Presentation given at 243 ACS National Meeting, Spring 2012, in San Diego. Given the tightly subject matter packed curricula, it is often difficult for librarians to obtain time for scientific information instruction. While this situation exists since several years at ETH Zürich, we have developed a two-pillared strategy which on the one hand tries to meet the students where they have information needs, on the other hand to create tools and services that offer improved access to sources. First, our scientific information instruction includes basic and advanced lessons that are integrated in chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences, and material science lab courses. These problem-oriented units (including hands-on literature searches for the lab experiment) are taught by qualified scientific staff from the Information Center and accompany students for their Bachelor course, starting in the first term. They are complemented by supporting material for major databases on the web site and individual end-user support. We will review this approach and discuss strengths and weaknesses. We are also investigating new ways to improve how students assess information. For this, we have carried out a large study with second-semester students who had to rate the German Wikipedia and Roempp Online chemistry encyclopedia with regards to content on chemical thermodynamics, and will report results. Second, since teaching chemical information is focused on the most important sources, it must be complemented with information services that support the user in locating and judging the appropriate source. As an example, we will present a recently introduced textbook portal that integrates with our library navigator.

1. Chemical Information Instruction at
ETH Zürich: Review and Trends
Martin P. Brändle*1, Engelbert Zass1,
Lukas Korosec2, Peter A. Limacher2, Hans Peter Lüthi2
1Chemistry Biology Pharmacy Information Center
www.infochembio.ethz.ch
braendle at chem.ethz.ch
2Laboratory of Physical Chemistry
ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 1

2. Have we already lost the information game?
Future use of IT for work & life at Campus study1
(06/2011, 3627 respondents, 20.3% return rate,
D-CHAB ~400 respondents)
Electronic aids used for learning for exam?
1. 70.3 % Wikipedia
2. 39.5 % lecture recordings
3. 30.0 % animations
4. 17.3 % none
5. ...
1 https://www1.ethz.ch/id/projects/abgeschlossen/fit4campus/FIT4CampusEndbericht.pdf
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 2

3. Conclusions by survey authors
„The survey has revealed the importance of
Wikipedia as source of learning materials. This
should be considered in fields where paid-for online
products are in competition to Wikipedia.
First scientific studies on this topic had been made at
ETHcit.“
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 3

4. Literature and Database Searching
Type of Remote
Problem categories Assistance
search Support
Source
Procedure Interface
known and
obvious? useful?
appropriate?
Yes Yes Yes End-User Help
Support,
No Yes Yes Supported
Training
No No Yes Mediated Service
Orientation
No No No Informed Education
Tools
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 4

5. Courses (Bachelor)
Topic Che Che Int Sci Pha Matl Biol
Eng Sci
Library intro, „Access“ I I I I II I
(Catalog, e-journals, e-books)
Org. compounds, preps, react. II II II II III
Bibliographic DB III III III III III E
Inorg./metallorg. subst., react. III E III E III E
Writing, citing, citation mgmt, III E III E III E I-II E III E
plagiarism
Spectra, physical properties IV IV
Polymers, materials III
Pharmaceutical info. (overview) V
Patents V E
Hours (by ICBP) 6 (9) 12 (15) 6 (8) 4 4 3
ICBP, running ICBP, cancelled Department
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 5

6. Time Saver: Virtual Library Tour

7. Lab Course
Inorganic & Metallorganic Chemistry II
• (pre-session: briefing of lab assistants)
• List of compounds to be synthesized
• Introduction (1 h)
– Molecular Formula and Structure Searching
– Important Reference Works (DIOC, Inorg. Synth.)
and Databases (Reaxys, SciFinder)
– Dichotomy Salt – Complex
– Obstacles: coordinative bonds, charges, crystal
water, ligand acronyms
– Dot-disconnected formulas; tabular compounds
– Obtaining 1o literature
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 7

8. Lab Course
Inorganic & Metallorganic Chemistry II
First course
• DB searches in library
premises
• Support by chem. libr.+
lab assistants
• 60-80 students, 2.5
hours, 20-30 minute
time slots
• Librarian: Support for
obtaining 1o & 3o lit.
Acknowledgement: Prof. A. Mezzetti • May repeat weekly ...
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 8

9. Wrap-up session (1h)
• Discussion of
– Common problems
– Common mistakes made
– Identification of correct stereo isomer of organo-
metallic complexes
– Identification of relevant literature
– Obtaining literature (articles, patents)
– Purification
– Analytical procedures (e.g. disaggregation)
– Spectra
– Element composition searches
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 9

10. PPT presentations as thread
www.infochembio.ethz.ch/kurse_chemie.html
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 10

11. Assessment of Chemical Content in
Online Encyclopedias
Römpp Online
• no equivalent in
US/GB/AU
• written by experts
• introduction to topic
Römpp vs Wikipedia
assessment
Quantitative & formal
aspects: R >> W
Qualitative (15 expert
assessments): W ≥ R
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 11

12. Instructional Setting
Thermodynamics course, 2nd semester
• ~200 students
• Kick-off session
– Presentation of preliminary study
– „You are now the experts!“
– Form and survey criteria: accuracy, completeness,
length, comprehensibility, sources, further reading,
web links, graphics, overall mark, target groups
• Non-mandatory assignment (4 weeks time)
– Choose and assess 3 articles out of 30 given
• Presentation of results, discussion
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 12

13. Lessons Learned 619 ratings,
48% return rate
• Accuracy, sources: R ≥ W
• Higher importance of criteria completeness
(36-42%), length (24%), comprehensibility (10-14%)
• Target groups:
W for undergraduates, R for graduates
• Fuzzy understanding of concepts
source, further reading, graphics, Web link
• Better chance to pass exam when assignment
done? No!
Full study: L. Korosec et al., Chimia 64, 2010, 309-314, doi:10.2533/chimia.2010.309
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 13

14. Orientation Tools
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 14

15. Recommended Textbook: Catalog Record
Recommended Textbook
Date-dependent display (Timeline)
Spring Autumn
02/2012 09 02/2013
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 15

16. Recommended Textbook: Details
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 16

17. Textbook Portal
Textbooks
Study
Courses
Course
Units
Lecturers
Semesters
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 17

18. Library Navigator (static backup)
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 19

19. Conclusions
• Fetch student when they need information
– Learning, exam preparation
– Lab courses
– Research projects
è Integrated courses and tools (educational
or orientational), task-oriented
è Insist on and let discover value of
peer-reviewed literature
• Cooperate with faculty and course admins
Consulting and support by humans paramount
© ETH Zürich, 243rd ACS National Meeting San Diego, 2012 20