System requirements
Logging In
Searching Data
Printing Reports
What to Inventory
Inventory on the Web
Plug-ins
Other ChemTracker Guides

System Requirments
You will need Netscape Communicator 4.5, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later versions installed on your computer.  The application will work on either Mac or PC, although PC is recommended.  You will also need Adobe Acrobat 3.0 or higher to run and print some of the reports that are available.  
 
Tip:  Any installed pop-up blockers must be disabled to allow pop-ups whenever viewing ChemTracker.  
 
Tip:  The ChemTracker system makes extensive use of validation tables; therefore in some browser/platform environments it is necessary to tell the system you are ready for the next step by hitting the tab key, or clicking the mouse outside of the field in which you are entering data.  This tells the system that you are done entering information in the field and that it should validate what you have entered.  This is particularly important when you go to save a record, because the save action will not execute until the validation step is complete.  Macintosh users must use the mouse to advance the cursor and may need to click the ‘Find Values’ button to validate data.        
 
Tip:  ChemTracker runs optimally when using Internet Explorer.  The newer web browsers such as Mozilla, Firefox and Safari have been problematic.  Use IE whenever possible.  
 
Security
In order to ensure the privacy of your data, access to the system is strictly limited.  All chemicals on campus belong to a CHEMICAL OWNER who is responsible for them, and only those owners can approve a person to be a USER and have access to their inventory.  
Only EH&S Department have access to all inventories.  
 
Tip:  It is strongly encouraged that you change your password frequently because anyone gaining this information will have full access to your inventory.  Passwords can be changed from the ChemTracker Version I log-in screen.   
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Logging In
New users need to be added to the system.  To do this e-mail ChemTracker@columbia.edu  and include your full name, campus phone number and the name of your PI and department.  You will be given a username and password. 
 
To log into ChemTracker:

Tip:  If you forget your password, click on “Send Me My Password” on version I (https://chemtracker.stanford.edu/columbiany/) and enter either your email address or username.  A password will be sent to you shortly. 
 
Searching for Data
There are four tabs located at the top of the ChemTracker system.  Most users will only have access to the “reference” and “inventory” tabs.  Searching and adding data are performed within the “inventory” tab.  Useful safety information is found under the “reference” tab.  There are multiple ways to search for data within the system.  This is an example of the most common query.  
 
To search for all inventory records belonging to a chemical owner within a certain room:

  Tip:  It may be useful to save this query for future reference.  To do this, click “SAVE QUERY” in the top toolbar and name it when prompted.  From now on this query will appear in your “Saved Queries” box.  To retrieve it, simply click on it and select “RUN SELECTED QUERY”.  

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Printing Reports
To print any of the four reports that are available from your data:

Tip:  To modify and print the excel report, the file must be copied and pasted into MS Excel.  This will allow you to choose the relevant data to print.
 
Additional resources
ChemTracker offers various useful health and safety information for many chemicals in your list.  When you run any query, highlight the chemical you wish the information on. Select the “SAFETY INFO” icon and you will get health and safety information for that chemical.  The “MSDS” icon will take you to the MSDS for the item.
 
Logging Out
To log out of ChemTracker click the logout button in the upper right corner of the screen.  There is help and documentation available by clicking any of these buttons you see as your proceed. 

What to Inventory