Integration of EndNote Online in information literacy instruction designed for small and large chemistry courses

The blended model for information literacy instruction described in this article introduces students not only to efficient techniques for finding scientific literature and properties of chemical compounds, but also to managing this information with a bibliographic management program (EndNote Online). The model blends face-to-face instruction with online tutorials posted on a LibGuide page prepared for each course. A graded online assignment designed in SurveyMonkey was used to assess student learning. During the instruction, students learned to find literature in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, SciFinder, and Web of Science. They also searched for properties of chemical compounds in ChemSpider, PubChem, Reaxys, and SciFinder using a chemical name, molecular formula, CAS Registry Number, or by drawing a molecular structure. The results from the assignments showed that students learned how to find literature and chemical property information efficiently and use a bibliographic management program to store, organize, share, and cite references. This article presents the implementation of the model in two small (40–60 students) and one large (380–460 students) undergraduate chemistry courses. The information literacy instruction described in this article was carried out in more than 20 undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Maryland College Park. It provided more than 5000 students with versatile skills that they can use throughout their college education and even later in their professional life. The design of the model and its implementation was a result of a close collaboration between the chemistry librarian and the course instructors

Eugene Garfield and his ideas, writings, and accomplishments: Impact on science, scientists, and politics

Conference. Record reproduced from SciFinder, with permission from the Chemical Abstracts Service.When Eugene Garfield created the Science Citation Index, he could not have foreseen the dramatic impact his brilliant ideas would have on science and scientists in decades to come. As founder of the Institute for Scientific Information in Philadelphia, he laid the foundations for creating valuable information products such as Index Chemicus, Current Chemical Reactions, Current Contents, Web of Science, Essential Science Indicators, and Journal Citation Reports. His weekly essays, published for many years in the Current Contents, touched on themes of enormous interest to a broad audience of scientists, academic administrators, and even politicians. In his 80s now, Dr. Garfield continues to create new information tools, his latest accomplishment being HistCite - a program that allows users to perform sophisticated analysis of the scientific literature and the publication behavior of scientists. This paper discusses how Dr. Garfieled's ideas have influenced the development of science, the life of scientists, and even...the (international) political discourse

The long road from chemistry, to microbiology, to information science

Conference. Record reproduced from SciFinder, with permission from the Chemical Abstracts Service.People with nontraditional careers usually find it difficult to explain to others what has driven them through all their professional choices. With an MS in phys. chem., a PhD in microbiology (both earned in Bulgaria), and postdoctoral training, why would someone also translate scientific abstracts and papers, and even a book. Why would a fellow of the International Atomic Energy Agency, while specializing in Paris in the use of isotopes in biochemistry, also write articles about contemporary French intellectuals. Why would a researcher in Ohio State University, while trying to elucidate a metabolic pathway for beta-oxidation of arachidonic acid in peroxisomes, also earn an M.L.S. from Kent State University. Was it only the fascination with chemistry, microbiology, literature, history, linguistics, or the essays published by Eugene Garfield in "Current Contents," that led to a rewarding new career as an information professional and manager of ACS Library

Role of personal interests, motivation, and timing in the transitioning to a new career

Conference. Record reproduced from SciFinder, with permission from the Chemical Abstracts Service.This paper shows how someone with an educational and research background in chemistry and the life sciences (BS and MS in Chemistry, PhD in Microbiology) could maintain for many years parallel interests in citation indexing that led to a seamless transition to a new career in information science and librarianship. From working at the lab bench and publishing in scientific journals, to joining a scientific publisher (ACS) as a librarian, and finally, to going back to academic life (University of Maryland, College Park) to manage a chemistry library and teach chemical information were career turns that required strong motivation and depended to a large degree on timing

Career change in the Internet Age: Making the move from chemistry to information science

Conference. Record reproduced from SciFinder, with permission from the Chemical Abstracts Service.Moving from the lab bench to a science information center can be a challenge for the unprepared mind. A successful career change requires a long and thoughtful preparation, strong motivation, and proper timing. The Internet and the new digital technologies have created many opportunities for chemists seeking non-traditional work experiences. Information specialists with science backgrounds are in great demand by chem. and pharmaceutical companies, special and university libraries, and scientific publishers. By looking back at a long career as a chemist, information specialist, and editor, the author discusses what it took her to make these career moves exciting, enjoyable, and successful. She shares how her interests in information science, scientific writing, digital photography, and digital video making have changed the perception of what a library and information center should be

Finding drug information in integrated chemistry and life sciences databases: PubChem and DiscoveryGate

Conference. Record reproduced from SciFinder, with permission from the Chemical Abstracts Service.While science is becoming more and more interdisciplinary, valuable resources such as PubChem and DiscoveryGate DG) are still considered created for and used mainly by chemists. PubChem is a fast-growing database of properties of small organic molecules, including many drugs. DG provides access to chem., medicinal, toxicity, metabolite, cancer, and drug databases that can be accessed from a single entry point, the MDL Compound Index. Users of DG can expand their searches to PubChem, and users of PubChem can expand their searches to DG. While PubChem is a free resource, DG requires expensive subscriptions. The purpose of this paper is to show how the life sciences community could greatly benefit from using integrated chem. and life sciences databases such as PubChem and DG to find specific, detailed, accurate, and independent information about the properties, synthesis, metabolism, and effects of drugs

ACS Library and Information Center: Evolving from a collection to a service.

Conference. Record reproduced from SciFinder, with permission from the Chemical Abstracts Service.The role of the ACS Library and Information Center (previously, ACS Library Services) has dramatically changed. In addition to performing all typical library duties, the ACS Library is now offering many new services. These include a New Digital Imaging Center; publishing the ACS newsletter; staff training; serving the public through the Chem. Health & Safety Referral Service; providing a content-rich chem. information on the ACS Web page (http://www.acs.org/infocenter.html); and participating in the speakers service for local ACS sections. The challenges of imposing a new model to a traditional special library - and of making it work - will be discussed

Using Campus Guides for leveraging Web 2.0 technologies and promoting the chemistry and life sciences information resources

Conference. Record reproduced from SciFinder, with permission from the Chemical Abstracts Service.The introduction of Campus Guides and a "lighter" version of this program, Lib Guides, in the last few years has created many exciting opportunities for science librarians to promote the chemistry and life sciences information resources in a new way using multimedia and social networking tools. The flexibility and the wide range of solutions these programs provide have tempted librarians to use them in many innovative ways, which has not been possible to do in static web pages controlled by rigid rules and other external factors. This presentation will show how users have responded to the new dynamic information environment created with Campus Guides and what the statistical data show about their preferences toward particular information resources in chem. and the life sciences

PubChemSR: A search and retrieval tool for PubChem

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent years have seen an explosion in the amount of publicly available chemical and related biological information. A significant step has been the emergence of PubChem, which contains property information for millions of chemical structures, and acts as a repository of compounds and bioassay screening data for the NIH Roadmap. There is a strong need for tools designed for scientists that permit easy download and use of these data. We present one such tool, PubChemSR.</p> <p>Implementation</p> <p>PubChemSR (Search and Retrieve) is a freely available desktop application written for Windows using Microsoft <it>.NET </it>that is designed to assist scientists in search, retrieval and organization of chemical and biological data from the PubChem database. It employs SOAP web services made available by NCBI for extraction of information from PubChem.</p> <p>Results and Discussion</p> <p>The program supports a wide range of searching techniques, including queries based on assay or compound keywords and chemical substructures. Results can be examined individually or downloaded and exported in batch for use in other programs such as Microsoft Excel. We believe that PubChemSR makes it straightforward for researchers to utilize the chemical, biological and screening data available in PubChem. We present several examples of how it can be used.</p

Evaluation of national output and scientific productivity in the biomedical field of several East European countries in the 1989-1995 time period using MEDLINE

Master's thesis. 39 pages