CHM/GLG 481 & 598: Geochemistry
- Home
- Precision vs Recall
- Topics
- 1. Geochemical implications for carbon dioxide sequestration in the ocean (biogeochemistry)
- 2. Microbial degradation of organic contaminants (organic geochemistry)
- 3. Trace metal contamination and remediation in sediments (environmental geochemistry)
- 4. Anthropogenic impacts on global nitrogen cycling (N-cycling)
- 5. Anthropogenic green-house gases (climate change)
- 6. Sources of groundwater arsenic in the Southwestern US (water-rock interactions)
- 7. Applications of microorganisms for modern mining (redox chemistry)
- 8. Methane hydrates and implications for climate change (thermodynamics)
- Library Refresher
- Writing & Citing
- Assessment Survey
Database Comparison
| Compendex | GeoRef | SciFinder | Web of Science | |
| Connect to |
Web of Science Training Videos |
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| Coverage |
Engineering Village platform 1884+ Engineering and Manufacturing:
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ProQuest platform 1693+ (North America) Geoscience:
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SciFinder platform 1900+ (some major chemistry journals prior to 1900) Pure and applied chemistry:
Medicine:
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Web of Knowledge platform 1900+ (Sciences) Multi-disciplinary:
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| Strengths |
Most comprehensive database for engineering literature Controlled Vocabulary (thesaurus) Automatically truncates word (i.e. "autostemming) which can be turned off
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Most comprehensive database for geological literature Geographical searching Controlled Vocabulary (thesaurus) Tables and Figures search feature "Times Cited" (Cited by) info available |
Most comprehensive database for the pure and applied chemistry literature including non-English publications Automatically truncates keywords Automatically includes synonyms for chemistry-related terms Automatically includes variant chemical substance names (in most cases) Ability to search by chemical structure or substructure Ability to refine search by the chemical substance's "role" Controlled Vocabulary assigned to records Includes reactions, property data, supplier, and regulatory info in additon to bibliographic references |
Original database to cover citation searching and still the most comprehensive for that purpose Extensive citation searching features Citation mapping Ability to sort by "Times Cited" |
| Weaknesses |
Limited primarily to English language material Controlled Vocabulary is broad Geographical searching is limited to keywords Chemical substance searching is limited to keywords Times Cited info is taken from the Scopus database to which ASU does not subscribe |
Chemical substance searching is limited to keywords and some "group" headings "Times Cited" data is limited to publications offered by ProQuest databases |
Unable to view the controlled vocabulary dictonary No control over truncation Geographical searching is limited to keywords "Times Cited" (Cited by) info is restricted to publications within the SciFinder bibliographic databases |
Limited primarily to English language material No controlled vocabulary assigned to records Geographical searching is limited to keywords Chemical substance searching is limited to keywords Times Cited info is limited to journal articles |
| Search Tips |
When interested in all chemicals within a group you MUST search all the chemicals individually, not just the group name. For geographic locations you MUST search each variant name or regional description separately Include the controlled vocabulary term(s) for your concept(s) in your search statement Use limiters in the left column to refine results |
Truncation symbol is "*" If geographic name is used in the Thesaurus, no need to search variants When interested in all chemicals within a group you MUST search all the chemicals individually, not just the group name. Include the controlled vocabulary term(s) for your concept(s) in your search statement Use limiters in the right column to refine results |
Use the substance search (not research topic) for most comprehensive retrieval for specific chemical substances and for access to the non-bibliographic data Use natural language in the Research Topic box and avoid words that are Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) Rearrange the search statement to possibly retrieve more Put synonyms in parantheses after the term - do not try to force too many synonyms into the search When interested in all chemicals within a group you MUST search all the chemicals individually, not just the group name. For geographic locations you MUST search each variant name or regional description separately Use limiters in the left column to refine results |
Truncation symbol is "*" When interested in all chemicals within a group you MUST search all the chemicals individually, not just the group name For geographic locations you MUST search each variant name or regional description separately Use limiters in the left column to refine results |
Search recommendations ..
Sources of groundwater arsenic in the Southwestern US
- Groundwater vs ground water
- Southwestern US
- Is "southwestern US" a controlled vocabulary term in the GeoRef thesaurus? What does that mean in terms of your search strategy?
- What states do you consider to be in the "Southwest"?
- Do researchers agree with you on what comprises the "Southwestern US"?
- In non-geographic and non-geologic databases, be sure to search all variant ways to identify this location
- Contaminants in your study area may have come from other locations - if this is the case, don't forget to look for polluting being done at the source, in addition to your study area.
- Is it just elemental arsenic that’s involved or are arsenic compounds included, too; if so, what are the compounds?