Chemical Info Literacy Tools: a work in progress

1. Chemical Info Literacy Tools:a work in progress Debbie Chaves, Wilfred Laurier U, dchaves@wlu.ca Patricia Meindl, U of Toronto, pmeindl@chem.utoronto.ca

2. Subject Guides – What do we want? • Hope that subject guides provide students with a starting point for research • Point of need – point of access – easy to find • Must not be static easily changed • Include library content: catalogues, databases, e-references… • Include course content: direct links to the classroom assignment • Include 2-way communication: chat boxes, Skype… • Include writing content: citation, writing centre…. • Include RSS feeds, del.icio.us cloud tags, book covers from librarything.com, videos….

3. How do we create the paragon of Subject Guides? • Drupal: http://drupal.org - open source content management platform • Moodle: http://moodle.citylit.ac.uk/moodle/mod/resrouce/view.php?id=123 – open source content management system • MyLibrary: http://mylibrary.library.nd.edu/ - open source subject guide application • SubjectPlus: http://www.ithacalibrary.com/subplus - database-driven subject guide • LibData: http://libdata.sourceforge.net – open source authoring environment • ResearchGuide: http://researchguide.sourceforge.net – open source environment for subject guide creation • LibGuides: http://www.springshare.com/libguides - $ to create and host platform

7. What to include? • What type of information should be included within a subject guide? • When is it too much information? • How broad should the information be?

9. References • EBSCOhost: Internet Subject Guides in Academic Libraries. (n.d.). . Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=9&sid=a7472a9b-d689-43f5-a122-96aa9ce27550%40sessionmgr7. • Edward M. Corrado and Kathryn A. Frederick. (2008, April 10). Free and Open Source Options for Creating Database-Driven Subject Guides. The Code4Lib Journal. Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/47. • iLibrarian » A Librarian’s Guide to Creating 2.0 Subject Guides. (n.d.). . Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2007/a-librarians-guide-to-creating-20-subject-guides/. • Project MUSE - portal: Libraries and the Academy - Students, Librarians, and Subject Guides: Improving a Poor Rate of Return. (n.d.). . Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/v004/4.1reeb.html.

10. Online tutorials • Demonstrate the search process • Added value info • On-demand access • Interactivity available in some software • Can be assignment-focused • New simple software • Commercial: Captivate, Camtasia • Free: Wink, Camstudio

11. Chemistry - a special case? • Unique needs of chemistry • Properties • Spectra • Chemical structures • Reactions • Not just topic-based searching

12. Examples • Scifinder web • More specific tutorials • In a Maths for Chemists course (p.37) • FIS 2132 examples • Unfortunately most examples seem to be on Blackboard type portals and not freely visible

13. Problem 1 • An organic chemistry professor is going to give his students an assignment on Named Reactions • they have to identify the origins of a specific named reaction and then find examples of the reaction in the current literature • The professor could give you 20 minutes in class to tell the students where to look • But is there a better way to get the info to students?

14. Problem 2 • A analytical lab course is going to examine many chemical properties during the term • The instructor has asked the librarian to show the students where to get the literature data – he can fit you in during the first lab class • Is there a better way?

15. Problem 3 • A large first year class needs to learn how to use the handbooks and MDS sheets • Each lab group is doing the experiments in a different order (due to access to facilities) • These are also new students and could use a general library orientation as well • How to deal with this?

16. Problem 4 • Suggestions?