Does anyone else have trouble using chemwatch data base? I find the program very user UNFRIENDLY & am ready to tear out my hair. The main problem is if you're in a hurry & accidently make a spelling mistake there's no way to stop the program from going on it's merry way sorting through 20,000 odd chemicals to finally telling you after 10mins or so that there's no match.
I've also completed the chemical register for my school & my arm ached as i had to do so much mouse clicking when the addition of a scroll bar would make things much easier. Being a school carries little weight when dealing with this company. Are there any alternatives out there?
I have been using the chemwatch program for a few years.It takes a while to set up but once it is I find it really useful. When I first set it up I put each chemical in each specific area and on a specific shelf. Makes it easy to find chemicals that aren't used a lot and I can't remember where they are stored. By just doing a search and then clicking on stored in/at the program tells me exactly where to find it.
I have entered the whole school chemical stocktake on the program and if auditors are asking I can tell them exactly where and how much of each chemical the school has.
Once a year I do a chemical stocktake and I print out each individual area and then just write next to each chemical if there are any changes.
I agree there are some frustrating aspects to the program though.
Aside from the program, I have found it helpful to write on the lid of each chemical bottle eg. 3/6, meaning shelf 3, section 6. and I know exactly where to return the bottle. (especially if teachers leave them around).
Estelle
Estelle,
The problem with the database occurs when I'm either printing a new label or entering data for the stores. I can't just type in the name of the chemical & send it to the store, the program wants to search for it first & this is what's so time consuming.When the list of matches come up there can be any number that either need a secondary search or sorted through or both.
I also have my science stock set up in the same way as you but not on chemwatch, as I'd done it years before that program came out.
I have completed the Chemical Stock take/Inventory on this program identical to that of Estelle, It is time consuming though to initially set the program up, from Creating the School to Finally identifying each KLA or Chemstore needed.
Although there is some time lag during the search for a specific Chemical I find this useful due to the ability for the search to identify exactly what I have. I may type in for instance Hydrochloric Acid and this will give me a list of the acid, but I may require Conc 32%.
This gives the option to refine and accurately source the correct substance and define its concentration.
I do agree though all-in-all as to search a particular item further is time consuming, but at least you can be reassured that the correct concentration of a substance is in your store allocation.
Labels are also a pain but this process is as above, to have the correct label certainly covers you for any accident or at least you have correctly identified the substance and concentration (if it has one)..
To re-iterate what Adam said, the corporation is huge and it is a wonder that there was more thought into how navigation could take place within the site to make it more user-friendly, not to mention the subscript feature.
At the moment I try to work around all of this, as frustrating it can be sometimes..
Dr Robert Crosdale. MRACI. NSS. NSSA. NASA.
Ph.D (Chem), Post Grad Ph.D (Physics), M.Ed, B.Sc (Hons), Dip. Appl. Sc. (Chem)
Lake Munmorah High School.
University of New England.
University of New South Wales.
University of Newcastle.
To understand the Universe from our perspective, we need to look towards our own backyard first for answers.
