Chemical Abstracts (Print): Teaching Points

Comprehensive index to the chemical literature

• 8,000 journals; 1,300 of which are now indexed cover to cover
• patents from 28 nations and two international organizations
• 1907 to present; updated weekly (CA Plus updated daily)
• over 700,000 thousand abstracts per year
• over 25 million compounds indexed
• CAS website contains updated statistics on CA coverage, size, composition

Sources Included

• journals (from all countries and in all languages)
• conference proceedings
• review articles
• patents
• books, dissertations

Sections of printed CA

What is an abstract and how to read an entry in CA

How to identify a review article, book, patent

Indexes

Importance of the Index Guide

• Frequency of indexes

"volume" indexes; "collective" indexes

• Types of indexes
• Chemical Substance index
• CAS nomenclature vs trivial name
• inverted name format

benzene, methyl-

• Sources for CAS names
• MF index
• Index Guide
• Merck Index
• Dictionary of Organic Compounds

Table of CAS name sources

Lecture on Substance Index

• Author index
• Alphabetical by first and middle INITIALS.
• CA vol. #, abstract no. only given under first-named author.
• Formula index

Use Hill Order

• General Subject Index

Classes of compounds indexed here (NOT in the substance index!)
Key to subject index entries  (Go Live)

• Patent Index

Teaching Materials

Overview lecture on CA and Indexes (Part 1)
Overview lecture on CA and Indexes (Part 2)
Lecture on Substance Index
CA Print materials from the CCIIM  (Go Live)

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Last Modified: July 08, 1999
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