Online information retrieval (or online searching) is the acquisition of information from a distant computer via a terminal or PC, involving an interactive dialogue between enquirer and computer. The computer handles a number of databases stored in electronic form, consisting of references to journal articles, conference papers, reports, books etc, which the Information Retrieval Service (IRS) or 'host' makes available to interested parties, such as university libraries, on a commercial basis. The computer matches any input search terms against its files and displays any resulting matches which can then be printed out or downloaded by the searcher.
The choice of database depends on search topic. If, for example, the student is interested in the chemical aspects of a dielectric material, he might choose to access the online version of CAS - Chemical Abstracts Services.
Chemical Abstracts - CA File is the most relevant English language database with world-wide coverage of literature in many areas of chemistry and chemical engineering. Unfortunately, it is not available at KTU library yet.
Chemical Abstracts Services - CAS have the section where the following tutorials are available: