I announced to the NJIT community the coming of Scifinder Scholar on the Web

I am pleased to announce that NJIT will be moving to a web version of Scifinder Scholar in the spring semester. It will no longer be necessary to download software or remember the site.prf file. The database will not change, but there will be some new enhancements. A major change will be that every NJIT person wanting to search SFS will have to create their own username and password to use the web version. Each user must have an active NJIT e-mail address. In early 2009 I will send instructions on how to register. The client version of Scifinder Scholar will be available until the beginning of the spring semester. I will make an announcement when NJIT access to it will cease.

Chemical Abstracts Service is giving e-seminars on the web version of Scifinder Scholar.

Finally a couple of chemistry reference questions

1. A student wanted information on testing of pharmaceutical packaging. We searched Business Source Premier, Scopus, and Scifinder Scholar. Some of the retrieved references were on the testing of the pharmaceutical ingredient not the packaging. "Testing" was a stop word in Scifinder Scholar so we used integrity of pharmaceutical packaging to search. Again, my friends at Chemical Abstract Service through a curve ball at me. Integrity mapped to integral which created false hits.

2. A second student was looking for information on the effect of pore size on membrane filtration. Scopus had the advantage since one could sort by relevance. He only needed two references on the topic.

NJIT's Provost has stepped down

Provost Priscilla Nelson announced that she is stepping down as Provost, the chief academic officer at NJIT. In the organization scheme, the library is under the Provost so my big boss Richard Sweeney reports to her. I assume that for now Dr. Nelson will assume another position at NJIT. I wish her well in her future endeavors.

Volunteered to Serve as Assistant Editor of the Chemical Information Bulletin

I don't think I've ever mentioned on this blog that for many years I have been active in the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Information. I have contributed in the following capacities:

• Chair of the Careers Committee – organized several careers in Chemical Information Workshops
  
  Chair of the Publications Committee
  
  Editor of CINF E-News
  
  Education Committee - member

Today there was a call on one of the listservs for someone to volunteer to be the Assistant Editior for the printed Chemical Information Bulletin which is pulbished twice a year. I volunteered and was told that I would have to be approved by the editor. Let's see what happens.

Met with a TIAA-CREF Counselor Today

Like everyone else I am worried about the loss in value of my TIAA-CREF pension. Part of it is in a savings account while the other part is in stocks which have obviously diminished in value. I still have at least 9 years before I will retire which is a very long time. Certainly, the stock market is likely to recover in that time. He told me that at any time I can withdraw the funds in stocks and put them in savings. I have decided to stay the course and not change my withdrawls to this pension fund.

Reference Questions of the Day

I received this question when I was on QANDANJ this morning. Someone needed information about a Samuel Mason Clark who lived from 1910-39. I received on other information. After I checked the most likely sources and couldn't find anything, I went back to the chat and tried to ask the patron if he knew the field of endeavor for this person. The person had left the chat. This my general complaint about chat reference. They just don't want to wait.

At the reference desk someone wanted information about the adverse effects of human growth hormone. I started out by showing him Scopus and Medline, but those sources seemed too technical. I then referred him to http://medlineplus.gov/ where he found some web sites that gave him the information he needed at the appropriate level.

A student came into my office asking for the prices of bulk chemicals. I was able to find her information from the Business Source Premier database.

Students are very often vague when they pose a question and we must get them to be more specific. Here is an example:

A student ask for articles on engineering management. I referred him to Business Source Premier and found too many articles. He then said lets try chemical engineering management. He then said he a pharmaceutical engineering student as was looking for information in that area. He only needed one article.

Thought of the Day - Interlibrary Loan Requests

No library can provide all items to all patrons, no matter how big it is. I worked for the Research Library of NYPL from 1983-90. People were always asking for materials that we didn't have. There was a myth that NYPL had everything and had a telephone reference service that could answer any question. Anyway, the NJIT Library always has budgetary problems and often graduate students and faculty rely on the interlibrary loan service. I remember one graduate student who complained that she had to order everything she needed from outside. What bothers me is when people don't bother to look things up in our catalog or journals listing to see if we have the item they need. They essentially waste their own time.