This is the first in a series of papers that will present topics designed to introduce students to searching the online database, CAS ONLINE. The computerized equivalent of the printed Chemical Abstracts, CAS ONLINE is made available through STN International and consists of three separate but interrelated files: the CA (bibliographic) File, the Registry (structure) File, and the CAOLD File (a bibliographic file-pre-1967). There are also two training files available-Learning CA File (LCA) and Learning Registry File (LREGISTRY).The topics included in this article, when supplemented by discussion and hands-on practice, are intended to accomplish the following:1) demonstrate the advantages of computer access to information; 2) introduce the logic of searching an online database;3) explain Boolean logic, proximity operators, and truncation; 4) introduce STN International's Messenger command language2 and searchable fields.
This data base, essentially a subject index, consists of substance names, their Registry Numbers and characteristics, and actual structural representations.
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