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Grace Baysinger: Presentations

SLA 90th Annual Conference | Drug Abuse Research Team Program | Scientific Information Literacy | Identifying Unknowns | Searching Databases | Universal Web Page Design

Identifying Unknowns:
Library Resources in Support of a Large Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Lab Course

Grace Baysinger and Stella Ota
Stanford University
Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library
Organic Chemistry Building
Stanford, CA  94305-5080
graceb@stanford.edu

Abstract

Every Fall quarter, 350-400 sophomores take an organic chemistry class that includes laboratory work in identifying unknown compounds. Students also need to synthesize a derivative once they have identified their “parent” unknown compound. A number of electronic resources are searched using physical properties, chemical substructures/ structures, and CAS Registry Numbers. Resources used include: The Dictionary of Organic Compounds on CD-ROM, Properties of Organic Compounds on CD-ROM, Merck Index on CD-ROM, Beilstein Crossfire, AutoNom, and ACD's Interactive Web Laboratory (Ilab). Thirty five workstations in two libraries are available for students to use plus Beilstein Crossfire and ILab can be used from personal or dorm workstations. A key component in the success of the program is reference help provided by the Teaching Assistants in the libraries for 25 hours per week. This poster will summarize hardware and software used, provide sample search strategies, and list web pages developed in support of the course.

Programmatic Needs

• Sophomore level organic chemistry class taught every Fall Quarter.
• Lecture and laboratory class the focuses on the identification of organic compounds.
• Class size has increased significantly in the last 8 years. In 1989, there were 250 students. In 1997, there were 350.

Course	Number of Students	Laboratory Work: # of Unknowns
Chem 132: Chem Majors	50	8
Chem 130: Non-Majors (Mostly Pre-Med Students)	300	4

• Using mostly electronic resources, students identify unknowns from the lab.
• Students must prepare derivatives of unknowns once they identify parent compound. One unknown is a mixture.
• Laboratory reports must include reference sources used plus an IUPAC name and synonyms for the compound.
• Students use electronic resources intensively.

Resources Used

Printed Resources

• CRC Handbook of Tables for Organic Compound Identification
• Merck Index
• Names, Synonyms, and Structures of Organic Compounds
• Textbooks on Reserve; Spectral Reference Sets Are Off-Limits

Electronic Resources	Number of Simultaneous Users
Dictionary of Organic Compounds on CD-ROM	30
Properties of Organic Compounds on CD-ROM	15
Beilstein Crossfire	Site License – Unlimited
ACD's Interactive Web Laboratory (ILab)*	Site License – Unlimited
AutoNom	5

* ACD's Ilab generates IUPAC/CAS Name, Predicts NMR Spectra, Displays Shift Tables.
URL: http://www.acdlabs.com/

Usage Statistics for Beilstein Crossfire

Top 5 Users October-December 1997

#Sessions	Full institution name
4390	Stanford University
2255	Indiana University
1794	University of Pennsylvania
1678	University of Wisconsin-Madison
1528	Harvard

October 1997

#Sessions	Full institution name
1457	Stanford University
887	Michigan State University
875	Indiana University
705	Penn State
616	UC Berkeley

November 1997

#Sessions	Full institution name
2245	Stanford University
910	Indiana University
646	University of Wisconsin Madison
634	University of Pennsylvania
508	Harvard

December 1997

#Sessions	Full institution name
702	University of Pennsylvania
688	Stanford University
532	Harvard
470	Indiana University
450	University of Wisconsin-Madison

Crossfire Usage Statistics:

http://minerva.library.wisc.edu/

Hardware Used

Use of all workstations in Swain and Meyer was first-come, first served.

Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library

• 7 Drive CD-ROM Tower and Server
• 9 Pentium Workstations (Windows NT)
• 2 Laser Printers

Meyer Library Computer Cluster

• 25 Pentium Workstations (Windows 95)
• 1 Laser Printer
• Access to Swain CD-ROM tower
• Kerberos Authentication

Dorm/Personal Workstations

• Many different kinds of workstations
• Connected to campus network
• Could only use Beilstein Crossfire and ACD ILabs

Support: Reference and Instruction

Lectures:

TAs and Instructor — Lecture/Demo/Hands-on

2 hr session offered twice during first week of classes. Included lots of hands-on practice.

Students — Introduction to Resources Lecture/Demo

1 hr long; offered twice at 7pm (outside of class). Offered 1 week after classes started.

Students — Finding Derivatives Lecture/Demo

1 hr long; offered once at 7pm. Offered 3 weeks into course. Reviewed search strategies to find parent compounds but focused on methods to find derivatives. Introduced ACD Ilabs as it had just become available. Also gave quick demo of web site created for the class.

Handouts:

Provided “cheatsheets” and FAQs for resources. Must be concise or students won't use them. :o)

Web Site

http://library.stanford.edu/depts/swain/services/courses/chem130/index.html

Support: Reference and Instruction

Staff:

3 PhDs (Instructor, Tutorial/Lab Consultant, Lab Scheduler)

Tutorial/Lab Consultant worked 10 Hrs/Wk.

2 Mid/Late Career Graduate Students (Head TAs)

17 1st Year Graduate Students & Upper Class Concentrators

Worked in Swain and Meyer Libraries.

Swain Library TA

Upper Class Concentrator; Hired by Chem Dept. Worked 10 Hrs/Wk.

Swain Library Computer Resource Specialist (0.50 FTE)

Maintains CD-ROM tower and server workstation plus all 17 workstations in the Swain Library.

Meyer Library Computer Cluster Consultants (Many People)

Maintain workstations at Meyer Library. Trouble-shoot only hardware problems.

Swain Library

Librarians (1.25 FTE), Support Staff (2.0 FTE), Student Workers (1 student runs library evenings/weekends). Librarian scheduled 10 Hrs/Week. Help by all others on demand as needed.

Support: Reference and Instruction

Help In Chem 130/132

Location	Days	Time	Dates	Source of Help
Swain Library	MTWThF	1:30 – 3:30 pm	9/30 – 12/3	Library TA
"	SuMTWTh	1:30 – 4:30 pm	9/30 – 11/6	Lab TAs
"	"	7 – 10 pm	9/30 – 11/6	Lab TAs
"	MTWThF	9 am – 6 pm	9/30 – 12/9	Library Staff
Meyer Computer Cluster	SuMTWTh	7 – 10 pm	9/30 –- 11/6	Lab TAs
"	"	7 – 9 pm	11/9 – 12/3	Lab TAs
Office	MTWThF	3 – 5 pm	10/6 – 12/3	Tutorial/Lab Consultant

Dictionary of Organic Compounds On CD-ROM Sample Search Strategy

Search Boiling Point Range of 75-90 Degrees

AND

Molecular Element search (use MF index): Only-CHNO can be in the MF

AND

Substructure Fragments of a Carboxylic Acid, Alcohol and a Benzene Ring

Factors to Consider Regarding Use of Electronic Resources in a Course

• Does it make sense pedagogically for students to use electronic resources for the course?
• What titles best meet the needs of the course? What version(s) (print or electronic) of a title makes the most sense?
• What funds are available and what options provide the most effective and efficient use of resources?
• What types of hardware and software are needed to use electronic products and to view search results?
• How many/how easy are the search interfaces students would need to learn?
• What facilities work is needed to support the use of electronic resources?
• What staffing resources are required and available to support training, consulting, and maintaining equipment?

Budgeting to Support Access to Electronic Resources

• Networking and electrical work
• Furniture for workstations
• Workstations
• Security (for hardware and software)
• Electronic resources
• new purchases
• upgrades from single user to networked versions
• Staff support

Future Activities

• Continue to lobby database providers to provide Netscape-compatible access for products (e.g. Dictionary of Organic Compounds, Properties of Organic Compounds) so electronic resources can be accessed from any campus location.
• Until CD-ROMs are replaced, work with CRC to make structure searching work properly and to make displaying records in the Table format easier in the Properties of Organic Compounds.
• Go beyond hands-on practice session for TAs. Have Instructor give them 2-3 unknowns to find so that they learn how to use electronic resources earlier in the Quarter and more thoroughly.
• Continue efforts to establish a computer cluster/lab adjacent to the Swain Library.