CHEM13080 - Analytical Science Course Guide

This guide has been designed to assist you locate information for your first Assignment.

• Thinking about your assignment
• Library Catalogue
• Reference Works
• Searching for journal articles
  • Searching Science Direct
  • Searching Scopus
  • Searching in Scifinder
• Completing your assessment

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Thinking about your assignment.

For this course you are required to prepare a mini-review of recent developments and innovation in a specific area of analytical science.  Your assessment requires evidence of intensive information searching beyond the course textbook and study guide.  

You are expected to consult several original journal articles, as well as any available monographs ('monograph' means book).

Your information must be recent (published in the last 5 years), so you will need to consider the date of publication of any book or journal article that you consult.

Identifying your topic

Begin by identifying some key terms and combinations, (keywords), that may be useful for searching.  Some sample keywords are included below to get you started.  As you move through the research process, you will discover other keywords which can be added to this collection.

More help?

Thinking about your topic Identifying the type of information you need Concepts, keywords, synonyms and related terms

Example keywords:
developments	analytical measurements	analytical science
innovation	analytical chemistry	bioanalysis
technique	biomedical analysis	clinical chemistry
-	pharmaceutical analysis	capillary electrophoresis

 

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Reference

More help?

Other Web Reference Sources

With some basic keywords in place, you can now start searching for background and overview information on your topic.   A common area to search for such information is in dictionaries and encyclopedias.

For this guide, we are going to be looking at  the Encyclopaedia of Analytical Science which can be accessed via Science Direct.

Once at Science Direct, click on Books

 

Select 'e' from the list.

 

Select 'Encyclopedia of Analytical Science'

 

Quick searches for information on your topic can be performed in the 'Quick Search' box.  Advanced searches can be performed by clicking on the 'search' button.

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Library Catalogue

More help?

Known item searching Keyword searching AND/OR/NOT Boolean searching Subject-heading searching Where is the resource located? Is the resource available?

The CQU Library Catalogue lists all items (books, videos, audiocassettes, print journals and online fulltext journals, etc) available from the CQU library.

Using the keywords you have put together, you can start searching by keyword for resources available from the Library. 

To limit by date in the Library Catalogue, go to the keyword search screen and 'set search limits'.  Enter a date range (for example, 2001-2006) and click on the 'set limits' button.  The keyword search screen now shows 'Search limits are set'.

 

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Searching for journal articles

More help?

Using AND/OR/NOT in a search About journals About databases Passwords

You are expected to consult several original journal articles - 'original' means the primary reporting of original research.

Review articles are not original - they identify themes and trends in current research.   If you find a relevant review article,  find and read the original articles that it reviews.

Remember to limit searches to the latest 5 years.

There are a number of databases listed on the chemistry databases page.   You may like to begin searching for information on topics in analytical science in some of the databases listed below. 

 

Science Direct

Science Direct is an electronic collection of science, technology and medicine full text and bibliographic information. 

Scopus

Scopus is a large indexing and abstracting database providing access to scientific, technical, medical and social sciences literature.  

Scifinder

Scifinder provides a broad coverage across the sciences. It provides access to bibliographic, chemical substance and chemical reaction databases from the Chemical Abstracts Service.

(Unlike the other databases mentioned here, Scifinder is not available over the web.  Access is only available through the Library training labs, and you need to contact your liaison librarian for access.)

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Completing your assessment

More help?

Evaluating your resources CQU's referencing website What is plagiarism?

Your assessment requires evidence of intensive information searching outside of the text and any supplied resource materials.  

When citing other peoples work (including members of your group)  in your assignments, it is vital that it be correctly referenced.  Your assessment specifies that the Harvard style of referencing should be used.  Information on this style can be found at CQU's referencing website.

When writing your assignment, remember to check the criteria and objectives listed in your course profile.