Since this book was first published in 1985, tremendous changes have taken place in the field of online searching. Thus a second edition was truely over due. Dr. Hedda Schulz, author of the first edition, found a most competent and renowned searcher as her co-author in the person of Dr. Ursula Georgy. The authors have undertaken an enormous task. As a result of their efforts, a convincing handbook had been written. It will reliably serve newcomers and experts alike it is an instruction manual as well as a reference book. The importance of modem information handling has been advanced in many an article, book and preface. It is therefore unnecessary to repeat the arguments here. This book can contribute to creating a deeper understanding of information handling in those persons who have not yet registered its impor tance or who are standing on the sidelines waiting sceptically. In contrast, all those people who have so far believed that you only need to connect your personal computer to a modem will be shown in a thoroughly professional way that there is a lot more to online searching than pressing keys on your keyboard. To own a palette and easel does not make you an artist. Apart from the benefit, that searchers and readers will draw from it, this book should help to eradicate the timeworn motto: the world's knowledge at your fingertips.

1 The Information System of the Chemical Abstracts Service

1.1 The History of Chemical Abstracts and of Secondary Literature
1.2 How an Abstract in Chemical Abstracts is Created
1.3 The Databases of the Chemical Abstracts Service
1.3.1 The Structure CAS Databases
1.3.2 The Bibliographic CAS Databases
2 Searching for Literature in Chemical Abstracts
2.1 Organization of Chemical Abstracts
2.1.1 CA Issues
2.1.1.1 The Abstracts
2.1.1.2 The CA Issue Indexes
2.1.2 Index Guide
2.1.3 CA Volume Indexes
2.1.3.1 General Subject Index
2.1.3.2 Chemical Substance Index
2.1.3.3 Formula Index
2.1.3.4 Index of Ring Systems
2.1.3.5 Author Index
2.1.3.6 Patent Index
2.1.4 CA Collective Indexes
2.2 Sample Search (to illustrate Index Guide, Chemical Substance Index, Qualifiers and Categories): What was published about the plasticizer DOS in Vol. 118?
2.3 Sample Search (to illustrate Alphabetical Hierarchy, Hierarchy Index of General Subject Headings, Qualifiers for Organs and Tissues and General Subject Index): Are there recent publications on the therapy of cardiac arrest?
2.4 Sample Search (to illustrate Index Guide, General Subject Index and Chemical Substance Index): Does Chemical Abstracts, Vol. 118 contain references about the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis?
2.5 Sample Search (to illustrate Molecular Formulae, Formula Index and Chemical Substance Index): What is the fastest method of finding abstracts about the substance with the molecular formula Cl3C-CO2Na?
2.6 Sample Search (to illustrate Patent Index, Numerical Patent Index and Patent Concordance): What are the contents of the patents US 5,158,840 and CH 609,340?
2.7 Sample Search (to illustrate Index Guide and Chemical Substance Indexes to the 12th to 1st collective period): Carry out a comprehensive search concerning the substance piceol
3 Locating the Source Document
3.1 CAS Source Index (CASSI)
3.2 Sample Search (to illustrate short journal titles, CAS Source Index, library holdings information and English translations): Where can the English translation of the document covered in CA abstract No. 118:6467 be obtained?
4 Registry Handbooks
4.1 Registry Handbook - Number Section
4.2 Registry Handbook - Common Names
4.3 Sample Search (to illustrate Formula Index, Index of Ring Systems, Chemical Substance Index and Registry Handbook - Number Section): Were there any publications about a certain substance or any of its derivatives in the period from 1972 to 1976?
5 Ring Systems Handbook (RSH)
5.1 Ring Systems File
5.2 Index to the Ring Systems Handbook
5.3 Sample Search (to illustrate Ring Systems Handbook and Chemical Substance Index): What was published about a certain ring system?
6 Online Searching
6.1 Technical Requirements
6.1.1 Communication Software
6.1.2 Data Transmission
6.1.3 Logon Procedure
6.1.4 Internet
6.2 An Introduction to Online Retrieval
6.2.1 Types of Databases and Access to Them
6.2.2 Processing a Query and Its Costs
6.2.3 Boolean Logical Operators and Other Proximity Operators
6.2.3.1 AND Operator
6.2.3.2 OR Operator
6.2.3.3 NOT Operator
6.2.3.4 Hierarchy of Logical Operators
6.2.3.5 Proximity Operators
6.2.4 Truncation
6.2.5 Indexing
6.2.6 Download of Documents
6.2.7 Hosts' Mailboxes
6.2.8 A Simple Search
7 Chemical Databases on STN
7.1 Registry File - Dictionary Search
7.1.1 Registry Number and Component Registry Number
7.1.2 Trade Names and Chemical Names
7.1.3 Name Fragments
7.1.3.1 Heading Parent
7.1.3.2 Basic Index
7.1.3.3 Index Name Segment and Other Name Segment
7.1.3.4 Chemical Name Segment
7.1.4 Molecular Formulae
7.1.4.1 Multicomponent Systems
7.1.4.2 Compounds Containing Deuterium or Tritium
7.1.4.3 Polymers
7.1.5 Element Counts, Element Symbols and Formula Weights
7.1.6 Ring Analysis
7.1.7 Tabular Summary of Search Fields
7.1.8 Important Display Fields and Formats
7.2 Registry File - Structure Search
7.2.1 Types of Structure Search
7.2.2 Procedure of a Structure Search
7.2.3 Building up Structures
7.2.3.1 Building up of Structure Skeleton
7.2.3.2 Specifying Node Values
7.2.3.3 Bonds
7.2.3.4 Further Structure Attributes
7.2.3.5 Display of the Built-up Structure
7.2.4 Structure Search
7.2.5 Display of Answers
7.2.6 Screen Search
7.2.7 A Complete Structure Search with Spiro[cyclohexane-1,3?-[3H]indol] Derivatives as an Example
7.3 Chemical Abstracts
7.3.1 Crossfile Searching REGISTRY/CA File
7.3.1.1 Taking over the Registry Number
7.3.1.2 Taking over the Registry Number and Names
7.3.2 Basic Index
7.3.2.1 Substance Search with Registry Number and Subject Terms
7.3.2.2 Dictionary Search with Subject Terms
7.3.2.3 Default Abbreviations for Subject Terms
7.3.2.4 Search Registry Number and Subject Terms with the LINK Operator
7.3.3 Further Fields
7.3.3.1 Authors and Inventors
7.3.3.2 Corporate Sources, Patent Assignees and Locations
7.3.3.3 Document Type
7.3.3.4 Source, CODEN and ISSN
7.3.3.5 Publication Date and Year
7.3.3.6 Sections
7.3.3.7 Language of the Original Publication
7.3.3.8 Cross-References to Other Databases
7.3.4 Chemical Abstracts as a Patent Database
7.3.4.1 Patent Assignees and Inventors
7.3.4.2 Patent Number, Patent Country and Designated States
7.3.4.3 Application and Priority Information
7.3.4.4 International Patent Classification (IPC)
7.3.5 Important Display Fields and Formats
7.4 World Patents Index from Derwent
7.4.1 Access to the Database
7.4.2. Crossfile Searching Chemical Abstracts/World Patents Index
7.4.3 Basic Index
7.4.4 Patent Assignees
7.4.5 Inventors
7.4.6 Patent and Priority Numbers
7.4.7 Country Information
7.4.8 Date Information
7.4.9 Patent Statistics
7.4.10 Important Display Fields and Formats
7.5 CApreviews
7.6 CAOLD
7.7 CASREACT
7.7.1 Reactants, Products, Reagents
7.7.2 Number of Reaction Steps
7.7.3 Yield
7.7.4 Important Display Fields and Formats
7.8 MARPAT
7.9 CIN - Chemical Industry Notes
7.9.1 Basic Index
7.9.2 Chemical Names
7.9.3 Categories
7.9.4 Names of Persons and Companies
7.9.5 Geographical Data
7.9.6 Further Chemical Business Databases
7.9.6.1 Chemical Business News Base
7.9.6.2 Predicasts Promt
7.10 Beilstein
7.10.1 Identification of Substance
7.10.2 Preparation and Reactions
7.10.3 Physical-Chemical Properties
7.10.4 Spectroscopic Data
7.10.5 Important Display Formats
7.11 Gmelin
7.11.1 Definition of Gmelin Compounds
7.11.2 Substance Identification
7.11.3 Preparation and Reactions
7.11.4 Physical-Chemical Properties
8 The Databases of Chemical Abstracts Service on Six Hosts
8.1 Special Features on Different Hosts
8.1.1 DATA-STAR
8.1.2 DIALOG
8.1.3 ESA-IRS
8.1.4 ORBIT Search Service
8.1.5 QUESTEL
8.1.6 STN
8.1.7 Summary of Available CAS-Databases and Search Features
8.1.8 Hosts' Addresses
8.2 Comparison of Retrieval Commands
9 Printed Matter - Online Services, a Comparison
10 Conclusion
11 Bibliography
12 Glossary
13 Index.