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ICT Literacy in Chemistry

Compiled by Dr. Lesley Farmer, California State University Long Beach
 

 GENERAL:

Association of College & Research Libraries. (2006). Information literacy standards for Science/Engineering/Technology: https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/infolitscitech

The following wiki is useful for chemistry information literacy: https://acrl.libguides.com/c.php?g=1190641&p=8708512

Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and state content standards also refer to K-12 ICT competencies (sometimes listed as information literacy, digital literacy, media literacy, or research skills).

 

MERLOT LINKS:

  • Science and Technology/Chemistry
  • Science and Technology/Geology/ Geochemistry
  • Academic Support Services/ ICT literacy
  • Academic Support Services/Library and Information Services 
  • MERLOT chemistry community portal https://www.merlot.org/merlot/Chemistry.htm

 

LIBGUIDES:

  • http://libguides.caltech.edu/chemistry Caltech chemistry help on findings articles, lab safety, structure representation, professional development, and historical information 
  • http://ucsd.libguides.com/chem6c/tutorials Chemical information literacy tutorials 
  • http://libguides.mit.edu/chem MIT guide on finding articles, chemical properties, chemical engineering, managing references 
  • http://ucsd.libguides.com/chemistry UC San Diego chemistry and biochemistry research guide, including articles/patents/databases, references, lab safety, ChemDraw, lab videos, mobile sites/apps, ethics, current awareness in chemistry, communications/presentation tips, research and writing tips 
  • https://guides.library.ucdavis.edu/chemistry UC Davis library chemistry guide, including articles and journals, references, chemistry properties, crystallography, safety data, citing, ChemDraw, and class handouts 
  • http://libguides.umflint.edu/chemistry University of Michigan-Flint guide to chemistry research, databases, research topics, and specific aids for biochemistry, analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and physical chemistry 
  • https://library.ccny.cuny.edu/chemistry City College of New York's chemistry guide includes databases, references, directories, tutorials, blogs, businesses, associations, safety, software, translation tools, writing, history, humor, and several specific topics     

 

ARTICLES:

  • Bauer, M. A., Berleant, D., Cornell, A. P., & Belford, R. E. (2015). WikiHyperGlossary (WHG): an information literacy technology for chemistry documents. Journal of Cheminformatics, 7(1), 22- http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/709/art:10.1186/s13321-015-0073-7.pdf?originUrl=http://jcheminf.springeropen.com/article/10.1186/s13321-015-0073-7&token2=exp=1450814294~acl=/static/pdf/709/art:10.1186/s13321-015-0073-7.pdf*~hmac=e597046ab3992eba4d9ef1ea1167b23f7fbacf6195ea748d0504de9f4c3157d7
  • Bawden, D., & Robinson, L. (2015). ‘An intensity around information’: the changing face of chemical information literacy. Journal of Information Science, 0165551515616919. http://jis.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/11/26/0165551515616919.full
  • Baykoucheva, S., Houck, J. D., & White, N. (2016). Integration of endnote online in information literacy instruction designed for small and large chemistry courses. Journal of Chemical Education, 93(3), 470–476.
  • Bruehl, M., Pan, D., & Ferrer-Vinent, I. J. (2015). Demystifying the chemistry literature: Building information literacy in first-year chemistry students through student-centered learning and experiment design. Journal of Chemical Education, 92(1), 52—57. http://doi.org/10.1021/ed500412z
  • Carr, J. M. (2013). Using a collaborative critiquing technique to develop chemistry students’ technical writing skills. Journal of Chemical Education, 90(6), 751-754.   http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed2007982
  • Danowitz, A. M., Brown, R. C., Jones, C. D., Diegelman-Parente, A., & Taylor, C. E. (2015). A combination course and lab-based approach to teaching research skills to undergraduates. Journal of Chemical Education. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00390
  • Dawe, L. (2014). Holistic integration of crystallography in undergraduate chemistry. Acta Crystallographica Section A, 70, C1384. http://scripts.iucr.org/cgi-bin/paper?a52684
  • Dennie, D., & Cuccia, L. A. (2014). “Six degrees of separation”; revealing a “small-world phenomenon” through a chemistry literature search activity. Journal of Chemical Education, 91(4), 546-549. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed400518m
  • Ferrer-Vinent, I. J., Bruehl, M., Pan, D., & Jones, G. L. (2015). Introducing scientific literature to honors general chemistry students: Teaching information literacy and the nature of research to first-year chemistry students. Journal of Chemical Education, 92(4), 617-624. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed500472v
  • Flener-Lovitt, C., Shinneman, A., & Adams, K. (2019). Building scientific communication skills through Mythbusters videos and community engagement. In Communication in Chemistry (pp. 187-203). Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.
  • Gawalt, E. S., & Adams, B. (2011). A chemical information literacy program for first-year students. Journal of Chemical Education, 88(4), 402-407. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed100625n
  • Guo, S. (2023). Integrating multiple library instructions into undergraduate chemistry curriculum: A practical model for information literacy training. Science & Technology Libraries, 42(3), 323–334. https://doi-org.csulb.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/0194262X.2022.2151059
  • Harvey, B. (2014). Collaborative chemical information literacy: Is It "scholarly? Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. Allendale, MI. Aug. http://works.bepress.com/harveyb/7
  • He, Y., & Masuda, H. (2015). Teaching undergraduate science majors how to read biochemistry primary literature: a flipped classroom approach. Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, 4(2), 51-57. 
  • Integrating literacy into the chemistry curriculum. (2016). Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.
  • Jones, M. L. B., & Seybold, P. G. (2015). Combining chemical information literacy, communication skills, career preparation, ethics, and peer review in a team-taught chemistry course. Journal of Chemical Education. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00416
  • Kim, S., Bucholtz, E. C., Briney, K., Cornell, A. P., Cuadros, J., Fulfer, K. D., Gupta, T., Hepler-Smith, E., Johnston, D. H., Lang, A. S. I. D., Larsen, D., Li, Y., McEwen, L. R., Morsch, L. A., Muzyka, J. L., & Belford, R. E. (2021). Teaching cheminformatics through a collaborative intercollegiate online chemistry course (OLCC). Journal of Chemical Education, 98(2), 416–425. 
  • Locknar, A., Mitchell, R., Rankin, J., & Sadoway, D. R. (2012). Integration of information literacy components into a large first-year lecture-based chemistry course. Journal of Chemical Education, 89(4), 487-491. http://sadoway.mit.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Sadoway_Resume/143.pdf
  • Mandernach, M. A., Shorish, Y., & Reisner, B. A. (2014). The evolution of library instruction delivery in the chemistry curriculum informed by mixed assessment methods. Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship, 77, 4. https://doi-org.csulb.idm.oclc.org/10.5062/F46H4FDD

    Martell-Parrish, A., & Lipchock, J. (2018). Preparing chemistry majors for the 21st century through a comprehensive one-semester course focused on professional preparation, contemporary issues, scientific communication, and research skills. Journal of Chemical Education, 95(1), 68-75.

    Mitchell, D. et al. (2017). Chemistry infographics: Experimenting with creativity and information literacy. In Liberal arts strategies for the chemistry classroom (pp. 113-131). Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.

    Owens, R. M. (2014). Chemistry students and information literacy. Library Faculty Scholarship. Paper 6. http://digitalcommons.esf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=libraries_fac 
  • Perry, H. (2017). Information Literacy in the Sciences: Faculty Perception of Undergraduate Student Skill. College & Research Libraries, 78(7), 964. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.7.964
  • Peters, M. C. (2014). Information competencies for chemistry undergraduates and related collaborative endeavors. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. http://istl.org/14-fall/article1.html
  • Reisner, B. A., Vaughan, K. T. L., & Shorish, Y. L. (2014). Making data management accessible in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Journal of Chemical Education, 91(11), 1943-1946. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed500099h
  • Shultz, G. V., & Li, Y. (2015). Student development of information literacy skills during problem-based organic chemistry laboratory experiments. Journal of Chemical Education. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00523
  • Stuart, R. B., & McEwen, L. R. (2015). The safety “use case”: Co-developing chemical information management and laboratory safety skills. Journal of Chemical Education. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00511
  • Swoger, B. J., & Helms, E. (2015). An organic chemistry exercise in information literacy using SciFinder. Journal of Chemical Education, 92(4), 668-671. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed500581e
  • Williams, A. J., & Pence, H. E. (2011). Smart phones, a powerful tool in the chemistry classroom. Journal of Chemical Education, 88(6), 683-686. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antony_Williams/publication/215993220_Smart_Phones_a_Powerful_Tool_in_the_Chemistry_Classroom/links/00b7d5142ac1b89092000000.pdf
  • Witherspoon, R., Taber, P., & Goudreau, A. (2022). Science students’ information literacy Needs: A survey of science faculty on what and when each skill Is needed. College & Research Libraries, 83(2), 296. doi:https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.83.2.296
  • Yu, S. H. (2017). Just curious: How can academic libraries incite curiosity to promote science literacy? Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v12i1.3954
  • Zwicky, D. A., & Hands, M. D. (2015). The effect of peer review on information literacy outcomes in a chemical literature course. Journal of Chemical Education. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00413

 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES IDEA STARTERS:

  • Ask students to post a moral issue relative to chemistry, and have a peer research an appropriate and feasible recommendation. 
  • Ask students to compare codes of ethics for different chemistry-related professional or trade associations.Ask them to create their own code of ethics.
  • Ask students to find a chemistry-related article or news item in a popular magazine or newspaper. Then ask them to find and cite the original research paper on which the article is based. 
  • Ask students to locate and summarize legislation and regulations that impact chemistry (toxic substances, accessibility, intellectual property). Then ask them whether this is the way the law ought to be or whether it should be changed and why. 
  • Ask students to create an infographic to help communicate a chemistry issue or action plan. 
  • Ask students to create a podcast or public service announcements about chemical use. 
  • Ask students to create a timeline of technical advances in chemistry. 
  • Ask students to flowchart a chemistry experiment (e.g., tracing a seminal one from history). 
  • Ask students to conduct a citation analysis of a current chemistry research study to identify scholarly influences. Ask them to present it as a concept map showing the relationships among articles/papers. 
  • Ask students to design a chemistry experiment to solve a problem, and then critique a peer’s process in terms of implications and consequences that follow from their reasoning. 
  • Ask students to research the impact of “green” technology on chemistry. 
  • Ask students to locate articles on a chemistry topic in two different database aggregators (e.g., Web of Science, ACS Web edition, Reaxys, Science Direct), and compare processes and results. 
  • Ask students to develop and implement a chemistry topical search strategy in various information retrieval systems using different user interfaces and search engines, with different command languages, protocols, and search parameters. 
  • Ask students to interview professional chemists to ascertain the use of information literacy.
  •  Ask students to create a Venn diagram about different branches of the chemistry industry.
  •  Ask students to compare advertisements for two competing chemistry products or services; consider quantitative information and emotional appeals. 
  • Ask students to debate a chemistry issue (e.g., food “enrichment”).