What we do...

All activities of the documentation group are devoted to the handling of scientific information, how electronic information can be retrieved or to present scientific information.

Nowadays it is practically impossible to survey comprehensively the scientific literature, even for special fields. In chemistry for example more than 25 million chemical substances are known. Every day about 10,000 new substances are registered from more than 8,000 journals and the patent literature (26 industrial states and two international patent organisations). More than half of these compounds appear in the patent literature (with increasing tendency), and about two third of the patents will not be published elsewhere! Therefore and due to decreasing budgets of the libraries it is so important to apply the features of electronic retrievals, which supplement the classic access to literature. Some of the electronic options (such as structure and substructure searches) are classically not available. Thus the Sektion für Spektren- und Strukturdokumentation teaches students how to use electronic information in online and inhouse databases as well as in the INTERNET. Moreover the Sektion offers postgraduate education and continuation training courses in these fields. Last but not least the Sektion performs patent retrievals for the scientific groups of the Ulm University.

The Sektion für Spektren- und Strukturdokumentation compiles the scientific literature worldwide that deals with spectroscopy and structure determination in the gas phase. After excerpting and critically evaluating this information we supply it to other scientists all around the world by various means. The main focus in our work is in the areas of microwave spectroscopy, radioastronomy, high-resolution infrared spectroscopy and gas electron diffraction.

Projects

• Courses (in cooperation with the Federal Ministery for Education and Science BMBF and the German Association of Chemists GdCh as well as with the Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft INSTI) in the field of online retrievals in chemistry, physics and patent databases:
  • Introduction in the Messenger retrieval language
  • Retrievals in literature, factual, structure, reaction, spectral and patent databases
  • Substructure retrievals
  • Chemical information in the Internet
• Courses for non-members of Ulm University for continuation education in cooperation with Abteilung Forschung, Entwicklung, Wirtschaftskontakte der Universität Ulm
• Retrievals in patent databases
• the molecular physical and structural chemical specialized database MOGADOC (MOlecular GAsphase DOCumentation): it contains bibliographic data for all areas mentioned above as well as substance specific data - in particular numerical structural data like bond lengths and bond angles. An online demo version is available (Java capable WWW browser required!).
• the design of customized databases for specific purposes
• cooperation with the editorial board of Landolt-Börnstein regarding the critical evaluation of structural chemical and molecular physical data
• the GEDIS Letter (Gas Electron Diffraction Information Service): an information letter that annually informs about current projects in the area of gas electron diffraction
  Now also available online!