We now have Reaxys database!

Starting from February 2011, the University Library subscribes to Elsevier Reaxys database. Remember those Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry and Gmelin Handbook of Inorganic Chemistry? They are now online within a mouse click or two.

Straight from the source: "Reaxys contains an extensive repository of experimentally validated data that chemists need including structures, reactions (including multi-step reactions) and physical properties." I am very impressed with its user interface, the wealth of information it contains as well as the data visualization aspect.

Upcoming workshops will be scheduled in the near future.

For an overview:

http://www.reaxys.com/info/about_overview

Check it out!

Look! Science Direct has a new look and feel

If you used ScienceDirect recently, you might have noticed that it had a new face lift. It looks "greener" to me. Not sure if, subconsciously, this is the corporate message that Elsevier is trying to imprint in people's mind.

Elsevier promotes its SciVerse Hub, which (in their own words) "is your key to performing advanced searches across SciVerse ScienceDirect and SciVerse Scopus content, and web content."

CSULB does not subscribe to Scopus so we still need to see how this SciVerse Hub works without Scopus content. It is interesting to note that the free web content that SciVerse Hub originally stated was Scirus, the Google-like, science-focused search engine.

Let's try it out and see ...