Chemical Literature (Chem 184/284)
University of California at Santa Barbara
Important Indexes in Science and Engineering
The following is a list of indexes of significance to researchers in the chemical sciences.
It is arranged by the name of the printed form of the index, but contains information on the
equivalent electronic databases as well. The list is not meant to be all-encompassing; the
absence of an index from the list below should not be interpreted that its area of coverage is
insignificant or that it is poorly constructed. Each record below contains information on the
UCSB Library’s holdings of that index in all its forms.
Alloys Index (TN 1 .A3)
| Publisher: |
Materials Information (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) |
| History: |
1974-present (UCSB has 1975–1993) |
| Subject Coverage: |
“Worldwide literature on specific alloys, metallurgical systems or intermetallic
compounds.” |
| Source Types: |
Journals, conference proceedings, technical reports |
| Number of Sources: |
Unspecified |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Citations arranged by type of alloy and specific alloy. An alloy classification
guide is provided. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
The citations and index are cumulated annually. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Contained in METADEX (STN, DIALOG, ORBIT, CSA Web) 1974–present. Available on CD-ROM as
part of METADEX Collection; UCSB does not own. |
| Other Notes: |
|
Analytical Abstracts (QD 1 .A55)
| Publisher: |
Royal Society of Chemistry |
| History: |
1954-present (UCSB has 1954–1989) |
| Subject Coverage: |
“World-wide coverage of the literature on al branches of analytical chemistry.” |
| Source Types: |
Journal literature |
| Number of Sources: |
About 1,300 journals, 300 indexed in entirety. |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts arranged in subject sections; controlled vocabulary subject index. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Semi-annual volume indexes—controlled vocabulary subject indes and author index. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Analytical Abstracts Online (STN, DIALOG, ORBIT) 1982–present. Available on CD-ROM
(SilverPlatter); UCSB does not own. |
| Other Notes: |
The same literature is covered by Chemical Abstracts, but for specific
analytical topics, its focus and indexing can be helpful. |
Applied Science and Technology Index (Z 7913 .I5)
| Publisher: |
H. W. Wilson Co. |
| History: |
1958-present (UCSB has 1976–1991 at Annex) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Applied science and engineering |
| Source Types: |
Journal literature |
| Number of Sources: |
About 350 journals |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Controlled subject arrangement of citations using Library of Congress-like subject
headings; book review index arranged by author being reviewed. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Quarterly and annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Applied Science and Technology Index (DIALOG,WILSONLINE) Nov. 1983–present.
Available on CD-ROM; UCSB does not own. |
| Other Notes: |
Same format as the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. Much
of the same material is covered by MAGS and CC on MELVYL for recent years. |
Biological Abstracts (QH 1 .B5)
| Publisher: |
BIOSIS |
| History: |
1926–present; A related publication, now called Biological Abstracts/RRM
began in 1965—see below. (UCSB has up to 1979 in print, 1980–1995 on CD-ROM and
1988–present on MELVYL) |
| Subject Coverage: |
“Worldwide research in life sciences” |
| Source Types: |
Journal literature; BA/RRM covers technical reports, reviews, patents and conference papers |
| Number of Sources: |
BA screens about 9000 journals; BA/RRM adds about 240,000 records per year of various types. |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Both BA and BA/RRM are semi-monthly. |
| Indexing by Issue: |
BA arranges abstracts under concept headings and subjeadings, with author, title
keyword-in-context and biosystematic indexes. BA/RRM has three separate sections: books,
meetings and “content summaries”. The latter, for reviews, reports and patents,
are arranged by the same headings used in BA. The meetings list groups citations for papers
beneath the overall citation for the meeting itself. The books list gives summaries of
individual chapters in many cases. BA/RRM has the same indexes as BA. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Indexes are cumulated semi-annually; same indexes as in individual issues. Five year
cumulations are published on microfiche. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
BIOSIS Prevews (STN, DIALOG, Ovid) 1969–present, combines BA and BA/RRM. STN version
has CAS Registry Number indexing. Available on CD-ROM (SilverPlatter); UCSB owns 1980–95
for BA, 1988–1995 for BA/RRM. BIOSIS is available on MELVYL from 1988–present. |
| Other Notes: |
The big gun of biological indexes. Electronic versions are far more powerful than print,
thanks to searchable classification codes and “supertaxa” headings for major
groups of organisms. |
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts in Biochemistry (Various call numbers, see below.)
| Publisher: |
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts |
| History: |
See below. |
| Subject Coverage: |
Cambridge publishes a number of indexes of biochemical interest, including: Cambridge
Scientific Biochemistry Abstracts Part I: Biological Membranes (1973–present)
QH 601 .B45 Part II: Nucleic Acids (1971–present) QP 551.N82
Part III: Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins (1972–present) QP 551 .A48
CSA Neuroscience and Endocrinology Abstracts (1983–present) QP 351 .C75
Chemoreception Abstracts (1973–present) QP 455 .C4
Biotechnology Research Abstracts (1984–present) TP 248.2 .B57
Note: UCSB stopped getting these in print in 1991; old volumes have been shipped to
Annex. UCSB has these indexes on CD-ROM from 1984–present. |
| Source Types: |
Journals, books |
| Number of Sources: |
About 5,000 journals |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly for most of them |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts are grouped by subject headings and subheadings; Author and controlled
vocabulary subject indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual cumulations, with the same indexing. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Life Sciences Collection (STN, DIALOG, Ovid, CSA Web) 1983–present; includes
several other CSA biological indexes. Available on CD-ROM (SilverPlatter),
1984–present; UCSB owns CD-ROM and has access to several of these on the Web
as part of the
Cambridge Environmental Database. |
| Other Notes: |
While less comprehensive than Biological Abstracts, there is a surprising
amount of non-overlap between the two sets of indexes, and can be useful especially in
the specialty areas of the CSA indexes. |
Ceramics Abstracts (TP 785 .C47)
| Publisher: |
American Ceramics Society |
| History: |
1975–present as independent publication; was published 1922–1974 as part
of other Amer. Ceram. Soc. publications. (UCSB has 1922–present.) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Ceramics |
| Source Types: |
Journals, patents, books |
| Number of Sources: |
Unspecified |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Bimonthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts for journals and patents are arranged separately by subject headings;
separate section for book reviews; no indexing in bimonthly issues. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Sixth issue of each year has cumulative author and controlled vocabulary subject
indexes for the year. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Ceramics Abstracts (STN, DIALOG, ORBIT) 1976–present. |
| Other Notes: |
|
Chemical Abstracts (QD 1 .C43)
| Publisher: |
Chemical Abstracts Service, a division of the American Chemical Society. |
| History: |
1907–present (UCSB has all) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Chemistry in the broadest possible sense; includes chemical engineering,
biochemistry, materials science, chemical physics. |
| Source Types: |
Journals, patents, technical reports, conference papers, dissertations, books |
| Number of Sources: |
About 14,000 journals, 28 patent issuing authorities. Over 500,000 total records per year. |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Weekly issues alternate subject coverage; effectively biweekly. |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts are grouped in 80 subject sections; author, keyword subject and patent
number indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Volume indexes and cumulative indexes every ten volumes; author, controlled vocabulary
subject, chemical substance index (separate since 1972), molecular formula index,
patent index and concordance. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
CAS Online (STN) 1967–present; Less complete versions available on DIALOG, Orbit,
Ovid and others. Web interface available as STNEasy. CD-ROM versions available of
selected subject areas (CASurveyor), 12th and forthcoming 13th collective indexes, and
full CD version since 1996. UCSB does not own these. |
| Other Notes: |
Chemical Abstracts is arguably the single most powerful scientific bibliographic
resource, and is covered in much greater detail elsewhere in the course. |
Current Chemical Reactions (Z 5523 .C87)
| Publisher: |
Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) |
| History: |
1979–present (UCSB has 1979–1989 at Annex) |
| Subject Coverage: |
New and newly modified organic chemical reactions |
| Source Types: |
Journals, some books |
| Number of Sources: |
Over 350 organic chemistry and pharmaceutical journals |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts describe the novel reaction(s) found in the article, with reaction
diagrams, conditions and key steps labeled. A list of review articles also
appears in each issue. Author, journal, corporate source and subject indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Available as a database for systems running MDL’s ISIS or REACCS systems,
covering 1986–present. Much of the CCR information is also incorporated in
ISI’s client server system, Reaction Citations Index. |
| Other Notes: |
Has some advantages over printed Chemical Abstracts for synthetic
organic chemists interested in keeping up with current reaction methods. |
Current Contents
| Publisher: |
Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) |
| History: |
Life Sciences edition started in 1958; Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences in 1961;
Engineering, Technology and Applied Sciences in 1970; others more recently. |
| Subject Coverage: |
Between the various titles, almost every area of scholarly publication is covered,
except the law. |
| Source Types: |
Journals, books |
| Number of Sources: |
Life Sciences: over 1,180 journals; Physical Sciences: over 800 journals; Engineering:
over 800 journals; Agriculture & Environment: over 1000 journals; there is overlap
among the four editions. |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Weekly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Each issue contains the tables of contents of journal issues received during the week in
question. They are arranged by discipline and there are author and title keyword indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
None |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Current Contents Online (DIALOG, Ovid), CD-ROM and floppy disk versions. Some electronic
versions now contain abstracts. Available for all sections, including humanities and social
sciences, on MELVYL from 7/89 to present. |
| Other Notes: |
Printed CC also contains original essays on important papers and developments in the
history of science, and provides the addresses of authors and publications covered in the
issue. Time lag ranges from one to several months after publication, which is less that
most other printed indexes. |
Dissertation Abstracts International B: Sciences and Engineering (AS 30 .D53)
| Publisher: |
UMI |
| History: |
Covers 1861–present (UCSB has 1952–1990; some volumes in storage) |
| Subject Coverage: |
North American PhD dissertations in the sciences and engineering. (A similar
publication, Masters Abstracts covers masters theses from 1962–present.
Some European and other dissertations appear in Dissertation Abstracts C:
Worldwide |
| Source Types: |
PhD dissertations |
| Number of Sources: |
About 3500 dissertations per month |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Author and title keyword indexes |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Comprehensive Dissertation Index — one set of volumes covers
1861–1973, with annual indexes since then. Same indexing as the monthly issues. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Dissertation Abstracts (STN, DIALOG, Ovid) 1861–present; includes all sections
of DA, plus Masters Abstracts. Available on CD-ROM (UMI); UCSB has it in the
Information Arcade on the 1st floor of the Library. The electronic versions are
much easier to use and more powerful than the print version. |
| Other Notes: |
This is the master source for dissertations. Chemical Abstracts gets its
basic information on dissertations from here and adds enhanced chemical and subject
indexing. |
Energy Research Abstracts (Z 5853 .P83 U565)
| Publisher: |
Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Department of Energy |
| History: |
1976–1995 (see below) (UCSB has all) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Energy related research |
| Source Types: |
Technical reports, plus books, journal articles, patents, conference papers and
dissertations based on DOE sponsored research. |
| Number of Sources: |
Unspecified |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Was semi-monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts arranged by subject heading and subheadings. Controlled vocabulary subject,
personal author, corporate author, contract number and report number indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
ENERGY database (STN, DIALOG) 1974–present. Available on CD-ROM (SilverPlatter)
1987–present; UCSB owns 1987–1994. Now available free of charge on the Web,
from 1994 to present, as
DOE Reports Bibliographic Database |
| Other Notes: |
The cancellation of the printed product in favor of Internet distribution is a fast
growing trend in government information. In some cases (notably NASA), even the reports
themselves are being distributed electronically rather than in hardcopy or microform. |
Engineered Materials Abstracts (TA 401 .E47)
| Publisher: |
Materials Information (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) |
| History: |
1976–present (UCSB has 1976–1994) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Polymers, composites, ceramics |
| Source Types: |
Journals, conference proceedings, technical reports, patents, dissertations |
| Number of Sources: |
Over 1600 journals |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts are arranged by subject heading and subheadings. Controlled vocabulary
subject, personal author, corporate author, trade name and materials class indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Engineered Materials Abstracts (STN, DIALOG, Orbit). Available on CD-ROM and CSA Web as
part of METADEX collection; UCSB does not own. |
| Other Notes: |
|
Engineering Index (Z 5851 .E622)
| Publisher: |
Engineering Information (EI) |
| History: |
1884 to present (UCSB has 1884–1984 in print; 1985–1996 on CD-ROM;
1997–present on the Web; see below) |
| Subject Coverage: |
“The world’s technological literature in all engineering.” |
| Source Types: |
Journals, technical reports, conference proceedings |
| Number of Sources: |
Unspecified, but large. |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts are arranged by subject headings and subheadings; author and combined
keyword/controlled vocabulary subject index. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
The abstracts themselves are cumularted annually and renumbered; author and subject
indexes cumulated annually, plus an author affiliation index. Multi-year cumulations
are issued irregularly. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
COMPENDEX Plus (STN, DIALOG, Orbit, Ovid) 1969–present. Available on CD-ROM
(DIALOG, SilverPlatter) 1985–present. Available on
Web (SilverPlatter)
1987–present. |
| Other Notes: |
This is the most comprehensive index to the engineering literature, but can be difficult
to use in print. The UC system is currently making the database available over the Web
(see above); it will probably move to MELVYL in 1998. |
Environment Abstracts (Z 7171 .E59)
| Publisher: |
Congressional Information Service, a division of Reed-Elsevier |
| History: |
1971–present (UCSB has 1971–1990 at Annex, 1975–present on CD-ROM) |
| Subject Coverage: |
“The impact of humankind and technology on the environment.” |
| Source Types: |
Journals, conferences, newsletters, government publications and technical reports. |
| Number of Sources: |
Unspecified |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts are arranged by broad subject classes; author, controlled vocabulary
subject, source publication and industry code indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Abstracts and indexes are cumulated annually. Indexes are the same as in the
monthly issues, plus a geographic index. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
ENVIROLINE (DIALOG, Orbit) 1971–present. Available on CD-ROM (CIS)
1975–present; CD-ROM also incorporates the ENERGYLINE database. |
| Other Notes: |
|
General Science Index (Z 7401 .G46)
| Publisher: |
H. W. Wilson Co. |
| History: |
1978–present (UCSB has 1978–1991 at Annex) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Science in general |
| Source Types: |
Journal literature |
| Number of Sources: |
About 110 journals |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Controlled subject arrangement of citations using Library of Congress-like subject
headings; book review index arranged by author being reviewed. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Quarterly and annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
General Science Index (DIALOG,WILSONLINE) May 1984–present. Available on CD-ROM;
UCSB does not own. |
| Other Notes: |
Same format as the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. Much of the
same material is covered by MAGS and CC on MELVYL for recent years. |
Government Reports Announcement and Index (Z 7405 .R4 U8)
| Publisher: |
National Technical Information Service (NTIS), U.S. Department of Commerce |
| History: |
1946–1996 (UCSB has 1946–1993. Volumes after 1966 areat Annex; also
has microfiche 1964–1996) |
| Subject Coverage: |
U. S. government technical reports |
| Source Types: |
Technical reports |
| Number of Sources: |
About 100,000 reports per year |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Was semi-monthly. |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts arranged by subject category and subcategory; Keyword subject, personal
author, corporate author, contract/grant number and report number indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Semi-annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
NTIS (STN, DIALOG, Orbit, Ovid) 1964–present. Available on CD-ROM (SilverPlatter)
1983–present; UCSB owns CD-ROM |
| Other Notes: |
The premier index to the technical report literature. The printed version has ceased
due to the government shift to electronic distribution of information. There is a Web
database,
NTIS OrderNow
but it covers only materials from the last 30 days. |
Index Chemicus (QD 1 .I535)
| Publisher: |
Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) |
| History: |
1960–present (UCSB has 1965–1991 at Annex) |
| Subject Coverage: |
“new organic compounds and new synthetic methods” |
| Source Types: |
Journals |
| Number of Sources: |
Over 100 organic chemistry journals |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Weekly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts are taken from author’s abstracts. Structural diagrams of new
compounds and important reactions are given, as is a chart providing quick
identification of the degree of characterization and techniques used. Each
issue has author, molecular formula, keyword subject, biological activity and
isotopic labeling indexes. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Available on CD-ROM and as a database for MDL’s ISIS system; UCSB does not
own. Much of its information is incorporated into ISI’s client-server
Reaction Citation Index. |
| Other Notes: |
The high frequency and detailed indexing of the print tool make it a useful
supplement to Chemical Abstracts for organic chemists. The electronic
forms are relatively new, but show great promise. |
Index Medicus (Z 6660 .I52)
| Publisher: |
National Library of Medicine |
| History: |
Published in some form since 1879; current form started in 1960 (UCSB has 1960–1965
in print, 1966–present on MELVYL) |
| Subject Coverage: |
“The literature of biomedicine” |
| Source Types: |
Journals |
| Number of Sources: |
About 3200 journals |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
No abstracts are given in print form. Citations are indexed by a complex hierarchical
system of subject headings (MeSH). Author index. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
MEDLINE (NLM, STN, DIALOG, Ovid) 1966–present. Available on CD-ROM from numerous
vendors; MEDLINE is mounted on the
MELVYL
system for UC users. Electronic versions have abstracts. |
| Other Notes: |
Index Medicus is the big gun of biomedical indexes, comprehensive and
well-indexed, though it is hotly rivaled by Excerpta Medica (EMBASE in
electronic form), a publication of Elsevier Science Publishers. |
| Publisher: |
Materials Information (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts) |
| History: |
1968–present (UCSB has 1968–1994) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Literature of metals |
| Source Types: |
Journals, conference proceedings, technical reports |
| Number of Sources: |
Unspecified |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Monthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts are arranged in subject sections. Indexes (author and controlled vocabulary
subject) are published in a separate monthly issue. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
METADEX (STN, DIALOG, Orbit, CSA Web) 1966–present. Available on CD-ROM (DIALOG,
SilverPlatter); UCSB does not own. |
| Other Notes: |
|
Physics Abstracts (QC 1 .P475)
| Publisher: |
INSPEC (an offshoot of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)) |
| History: |
Started in 1898 as Science Abstracts, continues to present (UCSB has
1903–1968 on the shelves, 1969–present on MELVYL) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Physics |
| Source Types: |
Journals, conference papers, technical reports, books, dissertations |
| Number of Sources: |
Unspecified but large |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Twice a month |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Abstracts are arranged according to a detailed subject classification scheme;
author index in each issue; book, conference and corporate author indexes
published irregularly. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Semi-annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
INSPEC (STN, DIALOG, Orbit, Ovid) 1969–present. Available on CD-ROM (UMI),
Web (SilverPlatter). The INSPEC database is available for UC users on the MELVYL
system. |
| Other Notes: |
IEE also publishes Computer and Control Abstracts (T 3 .C6)
1966–present, and Electrical and Electronics Abstracts
(T 1 .E425) 1898–present. These publications are also a part of
INSPEC, UCSB keeps 1904–1968 on the shelves. There was a rival publication called
Physics Briefs published by FIZ Karlsruhe from 1979–1994, which has
since been absorbed by INSPEC. |
Pollution Abstracts (Z 7913 .I5)
| Publisher: |
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) |
| History: |
1970-present (UCSB has 1970–1991 at Annex; has Web access through
CSA Environmental Database) |
| Subject Coverage: |
Pollution and its effects, measurement and regulation |
| Source Types: |
Journals, conference papers, books, government reports |
| Number of Sources: |
About 2,500 primary sources |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Bimonthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Author, assigned subject headings. |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual cumulations |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
Pollution Abstracts (STN, DIALOG, CSA Web) 1970–present. Available on CD-ROM
(SilverPlatter) |
| Other Notes: |
|
Science Citation Index (Z 7401 .A1 S36)
| Publisher: |
Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) |
| History: |
Covers 1945–present (UCSB has 1955–1979 in print, 1980–present
on CD-ROM) |
| Subject Coverage: |
All of science, technology, medicine. |
| Source Types: |
Journals, books |
| Number of Sources: |
About 3,600 journals |
| Frequency of Issues: |
Bimonthly |
| Indexing by Issue: |
Printed version has no abstracts; author, author affiliation, keyword subject,
citation indexing |
| Cumulative Indexing: |
Annual and five-year cumulations. |
| Electronic Equivalents: |
SCISEARCH (STN, DIALOG, Orbit) 1974–present. Online versions have abstracts. Available
on CD-ROM (ISI) 1980–present. |
| Other Notes: |
Science Citation Index covers only the “most important” journals
in each field of science and technology. Its most important and unique feature is its
citation index, which enables the user to locate papers which cite a specific previous paper.
Specific subject subsets are also available on CD-ROM, such as Chemistry, Biotechnology and
Materials. |
This page created by
Chuck Huber (huber@library.ucsb.edu).
American Chemical Society