NEWS AND NOTES CAS Open Forum
Chemical Abstracts Service will hold the 16th in its series of open forums Tuesday, September 14, at 8 p.m. in the Jefferson Room East of the Washington Hilton Hotel during the American Chemical Society’s 162nd National Meeting in Washington, Topic of discussion will be “Effective Management of Primary Publication Supply in Producing Secondary Information Services.” CA Integrated Subject File
A new information service introduced in June by the American Chemical Society’s Chemical Abstracts Service makes it possible for the first time to search the semiannual subject and formula indexes to Chemical Abstracts by computer. Called the CA Integrated Subject File, the new computer-readable service contains the complete subject index entries for each volume (6 months) of CA plus the molecular formula for each chemical compound indexed. Each entry for a chemical substance also includes the computer-assigned Registry Number that identifies the substance in the CAS Chemical Registry System. A search of the Integrated Subject File tapes alone yields the identifying numbers of CA abstracts of papers or patents containing information on the subjects or substances specified in the search. The same abstract numbers appear in CAS’S computer-readable CA Condensates service, which also includes the authors’ names, titles, and complete bibliographic information for the corresponding papers and patents. By combining the two files, it is possible to obtain search results in the form of complete citations of primary source documents. The file for each volume (6 months) of CA will contain upwards of 700,000 entries on nine 2400-foot reels of tape. To facilitate searching, the ISF for each volume of CA is issued in two parts, one containing entries for chemical compounds, the other, noncompound-oriented general subject entries. Entries within each part of the file are organized in the same alphabetical sequence in which they appear in the printed subject indexes. The Integrated Subject File is essentially a by-product of the production of the CA subject and formula indexes through a computer-based system. Information selected by CAS indexers for both indexes now is transcribed by clerical operators into a single computer-readable file. Once all of the necessary information is in this file, the selection of information that will appear in a particular index, the sorting and merging of the information into the order and form in which it will appear in the index, the selection of the appropriate type font for each part of the entry, and photocomposition of index pages all are performed through programmed computer operations. The computer-based Chemical Registry System that CAS has been developing since the early 1960’s also provides an important assist in producing the CA indexes. Since largescale Registry operations began in 1965, the names and structures of some 1.7 million different chemical substances have been recorded in the Registry’s computer files, and the correct indexing names for about 70 percent of the substances indexed for current CA volumes now are retrieved automatically by feeding into the computer system either an author-assigned name or a structure appearing in the paper or patent being indexed. Registry Numbers, the identifying numbers assigned to each unique substance as it is registered for the first time, made their first regular appearance in the printed CA indexes with volume 71 (July-December 1969). These numbers now appear as part of each entry for a chemical substance in the subject and formula indexes and the index
that identifies the substance corresponding to each number by its C A index name and molecular formula. Integrated Subject File tapes for volume 71 of CA-became available in June, and CAS expects to issue tapes for volumes 72 and 73 by the end of the year. While the subject indexes for volume 71 were the first to be published through the computer system, CAS presently is converting the information in the CA subject indexes back through volume 66 to computer-readable form so it will be available for computer organization and composition of the Eighth Collective Index to CA, which will cover the years 1967 through 1971. ISF tapes covering these earlier CA volumes (back to January 1967) will be made available as the subject indexes for these volumes are converted. Engineering Index. Inc.
Engineering Index, Inc., announced publication of the latest edition of Publications Indexed for Engineering (PIE) for 1971, a computer-prepared list of titles of publications abstracted and indexed by Engineering Index, Inc. The 2,246 titles in PIE include the regular professional and trade journals, and the proceedings, transactions, and special publications of engineering societies, scientific and technical associations, universities, laboratories and research institutions, government agencies, and industrial organizations. Papers of conferences and symposia, monographs, standards, and selected books are also covered. The list is arranged in a four-column format, including CODEN, the full publication title, the abbreviated title, and a letter code which indicates the depth of coverage (complete, partial, or monitored). Entries are arranged in alphabetical order by the full title with cross references to assist in locating entries that are cited by journal title and that may differ from library cataloging practice. The new PIE is available for $5.00 per copy. Orders or inquiries should be directed to: Engineering Index, Inc., Marketing and Business Services Division, 345 East 47th Street, New York, New York 10017. Ei has been awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation in the amount of $123,788.00 for a project entitled, “Conversion of Production System to Computer Based Operations.” Under the direction of Ei’s Executive Director, Bill M. Woods, the project took effect on April 1, 1971 and will continue for approximately one year. Specifically, the project makes possible the conversion of Ei’s production system, from the present Justowriter-Reproducer-Layout system, t o a computer-oriented system providing the utilization of CRT-Typesetting. Benefits will include improved legibility, scannability, and reduction in time-lag in Ei’s printed products. Successful completion of this project will provide the base for further development products in future years, intended to allow for direct utilization of machine-readable material from outside sources, production of high-speed current awareness services, and sale of production services to the professional societies for publishing such items as their year-end indexes. Also in the planning stage is a project intended to develop Ei’s capability to provide additional coverage in the area of environmental engineering. Permuterm Subject Index
The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) has published a new brochure describing the use of the Permuterm Subject Index (PSI) in literature searching. The brochure is available without charge to librarians, scientists, and others with an interest in the retrieval of scientific information. PSI is a title-word index to every article from more than 2400 journals. It permutes all words within the title and Journal of Chemical Documentation, Vol 11, No. 3,1971
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NEWS AND NOTES subtitle of an article to create every possible word-pair combination. This provides numerous two-level indexing entries for each article covered (a 10-word title creates 90 indexing entries). IS1 will publish PSI on a quarterly basis starting with the first calendar quarter of 1971. Previously, PSI was issued as an annual publication only. There will be three quarterly issues as well as an annual cumulation. The increase in publishing frequency will enable PSI to index current journal articles in as little as 90 days after they are published and is expected to substantially enhance the value of this reference tool. Microform Review
Microform Review, the first journal dedicated to reviewing microform publications for libraries and the educational community, will be published by Alan Meckler, Rogues Ridge, Weston, Conn. Microform Review will be published four times per year (October, January, April, and July) simultaneously in a journal version and on microfiche (105mm x 148mm). A year-end index will be provided in August. A subscription to both the journal and the microfiche editions is $30.00 per year. The journal and microfiche editions may be subscribed to separately at $20.00 each. ERIC
Responsibility for operation of the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), the centralized source for obtaining documents entered into the ERIC system has been transferred to LEASCO Information Products, Inc., 4827 Rugby Avenue, Bethesda, Md. 20014. A new pricing schedule is now in effect whereby microfiche will cost $.65 per title; hard copy will cost $3.29 for documents of 1 to 100 pages; increasing in the amount of $3.29 for 100-page incre-
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ments, thereafter. These prices are retroactive for all prices quoted in previous issues of Research in E ~ U C U ~(RIE) ~OR through April 1, 1971. Book rate or library rate postage is included in the quoted price; additional costs for first class or foreign (outside the continental US.)mailings will be billed at cost. Order blanks containing further information may be obtained from LEASCO Information Products. Gordon Research Conference
The Conference on Scientific Information Problems in Research has been deferred until the summer of 1972. According to Alex Cruickshank, Director of the GRC, “it is imperative that space in the schedule be available” to take care of requests received from new groups. The deferment action was taken by the Conference Trustees on the recommendation of the Selection and Scheduling Committee as the “result of long study and careful deliberations.” A program is planned on the general theme of “The Languages of Scientific Information,” to include the range from languages of input materials through those of processing operations to final output. These encompass the languages of original oral and written research reports, the languages with which these reports are handled in information systems, and the languages and format in which they are presented for the final record. The newer approaches to information processing offer exciting possibilities for handling materials in a variety of forms and languages, and for making these materials available for use in new and unconventional formats. The 1972 Gordon Conference on Scientific Information Problems in Research will explore the most recent results of research in progress in these areas. The format will follow GRC tradition, with a limited number of presentations and maximum opportunity for discussion.
