CHM 298 Assignment #12 (Due Friday, April 21 at 5:00)

Introduction to Chemical Abstracts Part 2

The purpose of this assignment will be to provide you with hands-on experience searching chemical abstracts.

1. Access http://stnweb.cas.org/html/english/a_index.html, then click "Academic Login" in the left margin of the screen. Enter the login id, password, and academic port letter emailed to you by the professor and click "login". A frame of text should appear on the right of the screen, with a command line frame just beneath. Enter the "Learning Chemical Abstracts" file by entering the command "file LCA", and note from the resultant output text that you have indeed accessed the LCA file. This is a special limited database designed specifically for learning purposes. If any other file is used for the searches below, a score of zero will be assigned!

2. Select some topic that of interst to you, and conduct a search for relevant literature (bear in mind that this is a limited database designed for learning purposes). Briefly describe your search protocol and note the total number of references found. Practice displaying the various data of one such reference using the "display" command; display at least one reference. If no references are found for the topic selected, select a different topic again and search again until at least one reference is found.

3. Refine your search using one of the techniques discussed in Lesson 4 of the manual that you were required to read last week. You may wish to narrow the results with the "AND" command or restrict the search to a specific number of years. Again, briefly describe the search protocol and the number of references found. If no references are found, try a different tenique for narrowing your search parameters. Record the total number of references that you find.

4. Enter the command "d hist" and note the response. How many "answer sets" (each identified by its L#) were generated during your search session?

5. Enter the command "d cost" and note the response. What was the "total cost" of your search session?

6. The text frame will accumulate all your input and corresponding output, so you may scroll back to review your search session at any time. When your search session is complete, click ithe "transcript assitant" in the left margin of the screen. On the right portion of the screen select "Adobe PDF" as a format to have a transcript of your session saved an Adobe Acrobat document. Email me this document along with the usual report page containing the answers to the questions above. After saving the PDF file, please change or add to the name of the document so that it contains your name.

7. Enter the command "LOGOFF" to disconnect from STN.

Notes:

Note: UNCP has an academic, "after hours" account with STN that provides handsome discounts but only allows access between 5:00 pm and 5:00 am Monday through Friday (all day access on Saturday, no access on Sunday). You will be unable to perform searches between 5:00 am and 5:00 pm, so plan your work accordingly!

Ler me know if you have any questions or problems. Have fun! This is your last assignment of the semester!