Because of the increasing popularity of and new developments available in the web version of SciFinder, CAS has announced the discontinuation of the client version of SciFinder effective June 30, 2011 for all U.S. and Canadian academic institutions.  One of the best features of the web version of SciFinder is that it is available for off-campus use by faculty and students without the need for client software or VPN.  Consequently – both because of the increased access provided by the web version of SciFinder and this impending change – we plan to phase out the use and support of the client version of SciFinder on the Baylor campus by December 19, 2010.

Effectively immediately, only the web version of SciFinder will be available on the computers in the Moody and Jones Libraries.  It is accessible from the libraries’ list of electronic resources.

Currently, Baylor has 5 “seats” (simultaneous users) for SciFinder Scholar; 2 seats are associated with the web version and 3 seats are associated with the client version.  Effectively immediately, we will associate 3 seats with the web version, reducing the client version to 2 seats.  With the beginning of the spring semester, all 5 seats will be associated with the web version of SciFinder and the client version of SciFinder will no longer be useable.

If you have not yet used the web version of SciFinder, you may want to view a brief interactive demo.  CAS also provides several guides, including: Explore by Research Topic, Explore by Chemical Structure, Explore by Substructure, and Explore Reactions, as well as information on system requirements.  Additionally, staff in the Baylor Libraries has designed several video tutorials for using the web version of SciFinder.  If you have client-saved .sfr files, CAS provides a SciFinder file conversion tool to convert the .sfr files to the new web format (.akx).

Information on setting up your account and accessing it can be found in the callout box located at: http://www.baylor.edu/lib/electrres/scifinder.  Note: First you must create a personal account before you can access the web version of SciFinder.  You will use this personal login information (not your Bear ID and password) to access the web version of SciFinder at: http://ezproxy.baylor.edu/login?url=https://scifinder.cas.org.  Detailed information on the user registration process from CAS is also available.

If you have any problems setting up your account in the web version of SciFinder or any concerns you want to express regarding this change, contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu.