Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques

— August 1998 —

Print v. Electronic — Which to teach?

Need to know some basics about the printed product to use the electronic product well
- Some print tools strongly influence their electronic counterparts
  - Chemical Abstracts — abbreviations, inverted subject headings
  - Science Citation Index — citations by first author only
Length of coverage differs for print v. electronic
Only the print version may be available
- Do not teach what you do not own
- Exception: for graduate students and upper-division undergraduates, you may want to at least mention tools which they will find elsewhere

Ease of learning, ease of use
- Some print tools are easy to use and their electronic counterparts difficult (or expensive)
- 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
Downsides of online
- Online searching is fast, but must learn search techniques first
- Must evaluate the results carefully
  - How many answers are optimal
  - Have all the important references been found
- Information is never cheap — on some online systems mistakes can be expensive