Because of the vast accumulation of data, today's student of chcmistry must rely on the literature more than ever before; it is therefore to his advantage to bccomc acquainted with the organization and proper use of the chcmical literature at the earlier stage of his training. A good way of
helping him to accomplish this in an informal fashion is to encouragc him to acquire for his own collection a corc of reference books. A great number of undergraduates as well as graduate students arc not aware of the wealth of information available in basic reference tools such as dictionaries and handbooks, simply because they arc not in the habit of regularly consulting them. By owing a number of these relatively inexpensive rcfcrcncc tools, the student will have a great deal of information at his fingertips, and through constant use of it will develop good library habits which will not only benefit him throughout his professional career but also rcducc his tendency to memorize material which he can readily obtain from these books.