G. S.REVESZ AND A. WARNER (3) Crane, E. J., “Words and Sentences in Science and Industry,’’Science 86, 549-53 (1937). (4) Crane, E. J., “Abstracting and Indexing,” J . Chem. Educ. 20, No. 11 (1943). (5) Crane, E. J., “CA Today,” Chem. Erg. News 26, 2190 (1948). (6) Crane, E. J., “Scientists Share and Serve,” Chem. Erg. iVeLcs 29, 4260 (1951). (7) Crane, E. J., “Chemical Abstracts Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” Proc. Chem. Soc., p. 334, Dec. 1957. (8) Bottle, R. T., “Use of the Chemical Literature,” 231 pp., Butterworths, London, 1962. (9) Burman, C. R., “How to Find Out in Chemistry,” 220 pp., Pergamon, Oxford, 1965.
(10) Mellon, M. G., “Searching the Chemical Literature,” 40 pp., ACS, Washington, D. C., 1964. (11) Mellon, M. G., “Chemical Publications,” 4th ed., 324 pp., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1966. (12) Gould, Robert F., Ed., “Searching the Chemical Literature,” Adiian. Chem. Ser. 30, 326 pp. (1961). (13) Bottle, R. T., “Use of The Chemical Literature,” 231 pp., Butterworths, London, 1962. (14) Tate, F. A,, “Progress Toward A Computer-Based Chemical Information System,“ Chem. Eng. Nexs 45, 78-90 (1967). (15) Davenport, W. C., “CAS Computer-Based Information Services,” Datamation, pp. 33-8, March 1968.
Retrieving Chemical Information with Index Chemicus” G. S. REVESZ a n d ANDREA WARNER Institute for Scientific Information, 325 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa.
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Received October 23, 1968 By communicating in the international language of structural diagrams, Index Chernicus provides for rapid scanning and retrieval of information about chemical compounds via subject, author, and molecular formula indexes. In addition, data on instrumental analyses and proposed biological and other uses of compounds are presented. Index Chernicus has been extended to provide for computer retrieval and identification of compounds via line notations of structural formulas, and coverage of newly reported reactions of old compounds is now provided.
The basic objective of Index Chemicus is to present information about new chemical compounds and reactions in a simple and quickly understandable form, and to make this information easy to retrieve through a variety of indexing methods. Published weekly, Index Chemicus contains an average of 350 abstracts which describe about 3000 new compounds, gathered from the world’s chemical literature. Averaging 80 pages per issue, the publication functions as both a secondary journal and a unique registry of new chemical compounds. Index Chemicus, I C , Index Chemicus Registry System, A S C A , O A T S , and I S I are registered trade marks of the Institute for Scientific Information. Articles published in IC are selected from a basic list of 180 regularly scanned journals and meet one criterion: each contains newly synthesized or elucidated chemical compounds. If an article meets this criterion, it is abstracted, regardless of the country of origin, language, or specific field of chemistry. The journals regularly processed by Index Chemicus are scanned page by page by a team of chemists as soon as they appear in print, some even as they appear in page proofs.’ These are primary chemical journals, which probably include close to 99% of all published new compounds.‘ I n addition to these regularly-indexed journals, the Automatic Subject Citation Alert ( A S C A ) , another service of the Institute for Scientific Information, provides articles ”Presented before the Division of Chemical Literature, 156th Meeting, ACS Atlantic City, N.J., September 13. 1968.
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from 2000 additional journals in allied fields. This input yields the remaining few compounds indexed. The articles from a particular journal appear in Index Chemicus between 35 and 45 days after the journal is received. Each abstract of Index Chemicus contains the following information: a. Bibliographic data (author’s name and affiliation, mailing address, journal citation, received date, and language) b. Summary (if supplied by author) c. Identification of new compounds by structural diagrams and molecular formulas; reaction flows are included when relevant d. Proposed uses of compounds, if tests and accompanying data are presented e. Instrumental data and indication of new reaction, when sppropriate f. Author’s approval of abstract
I n addition, a monthly index is provided, which is cumulated semiannually and annually for retrospective searching by: g. h. i. j.
Author Subject Molecular formula Journal k. Rotaform’
Optional services available to the reader include 1. Magnetic tape search m. Tearsheet or reprint of original journal article n. Magnetic tapes with structural diagrams in line notation form JOURNAL OF
CHEMICAL DOCUMENTATION, VOL. 9, No. 2, MAY1969
RETRIEVING CHEMICAL INFORMATION WITH Index Chenicus USE OF INDEX CHEMICUS: A N EXAMPLE
Consider a typical article to illustrate what information can be derived from it (Figure 1). I n the upper left hand corner appears the number 91041. This is a unique identification number through which compounds, authors, and subjects can be identified in the respective cumulative indexes which appear monthly and are cumulated semiannually and annually. This is a serial number which started with 00001, when the first Index Chemicus issue appeared, and reached the 100,000 mark in issue 250, in August, 1968. Next to the article number appears the title of the primary article in English. All foreign language titles are translated by the indexer or by the translating department of the Institute. The author and coauthors’ address a t which the work was performed, the mailing address of the first author if different from the first address, journal citation, date when the original paper was received by the primary journal, ilnd the language of the original article complete the bibliographic data. Whenever an article provides an author’s summary, it is reproduced in its original language. The most important part of the abstract is the identification of new compounds. Every new compound has a running number, which, together with the article number, uniquely identifies it in the cumulative indexes. Each compound also has a diagram reference number which ties it to a given structural diagram, thus defining the compound a t a glance without complicated chemical nomenclature. Diagrams can be easily scanned, making Index Chemicus not only a very effective searching tool,
UNIQUE NUMERICAL IDENTIFICATION S E R I A L NUMBER\ AFFILIATION A N D ADDRESS
Figure 2. Subject Index but also a quick scanning tool for the chemist with limited time for browsing. In this particular example, the researcher scanning for new developments in benzodiazepines can immediately spot what is of interest to him by looking a t the structural diagrams without reading a single printed word. Conversely, he can look in the subject index under the heading “Benzodiazepines” (Figure 2), which will, through the number 91041, lead him back to the article of interest. From the given flow diagram, he can also ascertain the method by which these compounds were prepared. I n the same way, he can look up the molecular formula of a specific compound of interest (Figure 3 ) , which, again through the number 91041, will lead him to this article. Index Chemicus indexes all intermediates, many of which are not isolated or analyzed by the author. Many compounds which would otherwise be missed are thus brought to the reader’s attention. The Use Profile, Data Alert, and New Reaction Alert (Figure 1) are refinements which were added to Index Chemicus after the original concept had become well
AUTHOR A N D CO AUTHORS
TITLE OF ARTICLE
I
A NEW M Y O R E L A X A N T
I N THE
BENZODIAZEPINE CLASS:
COMOY P , S U O U E T M . B O I T A R D J I L E M E U R B A S S E L I E R J J , BRUNAUD M e S A L L E J e CENTRE RECH. ETABLISSEMENT CLIN-BYLA, PARIS -
