Chemistry resources (for non-University of Adelaide staff/students)

SciFinder Scholar (Chemical abstracts) is the best database for finding journal articles, theses, patents and other literature in chemistry, but its licence restricts use to University staff and students. Other users are not permitted to search SciFinder on Library computers or through Library staff. For some purposes the following chemistry alternatives may be adequate. 

Chemical abstracts (print version)

• Covers 1907-1999, held in Joint Store on the Flinders University campus - view the Library catalogue record for more information. It can be consulted during the Joint Store's opening hours. The online version of chemical abstracts (SciFinder Scholar/SciFinder web) is only available to University of Adelaide staff and students. 

Web resources

• STN on the Web - free search preview
  STN on the Web has a free preview search option for running a preliminary search of Chemical abstracts and other databases. It doesn't give details of references but it does show the number of references, so gives an idea of how far it is worth searching other sources, especially for unusual chemical compounds.
• Environmental and MSDS databases
  For data and selected references on substances of environmental interest.
• PubMed and PubChem
  For data and selected references on drugs and substances of biological or medical interest.
• The web sites of major chemical journal publishers such as American Chemical Society, Elsevier, Royal Society of Chemistry, Springer, Wiley VCH can be searched and abstracts can be displayed. 
• Google Scholar uses the Google search engine but searches journal articles, reports and other literature.
• Common Chemistry
  A free resource for information on chemical substances of general and
  widespread interest.
• Other free web sources listed in Chemistry resources.

Library databases - (available only from public computers in the Library

Some other databases cover chemistry to some extent. Their chemical index terms are more limited than SciFinder's, so you should enter a greater variety of chemical name variations and fragments as search terms. The databases may not include CAS registry numbers.

• Web of science
  1980- for cited reference and topic searching
• Scopus
  1996- for cited reference searching and some earlier for topic searching.

• Dissertation abstracts
  For theses, mainly North American.

• Patents
  Various countries' patent databases can be searched, including the large U.S. Patent database.

• Ullmann's encyclopedia of industrial chemistry and Kirk-Othmer encyclopedia of chemcial technology
  For descriptions, data and selected references on common substances or topics with industrial applications.
• Dictionary of organic compounds
  For brief data and selected references on common organic compounds.

Charged searches

• STN has a number of services for searching Chemical abstracts (CAS) and other databases. Its search service ScienceIP searches CAS and other databases for a fee. STN on the Web and STN Easy allow users to establish accounts and run their own searches. Check the STN web site for details.