ChemInformer Chemistry Information from Rutgers University Libraries

IUPAC (the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) has published a new chemistry reference work, the IUPAC FAIR Chemistry Cookbook. It was written by multiple experts in chemical information, and is freely available through IUPAC. This online book explains how to share and reuse chemical data, and you can read more about it in this brief article.

A link to the Cookbook is here: https://iupac.github.io/WFChemCookbook/intro.html

and a link to a demo video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i37grSzWeAI&t=4s

Want to contribute to the Cookbook on Github? This link tells you how: https://github.com/IUPAC/WFChemCookbook/wiki/How-to-submit-a-contribution-to-the-Cookbook

Enjoy!

June was national safety month, but it’s always time to think about chemical safety. Please see our guide for chemical safety resources: https://libguides.rutgers.edu/chem_lab_safety and feel free to suggest others you find helpful. Send your suggestions to me at laura.palumbo@rutgers.edu.

For those of you who use Cambridge Structural Database, there has been an improvement to the web version that allows 3-D substructure searching without updating or downloading software. This feature should be available the next time you log in. https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/databases/csd

More information about the update is available on the CCDC blog.

If you need assistance with the database or software, please contact support@ccdc.cam.ac.uk

Get the most out of the new CAS SciFinder-n! Learn some tips for searching this improved platform from a chemist at CAS. The webinar will be held via Zoom on Friday, September 30th, 2022 at 2:00 pm. No registration is required, but please email me at laura.palumbo@rutgers.edu for the link to attend. I hope to see you there!

John McMurry’s classic textbook, Organic Chemistry, will now become free to use online. The text was originally published in 1984, and according to his copyright agreement with the publisher, McMurry was permitted to have full copyright returned to him after 30 years. McMurry has decided to make his book open access, which means anyone with an internet connection will be able to use it for free, including any future updated editions. The book will be available on OpenStax, a platform for open access textbooks. If you would like to read more about this, you can read the article in Chemistry World. If you would like more information about other open chemistry resources, please email me at laura.palumbo@rutgers.edu.

Retraction Watch reports that the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre’s (CCDC) database of small crystal structures, Cambridge Structural Database, has identified almost 1,000 structures that were found to be associated with papers generated by a “paper mill”. The identified structures now contain a notification that they are under review. Twelve of the structures have been retracted so far, as well as nine papers. For more information, see the full article in Retraction Watch.

It’s that time again- Love Data Week (#LoveData22) happens every year around Valentine’s Day. We are offering data workshops this week (and most weeks), so please check out our calendar.

This Thursday, February 17th, I will be presenting Data Management Planning at 11:00, providing some guidance on good DMPs along with my colleague Yingting Zhang. Please register here.

On Tuesdays you can learn Data Science Basics with Robert Young, and on Thursdays you can learn Python with Robert Palmere.

Show your data (and us) some love and come to a workshop! I hope to see you there. ~ Laura

Please take advantage of a special training session just for Rutgers faculty and students on using the new SciFinder-n, presented by CAS representative Edwin Robinson. Topics to be covered are:

Substance data
Patents
Reactions and protocols
References and reports (publications)

The webinar will take place next Monday, December 6th, from 10:00 am- 11:00 am
Please email me for the Zoom link at laura.palumbo@rutgers.edu

Also feel free to email if you have any questions.

New data workshops have been added to the Libraries Event calendar at https://libcal.rutgers.edu/calendar/nblworkshops Offerings include instruction in Python, R, Data Science Basics, Patents, and using data from the Protein Data Bank. Workshops are free to attend but require registration. Register for individual workshops on the calendar at https://libcal.rutgers.edu/calendar/nblworkshops.

The Rutgers-New Brunswick Libraries are running our popular data workshops again this year, and you may recognize two new instructors in our lineup. They are both graduate students in the Chemistry & Chemical Biology Department, and will be teaching online data science workshops. Robert Young will be teaching our new series, Data Science Basics, designed for those with no previous coding experience, to begin working with statistical concepts and analysis tools. We also welcome Robert Palmere, who will teach quantitative data science for those interested in learning coding using Python and other programming languages.

The workshop calendar is available at https://libcal.rutgers.edu/calendar/nblworkshops and more workshops will be added in the coming months, so please check back as we move into spring.