Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques

— June 1997 —

Print Sources vs. Electronic Sources: Which to teach?

Things to Consider

• Students probably need to know some basics about the printed product to use the electronic product well.
• Why separate printed from online?
• Teach the database, rather than mode of delivery.
• Introducing mechanics of online searching early.
• Do it gradually — no one can get it all in an hour!

Availability

• Seemingly obvious point: Don’t teach what you don’t own. Exception: for graduate students and upper-division undergraduates, you may want to at least mention tools which they’ll find elsewhere.
• Tools should be readily available to the particular students in question.

Ease of learning, ease of use

• Some print tools are easy to use and their electronic counterparts difficult; some vice versa.
• Start with the quickest, easiest tools and build up to the more difficult but more powerful.

Complementarity

• Some print tools have different coverage than their electronic counterparts
  • Chronological range — usually print goes back farther
  • Currency of information — usually, electronic has the edge, but not always with CD-ROM.
  • Depth of coverage — example: Gmelin in print vs. Gmelin online
• Some print tools strongly influence features of their electronic counterparts.
  • Chemical Abstracts — abbreviations, inverted subject headings
  • Science Citation Index — citations by first author only, journal abbreviations

Points Worth Pondering

• Online searching is fast, but the intellectual effort is great
• Online searching gives lots of references, BUT
  • How many answers are too many
  • Have all the important references been found
• Information is never cheap, but mistakes online can be expensive
• Don’t try to teach online databases without adequate documentation

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