Script:

Overview of Rapra Polymer Library (File 323)

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As a researcher, it is important to base your research on information from top quality journals from premier publishers. When searchers seek good, solid authoritative sources related to plastics, rubber, polymeric composites and adhesives, they rely on the Rapra Polymer Library database on Dialog. In the following overview, we will focus on the Polymer Library, the free file of the month for February. You will see how what this database contains and how it is vital for your research.

Slide 2
Produced by Rapra Technology Limited File 323 recently changed its name to signify the company’s focus on all polymer topics. The database comprises more than a million carefully produced, extensively indexed summaries covering a wide range of subjects encompassing technical, academic, commercial, and marketing aspects of the rubber and plastics industries with source material in a wide range of languages from 30 different countries including North America, Australia, Europe, Japan and China. The Polymer Library contains global content from 1972 to the present, updated twice monthly and is an essential tool for large multi-national businesses to small and medium-sized enterprises working on production and product development.

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Rapra Polymer Library contains all aspects of the science, technology and business of polymers covered for industries that produce and use them such as automotive, Industrial, consumer, medical and transport industries. Subject areas encompass a broad range such as additives and compounding ingredients, adhesives and coatings in the science area; processing and treatment, properties and testing in technology and markets and industry statistics, legislation and environmental issues in business, to name a few.

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The Polymer Library contains a wide variety of sources from more than 300 key journal titles to conference papers, specifications and standards, brochures and books, technical reports, press releases, company literature data sheets and directories. Patent records are included from 1994 to 2001. Several journals are considered to form a good representative core of rubber and plastics trade journals, such as Plastics and Rubber Weekly, European Plastics News, European Rubber Journal, Modern Plastics International, Rubber and Plastics News. A number of journals relating to specific application areas are also selected including Adhesives Age, Journal of Coatings Technology, Packaging, Pipes and Pipelines International, Polymers, Paint and Colour Journal, Reinforced Plastics, Medical Device Technology and Tire Science and Technology. The database expands by approximately 22,000 abstracted records per year.

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Polymer Library is an important resource to begin a research project because of its authoritative sources worldwide. For example, Polymer Library only takes items related to polymers so the results are more focused. The database contains only published information, so the articles have usually been selected by an editor and may be peer-reviewed in contrast to information on the Internet where anyone can post. With information sourced from more than 30 countries, you can quickly and easily get the full picture on your topic. An experienced team of abstractors produce quality records with thorough and accurate keywords, so your search results will be extensive with minimal false hits.

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The Polymer Library may be used in many ways. Here are a few of the reasons that you may use it:

• --Complete a subject overview and catch up on all the important information on a specific topic area. The Polymer Library's comprehensive and historical coverage gives you the full picture. Try using broader terms or looking up further research by authors who write in your field by searching index terms and author names.
• --Find out about the industry and how the latest technologies are being applied in your field. Source material includes a wide range of application-based journals.
• -- Research trade names and find out where and when the products were used. File 323 dates back to 1972 and includes old trade name records that can be hard to trace elsewhere.
• -- Monitor the competition and discover what has been published about and by your rival companies. Key news items form an important part of the Polymer Library content.
• -- If you are filing a patent , carry out a prior art search to find out if a technology or practice has been documented before. Comprehensive source material gives you a better chance of finding that all-important reference.
• -- Find out if your experiment has been carried out before, or find similar research to help you progress. Search for ways to improve your product like finding out about new materials and their properties and limitations. Information sources include hundreds of technical journals and conference proceedings.
• -- Learn about new developments in your field. The Polymer Library database is updated with the latest information every two weeks.

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Polymer Library uses a controlled vocabulary or thesaurus that’s developed from the language employed in source publications. Although the Thesaurus contains numerous scientific terms, it contains words like review or product announcement, meeting the needs of researchers across a wide range of topics. All records are indexed giving you the flexibility to search free-text across a record or take advantage of the powerful thesaurus. The Rapra Classification Code is an essential search aid for anyone making regular use of the database. It contains full details of the coding, together with general and polymeric indexes to the code, which allows each record to be searched on the basis of its subject coding rather than by natural language. A number of indexed terms are given here, including some examples of keywords encompassed by those terms.

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The Polymer Library subscribes to all the major polymer publications, as well as many with polymers as peripheral subject matter. The records contain title, author, corporate source and address, journal information. An abstract written by a Rapra expert in the specific subject area, details the contents of the article which is in English. Descriptors from the thesaurus provide additional key terms to expand your search and class codes enable you to zero in on the category of information. Note the geographic location is Turkey.

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Conference papers from such organizations as Plastics and Rubber Institute (PRI), American Chemical Society (ACS), Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) and British Plastics Federation (BPF) are included in File 323. The title provides a concise look at the topic of the conference paper. Bibliographic information includes author of the paper, corporate source, conference name, location and date, conference proceedings and language.

A detailed abstract discusses the subject of the paper. Included is a listing of descriptor terms from the Polymer Library thesaurus, as well as the file’s classification codes, abbreviated for this record.

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The Polymer Library contains titles in a wide range of topics. Applications include packaging, fuel cells, rubber and plastic recycling, sealants and adhesives. Materials, properties, synthesis and processing, testing and analysis are other important areas of coverage, A few titles illustrate the diversity of the content in the database.

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As you can see, Rapra Polymer Library (File 323) provides unique, relevant information about rubber, plastic and polymer topics worldwide from reliable sources.

• You can try Polymer Library as Dialog’s Free File of the Month in February. Read the story on the Free File in the February Chronolog and try searching File 323!
• Review the Rapra Classification codes for better searching in File 323.
• Make sure you are signed up for the Chronolog to see all the news at Dialog including other free files each month.
• If you have any questions, you can also contact the Knowledge Center by phone or email at .

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This completes our overview of Rapra Polymer Library. Thank you for your interest in this premier technical database and put it on your list to try for free in February.