name, molecular formula, registry number. Supplements 1-10 update the main volumes. The supplements have two cumulative indexes to vols 1-5 and 6-10.

Gmelin Handbuch der anorganischen Chemie. 8th ed. 1929-1994

Main collection 546 G569
Gmelin is the major comprehensive handbook for inorganic compounds and organometallic compounds. Earlier volumes are in German, later volumes in English. The library discontinued its subscription to the series in 1994. Each element has a set of volumes identified by a Gmelin system number and containing information on the element and its compounds. See Guide to Gmelin.

Dictionary of inorganic compounds. Chapman and Hall, 1992. 5 vols.

Reference collection 546.03 M152d
A major handbook of basic data and references on inorganic compounds including coordination compounds. Gives names, formula, formula weight, structure, melting point, boiling point, and occasionally spectroscopic and thermodynamic data. Other data can be found through the references cited for each substance. Has an element index, subarranged by formula; a structural type index; a name index; a registry number index.

For chemical physics, see also:

Inspec, 1898-, the major physics database
Chemical Physics Preprint Database, Brown University and Los Alamos National Laboratory
Optics InfoBase for searching authors, titles, and abstracts in Optical Society of America journals.
A bibliography of ab initio molecular wave functions. Clarendon Press, 1971. Supplements 1970-73, 1978-80. Main collection 016.54128 R519b
Quantum chemistry literature database: bibliography of ab initio calculations for 1978-80. Elsevier, 1982. Supplements (1981-85) published in Journal of molecular structure, vols 91(1), 106(1), 119(1), 134(1), 148(3/4). Main collection 016.54128 O38q

For analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry and toxicology, biomedical chemistry see also:

Biological abstracts, 1980- for biomedical chemistry.
Medline covers biomedical chemistry and can be searched through SciFinder Scholar (see above) or through PubMed
MSDS and environmental databases
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts: Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts Part 3: Aquatic pollution and environmental quality; Water resources abstracts.
Analytical abstracts.1954-86. Reference collection 543.05 A53
Laboratory hazards bulletin. 1985-1992. Reference collection 542.028905 L123
Chemical hazards in industry. 1984-1992. Reference collection 363.17905 C517

For theses, eprints, etc

Thesis information which covers databases such as Proquest Dissertations and theses and details of delivery through the Interlibrary loan service.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations - worldwide
Arrow Discovery Service - Australian research, including theses
Australasian Digital Theses Program - for searching, and also depositing your own University of Adelaide thesis
BASE: Bielefeld Academic Search Engine - searches world-wide institutional repositories of electronic materials, pre-print-servers, electronic journals etc.

To find which other Australian libraries hold books and journals, search:

Libraries Australia (Kinetica)
Note: Use Advanced search and change all of these to exact match or starts with. Apply the Journals limit when searching for journals.
If you do not find a journal in Libraries Australia, search SIAL: Serials in Australian Libraries which includes a few extra older journal holdings.

Search engines

Web search engines such as those offered by publishers sometimes have the advantage of searching for keywords in some or all of the full text of articles. However, they are not a replacement for SciFinder Scholar, which includes a wider range of publishers' journals, different types of material, better search methods, structure searching and extra index terms.
ScienceDirect or Scirus from Elsevier
Wiley interscience
Cambridge University Press
Springer
American Chemical Society
Royal Society of Chemistry
CrossRef search
Google Scholar
Windows Live Search Academic (beta)
Google Books - searches the contents of books and gives tables of contents, indexes and sample pages; some out of print books can be downloaded in full.
ChemRefer - searches chemical literature that is both full text and free.
OAIster - searches free institutional digital resources

Science databases

may be useful for certain types of material such as translations, conference proceedings, book reviews, older publications, research project reports, official government publications.