CHE 460 Chemical Literature
Instructors: Dr. Lihung (Angel) Pu
Office hours: TBA
Reference
Texts:
Wolman,
Yecheskel, Chemical Information, a Practical Guide to Utilization,
2nd Ed., Wiley, New York, 1988; ISBN:0471917044.
Maizell, Robert
E., How to Find Chemical Information : a Guide for Practicing Chemists, Educators
and Students, Wiley-Interscience,
3rd edition (May 1998); ISBN: 0471125792.
These
texts are available from amazon.com or barnesandnobel.com in both new and
used condition.
Goals
and Objectives:
(taken from ACS Professional Guidelines, 1991)
“Students
preparing for professional work in chemistry must learn how to retrieve specific
information from the enormous and rapidly expanding chemical literature.
The increasing volume and complexity of the literature means that students
can no longer acquire skills in information retrieval without some formal
instruction. Ability to use the literature should be imparted
either through a specific course or through coordinated instruction integrated
into courses primarily devoted to other topics. These could be lectures or laboratory courses,
preferably at the junior or senior level. Library exercises should be included in such instruction. In institutions requiring undergraduate research,
instruction in information retrieval may be part of the introduction to research,
but it should be recognized that adequate presentation of the subject - including
understanding of the use of Chemical Abstracts, Beilstein, Gmelin, Science
Citation Index and other compilations, such as Landolt-Börnstein -
will generally require formal lectures. It is highly desireable that students gain
some experience with on-line interactive computer files. It is essential, however, that students understand
the organization and use of printed information sources in order to use the
computer readable files to best advantage.”
Literature
worksheets: Generally a worksheet will contain 5 to 10
questions or items which you have to find in references in the library. DO NOT QUESTION THE LIBRARIANS in particular
about your assignments since they do not have the specific knowledge needed
to find the answers to your assignments.
You alone are supposed to find the answers to each question. Be sure to include the complete reference for
each book, journal, etc. you used as evidence that you actually looked for
the answer. Do not use the
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics or Lange’s Handbook as
a reference except for the assignment which deals with quick references
and handbooks. The assignments other than the one for quick
references require more detailed and specific information than that contained
in standard handbooks.
Course
policy:
CHE
460 is designed around two major goals:
1. to
help you learn the nature and use of literature and references in chemistry
and
2. to
help you improve your writing in chemistry
The
course is self-directing with library assignments. Grading in the course is on a CR/NC basis only. To obtain a CR grade, you must complete all
ten assignments and obtain an average grade of 8 out of 10. Written work and literature worksheets judged
to be unsatisfactory due to content, grammar, spelling, etc. will have to
be redone.
No
grades of I (incomplete) will be given in this course because of student failure
to complete work assignments unless there is a serious and compelling reason
such as an accident or illness requiring hospitalization. You must submit your work in a timely manner, so plan your semester
accordingly.
Web
based assignments:
1.
To be presented properly, you will need to use Netscape 3.x or higher.
Be sure that javascript is enabled.
If the page is nonresponsive, it may be because javascript is disabled. I have found that some of the latest editions
of Netscape do not work, so you may need to download an older version such
as 4.8.
2. Go to the webpage:
http://chemistry.gravitywaves.com,
click on CHE 460, Chemical Literature, Spring 2008.
3. To obtain an assignment, click on the appropriate
category. You will asked to enter
your name and then click on a button to get your assignment.
4. The assignment with your name on the top will
appear in a new window. Make sure
that it is complete by reading every question.
If any questions are incomplete, or the work “undefined” appears, get
another assignment.
5. When you have a complete assignment, print
it.
6. Find the information requested on the assignment
and submit answers along with the original question sheet to the instructor
Here
are the ten assignments and due dates:
Assignment due date
1. Library Worksheet 2/15
2. Quick References
Worksheet
2/22
3.
Primary Journals
Worksheet
2/29
4.
Chemical
Abstracts-First Worksheet
3/7
5.
Chemical Abstracts-Second
Worksheet 3/14
6. Writing an Abstract 3/21
7.
Synthesis Worksheet
4/4
8.
Collections
Worksheet
4/25
9.
World Wide Web Assignment
5/9
10.
Final Assignment
5/16