For an overview of the services available to all graduate students at UML, see Information for Graduate Students.

For a list of specialized reference material available in the library, see Polymer Science Sources.

New! The University has a site-wide subscription to RefWorks, a web-based bibliographic management tool.  Sign up for your own account at Refworks  This service is available both on and off campus.  If off-campus, use the code RWUMASSL, and you will be able to log in to your account.  Refworks stores all your citations and can create a bibliography for you in just a few minutes.  This essential tool will save you a tremendous amount of time and effort.  It will also format your papers and bibliographies in your chosen formats.

The Library subscribes to many databases, and several of them will be very helpful to students studying Polymer Science in the graduate program at UML.

The best database for you to use is SciFinder Scholar. This database accesses the complete Chemical Abstracts from 1907-. It is accessed via installed software, and is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except for early Sunday mornings.  The Library has 3 user accounts.  If you receive the message that all logins are in use, please wait about 10 minutes and try again.  Also, for the consideration of other users, please log out completely from SciFinder Scholar when finished to enable others to utilize it.  Answers are available as citations and abstracts--NO full text is available within the database, but SFS may link to full text via Chemport.  Chemport has been configured to understand LinkSource, the library's linking service.   

The two important  polymer/plastics databases which you many access anywhere on campus are from CSA (Cambridge Scientific):

• Engineered Materials Abstracts (formerly Advanced Polymer Abstracts)
•  Polymer Library (formerly RAPRA)

Others which will be helpful:

Compendex -- the premier engineering database, covers practical applications of many topics.

ScienceDirect This service offers FULL CONTENT of over 1000 Elsevier Press journals, from 1995- to present. 

         American Chemical Society Journals: Full text of 28 ACS journals with a complete back file available.
          This includes Macromolecules, 1968-

Knovel.com a database of over 600 handbooks in science and engineering, including many with information on polymers and plastics.  All ANTEC (1996-) papers can be found here, and the Plastics Design Library.  Database can be searched by keyword or property.

Merck Index: Databases of chemicals and drugs, with excellent basic information.  You may need to open the link in a new window to properly use this service.

Wiley-Interscience Journals, 1997- 350 full-text titles, including Journal of Applied Polymer Science and Journal of Polymer Science, all sections. 

 EAI (via InfoTrac) full text of the journal Polymer Engineering and Science

Lexis-Nexis -- company information and industrial news, plus some medical databases.

LinkSource: A way to connect directly from the database to a full text journal. When you see the LinkSource icon in any database, it will connect you to the full text of the title in any OTHER database where it might be found, or let you know that the title is in the Library, in paper or microfilm format.

All these databases are available on the Library WEB page and can be accessed anywhere you have a WEB-accessible PC on campus. If you live off campus use our remote access, available to all students and faculty.  You need only your Firstname_Lastname as username and your UMS number as your password.  All students are automatically included in the database for this service.  If you get an "oops" box, fill out the Access form on the login page and our IT staff will be sure you are added.

The SciFinder Scholar2006 software is installed on the Library PC network and also on PC's in the Chemistry Department. For instructions on downloading and installation, click here. Users of PPP remote access accounts (i.e. modem) can install SciFinder Scholar software on their home PC's and use the PPP account to connect. Proxyserver accounts do not work with SFS. 

To see if we have e-access to a particular title, check the UML E-Journals list. Search for the title of the journal.  If it is listed, the link will take you to the journal site. 

For a good list of WEB sites of interest to polymer scientists, consult this page: Polymer Science Guide.

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This page maintained by Marion S. Muskiewicz, Science Librarian, Lydon Library
Last updated 10/10/06