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PHSC 300 SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE

ASSIGNMENT 13: Other abstracting services and other journals; Handbooks


Some research subjects can lead across traditional boundaries, so it really is necessary to be able to search journals outside one's primary field. For example, a biochemist researching the role of aluminum found in the brain of patieints with Alzheimer's syndrome, might well try to correlate diet (aluminum in food stuffs-agriculture, cooking utensils-nutrition) with the observed amount of plaque found in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. This is but one example. There are many potential examples. Most abstracting services are more or less based on the Chemical Abstracts model and are relatively straightforward to use. The first three questions deal with abstracting services. Not all disciplines have an abstracting service that is readily available. This can be remedied by electronic searches which we will talk about in a later assignment. Many journals, however, do contain indexes for the entire year of a volume number. These indexes are traditionally put in the last issue number of the volume. The rest of the assignment reflects these types of searches. Report the article title, authors, journal, volume number, issue number (if available), page number, and year for each of the articles found for the problems below (plus any other information asked for):

  1. Using Biological Abstracts Volume 49 (1968) find a(n) articles on the treatment of Parkinson's disease by either surgery or psychotherapy. Report the title of the article, the journal, volume number and page as well as the authors and where the work was done.

  2. Using Physics Abstracts for Jan-Jun 1994 find all articles dealing with high temperature ceramic superconductors. Key word = ceramic(s). Look for Tc, HTSC (High Temperature Supercconductor) under ceramic(s) headings. Report the title of the article, the journal, volume number and page as well as the authors and where the work was done.

  3. In Nutrition Reviews, Volume 58 (2000)report all articles relating to Vitamin A.

  4. In the December 2001 issue of the "Nursing Clinics of North America," find an article about the psychological distress observe in cancer patients, such as anxiety, depression, etc.

  5. In the American Journal of Sports Medicine Volume 28 (2000) find an article aout the effect of nitric oxide on the healing of ligaments.



HANDBOOKS & ENCYCLOPEDIAS

When looking for a specific piece of information that is probably generally available, hnadbooks, dictionaries and encyclopedias are often good sources. Some of the most common chemistry handooks and encyclopedias are listed below (all of these may be found in the reference section of the McNeese library, however the library's copy of the Chemist's Companion has gone missing. A copy will be available from the secretary in the Chemistry Department Office):