Bibliographic and Citation Databases

Indexes & Abstracts: Definitions

• Index -- A tool which provides access a body of information by a "pointer" derived from the original.
  Examples of pointers: author names, subject terms, chemical formulas, cited references.
• Abstract -- A brief summary of the content of a document.

Teaching Points

• Key to the primary literature
• Chemical indexing adds value
  Registry numbers facilitate searching for compounds
  Consistent indexing enhances retrieval
• Databases vs web surfing
  (you get what you pay for)

Databases

• Chemical Abstracts Print
• CAS Online
• Science Citation Index
• Beilstein
• Beilstein Crossfire at MIMAS
• Important Abstracts and Indexes in Science and Engineering

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