SciFinder Scholar Tutorial

• Use:
• Access:
• Perils and Pitfalls:
• Contents:
• Tips on Searching:
• Types of Searches:
• Icons on the Tool Bar:
• Research Topic Searching:
• Refining or Analyzing Your Results:
• Navigating the Results:
• Full-Text Linking:
• Cited Reference Searching:
• Indexed Substances:
• Marking Results:
• Saving Results:
• Printing Results:
• Locating Articles (if not available full text in SciFinder):
• Help:
• Notes:

Use:

• SciFinder Scholar is the online version of Chemical Abstracts

• This is the BEST tool to use to find chemical or chemistry related information

• Allows searching by: chemical substance/reaction, topic, author name, document identifier (CAS Number), and company name

Access:

• Access SciFinder Scholar through the Electronic Resources page of the Libraries’ Home Page by clicking on the "S" in the Browse Abstract or Index Database alphabetical list or typing SciFinder in the search box

• Citrix (a helper program) will open up and you will be asked to accept SciFinder’s licensing restrictions

• NOTE: Please delete old versions of Citrix if you download the new one. Multiple versions of Citrix will cause problems

• If you are using SciFinder off campus, follow the same steps. You will need your EUID and password.

• There is a MAC version of Citrix.

Perils and Pitfalls:

• As with any other database, there will be incorrect or missing information

• Try alternate spellings of terms and author names

• The more information you have the better

• If you don’t find what you are looking for, go broader—you may need to search through more results but should eventually find what you are looking for

Contents:

• 1600+ chemistry journals indexed cover-to-cover

• 8000+ journals indexed selectively

• Includes records from 1907 – present

Tips on Searching:

•  SciFinder automatically looks for synonyms, other word forms (typing freeze would result in freeze, frozen, freezing, froze etc.), abbreviations (typing chem. results in chemistry, chemical etc.) and includes British and American spellings (color would include color and colour)

• Words may also be automatically truncated—adjustment may result in ScifFinder looking for adjust, adjusting etc.

• Must enter a last name for an author search. SciFinder defaults to "Look for alternative spellings of the last name". For example, type jone and notice the variations that are retrieved.

Types of Searches:

• There are five types of searches: Chemical Substance or Reaction, Research Topic, Author Name, Document Identifier, and Company Name/Organization

• The Tables of Contents option does not work!

Icons on the Tool Bar:

• The tool bar is at the top left of the screen

• The first icon lets you choose your task if you want to change

•  Then there are back and forward arrows. Use these to move among screens

• The Print and Save icons can be used to print or save selected results

• The Full Text icon lets you see if SciFinder offers the full text of your selected citations. Note: you must select a citation(s) before using this

• Use the Prefs icon to set your preferences (must be done at the beginning of each session). Can be used to increase the size of the font!

•  Database lets you deselect the databases if you want. Databases include Medline, Registry and CASREACT

• History lets you review your tasks (you cannot combine from here)

• Internet should let you connect to some online links but is not working!!!!

• The Help icon offers online, context-sensitive assistance

• The Exit icon will exit you from SciFinder

Research Topic Searching:

• Click on the Research Topic search at the beginning of your session or use the Task icon to bring up the search options

• Type in your search e.g. antibiotic residues in meat

•  The next screen provides a series of options which lets you decide how specific to be

• You can select one or more by clicking in the box to the left of the desired choice

• Choose the last option for this example

• You will receive a warning if search exceeds 10,000 records. Click OK to get rid of it

• You can now view the citations or brief records

Refining or Analyzing Your Results:

• At the bottom left of the search results screen, you will see an Analyze or Refine References button. Click on this

• You will be given an option to analyze or refine the search

• Analyzing the results sorts the results in particular ways. For example, you can see which journals had the most articles in your search or which authors are most frequently found in the results

• Refine the search to reduce the number of results

• Click on the Refine icon

• This brings up a screen which presents your options. Click on the language icon and click next to English. Press OK. This will limit your results to English language articles

• Repeat the procedure and chose Research Topic

• Type hamburger. This will limit your search to articles including the term hamburger

• You can repeat the procedure until the number of results is manageable

Navigating the Results:

• To the right of the citation will be a Microscope. Click on this to view the full record

• The full record varies but usually includes an abstract and descriptive terms

• Use the indexing terms or abstract keywords to improve your search

•  Some terms may be highlighted in blue. You can click on these to find records containing these terms

• Substance and registry information can be viewed by clicking on the link

• Articles included in the reference list may also be viewed

Full-Text Linking:

• SciFinder has the capability to link to the full text of the article IF the Library has a subscription to the journal

• Currently only the American Chemical Society suite of journals is connected

• Click on the Computer icon underneath the microscope to get to the full text

•  Then scroll to the bottom of the next screen, click on the No Additional Fees option (which will be colored). You will then be taken to the home page of the article and given an option to view in html or pdf. If nothing happens or you are asked for a username and password, the Library does not have a subscription to the journal
  

Cited Reference Searching:

• SciFinder will allow cited reference searching—it provides a feature to see who has cited, or included, a specific article in their article

• Once you find an article of interest, click in the box next to it and press the Get Related button (bottom of the screen in the middle)

• From the next screen, select the Cited References icon

• If there are citations in SciFinder that cite the original article, they will be shown on the next screen.

Indexed Substances:

• This lets you view any articles that index (use) the same substance as in your article

• Click on the Get Related button on the bottom left of the screen

• Then click on the Substances icon. This will gather all the information on the substance. A good way to find out chemical properties of items

Marking Results:

• Click in the box to the left of the author's name to mark or select it for printing or saving

Saving Results:

• Once you have marked desired records, click on the Save As icon on the middle of the tool bar

•  A box will pop up asking for a path, a file name and file format

• Use your own drives. Click on the down arrow by the Save In area at the top of the box. Choose your drive. SciFinder seems to work better if you use the C drive but it shouldn't normally matter

• Assign a file name and a file format. Rich Text or ASCII are best. Be sure to assign a file extension (.rtf or .txt) or the results may be unreadable

Printing Results:

• SciFinder Scholar automatically creates a link to your printer

• If you do not see your printer, please DO NOT install a printer. Contact Beth Thomsett-Scott and give your printer make and model

• If your printer is showing in the text box, then it is safe to print

• If you use a networked/shared printer, you will need to fill out a help ticket. Go to the Electronic Resources page, and click on the link on the left side that reads Report A Problem. Someone will contact you and get your printer set up

• Once you have set up your printer, follow the instructions below for printing

• After selecting records for printing, click on the Print icon

• The next screen lets you choose the format to print in. Summary is the default which gives you the basic citation and abstract. Full gives you the entire record as you see it when you click on the microscope icon

• You can also choose not to include the search history by unclicking the box

• You can give the print job a print header if desired

• Click OK

• You may get a Citrix message asking you what type of access to give it. Select Full Access but keep the default of "for this session only"

Locating Articles (if not available full text in SciFinder):

• You will need the entire SOURCE (SO:) line to locate the article

• Each record should have a link to Search UNT Library Holdings. This will automatically perform a search in the UNT Libraries’ catalog

• If you don’t get a result, perform the search manually using BOTH the Journal Title and Title searches in the UNT catalog (remember to search by the name of the journal, not the article title or author)

• If the journal is available online, there will be a connect to online or click here for online link in the catalog record. Journals that we have in print format are shelved alphabetically by title. Check the location to determine which UNT library holds the journal

• For additional hints on finding journal articles, please call the Science Reference Desk at 565-4745 or go to http://www.library.unt.edu/genref/ref_help.htm and chat with a librarian during working hours or send an e-mail question.

Help:

• http://www.cas.org/SCIFINDER/SCHOLAR2001/sfschlr.pdf

• There is also context sensitive help available by clicking in the help button on the task bar in the top right

• Information Retrieval: SciFinder and SciFinder Scholar by Damon Ridley. Call # Z699.5.S3 R52. Two copies available for circulating and one is kept at the Science and Technology Reference Desk

Notes:

• There is a maximum of three simultaneous users for this product

• After 20 minutes of idle time, SciFinder will automatically log you out (this includes time while you are exploring full text articles)