Research Guide to Chemistry

This research guide provides information particularly relevant to students in fundamental chemistry (CHM130) and general chemistry (CHM151 and 152), although many of the resources listed should also be useful for more specialized chemistry classes.

• Introduction/How to Search
• Reference Resources (Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, eBooks, Etc.)
• Online Databases
• Web Sites

 Indicates title is an eBook

Introduction/How to Search

Librarians do not simply buy materials and randomly put them onto the shelves. Each new item is classified-meaning it is examined carefully and assigned a number to make sure that materials on the same subject are shelved together. Pima College's Library uses the Library of Congress classification system, as does the University of Arizona. This system assigns each subject a combination of letters and numbers, then uses these letters and numbers to arrange materials on the shelves. (For more information see How to Read a Call Number.)

The following table shows how some basic subject headings in chemistry are classified. Clicking on any of these subject headings will start a search for the subject in the Library catalog.

Reference Resources

This section lists a few chemistry reference tools. Not all the print resources listed are available at all campus libraries. Check the Library catalog to verify the availability of titles.

• Breslow, Ronald. Chemistry Today and Tomorrow: The Central, Useful, and Creative Science. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society ; Jones and Barlett, 1997. This introductory text focuses on the practical aspects of chemistry, providing an overview of the subject particularly helpful for non-science major. It is available both as an eBook and in traditional print format in some campus libraries.
  
• Chemical Rubber Company. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. West Palm Beach, Fla.: CRC Press, 1974-. The subtitle to this standard reference tool describes it well: "A ready-reference book of chemical and physical data." The CRC Handbook is published annually, and beginning with the 83rd edition (2002-03) now also contains listings of other reliable sources of physical and chemical data.
  
• Dean, John Aurie, 1921-. Lange's Handbook of Chemistry. 16th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, c2005. Call no.: QD65 .L36 2005. Lange's Handbook is a standard reference in chemistry, with major sections on inorganic and organic chemistry, atomic and molecular structure, conversions tables, physical properties, etc. Note that some campus libraries have earlier editions of this work.
  
• Daintith, John, ed. A Dictionary of Chemistry. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.  Contains 4,300 entries on all aspects of chemistry, including physical chemistry and biochemistry. Also includes single- or double-page feature articles on important topics, such as polymers and crystal defects as well as chronologies that  chart the main discoveries in such fields as atomic theory, biochemistry, explosives, and plastics.
• Furr, A. Keith. CRC Handbook of Laboratory Safety. 5th ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press, c2000. Call no.: QD51 .C73 2000. This handbook provides comprehensive information on chemical lab safety, including chapters on emergency programs, lab facilities (design and equipment), lab operations, nonchemical labs, and personal protective equipment.
  
• Goldberg, David E. Beginning Chemistry. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. This title is a “crash course” in chemistry, and is based on Schaum’s Outline of Theory and Problems of Beginning Chemistry, 2nd ed.
  
• Grolier Educational (Firm). Chemlab. 12 vols. Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Educational, 1997. Call no.: QD35 .C52 1997. This multi-volume set was designed for younger readers, and is ideal for students who want a heavily illustrated aid to chemistry. Among the topics covered in the volumes are: gases, liquids, and solids; elements, compounds, and mixtures; the periodic table; metals; acids, bases, and salts; heat and combustion; oxidation and reduction; air and water chemistry; carbon chemistry; energy and electrochemistry; preparations; and tests.
  
• Kirk-Othmer Concise Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. 4th ed. New York: Wiley, c1999. Call no.: TP9 .K54 1999. This single volume encyclopedia focuses on the entire field of chemical technology and applications (e.g., disinfectants, fat replacers, petroleum).
  
• Lagowski, J. J., Ed. Chemistry: Foundations and Applications. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004.   Covers chemistry, its laws, processes, applications and subdisciplines. Reviews the history of the field, from the Bronze Age and alchemy up to modern research and practical applications. Includes biographies of scientists past and present and examines the role chemistry plays in various aspects of everyday life. Provides information about chemistry's many branches such as inorganic, industrial, atmospheric, and computational chemistry, and biotechnology.
• Maizell, Robert E. How to Find Chemical Information : A Guide for Practicing Chemists, Educators, and Students. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley, 1998.  This descriptive handbook is available both as an eBook and in traditional print editions in some campus libraries. It "describes the principal tools and methods of chemical information available today."
  
• McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Call no.: Q123 .M15 2003. This dictionary provides definitions of terms in all of the sciences, including chemistry. Note that some campuses have earlier editions of this title.
  
• McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. 10th ed. 20 vols. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007. Call no.: Q121 .M3 2007. This general encyclopedia for science and technology contains over 7,100 articles, as well as study guides to areas such as chemistry. The encyclopedia is also available as an online database, Access Science (see the  Online Databases section for further information).
  
• Meislich, Herbert, Howard Nechamkin, and Jacob Sharefkin. Schaum's Easy Outlines: Organic Chemistry. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000.  This Schaum's "easy outline" serves as a kind of syllabus to organic chemistry, and includes problems and exercises.
  
• Nathan, Harold D., and Charles Henrickson. Chemistry. New York: Wiley, 2001. Call no.: QD41 .N38 2001. This small book in the "Cliffs Quick Review" series helps students review the fundamentals of chemistry, and also serves as a concise comprehensive reference to the subject.
  
• Rhodes, P. H., and Rupert Purchase. The Organic Chemist's Desk Reference: A Companion Volume to the Dictionary of Organic Compounds, Sixth Edition. 1st ed. London: Chapman & Hall, 1995. Call no.: QD291 .R56 1995. This 170 page handbook provides summary information in the field of organic chemistry, including such things as molecular formulae, SI units, spectroscopy, etc.
  
• Rosner, Lisa M. Chronology of Science: From Stonehenge to the Human Genome Project. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2002. Call no.: Q125 .C482 2002. This reference tool provides a chronological history of all of the sciences, including chemistry, as well as biographies of well known scientists.
  
• Shugar, Gershon J., and Jack T Ballinger. Chemical Technicians' Ready Reference Handbook. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, c1996. Call no.: QD61 .S58 1996. This handbook is designed to be an "'omnibook' for all chemical laboratory personnal and students ranging from high school to graduate school." It gives users a step-by-step approach to lab work, and has special sections on basic lab math, statistics, organic nomenclature, and a glossary of relevant terms. The handbook is available in various editions at different campus libraries.

Online Databases

Unless otherwise indicated, the databases below are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week with a student ID or a faculty/staff Library card.

• A very useful online database is  Access Science, which contains the full text of all articles in the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. For the field of chemistry, Access Science provides a wealth of information, including biographies, related web sites, bibliographies, historical review, periodic table, data, tables and tools, and study guides. There are also major articles on analytical chemistry, chemical instruments, inorganic and organic chemistry, physical chemistry, polymer chemistry, and general chemistry.
  
• Today's Science is a database that can be helpful to students looking for overview articles, "hot topics" in chemistry and the other sciences, biographies of famous chemists, a glossary of terms, etc.
  
• Providing articles from a variety of sources (mostly magazines and newspapers), SIRS Knowledge Source comprises several databases, including one entitled "SIRS Researcher." This database provides information on the sciences.
  
• ProQuest Science Journals provides a collection of 209 scientific journals in full text and image formats from 1992 onwards. Subjects covered include general chemistry, biochemistry, and physical chemistry. This database is particularly appropriate when seeking scientific information from more scholarly periodicals and journals than are covered in Wilson General Science Abstracts Plus Text, which indexes more popular scientific publications.
  
• Another database that provides access to journal articles in a wide variety of subjects including chemistry and the sciences is Academic Search Premier, which specializes in scholarly articles.
  
• For biographical information on better known chemists, you can use Wilson Biographies Plus Illustrated, which contains biographies and obituaries on over 111,000 famous individuals.

Web Sites

There are thousands of web sites devoted to chemistry. We've listed a small number of high-quality sites that contain links to additional sites. More sites are listed under Internet Chemistry Resources.

• Frolov, Andrey. WWW Chemistry Guide. 2006. Web site. Available at: http://www.chemistryguide.org. Accessed on: Sept. 2, 2008. This web directory lists over 180 web sites in 21 categories, and describes itself as “a comprehensive collection of annotated links for chemists and researchers involved in organic, biochemical, computational, medicinal and/or other chemistry research.” New sites are vetted by an editorial team of qualified scientists, and “all sites included must contain substantive unique content, navigate in a user-friendly manner, contain no broken links or pictures, be up and running 24/7, and conform to universally accepted web standards.”
• Los Alamos National Laboratory. Chemistry Division. Periodic Table of the Elements. 2001. Web site. Available at: http://pearl1.lanl.gov/periodic/default.htm. Accessed on: Sept. 2, 2008. This web site is designed specifically for beginning chemistry students, and presents the periodic table of elements as a hyperlinked site so that users can get additional information on the properties of each of the elements by simply clicking.
  
• Louisiana State University Libraries. Chemistry Library.  Chemistry Internet Resources. 1999. Web site. Available at:  http://www.lib.lsu.edu/sci/chem/internet/chemical.html. Accessed on: Sept. 2, 2008. This is a useful directory to chemistry resources on the web, including general chemistry sites as well as more specialized sites devoted to organic, analytical, and bioorganic chemistry. Also included are links to safety information and chemical companies.
  
• Meeks, Denise. Mathematics and Sciences Web Reference Pages. 2004. Web site. Available at: http://nw.pima.edu/dmeeks/mathsci. Accessed on: Sept. 2, 2008. This website was developed by a PCC faculty member at the Northwest Campus. At the top of the page are links to a variety of websites in biology, chemistry, and other sciences. The chemistry pages include websites in chemistry education; chemistry classroom resources; general, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry; chemistry history; chemistry software; and chemistry publications and organizations.
  
• Senese, Fred.  General Chemistry Online! 1997. Web site. Available at:  http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/index.shtml. Accessed on: Sept. 2, 2008. This web site was developed and is maintained by an instructor at Frostburg State University, and provides a searchable database of over 800 common compound names, formulas, structures, and properties; a glossary; companion notes for first semester general chemistry; a glossary; tutorials; and a chemistry exam survival guide.