Library Handbook for Organic Chemists

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	Issues in Science and Technology   Librarianship
	Winter 2001

	DOI:10.5062/F4VT1Q23



      

  Book Reviews
    Library Handbook for Organic Chemists
      David Flaxbart
  Mallet Chemistry Library
  University of Texas, Austin
flaxbart@uts.cc.utexas.edu        


     

  Poss, Andrew J. Library Handbook for Organic Chemists.  NY: Chemical Publishing Co., 2000. ISBN 0-82060-361-9. $64.95 (paper).  
    Organic chemists are taught early on about the singular importance of the  field's scholarly literature, which is one of the largest and most complex  of any discipline. In spite of the instructional efforts of libraries,  information-finding skills (and prejudices) are generally passed on from  professor to graduate student, from senior chemist to junior chemist.  Since many of the time-honored, retrospective resources exist only in  print format, organic chemists tend to be more familiar with and dependent  on their physical libraries than most other scientists are nowadays. This  bibliocentric culture is reflected in a new guidebook written by a chemist  with Honeywell International.     The author states in his preface that this book is "an effort to bridge  the gap between the needs of the research scientist and the predicaments  of today's libraries." Many working chemists, particularly in industry,  do not have ready access to the full breadth of chemistry reference  sources: their libraries may be small, outdated, underfunded, or even  nonexistent. This handbook attempts to list the most important sources a  chemist should use in a literature search. Twenty-seven sources are  arranged alphabetically in the main section of the book. In addition,  there are brief overviews of categories such as journals, patents,  reviews, dissertations, Internet resources, and dictionaries. Each entry  provides basic background on the title's arrangement, scope, and use,  including in some cases a full table of contents or index summary. Sample  entries from some sources are reproduced as illustrations. A "Search  Orientation Table" in the front of the book groups the titles according to  what questions they might answer, and this table would be the starting  point for the reader. The last section is a topical index of all review  articles that appeared in the journals Tetrahedron and   Synthesis from 1972 to 1997. 

    The book includes most of the standard print reference sources in organic  chemistry, which are described in varying levels of detail: Beilstein,  Theilheimer's, Rodd's, Houben-Weyl, Heilbron, Patai, Fieser's, and  Kirk-Othmer. Well-known one-volume handbooks, such as the CRC, Lange's,  and the Merck Index, are also present. (Organic chemists tend to identify  handbooks and series by the names of their original editors, which lends  the field a kind of old-boys-club air.)

    But there are significant problems in the presentation. Bibliographic  data on the titles -- such as author/editor, date, edition, publisher, and  ISBN -- are completely lacking, making it difficult to determine the exact  publication being described. Some entries, despite lack of date, clearly  describe superseded editions. Titles are misspelled (e.g. Organic  Syntheses is repeatedly referred to as Organic  Synthesis, a common but annoying mistake that defeats many a  befuddled library patron). While the author helpfully provides Library of  Congress call numbers for most titles, he is apparently unaware that many  libraries alter these numbers or use other classification systems. The  outdated review index seems pointless, since there are many other sources  of review articles beyond these two journals. 

    The entries often include mention of CD-ROM or online versions, primarily  those on Dialog and STN, but this guide is not intended as an online  searching aid. And while the author makes an attempt to include web-based  resources, this coverage is cursory at best and excludes a number of  important sites. Most astonishing, however, is the failure to include  major online tools such as Chemical Abstracts' SciFinder and the Beilstein  Crossfire systems, which have become key resources for organic chemists  and students during the last few years. The author fails even to mention  computerized structure searching, which is a vital point of access to  organic information. These omissions seriously compromise the usefulness  of the book. 

    While the Library Handbook for Organic Chemists is   well-meaning and  occasionally helpful, it doesn't provide a complete enough picture of the  literature of organic chemistry in all its complexity. It contains a  number of inaccuracies and misconceptions, and its omission of some titles  and newer editions makes one think that it was compiled from the holdings  of a single library. Its neglect of the new generation of databases and  online services makes it seem behind the times. The sources included  certainly deserve attention and continued use by chemists and librarians,  but there's much more to the picture than this book lets on. 

    

  

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