ERROR 1
ERROR 1
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
ERROR 2
Password and Confirm password must match.
If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)
ERROR 2
ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.
I find Janice Mears's letter extolling the virtues of SciFinder a bit disingenuous (C&EN, Dec. 12, 2005, page 4). The database is wonderfully useful if you can afford it! In contrast to the progenitor Chemical Abstracts, which is freely available in university libraries, access to SciFinder is strictly limited by license agreements to enrolled students, faculty, and staff. Of course, you can purchase access, but the fees are prohibitive for small companies. At the same time, the paper version of Chemical Abstracts is becoming less and less accessible.
As an employee of a small contract synthesis concern, I am hamstrung by having less access to the literature now than I did 20 years ago. And this is at a time when foreign competition is severely affecting domestic employment. I don't expect to be able to have SciFinder at my desk, but I would think that I could have it available at a major university library.
Jonathan N. Kremsky
Arlington, Mass.
Join the conversation
Contact the reporter
Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication
Engage with us on X