Dear Readers (Volume 5 Edition 5)

We had an email from Vesna Nikasinovic from Pancevo, Serbia asking the following:

Would you be so kind to tell me where I can find some Test Methods for determination of EVA, SBS and polyethylene polymers in binders like bitumen, using an FTIR spectrometer?

I’m a little unsure about this one, perhaps there is someone out there who can help Vesna. You can email her at vesnikas [at] hotmail.com, but don’t forget to copy us please.

Our “mate” from down under, Ian Wesley has replied to a query from last time from Pentti Pekonen from Sweden. Pentti’s question was….

Your spectrum collection is extremely useful, please add some more if possible (or show links to the free data bases). I like to read your web side stories, the level of presentation is right, even a man out of the art understand these. Furthermore, the personal touch in the articles is something what a “scientific” articles are sometimes missing. Please keep going.

Ian’s answer was….

My favourite place for freebies is the Galactic Website (makers of GRAMS software)
http://spectra.galactic.com/SpectraOnline. You need to set up an account which is free and you also need GRAMS viewer (free) if you do not have GRAMS available from
http://www.galactic.com/freebies/. Go to the “about spectral collections” page on spectra.galactic.com for a list of the sources.

Many thanks Ian for your help and also for copying us.

We had an email from Nicolay Dodoff from Bulgaria. He asks..

I cannot find referred in Chemical Abstracts my papers published in Internet Journal of Vibrational Spectroscopy (1999 and 2000). I cannot also find the Journal into list of the journals with Impact Factor published by the ICI. Would you please let me know whether the Internet Journal of Vibrational Spectroscopy is referred by Chemical Abstracts; if not, where it is referred?

Thanks for raising this point. I had assumed we were being abstracted in Chemical Abstracts, but I must admit I hadn’t checked. I have already written to the Editor of Chemical Abstracts and await a reply. I will keep you all posted as this develops – Editor.

Please keep sending your comments and questions, sometimes it may take a while for us to answer, but we will. All your questions and our replies are published here in Dear Readers.