Support : Dialog Search Aids : File 399: /SH and SC= Fields

File 399: CA Section Title (/SH) and CA Section Code (SC=) Fields in CA SEARCH^®

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The title of the section in which the abstract appears in Chemical Abstracts is listed in the CA Section Title field and the code equivalent of the title is listed in the CA Section Code field. In addition, documents indexed since the beginning of CA Volume 86 (1977) may also be cross-referenced to one or more additional sections, the titles and codes of which are also in these fields.

A listing of current Section Codes and titles is included at the end of this document. Definitions of the sections are available from Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS).

CAS has made changes in Section Titles and numbering over the time span of the database. Most of these changes have been made at the beginning of a new Collective Index Period. These changes should be taken into consideration when Section Titles or codes are used in a search strategy, as discussed below.

Searching Section Titles. Section Titles of the original, as well as the cross-reference sections, are searchable as the complete title or by each individual, meaningful word in the Section Title, e.g.,

?S MICROBIAL BIOCHEMISTRY/SH S1 310553 MICROBIAL BIOCHEMISTRY/SH ?S MICROBIAL(W)BIOCHEMISTRY/SH 451507 MICROBIAL/SH 2520587 BIOCHEMISTRY/SH (SEE ?BROAD) S2 310553 MICROBIAL(W)BIOCHEMISTRY/SH ?T 2/SC/1,310553 2/SC/1 DIALOG(R)File 399:(c) 2000 American Chemical Society. All rts. reserv. SECTION: CA231003 Alkaloids CA210XXX Microbial Biochemistry 2/SC/310553 DIALOG(R)File 399:(c) 2000 American Chemical Society. All rts. reserv. SECTION: CA808000 Microbial Biochemistry

In general, the search by complete phrase processes more quickly than the search by individual words with the /SH suffix. Note that the Section Code for the section on Microbial Biochemistry has changed over time.

CAS generally does not use words or phrases from a Section Title as descriptors or identifiers for abstracts assigned to the section. Therefore Section Title terms can be used to define broad subject areas or restrict other very broad search terms to a specific context defined by a Section Title.

Over the time span of the database, CAS has made changes in Section Titles and Section Codes. Thus searching by Section Titles, rather than Section Codes, insures correct retrieval without the need to relate Section Codes to particular volume ranges. For example, the Toxicology section is Section 4 in the 9th through the 14th Collective Index Periods, but it was Section 14 in the 8th Collective Index Period. The search statement SELECT TOXICOLOGY/SH retrieves all items assigned to the section in all of the Collective Index Periods, i.e.,

?S TOXICOLOGY/SH S3 421240 TOXICOLOGY/SH (SEE ?BROAD) ?T 3/AZ,SH/1,421240 3/AZ,SH/1 DIALOG(R)File 399:(c) 2000 American Chemical Society. All rts. reserv. 133358551 CA: 133(25)358551s SECTION: CA279000 Inorganic Analytical Chemistry CA204XXX Toxicology CA250XXX Propellants and Explosives CA259XXX Air Pollution and Industrial Hygiene CA261XXX Water 3/AZ,SH/421240 DIALOG(R)File 399:(c) 2000 American Chemical Society. All rts. reserv. 66001224 CA: 66(1)1224a SECTION: CA814000 Toxicology

Searching Section Codes. The SC= field lists the code that identifies the section and subsection location of the citation within an issue of Chemical Abstracts.

Section Titles correspond to the basic five-character Section Code, e.g., Extractive Metallurgy is the title of section 54 (SC=CAn54, where n is a digit signifying the Collective Index Period). For primary placement of the abstract in Chemical Abstracts, each section is further subdivided into subsections represented by three digits attached to the basic Section Code, e.g., Section Codes ending in three zeros (000) indicate the review subsection. (Note that prior to CA Volume 77 in 1972, all Section Codes end in three zeros. In File 308, it is better to use the term REVIEW to find review articles). There are no title equivalents to the subsections. Cross-reference assignments are made only at the section level. All cross-reference Section Codes use XXX as the subsection portion of the code.

Because most of the changes in Section Titles or numbering have been made at the beginning of a new Collective Index Period, the DIALOG system inserts a digit into the third position of the Section Code to indicate the Collective Index Period. For example, SELECT SC=CA820 retrieves the records assigned to the Fertilizers, Soils, and Plant Nutrition section (20) in the 8th Collective Index Period, but SELECT SC=CA920 retrieves the records assigned to the History, Education, and Documentation Section (20) in the 9th Collective Index Period. The Collective Index Periods and the digits used to represent them are summarized below:

Section Codes that have remained unchanged for the entire time span of the database can be easily searched using the internal truncation character in the third position of the code. For example, SELECT SC=CA?48 retrieves all records assigned or cross-referenced to the Unit Operations and Processes section, e.g.,

?S SC=CA?48 S4 276098 SC=CA?48 ?T4/sc 4/SC/1 DIALOG(R)File 399:(c) 2000 American Chemical Society. All rts. reserv. SECTION: CA279002 Inorganic Analytical Chemistry CA248XXX Unit Operations and Processes CA259XXX Air Pollution and Industrial Hygiene

To exclude the cross-referenced records, use the following search statement:

?S SC=CA?48 NOT SC=CA?48XXX 276098 SC=CA?48 53290 SC=CA?48XXX S5 222808 SC=CA?48 NOT SC=CA?48XXX ?T 5/sc 5/SC/1 DIALOG(R)File 399:(c) 2000 American Chemical Society. All rts. reserv. SECTION: CA248011 Unit Operations and Processes CA263XXX Pharmaceuticals

The following significant changes in section numbering and definitions were made during the 9th Collective Index Period:

• Beginning with Volume 81, Sections 51 and 52 were redefined. Section 51 (Petroleum, Petroleum Derivatives, and Related Products) became "Fossil Fuels, Derivatives, and Related Products," which incorporates all of old Sections 51 and 52, and part of old Section 53. Section 52 (Coal and Coal Derivatives) became "Electrochemical, Radiational, and Geothermal Energy Technology" and incorporates parts of old Sections 16, 48, 71, 73, 75, and 77. As this was a running change, there is no specific distinction in the online Section Code index between the old and new definitions.
• Beginning with Volume 82, Sections 70, 71, and 72 became Sections 75, 76, and 77, and vice versa. This was a numbering change only. In order to differentiate between old and new sections, the phrase (PRE 1975) has been added to the online index for all six old sections and their subsections.

To search on the sections affected by these changes, it is easier and more comprehensive to search by Section Titles rather than Section Codes, as discussed above.