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CHEM/BCHM4000 Honours Thesis Research​: Home

Workshop Slides

Chemical Identifiers

Chemical Name: Chemicals can have dozens of synonyms. Common types of chemical names include:

  • Common name

e.g. ibuprofen

  • Trade name

e.g. Advil

e.g. 2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propanoic acid

  • Other synonyms

e.g. list of synonyms for ibuprofen

Molecular Formula: Be careful using molecular formula to search; many substances have the same molecular formula.

e.g. C13H18O2

CAS Registry Number: CAS Registry Numbers are unique chemical identifiers. CAS Numbers are proprietary identifiers maintained by Chemical Abstact Services (CAS), makers of SciFinder. Many chemistry databases make use of CAS Numbers.

e.g. 15687-27-1

Wikipedia/Common Chemistry: This Wikipedia/CAS collaboration is handy for finding identifiers for common chemicals.

American Chemical Society (ACS) Style

ACS Style is commonly used by chemists. It is the style used by the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Citation Management

Organize your sources and cite them automatically in your papers using one of these free citation managers.

Librarian

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John Dupuis
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Steacie Science and Engineering Library, room 102H
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Physical & Chemical Properties

Patent-Containing Chemistry Databases

General Patent Databases

Journal Article Databases

Search these databases to find journal articles.

Omni Searching Books/E-Books

Omni, available via the library home page, is the new search tool shared by 18 Ontario university libraries. With a single search you can find a variety of resources held at York University Libraries and the other Omni partner libraries.

To find books or e-books follow these steps:

Step 1: Apply the Relevant Search Scope

Omni can be used to search for books or e-books in three different domains, equivalent to search scopes:

  1. York Libraries
  2. York Libraries + Omni Libraries (default search mode)
  3. Course reserves

In general we advise that you choose the first option. If you cannot find what you need this way, choosing the second option will find more books and e-books, which may be available using inter-library loan options linked from system records.

Step 2: Conduct your search

Results are automatically sorted by relevance including:

  • Frequency of matching search words
  • A value score (query words in author, title, subject, plus date)
  • Proximity of search words to one another 

 If you sort by the newest date, you lose the relevance ranking.

Step 3: Avail of the Search Filters and limit to Books & E-Books under Resource Type

These search filters appear once results load along the left-side of the screen

Use our Omni Guide to learn more about effective search strategies in Omni. Key terms to know are Search Scope, Facet, Boolean, Truncation, Wildcards, and Limits.