Chemistry: useful websites

This page lists useful, free internet resources for chemistry. See databases for chemistry for a list of key online sources purchased by the University to help you find information in this subject.

Key sites

• Chemdex
  Chemdex has existed on the WWW since 1993 and maintains an international directory of chemistry on the Internet. Includes nearly 6000 links including directories of individuals, institutions, organisations, databases and more. It is maintained by the University of Sheffield.
  
  
• Chemistry and related Information on the Internet
  A very comprehensive page of links from the University of Oxford which describes it as "a set of pointers to the many large Chemistry link collections already available and direct links to a few sites of special interest".
  
  
• Chemsoc
  This Royal Society of Chemistry resource includes links to other useful web sites.
  Find:
  - the periodic table illustrated with unique photographs
  - a timeline of significant events in the history of chemistry
  - networks
  - careers
  
  
• ChemSpider
  ChemSpider is a searchable resource providing access to millions of chemical structures.  It has a useful property predictor function.
  
  
• Intute: Chemistry
  Provides access to high quality Internet-based resources in the physical sciences with a special section on chemistry. “Each resource has been evaluated and categorised by subject specialists based at UK universities. Our target audience is students, staff and researchers in higher and further education”.
  Please note: Updates to Intute ceased in July 2011. Links on the website will no longer be checked.
  
  
• NIST Chemistry WebBook
  From web pages "The NIST  Chemistry WebBook provides access to data compiled and distributed by NIST (US National Institute of Standards and Technology), giving access to Thermochemical data for over 7000 organic and small inorganic compounds; Reaction thermochemistry data for over 8000 reactions; IR spectra for over 16,000 compounds; mass spectra for over 15,000 compounds; UV/Vis spectra for over 1600 compounds; electronic and vibrational spectra for over 4500 compounds; constants of diatomic molecules (spectroscopic data) for over 600 compounds; ion energetics data for over 16,000 compounds; thermophysical property data for 34 fluids.

Guides and tutorials

• Internet Chemist
  One of a series of tutorials written for the Intute Virtual Training Suite. This tutorial aims to improve Internet information skills, knowledge of key Internet sites, Internet search skills and critical thinking skills. The "links basket" provides a useful option to see all the sites mentioned in the tutorial or your personal selection.
  
  
• Engage in Research
  This site answers a wide range of questions about research and  scientific methods from planning to writing your project. It also has a step-by-step statistics model. Includes interactive elements designed to test your knowledge.
  
  
• Evaluating websites: a guide
  University of Reading Library hints on assessing the reliability of information you find on the Internet.
  
  
• The web
  A University of Reading Library brief guide to finding information which includes links to the main search engines.

General chemistry-related sites

• Chemical Structure Association Trust
  "The Chemical Structure Association Trust (CSA Trust) is an internationally recognized, registered charity which promotes education, research and development in the field of storage, processing and retrieval of information about chemical structures, reactions and compounds."
  This site is useful for finding information about awards, grants and conferences.
  
  
• ChemIDplus
  Useful site for defining and identifying substances. Maintained by the US National Library of Medicine.
  
  
• Internet resources for chemistry
  This online booklet describes quality internet resources for chemistry including data collections and databanks, web directories, mailing lists and chemical nomenclature as well as subscription only databases. Not all the resources are free of charge. You have access to many of them - check our Databases a-z list and our E-journals Finder to find out which Reading subscribes to.
  
  
• Chemistry Preprint Archive
  The current site is now a freely available and permanent web archive for those research articles already submitted to the Preprint Server run by Elsevier. Nothing has been added since May 2004. It is a small, but useful collection of articles and was originally available via Chemweb.
  Need to register.
  
  
• PubChem
  "Provides information on the biological activities of small molecules." Search substance, compound or bioassay databases to find chemical information including structures, synonyms, molecular weight and formula.
  
  
• JISC Collections Catalogue of Online Resources
  A range of evaluated, quality Internet resources for science, engineering and technology, and for health and life science. A large number of the resources are freely available and you can see a list of free resources, others require a password, registration or a subscription, which the Library may or may not have. Consult the Library website or your Liaison Librarian if in any doubt as to what we have a subscription to.
  
  
• BUBL Chemistry
  BUBL is an academic service that aims to provide a gateway to evaluated Internet resources including links to good quality sites for chemists.
  Please note: Updates to BUBL ceased in April 2011. Links on the website will no longer be checked.
  
  
• WWW Virtual Library - Chemistry
  The WWW Virtual Library is made up of a large number of subject sections compiled by volunteers expert in their subject areas. The chemistry section is maintained by the University of Liverpool.
  
  
• ChemWeb
  This "club" offers many free services, but may duplicate services such as Beilstein and charge for some e-journals which are freely available via the Library E-journals Finder. It provides a library of journals with free searching and viewing of abstracts plus an alerting service. It also has a service for job seekers and recruiters, an events centre covering conferences and online training courses.
  
  
• Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford
  This includes chemistry online courses and practicals, chemistry lectures, multimedia resources and the Virtual Chemistry Laboratory.
  
  
• Chemindustry.com
  There are a large number of entries in this yahoo-like directory. Although US based it is international in scope, has a country filter and thousands of UK sites. Although the bias is towards chemical industry it does have a wider range of links than this would suggest. It lists links to Chemical suppliers; services such as consultants and technology transfer; resources such as portals, patents, calculators and organizations; industrial equipment;  scientific equipment and lab supplies, and software, including bioinformatics, modelling and drawing and simulation and optimization.
  
  
• The Chemical Thesaurus reaction chemistry database
  This allows you to search for chemical entities, interactions, reactions and processes and to sort them. You can look for reactions which use or form chemical entities in the following categories - Real Entities by Name, Generic Entities, Reaction Generics, VSPER Geometries, Biologicals, Pharamceuticals or use the table of elements. The database is also searchable by synonym and gives some physical data. The web port is partly funded by The Higher Education Academy Physical Sciences Centre.

General Science

• Scirus
  Scirus searches only web sites with scientific content. It searches over 450 million science-related web pages, and records from specialist sources such as BioMed Central and ArXiv. See a full list of sources covered.

Chemical biology

• Biosciences Gateway
  The growth at the interface of chemistry and biology has resulted in the Royal Society of Chemistry launching this gateway. The virtual journal Highlights in chemistry offers free access to current news and research. This site also includes an email alerting service, book reviews, news, views and policy documents. The Forum provides information about conferences, research funding opportunities and RSC member networks.

Chemical engineering and technology

• BUBL Chemical Engineering
  A subject classification of chemical and process engineering sources.
  
  

Chemicals

• CHEMCATS
  An international online database of commercially available chemicals worldwide (American Chemical Society).

Nanotechnology

• BUBL Nanotechnology
  Please note: Updates to BUBL ceased in April 2011. Links on the website will no longer be checked.
  
  
• Institute of Nanotechnology
  The Institute of Nanotechnology has articles, news and a directory of taught postgraduate courses: Nano, Enabling and Advanced Technologies (NEAT). It also provides other links to educational resources and opportunities including the Foresight Institute, which has links to international (mostly US) academic institutions offering courses in nanotechnology and to other educational resources for students.

Nomenclature

• IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the "Gold Book")
  This interactive online version of the IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology corresponds to the second edition, compiled by Alan D. McNaught and Andrew Wilkinson (Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK) and published in print form by Blackwell Science in 1997.
  
  
• IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry (the "Blue Book")
  Its recommendations are updated periodically. The authoritative guide to nomenclature it is searchable for groups such as hydrides or radicals. There is documentation to help you search. It includes a guide to name construction.

Periodic table

• WebElements
  This site provides key data relating to the elements of the periodic table, such as biology, crystal structures and NMR. Visitors can print their own copy of the Periodic Table from this site. 
  
  
• ChemiPlus
  Chemistry periodic table.

Spectroscopy

• SpectroscopyNOW.com
  A publishers' website (Wiley) with sections on Atomic Spectroscopy, IR, MRI, MS, NMR, Raman, UV, X-Ray, Chemometrics & Informatics and Proteomics. Each section has news articles, Ezine, Education and other links. The site also has book reviews, job and conference information. You can register for monthly email newsletters and to access restricted areas of the site.
  

Toxicology, hazards and safety

• Chemical Safety Information from Intergovernmental Organizations
  This site aims to give “rapid access to internationally peer reviewed information on chemicals commonly used throughout the world, which may also occur as contaminants in the environment and food. It consolidates information from a number of intergovernmental organizations whose goal it is to assist in the sound management of chemicals.”
  
  
• Where to find material safety data sheets on the internet
  Material safety datasheets at 100 free sites. US focus but also includes international sites.
  
  
• SIRI MSDS Index
  This is a compendium of MSDS sheets Check via a list of manufacturers whether a sheet is needed then search the database. Quite a few out of date links, but worth trying.
  
  
• Toxicology resources web sites
  Maintained by the Society of Toxicology this includes links to professional societies and organisations – many are US based but there are also international ones and Reference databases for toxicology researchers.
  
  
• TOXNET (Toxicology Data Network)
  The National Library of Medicine sponsors TOXNET, a collection of databases covering toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related topics. Users may access a range of information - from toxicology data, to toxicology literature, toxic release information, and basic chemical information. Some of the searchable databases are as follows: 
  CCRIS (Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System)
  ChemID_plus_ Chemical synonyms, structures and more
  HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank)
  TOXLINE (Toxicology Literature Online)

Professional matters

Careers, professional development, jobs

• Royal Society of Chemistry Careers & Professional Development covers the CPD framework, careers service and the HE Students page has information about courses, networking and industrial experience and Chemsoc which includes information about careers, networking, projects, resources for teachers and students.
  
  
• ChemWeb
  Search in one chemical discipline or select multiple options.
  
  
• American Chemical Society Careers and Jobs

Conferences

• Chemistry conferences
  An international listing of conferences, exhibitions and trade fairs under the following subject headings Organic, Inorganic, Medicinal, Physical and Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Materials Science and Nanotechnology. You can submit details of events free of charge.
  
  
• Royal Society of Chemistry Conferences & Events offers events listings, Faraday Discussion meetings and online registration for RSC conferences.
  
  
• American Chemical Society has information about its own meetings and a Meeting Locator which allows you to, browse events scheduled over the next three months or search listings based on event type, title, location, date, sponsor, description, or keyword. You can also submit your own event details.
  
  
• ChemWeb

Teaching chemistry

• Physical Sciences Centre
  Part of the Higher Education Academy this site offers practice guides, toolkits, briefing papers, courseware, learning and teaching activities and more to support the teaching of chemistry at HE level

Organisations and institutions

• American Chemical Society (ACS)
  This site provides information about ACS Publications, journals, topical issues, jobs, grants, continuing education, meetings, chemical history and events.
  
  
• The Royal Society
  This covers all sciences and particularly comments on policy and developments as well as publishing highly ranked journals.
  
  
• The Royal Society of Chemistry
  The Society is a major publisher and provider of chemical information. It supports the teaching of chemistry at all levels, organises hundreds of chemical meetings a year and is a leader in communicating science to the public.
  The site includes links to special interest groups, support for different aspects of chemistry, RSC awards and e-mail alerting services, funding, awards, medals, Parliamentary activities, Foresight activities and  RSC Library and Information Centre which includes the library catalogue, new publications, links to useful chemistry information resources on the Internet and to membership information.
  

Please note: our site descriptions are based on information available on the site described at the time it was evaluated.

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