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Other chemistry-focused groups include;- 
 alt.drugs.chemistry  - discusses the chemistry of all drugs.
 misc.jobs.fields.chemistry - chemistry employment opportunities.  
 rec.drugs.chemistry  - discusses the chemistry of recreational drugs.
 sci.chem.analytical - discusses analytical chemistry.
 sci.chem.coatings - discusses all aspects of surface coatings.
 sci.chem.electrochem - discusses electrochemistry topics
 sci.chem.electrochem.battery - discusses electrochemical cells.  
 sci.chem.labware - discusses laboratory equipment.
 sci.chem.organomet - discusses organometallic chemistry.
 sci.chem.organic.synthesis - discusses organic synthesis - moderated.
 sci.engr.chem - discusses chemical engineering and industrial chemistry. 
 sci.techniques.mag-resonance - discusses magnetic resonance.
 sci.techniques.mass-spec - discusses mass spectrometry.
 sci.techniques.xtallography - discusses crystallography
 
Other groups cover specific topics that also have significant chemistry 
components, including:- 
 alt.drugs.* - discusses all drugs.
 rec.drugs.* - discusses recreational drugs. 
 rec.pyrotechnics - discusses pyrotechnics. 
 alt.cesium - cesium is discussed, along with much else.  
 soc.history.science - the history of science, including chemistry.  

There are also chemistry groups in many national hierarchies. Some of these 
groups are distributed fairly widely, and may be available from your ISP, 
even though they may be in a language other than English.    

There are also several other chemistry-related FAQs available, including 
the sci.chem.electrochem FAQ maintained by Zoltan Nagy, and the Mass 
Spectrometry Internet Resources FAQ maintained by Kermit Murray.

5.13 What questions are best answered elsewhere in Usenet?.

a. Anything concerning Usenet and Internet abuse, guidelines or behaviour.
   - Start in the news.* hierarchy, such as news.admin.net-abuse.misc.

b. Anything concerning the provision of Internet services by your provider.
   - Start in the specific, in-house, discussion groups - this includes
     any apparent, sudden lack of posts in sci.chem.     

c. Anything concerning illicit drugs. 
   - Start in the alt.drugs.* hierarchy and the rec.drugs.chemistry group, 
     as the various FAQs point to diverse chemical information sources. 
   - Refer to sections 13.1 - 13.6 of this FAQ for some available choices.

d. Anything concerning Ludwig/Archimedes Plutonium.
   - Start at sci.physics, as they directed him to sci.chem :-). If you don't
     like his posts, killfile him. Please don't start a campaign to remove 
     him, as all that happens is the group usually get flooded with junk. 
     For those interested in his theories, try the following WWW site. 
     http://www.newphys.se/elektromagnum/physics/LudwigPlutonium/

e. Anything concerning bubbles in newly-opened drinks.
   - Start with sci.physics, the solubility behaviour of dissolved gases when 
     the pressure is reduced is predominantly a physical effect, although
     section 19.4 briefly touches on the subject. 

f. Anything scientific concerning the Ozone Hole and Climate Change.
   - Start with sci.environment, in particular with Robert Parson's superb
     FAQ on ozone, and Jan Scloerer's Climate Change - The Basics, both 
     available at the rtfm.mit.edu FTP site for Usenet FAQs. Non-scientific 
     discussions should always be moved to talk.environment.

g. Anything concerning explosives.
   - Refer to sections 13.7 - 13.10 of this FAQ for the available choices.

5.14 Why is the sci.chem.* hierarchy not rational?.

As the sci.chem group has up to 80 posts/day, some specialists believe they
would be better served having their own group. They draft a charter, submit
it to the news.advice group, who ensure it is consistent with the overall
structure of Usenet and, after discussion, the group is voted on. If the 
group passes it is created. Groups appear only if some motivated people 
arrange to form them. That is why the structure is not rational. 

There is currently no formal structural plan for the hierarchy and, given 
the diverse nature of current contributions, it is proving difficult to 
develop such a plan - as no one wishes to compromise the diversity of 
sci.chem. If you learn to use the features of your newsreader correctly, 
the current size of sci.chem is easily handled, and most threads of interest 
can be captured as they pass.

5.15 How do I create a sub-group for my pet topic?.

First of all, discuss your idea extensively in sci.chem and other relevant
groups and mailing lists, ensure you have sufficient support for your 
proposal, and take note of all comments, whether positive or negative. 
The next stages are well documented in a FAQ available in news.groups.
Basically, you email group-advice@uunet.uu.net, who will help you prepare 
the charter and Request For Discussion, and may even provide a mentor to
guide you through the process. 

If the proposal has an additional vote that could affect another group by 
renaming or changing the hierarchy, return to that group and consult the 
participants to ensure there is support for any proposed changes prior 
to issuing the RFD. Group advice is not mandatory, so if the added vote 
is contentious, drop it. Post the RFD twice, and remind people to ensure 
they cross post to news.groups, even if they do not read that group, as 
that is where all post-RFD discussion is supposed to occur. Take note of 
the discussion in news.groups and other groups where you posted the RFD, 
and modify the RFD, if appropriate, and post it again. Then follow the 
guidelines for the actual vote, others will administer the vote and create 
the groups, if they pass.    

5.16 Where are the sci.chem archives?.

Given the nature, number, and diversity of sci.chem posts, no formal 
archives exist, however the Usenet archives at DejaNews on the WWW will 
contain most of the articles for the last couple of years,  
http://www.dejanews.com/
There are also several other WWW sites that offer access to, and
keyword searching of, recent Usenet posts. One site is Alta Vista.
http://altavista.digital.com/

The total number of articles that you will see in sci.chem will depend
on how your system administrators have set the News system. If they set
a short Expire time, and set the software to ignore the Expiry date line,
you may actually miss some articles that have long propagation times. 

The best solution is to politely ask the administrators to increase the
Expire time - usually they are more sympathetic to requests to increase 
Sci.* expire times than they are to requests for longer Alt.* expire times. 
Sometimes they just can't oblige, so you may have to read the group more
frequently, but please check DejaNews before posting requests for old
articles. 

It should also be remembered that Usenet archive sites like DejaNews 
will retain all of your posts - unless you set the "X-No-Archive" header
appropriately. Some posting software does not have the facility to set  
such headers, but it can be added manually to the first line of a post. 
It has been reported that some employers now review such archive sites for 
posts when evaluating job applications. Although DejaNews honours the 
"X-No-Archive" header, that does not mean that all archiving sites will, 
so your posts may still be hiding somewhere on the Internet.  

5.17 Who was Larry Lippman?.

When sci.chem was formed (1988?), there were only a few posts per week, and
a considerable number were requests for information. Larry Lippman soon 
established his superb practical and theoretical chemical credentials, and 
set about responding to those plaintive pleas for information. His posts 
were excellent examples of informative, educational responses delivered in
a friendly, helpful style. His posts demonstrated how knowledgeable sci.chem 
posters could respond to requests in such a way that all readers would 
understand, regardless of formal chemical training. He died in late 1991 
in his early 40s. Unfortunately, only a few of his posts to sci.chem have 
survived. If you have any of his posts I would appreciate a copy, as I am 
collecting them to be made available as a single "Lippman posts" file.
  
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Subject: 6. Common terms and abbreviations frequently used in sci.chem.
      
6.1  Abbreviations used in this FAQ and sci.chem 

ACGIH = American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
ACS = American Chemical Society
AOAC = Association of Official Analytical Chemists
AOCS = American Oil Chemists Society
APHA = American Public Health Association
API = American Petroleum Institute
ASTM = American Society for Testing Materials
BP = British Pharmacopoeia
CA = Chemical Abstracts
CAS RN = Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number ( usually as [x.y.z] ).
C&EN = Chemical & Engineering News ( journal )
CMR = Chemical Marketing Reporter ( journal )
DIN = Deutsches Institut fur Normung
EP = European Pharmacopoeia
GMP = Good Manufacturing Practice
IP = Institute of Petroleum
IPCC = Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
ISO = International Standards Organisation
ISO 9000 = The 9000 series (esp.9001) Quality System Standards
MSDS = Material Safety Data Sheet 
RTECS = Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances
TLV = Threshold Limit Value ( defined by the ACGIH )
USP = United States Pharmacopoeia

6.2  Common Terms used in this FAQ.

These terms apply to well-known reference texts. Note that those with a "*" 
are also available from commercial database suppliers and/or as CD-ROMs. 
The electronic versions may be accessible via an institution library, if the 
library does not have the hardcopy version available. 
* Beilstein = Handbuch der Organischen Chemie [1].
* Bretherick = Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards [2]. 
* Chem.Abs. = Chemical Abstracts [3].
  Cotton and Wilkinson = Advanced Inorganic Chemistry [4].
  Fieser & Fieser - Reagents for Organic Synthesis [5].
* Gardner = Chemical Synonyms and Trade Names [6].
  Gmelin = Handbuch der Anorganischen Chemie [7].
  Goodman & Gilman = The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics [8].
* Hawley = Condensed Chemical Dictionary [9].
* Heilbron = Dictionary of Organic Compounds [10].
* Kirk Othmer = Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology [11].
  Lange = Handbook of Chemistry [12].
* Martindale = The Extra Pharmacopoeia [13].
  McKetta = Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design [14].
  Mellor = Comprehensive Treatise on Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry [15].
* Merck = The Merck Index [16].
  Perry = The Chemical Engineers' Handbook [17].
* RTECS = Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances [18].
  Rubber Handbook = CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics [19].
* Sax = Dangerous Properties of Industrial Chemicals [20].
  Shreve = The Chemical Process Industries [21]. 
  Ullmann = Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry [22].
  Vogel = "Inorganic" = Quantitative Inorganic Analysis [23].
        = "Qualitative Inorganic" = Qualitative Inorganic Analysis [24].
        = "Organic" = Practical Organic Chemistry [25].
        = "EPOC" = Elementary Practical Organic Chemistry [26].

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