Introduction to the Web Version of SciFinder

SciFinder is a database search interface that provides access to chemical, biomedical, engineering, materials science, and agricultural science information and patents indexed in the Chemical Abstracts Service suite of databases, and in MEDLINE, produced by the National Library of Medicine. The new Web version of SciFinder provides access to additional information, new search features, and the ability to customize functions to individual needs.

Features

The new Web version of SciFinder allows users to:

• Search by research topic, chemical substance, author name, company name or organization, document identifier, and journal or patent;
• Search by structure, substructure, structure similarity, and reaction;
• Search by nucleotide and protein sequence using BLAST search technology;
• Analyze, refine and categorize answer sets;
• Link to commercial sources and regulatory information;
• Link to cited references;
• Link to full-text;
• Set up alerts for references and substances of interest using the Keep Me Posted feature.

Content

Using the Web version of SciFinder, users can move easily between these databases to retrieve bibliographic and substance information.

CAplus	Contains bibliographic data for journal articles, patents, reviews, electronic-only journals, books, conference proceedings, dissertations, and Web preprints indexed by the Chemical Abstracts Service. Approximately 3000 records are added daily.
REGISTRY	This chemical substance database includes information on more than 41 million organic and inorganic substances, and more than 60 million GenBank sequences. Information provided in substance records includes CAS Registry Number, synonyms, molecular formulas, structure diagrams, experimental and calculated property data. Substance information is searchable by substance identifier, molecular formula, or structure. Approximately 12,000 new substance records are added daily.
CASREACT	This database of more than 16 million single- and multi-step reactions provides access to information on synthetic organic research, including organometallics, total syntheses of natural products, and biotransformation reactions. 30,000 to 50,000 reactions are added each week.
CHEMCATS	Chemical Catalogs Online contains information about commercially available chemicals and their worldwide suppliers. A typical record includes the catalog name and publication date, order number, chemical name, CAS Registry Number, structural diagram, pricing, and company information.
CHEMLIST	Regulated Chemicals Listing is a collection of more than 246,000 chemical substances that are regulated in key markets worldwide. More than 50 new substances or additions to existing substances are added weekly.
MEDLINE	Produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE contains bibliographic information for the worldwide biomedical literature. The database covers 1950 to the present and is updated five times per week.

Registration

With the Web version, CAS is now providing the same SciFinder product to academic institutions as they do to government and commercial customers. In order to provide the extra benefits of the Web version and to provide additional security, CAS requires that each individual register in the system. The registration system allows the individual users to construct their own ID (username) and password, as well as define security questions to allow for self-retrieval of forgotten IDs or password reset

See How To Register To Use SciFinder for instructions on how to set up your personal account. In order to access the user registration web form, login to the Register for SciFinder page on our secure web server using your Novell username and password. Click on the Click here to register for SciFinder link and complete the registration form. Note: You must access the registration form from an authorized location (see below) and you must use your College of Wooster email address in the registration form.

Note: CAS will not disclose your personal information to any outside organization for its use without your consent. See their Privacy Policy at http://www.cas.org/legal/privacy.html

Access

After completing the registration process, you should be able to access the SciFinder search system from the following locations:

• Timken Science Library
• Severence Hall (Chemistry)
• Mateer Hall
• Taylor Hall
• Off campus using the VPN

Restrictions

During the registration process, and at each login, you will be presented with a license agreement that you must read and accept in order to proceed. The College�s license with the Chemical Abstracts Service limits the use of SciFinder to College of Wooster faculty and currently registered students. Please be careful to abide by the terms of the license agreement. Violations will endanger our access to this important research tool.

Although we now have Web access to SciFinder, we are still sharing two simultaneous user seats with two other colleges. Therefore, there may be times when users are refused access because both ports are busy. In this case, we recommend that you wait a few minutes and try again. To limit the number of �busy signals� we ask that you remember to log off of the system as soon as you complete your search. The Chemical Abstracts Service computer will automatically disconnect a SciFinder session after 20 minutes of inactivity.

Finding Help

Contact Science Librarian Donna Jacobs, or extension 2280 for assistance in registering for and using SciFinder.

Within SciFinder search screens, clicking on the icon links to context-sensitive help.

How To Guides	Each of these guides provides a quick overview of a basic search technique in the Web version of SciFinder. Taken together, the 30+ guides provide a good introduction to the system for the beginning user. The guides are available in PDF format.
Strategies	These guides are designed to help the intermediate user develop specific search strategies for small molecule searching, synthetic chemistry, and polymer chemistry
WebEx Tutorials	These short, recorded sessions focus on searching for literature references, substance information, and reactions as well as techniques for working with answer sets and current awareness. The sessions are between six and 32 minutes in length.