The Librarian's Role in Selecting and Promoting Free
World Wide Web Materials to Chemistry Students, Staff and Faculty.
Barnett,
Philip. Science/Engineering
Library,
Abstracts,
32nd Northeast Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Rochester,
NY, United States, October 31-November 3
(2004), GEN-202. Publisher: American Chemical Society,
Abstract
When chemistry students take organic chemistry, usually in
their second year, they often begin to have information needs that are no
longer fulfilled by their textbooks and class readings. Frequently these students need specific data
on physical properties of organic compounds, and they come to the library for
help with this task. At the same time,
more advanced students have additional. research needs. To obtain this data, both types of students
often are best served by first consulting well-known and authoritative printed
sources, or subscription based databases.
However, a library-supported world wide web
page, which points to free web resources, may prove extremely helpful in
supporting chem. education. The aim of
such a web page is to clearly show students the sites they need, but without
overwhelming them. We must keep in mind
that a web page that is too large and cumbersome will turn students off. The Science/Engineering Library of the City
College of New York has such a web page:
http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/Divisions/science/chemistry.html
The
library publicizes the existence of this page to undergraduate chemistry
majors, masters and doctoral chemistry students, and to chemistry faculty, all
of whom may benefit from the sites listed.
Besides offering links to subjects that students and researchers seek
most frequently -- physical properties and spectra -- this page introduces
students to other less familiar sites that could help them. One example of a site that they are unlikely
to know about is the Clearinghouse on Chemical Information Instructional
Materials. The library's page also lists
the most popular guides to internet chem. sources, and highlights some of the
leading web sites in the major disciplines of chem. Another advantage to this web page is that it
is small enough to make a convenient printed annotated handout that describes
all of these selected web sites along with their URL's.