CAS podcasts

CAS, the division of the American Chemical Society that produces Scifinder Scholar, has created a new "podcast" series. I would actually call them videocasts because they are little movies rather than simple audio files. They are more helpful if you view them rather than just listen to them. These videos show effective ways of using Scifinder Scholar for research in the past and the present. For example, From Fairy Gloves to Nanocrystals: How a Folk Remedy became One of the Greatest Drug Discoveries, demonstrates the connection between research conducted in the early 1900s to today through a substance search on digitalis. Note that the interface shown in these videos is the Web version of Scifinder Scholar, which has not yet been implemented on our campus. In our last discussions with the CAS team, the web version of Scifinder should be in place before the end of the year. Keep your fingers crossed! Until then, check out some of the videos to get more insight into searching Scifinder. At this time, other titles include the following:

• Exploring Ethanol: The Fuel of the Future
• Post-Katrina New Orleans - What Have We Learned Since 2005?
• The Fastest Set of Wheels in Town - How Buckyballs will Power the Muscle Cars of the Future