化学专业英语之化学文献检索

化学专业英语之化学文献检索THE LITERATURE MATRIX OF CHEMISTRYThe literature of chemistry and chemical technology is a rich and vast knowledge resource through which we can interact with those who have shaped our past and who are shaping our present.On accepting the invitation to write this book, I hoped to achieve the following objectives:To give the reader an appreciation of the value of the literature matrix and the vital role it has played in the progress of chemistry and technology.To delineate the scope and content of the literature matrix so that the reader can interact with and gain access to it effectively.To orient the book to students majoring in chemistry and chemical engineering and to scientists and engineers employed by the chemical industry in research arid development and in plant operations. Whereas a minority of chemists and chemical engineers affect the literature as authors, all are affected by the literature as readers and users. Reading and using the literature are not only a tradition; they are a necessity if we are to maintain scientific growth(self-education) .relate facts (idea seeking), and establish background information for new research programs (insurance against repeating what has already been done).Too many graduates leave the educational environment with the belief that learning goes on in academic buildings and nowhere else. To limit thinking within the bounds of formal education and training makes us artisans and our science an art. and courts technical obsolescence within a decade1.The chemical literature offers professional chemists and chemical engineers an opportunity for continuous .lifelong self-education. Ideally .every course in science and engineering curriculums should train students to utilize the literature for self-education. The student should be taught not only segmented disciplines, but also how to learn science and technology that is changing rapidly in directions that cannot be anticipated easily.The amount of information to be taught has increased so much that most professor? find little time to teach the literature.Furthermore ,chemistry and chemical technology are increasingly segmented into new disciplines and subdisciplmes .such as polymer chemistry, material science, and environmental science. The need to teach electronics and computer science in addition to the new disciplines have forced the elimination of courses in literature, history, and philosophy of chemistry from the majority of curriculums. Of the approximately 2000 colleges and universities that grant degrees in chemistry, only a few offer courses in the literature of chemistry and still fewer m the history and philosophy of chemistry. Paradoxically when the chemical literature was relatively small, the literature and history of chemistry were considered to be important components of the curriculum, and a high percentage of colleges and universities had courses in those subjects. Many textbooks written for students of the late nineteenth and the first three decades of the twentieth century emphasized the literature. and history of chemistry. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case.f he twentieth century has been a period of rapid growth in the chemical industry and in governmental laboratories, in research and development funding by both the chemical industry and the federal government, and in the numbers of chemists and chemical engineers. The result has been a correspondingly rapid growth of the literature in a multitude offragmented disciplines and subdisciplines. The size, growth, and complexity of the literature became such in the twentieth century, and particularly since 1940, that a multitude of information services were created and a number of guide books were written to aid the user of the literature. One of the best known of these was A Guide t& the Literature of Chemistry by E.J. Crane and A.M. Patterson, published in 1927 by John Wiley &. Sons. This book enjoyed wide use as a text for courses in the literature of chemistry, as did the second edition (1957) by Crane, Patterson, and E.B. Marr, Two other highly regarded and much used texts were Chemical Publications--Their Nature and Use by M. G. Mellon (1928, 1940, and 1948; McGraw-Hill) and Library Guide for the Chemist by B. A. Soule (1938, McGraw-Hill).Another response to the size, growth and complexity, of the literature was the appearance of a new specialist, the chemical information scientist, and a new subdiscipline of chemistry, chemical information science—now a well-established career for thousands of chemists. Although the activities engaged in by these chemists are taught in colleges and universities, the courses are not a part of the chemistry curriculum, nor do they constitute a curriculum for chemical information science2. Chemical information scientists edit and write technical material, translate, index, abstract, search the literature, design information systems rand relate the 'literature to the needs of an environment. As computers became increasingly important in processing information, chemical information scientists played an important role in employing this new tool for computerized information systems and services.In the nineteenth century the literature of chemistry consisted t)f personal contacts,: lectures, correspondence, books, and a few journals. As late as World War I it was-not very difficult for a chemist to read practically everything of importance published in chemistry. Thereafterit became increasingly difficult, and by the, 1930s it was impossible to read everything of importance.Today, the chemical literature consists of books .encyclopedias, treatises, data compilations, handbooks, patents, journals, abstract journals, trade literature, government publications, market research reports, and a variety of computer-based information services. Although a part of this literature matrix is discussed in books by Crane, Patterson, and Marr; Mellon; Soule; and others, the character of the literature has changed radically since these books were written. The present book includes the earlier literature, which is still of importance for retrospective searching, and the significant traditional literature and information services, which are essential for maintaining current awareness and for retrospective searching.Books, encyclopedias, treatises, data compilations, etc., are the vade mecum of students in all subject areas, especially in science and engineering. These are the subjects covered in Chapters 1, 2, and 3. Books are the major resource utilized in the educational process, and one who has not learned how to use school and public libraries can hardly claim to be educated. The books one acquires during the academic years are but a drop in the ocean of literature, and this drop evaporates rather quickly into obsolescence. Throughout one's professional career it is important to gain familiarity with a large number of books, encyclopedias, treatises, etc. , and with sources that give information about new books. The survey of books in Chapter 1 is neither definitive nor all-inclusive; it is, however, highly selective, based on my own use of many of the books listed or on the evaluations of others. Year of publication is not given for every book because many undergo periodic revision; the reader should seek the latest edition.Familiarity with treatises and encyclopedias, such as those listed and discussed in Chapter 2, is a sine qua non for all practicing chemists and engineers. Organic chemists cut their teeth on Beilstein and Houben-Weyl, and inorganic chemists on Gmelin. The most important general reference book today is the Kirk—Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. Considerable searching and learning time is saved by knowing and consult-ing these encyclopedias and treatises. Like most other tools of chemistry .expertise comes with frequent use.Every chemist and chemical engineer should have a personal copy of a single-volume handbook, such as Lange's, Perry's, or CRC's, and should be aware of and frequently consult comprehensive works, such as Landolt-Bornstein, International Critical Tables, and the special data compilers of critical data discussed in Chapter 3.Patents constitute an integral resource of the chemical literature. They have a unique literary form, written to satisfy legal requirements, and very unlike that used for reports or journal literature. Most important, they are an essential and useful source of chemical technology, and they play a critical role in the conduct of research and development in the chemical industry. The number of abstracts of basic patents published in Chemical Abstracts, which very recently has been in excess of 60000 per year, gives an indication of the size of this literature. Chapter 4 discusses patents as a resource and how to use them. Journal literature has been the fastest growing segment of the chemical literature. Whereas books, encyclopedias, and treatises discuss the past events of chemistry, journals record the current happenings. Journals came into existence in the seventeenth century as a better and faster communication medium than letter, pamphlet, or book, and slowly evolved into the dominant medium for reporting and communicating activities inthe laboratory. As chemistry was increasingly subdivided into specialties and the products of chemical industries increasingly used by other industries, the journal literature grew to cover these areas of interest. In addition to reporting current research, journals were introduced to review the literature and to serve the needs of trade groups. As the number of journals in chemistry, chemical technology, and allied fields increased to the present 20000-40000, the journal literature also became the dominant resource for retrospective searching. Chapter 5 puts this vast resource into perspective, identifying the important journals by period of publication, country of publication, and—for journals currently pub-liaised —subject area covered. Because there are so many journals being published today, only the major journals in various subdisciplines are listed.In the nineteenth century, the size and complexity of the journal literature already prompted the introduction of Pharmaceutisches Centralblatt (1830) [name changed to Chemisettes Zentralblatt (1856)]. The first journal in chemistry consisting wholly of abstracts. It was followed by Science Abstracts in 1989 and Chemical Abstracts in 1907. There are now over 1500 indexing/abstracting publications, covering the journal, report, patent, and book literature. Chapter 6 discusses these services as they evolved over the centuries. Chapter 7 is a fairly detailed discussion of Chemical Abstracts and Chapter 8 of otherindexing/abstracting services.The introduction of computer-based information services, the subject of Chapter 9, added a new dimension to the chemical literature matrix. Since the mid-1960s, online data bases have become a major tool for searching the chemical literature. They are a tool, however, that requires knowledge of the contents and limitations of data bases and how to access the data bases through the systems imposed by data base brokers. Despitethe increasing number of data bases available online from various data base brokers, most chemists use the new tool mostly through intermediaries. Terminals, a maze of operating systems, programming languages, and intermediaries are still barriers between the scientist and the computer. But there is hope that through proper management computers and telecommunications can bring the literature of chemistry to us according to our specific needs and in our terms.Of the various components of the literature matrix, computer-based information services are undergoing the most rapid changes. For about two months in 1981, I was given an opportunity to update the present book before it went to the publisher. I added new information to every chapter, but the greatest number of changes and additions were in the chapter on computer-based information services. Data base producers especially are undergoing changes toward improving their products. A salient example of the changing nature of computer-searchable information systems is Chemical Abstracts Service, whose products CASIA. CA Condensates, and Patent Concordance, no longer produced, have been replaced by far superior products, CA BIBLIOFILE and CA SEARCH.Most scientists and engineers prefer the dreams of the future above the history of the past. But our constantly evolving present is a consequence of our expanding past, and the best of today’s chemistry will be a part of the past. The study of history is more than a luxury. The past has played a tremendous role m shaping our literature and continues to be a part of our total knowledge. The chemical literature, although young and vigorous, is steeped in history. Those who have made this history and literature are discussed in Chapter 10. Chapter 11 traces the development of American chemistry and its literature from colonial times to the twentieth century. Only deceased chemists are considered in this chapter; otherwise chapter 11 would have been the longest in the book.Communications has been the most pervasive force in the creation and maintenance of chemistry and chemical technology. The printing press -was the magic wand that made this possible. But like the "sorcerer's apprentice," we do not know how to control the outpouring; we seem to have more documents than we want or need; or else, the ones we want and need are diluted with too many which are not relevant. Information storage and retrieval are still based on the printing press and paper, the filing cabinet, and library shelves. For the reader, microfiche and microfilm, introduced to save space and costs, are interior to paper. Despite the progress that has been and is being made in computerized information systems and in telecommunications, most of us will continue to read and file printed documents for some time to come. But the paperless society is on the horizon and will be cast of our future.。