CHEMICAL TITLES AS AN AID TO CURRENT CHEMICAL LITERATURE BY JAMES P. WIGHTMAN College of Mineral Industries, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.
A knowledge of c u r r e n t c h e m i c a l l i t e r a t u r e i s i m p o r t a n t . C u r r e n t l i t e r a t u r e i s defined a s that body of original a r t i c l e s published i n any given month. Published l i t e r a t u r e is the m o s t widely used s o u r c e of scientific communication. Communication i s a complex and difficult p r o b l e m . D r . L. P. Hamrnett' i n the 1961 P r i e s t l e y Medal A d d r e s s to the A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society pointed out many of the p r o b l e m s i n the a r e a of communication. The v a s t amount of l i t e r a t u r e and the little t i m e given to the study of it h a s c a u s e d s o m e s c i e n t i s t s to r e s o r t t o two "unorthodox" techniques, a c c o r d i n g to H a m m e t t : ( 1 ) to r e l y on o r a l communication only; ( 2 ) to r e a d only the p a p e r s of a limited number of competent s c i e n t i s t s in the r e a d e r ' s field. If a scientist does not r e l y on t h e s e techniques then he m u s t s e l e c t s o m e other method of studying the l i t e r a t u r e . The p u r p o s e of this p a p e r i s to examine Chemical T i t l e s (CT) a s a possible aid i n the selection p r o c e s s r e f e r r e d to by H a m m e t t . C T i s a recent publication of the A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society and i s designed to cultivate " c u r r e n t a w a r e n e s s , " to f i l l the gap between p r i m a r y publication and the a b s t r a c t , and to r e d u c e the probability of overlooking any given a r t i c l e . Many l i b r a r i e s a r e s u b s c r i b i n g to C T . However, r e s e a r c h p e r s o n n e l a r e not fuutilizing CT. Individual p r e j u d i c e toward established m e t h o z o f s e a r c h i n g the l i t e r a t u r e m a y in p a r t be r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a n a p p a r e n t r e l u c t a n c e t o utilize E. FACTS ABOUT CHEMICAL TITLES. -- C T is published twice a month and the f i r s t i s s u e a p p e a r e d in J a n u a r y , 1961. T h e r e a r e a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2500 t i t l e s p e r i s s u e t a k e n f r o m m o r e than 300 journals ( 2 0 % of which a r e R u s s i a n ) . The i s s u e s a p p e a r within two w e e k s a f t e r r e ceipt of the j o u r n a l s . The rapid publication of a l a r g e number of t i t l e s i s possible by the u s e of a n IBM 704 c o m p u t e r . E a c h i s s u e i s divided into t h r e e p a r t s : P a r t I. Keyword Index: keywords i n e a c h t i t l e a r e aligned alphabetically down the c e n t e r of e a c h column. A code a p p e a r s opposite e a c h t i t l e . P a r t 11. Bibliography: alphabetical l i s t ing of code ( P a r t I) and f i r s t a u t h o r ' s name in addition t o other a u t h o r s , the full t i t l e of the 16
a r t i c l e , and the journal r e f e r e n c e . P a r t ILI. Author Index: a n alphabetical listing of a l l aut h o r s c r o s s - r e f e r e n c e d t o the Bibliography ( P a r t
11). The Keyword Index contains, i n addition to the keyword, a s m u c h of the r e m a i n d e r of the t i t l e a s p e r m i t t e d by the c o m p u t e r . The r e m a i n d e r of the title gives a good clue a s to the n a t u r e of the a r t i c l e . The complete t i t l e will a p p e a r i f it i s s h o r t . Consider a specific example. T h e r e i s a p a p e r entitled "Rate of the reaction of g a s e s and solid c a r b o n s . " In the Keyword Index, the title will be indexed under e a c h of the keywords: C a r b o n , G a s e s , R a t e , Reaction, Solid. The title will be coded TESN--PA6O-RRG e a c h of the five t i m e s it a p p e a r s . The code designation c o n s i s t s of four p a r t s : 1. TESN-first four l e t t e r s of f i r s t a u t h o r ' s name. 2 . P A - f i r s t two i n i t i a l s of f i r s t author. 3 . 60--last two digits of y e a r of original article. 4. RRG--first l e t t e r s of the f i r s t t h r e e significant t i t l e w o r d s (Rate, Reaction, Gases). Looking alphabetically under TESN-PA60 RRG in the Bibliography, one would find TESN--PA6O--RRG T e s n e r , PA Rate of reaction of g a s e s and solid c a r b o n s Gazovaya P r o m . , 5, No. 2 , 45-52 (1960) Two f u r t h e r points b e a r mention. Titles in foreign languages a r e t r a n s l a t e d into English. The language of a n a r t i c l e , i f different f r o m that of the journal, i s indicated in the Bibliography. A SUGGESTED APPROACH TO THE USE O F CHEMICAL TITLES. The following p r o c e d u r e has been found helpful in using (1) Set up a n alphabetical listing of keywords which a r e of i n t e r e s t . (2) Scan the Keyword Index and jot down i n a p p r o x i m a t e l y alphabetic a l o r d e r the f i r s t four l e t t e r s of the code. Exp e r i e n c e h a s shown that in m o s t c a s e s this a b b r e v i a t e d code i s s a t i s f a c t o r y in locating the d e s i r e d . a r t i c l e . ( 3 ) After scanning the Keyword Index c o m p l e t e l y , look up the code in the Bibliography and r e c o r d .
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CHEMICAL TITLES AS AN AID T O CURRENT CHEMICAL LITERATURE
RESULTS OBTAINED USING THE TECHNIQUE OUTLINED. -- The r e s u l t s l i s t e d i n Table I p e r f o r c e r e f l e c t a n individualized point of view, but s o m e g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s can be m a d e . TABLE I RESULTS USING CHEMICAL TITLES Average time (minutes) per issue to scan Keyword Index, jot down code and check Bibliography Average number of code!; taken per issue Average number of titles taken per issue Average number of titles retained per issue after reading original articles
30 26
18 14
A r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l amount of t i m e i s r e quired p e r i s s u e . The d e c r e a s e i n the number of c o d e s and t i t l e s taken i s evidence f o r the fact that p a r t i a l t i t l e s i n the Keyword Index c a n be m i s l e a d i n g . The d e c r e a s e i n the n u m b e r of t i t l e s taken and retained a f t e r reading the o r i g i nal a r t i c l e s i s evidence f o r t h e f a c t that even complete t i t l e s of a r t i c l e s c a n be m i s l e a d i n g . H a m m e t t points out that m o r e attention should be given to t h e titling of published p a p e r s . !'I have long a r g u e d that the t i t l e of e a c h scientific p a p e r should indicate w o r d s that would suggest to the potential r e a d e r e v e r y m a j o r subject d i s c u s s e d i n the p a p e r . ' I 2 CRITICISMS O F CHEMICAL TITLES. -CT i s - c r i t i c i z e d both d e s t r u c t i v e l y and cons t r u c t i v e l y . A . Destructive: ( 1 ) A limited n u m b e r of words' a r e i n too long a s e r i e s of keywords, e.g., r e a c t i o n . ( 2 ) T i t l e s c a n be m i s l e a d i n g z t h a t they m a y t e l l too m u c h o r not enough about a p a r t i c u l a r a r t i c l e . (3) The titling p r o b l e m i n the n o m e n c l a t u r e of new compounds i s p e c u l i a r to o r g a n i c c h e m i s t r y .
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B. Constructive: ( 1 ) CT i s t r u l y c u r r e n t . The m o s t r e c e n t i s s u e of C T c o n t a i n e d approxim a t e l y 15% of t i t l e s w h i c h a r e i n j o u r n a l s not yet r e c e i v e d by t h e C h e m i s t r y and P h y s i c s Lib r a r y a t the Pennsylvania State University. ( 2 ) CT i s a t r e m e n d o u s t i m e s a v e r . The a r r a n g e m e n t of the Keyword Index and Bibliography a r e conducive to rapid s u r v e y and selection. The Keyword Index l i m i t s t h e temptation t o get sidet r a c k e d on "interesting" subjects a s i s often t h e c a s e with Chemical A b s t r a c t s (CA). (3) red u c e s t h e probability of m i s s i n g any given a r A or t i c l e by ( a ) not being sectionalized a s i n & C u r r e n t Chemical P a p e r s ( C C P ) , ( b ) having a built-in check s y s t e m , e.g., i n the example given, the title would a p p e a r f i v e t i m e s i n the Keyword Index and ( c ) covering m o r e than twice t h e numb e r of j o u r n a l s p e r i s s u e a s E P . In s u m m a r y , CT i s not the final a n s w e r to the p r o b l e m of rapid and thorough communication. On t h e o t h e r hand, =is by f a r the best a p p r o a c h yet to t r u l y c u r r e n t l i t e r a t u r e , r e q u i r ing a m i n i m u m of t i m e and giving a m a x i m u m probability of not m i s s i n g any given a r t i c l e . The author acknowledges the c r i t i c i s m s f r o m graduate students and staff ( F u e l Technology, Organic C h e m i s t r y ) attending s e p a r a t e s e m i n a r s given on the m a t e r i a l contained i n t h i s p a p e r . M i s s E l e a n o r H. Stoddard ( B u s i n e s s Division, ACS) w a s kind enough to check the a c c u r a c y of t h o s e s t a t e m e n t s pertaining to Chemic a l T i t l e s . M r . Robert F r e e m a n , Editor of Chemical T i t l e s , offered s e v e r a l c o n s t r u c t i v e comments.
REFERENCES (1) L. P. Hammett, %mica1
Engineering News, April 10, 1961,
pp. 94-97.
( 2 ) L. P. Hammett, Chemical and Engineering News, No. 15. Vol. 39, page 94.
TRANSLITERATION O F RUSSIAN T h e adoption of a single, uniform t r a n s l i t e r ation s y s t e m f o r t r a n s l a t i o n of R u s s i a n ( C y r i l l i c ) c h a r a c t e r s into t h e L a t i n alphabet w a s r e c o m mended a t a r e c e n t m e e t i n g i n Washington, D. C., c a l l e d by t h e A m e r i c a n Association f o r t h e Advancement of Science a t the r e q u e s t of the National Science Foundation. A c o m p r o m i s e
s y s t e m known as t h e "AAAS t r a n s l i t e r a t i o n s y s t e m " c o m b i n e s f e a t u r e s of v a r i o u s s y s t e m s now i n u s e s o t h a t c h a r a c t e r t r a n s l i t e r a t i o n m a y be s t a n d a r d i z e d . An i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t of t h e s y s t e m i s that i t m a y be typewritten with t h e m i n i m u m u s e of d i a c r i t i c a l m a r k s .
