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Understanding Databases |
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Information in STNEasy is stored in individual databases (also called files). Each database provides unique information from sources such as journals, patents, books, and technical reports.
Databases are made up of numerous records. The kind of information found in a record depends on the type of database. Some databases provide bibliographic information and summaries of an original reference. Other databases provide full articles. Still other databases provide chemical structure, numeric, chemical reaction, or directory information.
Records consist of data fields for each kind of information. For example, the Title field (abbreviated in STN as TI) in a document record contains the full title of the document. The Molecular Formula field (abbreviated in STN as MF) in a substance record contains the molecular formula for the substance.
Information from the data fields is collected to form an index for each field. For example, the Title Index for a database contains terms from titles of all documents in the database.
What this means for STNEasy…
Three types of databases are accessible via STNEasy:
Because the content of databases varies, the types of information you may search for also varies.
Most databases accessed by STNEasy are bibliographic. Use bibliographic databases when searching for:
Some STNEasy databases are full-text databases. Use full-text databases when they cover the subject area of interest. They are searched similarly to bibliographic databases.
Some chemical substance databases are also accessible via STNEasy. Use chemical substance databases when searching for:
The free Browse Index feature in STNEasy allows you to check for the occurrence of a term in a database field before you actually perform a search. Using Browse Index can help you determine if you have chosen an appropriate category or database for your search.