General Science Index, New York: H. W. Wilson. 1978- . Monthly. (high school level; just to get a feel for periodical indexes and abstracts, a sort of Readers' Guide of the sciences).
- The General Science Index is a cumulative subject index to English language periodicals. Subject fields indexed include scientific disciplines such as chemistry, environment and conservation, health, physics, and mathematics (from Preface; also see list of Periodicals Indexed). The Committee on Wilson Indexes of the ALA's Reference and Adult Services Division advises the publisher on indexing and editorial policy.
- The main body of the Index consists of subject entries to periodical articles arranged in one alphabet, followed by a separate listing of citations to book reviews.
- Review a list of periodical titles indexed in the General Science Index in front. For example, if an important title, say Mathematics Magazine, is not there, you may decide not to use the General Science Index at all.
SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS (template searching of printed General Science Index).
To find out if papers are published about, say, aromatic compounds or biodegradation, look under these topics in the main subject Index; follow leads for papers listed under other keywords and related terms. In the example below, related terms to aromatic compounds are benzene, ..., xylene.
Aromatic compoundSee also
Benzene
Fluorene compounds
Naphtalenes
Polychlorinated dibenzofurans
Toluene
XyleneBiodegradation
One of the articles on biodegradation is written by S. R. Hutchins in the periodical title Applied Environmental Microbiology in volume 57 on pages 2403-2407 in 1991.
- Biodegradation
of monoaromatic hydrocarbons by aquifer microorganisms
using oxygen, nitrite, or nitrous oxide as the terminal
electron acceptor. S. R. Hutchins.
bibl il Appl Environ Microbiol 57:2403-7 Ag '91.
As we noted earlier, printed indexes typically have electronic versions in the form of online and/or CD-ROM databases.
See if your library subscribes to OCLC's FirstSearch service; look for General Science Index online.
Mathematical Reviews, Providence, R. I.: American Mathematical Society. 1940- .
- MR indexes reviews of books, monographs, reports, journal and conference articles in interdisciplinary fields that are related to mathematics (e.g., computer science, mechanics of solids, fluid mechanics, optics, structure of matter, astronomy and astrophysics, geophysics, economics, biology, psychology, educational computing research, information and communication, circuits).
- Entries
of reviews in the subject index are arranged in
classification order:
- 00
General
01 History and biography
03 Mathematical logic and foundation
04 Set theory
11 Number theory42 Fourier analysis
45 Integral equations51 Geometry
54 General topology62 Statistics
68 Computer science
76 Fluid mechanics90 Economics, operations research, programming, games
92 Biology and natural sciences
- 00
General
- Reviews
are signed, lengthy and critical. Besides the main
subject index, others include indexes for authors,
mathematical reviews, as well as key index. Note review
lag that exists between publication date and review
date.
MathSciNet http://www.ams.org/msnhtml/about_mathsci.html is the searchable Web database providing access to over 60 years of Mathematical Reviews and Current Mathematical Publications from 1940 to the present. Reports are contributed from over 120 departments and institutions. Full text of all reviews from 1940 to the present is available on MathSciNet. Information on how to subscribe and get answers to pricing questions is on the Web as well as at (800) 321-4267. Visit MathSciNet Demo http://www.ams.org/msnhtml/msndemo_main.html as well as free of charge featured reviews http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/ and publications http://www.ams.org/publications/.
AMS preprint server http://e-math.ams.org/preprints/ offers information on current research through preprints in mathematical disciplines. For electronic mathematical journals, visit http://euclid.math.fsu.edu/Science/Journals.html
MATH database (1931-present), a service of the European Mathematical Society, FIZ Karlsruhe & Springer-Verlag, is available at http://www.emis.de/
Electronic versions of Mathematical Reviews exist as MATHSCI online database (via Dialog, ESA/IRS, as well as through online library catalogs).
When you search MATHSCI online, you are searching the following print sources:
Current Mathematical Publications
Current Index to Statisctics
Index to Statistics and Probability
ACM Guide to Computing Literature
Computing Reviews
Technical Report in Computer Science
STRENS Recreational Mathematics
Physics Abstracts. For physics literature, search Physics Abstracts, which is a Science Abstracts Series A of the INSPEC http://www.iee.org database. Published twice monthly by the Institution of Electrical Engineers, PA is the world's major English-language abstracting service for the physics community. PA covers the whole field of physics and includes journals, reports, books, dissertations, and conference papers published in all languages (from the PA Preface).
PA abstracts are arranged by subject (from the INSPEC Thesaurus) in accordance with the scheme in the CLASSIFICATION and CONTENTS. Other indexes are author index as well as bibliography index, book index, corporate author index, and conference index.
CLASSIFICATION and CONTENTS is followed by an alphabetical guide to the scheme, the SUBJECT GUIDE. The classification and contents is detailed and subdivided several levels. For example:
0600 MEASUREMENT SCIENCE, GENERAL LABORATORY TECHNIQUES, AND INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEMS
0630 Measurement of basic variables
0630C Spatial variables measurement
American Institute of Physics (AIP) Center for History of Physics (founded in 1961) preserves and makes known the history of modern physics and allied fields including astronomy, geophysics, optics, and the like. The Center maintains oral histories and interviews with over 1,500 individuals; it houses manuscripts, photographs, recordings, and other forms of primary sources.
For chemistry information sources and lecture notes, see the following Web sites: Carr and Somerville suggest the ideal chemical information curriculum; it is available at:
http://www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/cciim31.html
G. Wiggins at the University of Indiana has developed chemical information sources and lecture notes on the Web. The notes are organized under:
- Communication in chemistry and where to start
- How and where to search for general information (e.g., searching known items; searching by subject; Searching by chemical name and formula; and structure searching)
- Specialized information (e.g., patents; searching for information involving chemical measurements; searching for chemical and physical properties; reaction chemistry).
The Web site is at:
http://www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/400lecnt.html
Teaching chemical information: tips and techniques was presented at workshops by the ACS Division of Chemical Information Education Committee. While the content is more geared toward teachers rather than students, the overall material is relevant especially for graduate students who themselves might one day teach or co-teach similar courses. The Web site is at:
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/swain/edcinf/cont.html
Useful sites for chemists are developed by the American Chemical Society's ChemCenter. Others are
ChemWeb and Chemical Heritage Foundation
Science Citation Index. Philadelphia: Institute for Scientific Information, 1961- .
- Science Citation Index is the only database that can answer questions such as "who has cited my work, and how often has my work been cited." The premise is that if you cite others' work in your papers, there must be relationship between the topic you write about and topics of papers you cite. Several topics in computer science have also been indexed using the similar citation principle; one such database is Citeseer, currently called ResearchIndex.
- The Index contains three separate and interrelated parts: Citation Index, Source Index, and Permuterm Subject Index. This source is machine produced, current, and as many others, available online and CD-ROM. Citation indexes have no controlled vocabulary.
- WebofScience, also by ISI, is searchable via the Melvyl system as well as other library catalogs and portals.
Applied Science and Technology Index, 1913+ NY: H.W. Wilson. Monthly.
Indexes nearly 400 English language journal articles, conference papers. The main listing is by subject in addition to a book review listing. Subject fields indexed include computer technology, environmental, energy resources and research, chemical, civil, electric and telecommunications, mechanical and nuclear engineering. ASTI, being an index, gives bibliographic citations only. Each citation includes the following data:
-- Title of the paper-- Names of authors or contributors
-- Indication of illustrative matter (il) as well as inclusion of references (bibl), maps (map) and graphical material (diag).
- -- Periodical title
-- Volume, issue number, pagination, and publication year
To quickly find if this Index covers Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) technical reports, where would you look? How would you find if your local library has EPRI Journal?
Has anyone published papers on clean air?
Look under the subject heading Atmospheric chemistry. Titles of individual papers are arranged alphabetically by title. One of them reads:
What is clean air? by S. A. Motley. It is published in Technological Review, in volume 92 starting on page 8 in January of 1989.
Has anyone reviewed French's Invention and Evolution, 1988?
Wilson's indexes include Book Review section in back of Index. This database is also available through OCLC's FirstSearch password-based service (1983 to present). Note the year when printed ASTI started (1913).