Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques

— March 1996 —

In-Class Demos

What will you demonstrate?

• Power of searching?
• Typical search for audience?
• Emphasize content or logistics (i.e., truncation symbol, how to print)?

Variety of access points to information.

• Convergence of several concepts
• Avoid nomenclature uncertainties
• Avoid reliance on indexing limitations

What if you cannot go online in class?

• Store results from earlier search and go through “screens”.
  
  • Can do in several ways:
    • do PowerPoint capture;
    • take “snapshots” from Internet and store on desktop;
    • use word processing stored search.
• See following article about Internet demos.

Use transparencies of actual search printout.

• Select a database on CD-ROM.

Grace Baysinger, Head Librarian and Bibliographer
Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library, Stanford University Libraries
graceb@stanford.edu