Library Support Page for
Atoms, Molecules and Reactions
Our Purpose is to prepare you for spring quarter's focus on enhancing skills in experimental design and research methods with the incorporation of team research projects surrounding a historical experiment in chemistry and development of interpretation and integration of issues skills pertaining to chemistry and society.
The Disciplines
You are aware that The Evergreen State College is an inter-disciplinary studies college. What is meant by this? (click on "Disciplines" above for one attempt at an explanation).
Remember that Chemistry is not isolated from other human endeavors. To understand chemistry you need to know how understanding of it developed - to know the history and social consequences of the subject. This means you will need to seek information in the other disciplines, Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, as well as Natural Sciences.
Library Tools:
Ability to do successful research lies in familiarity with the tools of the trade.
There are many "formats" for the presentation of information, some of these contain factual information of direct relevance to a research question, others exist to lead you to this factual information.
Library and Information science (L&IS) is a tool that exists to benefit researchers of all levels of sophistication. What we in the profession do is help you as a researcher select the appropriate bibliographic tool that will lead you to information that will make your research successful. Until you become familiar with these tools, your best option is to begin your research by consulting with a reference librarian.
Some information sources contain "directional" information, leading the researcher to content sources. These latter are known as finding aids, for example:
- Library catalogs
- Indexes
- Table of contents
- Internet search engines
Note: The terms used above to describe types of information have many variations, be aware that synonyms exist.
All researchers should become familiar with the first item on the above list, the On-line Public Access Catalog (aka OPAC or Library Catalog), and learn some of the methods of using this tool to aid your research progress.
Other Bibliographic tools include many informational presentations or formats with which you may already be familiar. These generally contain "content" or "contextual" information, for example:
- Almanacs
- Dictionaries
- Encyclopedias
- Handbooks and Guides
- etc.
And some that are less familiar but in many cases extremely helpful:
- Bibliographies
- Concordances
- Conversion Tables
- Gazetteers
- Standard Methods
- Yearbooks
- etc.
Some General Bibliographic Tools:
Links below are from the Reference and Journals section of the Library CatalogChemistry Related
BOOKS (aka Monograph and Serial Monographs)
For background information on chemistry with a humanities or social science focus (i.e., history of chemistry, ethics of chemical research, etc.) learn to use the subject headings provided on the Library Catalog. A reference librarian can instruct you in how these aids to research work. This also holds true for books specifically on Chemistry subjects.
Two of the information source types mentioned above have direct correlations with the sciences in general including chemistry. These are: Conversion Tables and Standard Practices.
As with any other subject, chemistry has its own specialized information tools. Learn to manipulate these and you will have gone a good way toward becoming a chemist. As a chemistry researcher you will need to use both these and other chemistry specific sources. The links below are through the Library Catalog
Chemical Information Tools:
CRC Handbook of
Chemistry and Physics 
Other Chemistry handbooks are also available - use the subject heading - Chemistry Handbooks Manuals Etc.
PERIODICALS Sources (aka serials, journals, magazines)
Citation Indexes:
Chemical Abstracts
History of Science Related
See also the subject heading Chemistry - History in the main library catalog
Special Tools:
DialogWeb: a powerful search tool that provides access to thousands of authoritative business, scientific, intellectual property, and technical publications. Accessible from the Library Catalog, it provides easy access to the full content (over 600 databases). A password is required which for program use will be provided by your Faculty Librarian liaison after students have been trained in how to use the tool.
On-Line Tools
On-line Chemistry History Resources (links)