Relation of an Abstract to Its Original G. MALCOLM DYSON Chemical Abstracts Service, Columbus,
Ohio
A chain of inquiry, made up of the links of original
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communication, abstract, index, and search, must exist between the searcher and the original source of information, and all links must be in order. Abstracting may be subdivided into the considera tions of title, numerical data, critical consideration, authors and references, creation of the abstract, and indexing.
The nature of inquiry is i n itself a subject for study, more especially the division of the inquirer's work into the two departments of discovery and verification. In this paper, however, the most important factor is the chain of inquiry w h i c h must exist intact between the searcher and the original source of information. T h e links in this chain are the original communication (journal, thesis, patent, or other source ), the abstract, the index to the abstract, and the searcher. T o arrive at one end of this chain from the other, all the links must be i n order. The probability that this w i l l be so depends on the efficiency w i t h w h i c h each link operator works; if searcher, indexer, and abstractor are all 95% efficient, the over all efficiency is 85.7% and the chance that a given piece of original information w i l l reach the searcher is approximately 5 i n 6. W h i l e it is the main object of this contribution to say a little about the link between abstract and original, it is not always possible to avoid encroaching on the subjects of indexing and searching; the main object is, nevertheless, to examine the relation between the original com munication and those abbreviated forms w h i c h are indispensable to the chemist. V e r y few editors of scientific journals today allow any verbosity on the part of their contributors, and it is unlikely that any contribution to a scientific journal as published can be cut down appreciably without losing something of the author's meaning. T h e days are gone when W . H . Perkin (Senior) could say of a com pound " i t crystallizes from alcohol in magnificent pale yellow columnar prisms, which, on slow cooling of the solution, often attain a length of several inches"; today this w o u l d be "yellow prisms ( E t O H ) . " This being so, it is clear that the abstractor has to make the difficult decision of what to retain and what to reject. This decision must be consistent—and in this respect consistency is one of the highest of virtues, since it w i l l not benefit users of an abstract system if abstracts prepared by different abstractors, or by the same abstractor on different occasions, are based on varying conventions. M u c h could be added on the subject of the selection of data from originals for abstracting. It is fundamentally important to 33 SEARCHING THE CHEMICAL LITERATURE Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1961.
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realize that the pattern of selection w i l l necessarily alter from discipline to disci pline. A selection pattern for chemistry w o u l d be of no use i n astronomy or m e d i cine. In chemistry we try to "print the facts" but nevertheless something is i n evitably lost i n the course of compression. There is a growing tendency to print long tables of very similar compounds w i t h small modifications, from w h i c h it is hoped that large physiological differences w i l l arise; such tables are not reproduced in abstracting and all the compounds may not be named i n the abstract; i n the index (subject and formula) all the names w i l l be recorded, however, if relative to positive physiological results, so that occasionally the indexes may compensate for material unavoidably rejected i n abstracting. The subdivision of the considerations of abstracting into the following sections is purely arbitrary, and is for convenience of the author. Title The statement that the title should be descriptive of the matter of a com munication seems to be a truism, but insufficient attention appears to be p a i d to the titles of papers submitted to learned journals. This is particularly true w h e n papers are part of a series—for example, one of a series of papers may be entitled "Studies in the Chemistry of X and Y , Part 47. Attempted Synthesis of Y . " Suppose X and Y are complex alkaloids; often such a paper deals only w i t h the preparation of some complex ring structures—oxaâzulenes, perhaps—from w h i c h the investigators hope ultimately to synthesize the subject of their main interest. H e n c e the paper is really about oxaâzulenes and not alkaloids X and Y . T h e repercussions of this on indexing are serious. However, the new " k e y w o r d in context" indexes (Chemical Titles) w h i c h are compiled b y computer from titles of papers and used for aware ness i n the period between original publications and effective use of chemical and physical abstracts, may alter this. A s special keyword indexes are compiled from titles, authors may give more thought to the relation of a title to its paper. Numerical
Data
In abstracting it is desirable to transfer many of the numerical data of the original communication, if they are relative to properties and not to arbitrary read ings taken during experiments. Thus, the determined melting point, boiling point, refractive index, density, and even such lesser k n o w n properties as specific induc tive capacity and dipole moment are always to be placed i n an abstract. Their presence w i l l often obviate a search through the original, w h i c h is one of the objects of abstracting. It is not possible, however, to index many of these data; this results in having to make searches under various entries for a desired physical property. This is the complement to the situation where more information is available i n the index than in the abstract; here the reverse is true. That "consultation of abstracts cannot replace the reading of original literature," like all such sweeping statements, is true only u p to a point; it w o u l d be better to say that while much useful informa tion can be gathered from abstracts without consulting originals, we cannot do all our reading in the abstract journals. This academic scientist who could keep abreast of his microslice of science by reading half a dozen papers i n half a dozen journals is a being of the past; modern chemists have to be more versatile. Some academic colleagues who have researched in a limited field for a lifetime can, no doubt, keep abreast by reading only original papers; for most chemists, however, abstracts are "of the essence."
SEARCHING THE CHEMICAL LITERATURE Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1961.
DYSON
Relation of Abstracts to Original
35
It is important, where the lesser k n o w n constants have been determined, to index them not only under the compound but under the property—e.g., the dielec tric constant of camphor should be indexed as "Dielectric constant, of camphor" as well as "Camphor, dielectric constant." Such a feature (used i n Chemical Abstracts consistently) adds vastly to the value of the abstract service.
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Critical
Consideration
W h e n an abstract is being made, selecting and rejecting may be considered a process of criticism, and i n the last analysis may become so; the dismissal of a paper by an abstract consisting of the single w o r d " p o l e m i c a l " is a case i n point. In general, however, technical criticism i n abstracting is rightly to be avoided, although it is perhaps a pity not to indicate physical constants that have been determined w i t h more than the usual precautions. This is sometimes taken care of i n the title, but often there is no means of telling whether a particular constant has been determined w i t h great accuracy or just casually, as the melting point of an organic compound is determined. Authors and
References
The names of authors are best preserved i n abstracts exactly as printed i n the original communications. The Chemical Society of L o n d o n has (1933) dropped its old custom of printing each authors name i n full, and uses Christian names only where confusion is likely to arise—as between Sibelius Smith and Samuel Smith. The innovation practiced by Chemical Abstracts of including the addresses of authors has much to commend it. The Nature of an
Abstract
Fortunately for chemists, it is scarcely possible to write a paper without establishing, so to speak, a reference framework of matter. T h e chemical paper w i l l always be "about" a substance, or group of substances, so that its framework in this respect can always be expressed i n terms of material structure—inorganic or organic. Thus, an abstract, i n mentioning the o l d and new compounds w i t h w h i c h its original dealt, is becoming studded w i t h reference or indexing points which are (assuming a satisfactory nomenclature) noncontroversial—either a paper deals w i t h phenanthrene or it does not. O n the other hand, concepts arise w h i c h do not always admit of suoh sharp characterization; when, for example, "tubercu losis" is mentioned i n relation to a chemical structure, several different concepts can be i m p l i e d and additional terms are necessary to make communication pos sible. Thus the concept "phenanthrene" is of first-order precision and that of "tuberculosis" is of second-order. W i t h "tuberculosis" we need to know whether the disease is exacerbated or ameliorated by the compound; w h i c h particular organism and w h i c h host is being considered; the route and frequency of admin istration of the drug, and so on. Thus, a concept of second-order precision needs a modification, as i n "tuberculosis, dermal, treatment b y intradermal application of phenanthrene." T h e concept of each unit i n such a modification—"skin," "intradermal applica tion," and "phenanthrene"—is important. Fortunately, phenanthrene is easily coded ( B 6 1 3 ) , but the other centers of conceptual significance need arbitrary codes. Physical properties are fairly easily defined and are intrinsic— that is, they 3
SEARCHING THE CHEMICAL LITERATURE Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1961.
Downloaded by WEIZMANN INST OF SCIENCE on May 26, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: January 1, 1961 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1961-0030.ch004
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are permanent—while the chemical nature and physical environment of the com pound remain unchanged. The biological activities are not in all cases measur able or capable of being objectively described, and must therefore be dealt with by a series of arbitrary symbols. Analytical procedures, technical and industrial applications, and patent data are all different, but correlated, data centers that may arise i n connection w i t h any compound or group of compounds; these fea tures must all be constantly i n m i n d as an abstract is built up, for each symbol and each center must i n some way appear i n the abstract; if physiological inves tigations have been made on a new organic compound, not only must the prepara tion and physical properties appear i n the abstract, but reference to the nature of the physiological data is essential. It may, perhaps, be well to reiterate the value of including negative results i n the abstract. If a new compound was examined and found to be entirely devoid of local anesthetic activity, this should be stated, i n the hope that the statement w i l l avert a useless repetition of the work. Indexing Consider the abstract:
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Synthesis of thiopnenol derivatives. II. Masao Tomita, H i /J\ roshi Yamada, and iCeiichiro Hozumi (Univ. Kyoto^JaEan) J-Pharm. Soc. Japan, 69,403-4 (1949). P^(lT^inaa^from \£) 0 P h S H a n $ j P h I Addn. of poncd. H g Q j l S T g i v e s 4.4 -thiod£ ^nzenesulfonic acid (II) and PCl^frith II gives the s ù l f ô n y h ^ ^ \ chlorïde^III), reduced with Sn and HCltp4,4'
