1. CHEM 401 – LIBRARY
INSTRUCTION SESSION
Laksamee Putnam
Research & Instruction Librarian
lputnam@towson.edu
Slides: http://bit.ly/CHEM401FALL2013

2. FIRST…
 Laksamee Putnam
 lputnam@towson.edu
 Cook Library Reference:
 410.704.2462.
 IM/email
 Phone: 410.704.3746.
 Twitter: @CookLibraryofTU
 Albert S. Cook facebook profile!
 Slides: http://bit.ly/CHEM401FALL2013

3. AGENDA
 Article/Video
Discussion
 The Information Cycle
 Evaluating Resources
 Databases and how to
use them
 Find articles/books on
your own
 Citation Guides

4. IT’S OUT THERE, WHY NOT REUSE IT?
 What does intellectual
property mean to you?
Is it an important idea,
why or why not?
 With so much
information out there, is
there such a thing as an
original idea? Does that
mean you have to credit
every single person?
 How does plagiarism
affect
academia/chemistry?
Watson, M. (2013, March 4) Copyright –
the right to copy? Lariushin’s
monographs of plant families. Botanic
Stories. Retrieved from
http://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/1321

5. WIKIPEDIA WOES
 What are you doing to
find the most recent
science news?
 How do you evaluate
the information you
find while
researching?
 What are the pros and
cons of traditional
science publishing?
Scicurious. (2013, March 18) Two ships
passing in the night: Neuroscience and
social media. The Scicurious Brain.
Retrieved from
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/scicur
ious-brain/2013/03/18/two-ships-passing-
in-the-night-neuroscience-and-social-
media/

6. BATTLING BAD SCIENCE
 What does this video make you think about
evaluating information?
 Can you think of any examples of bad science?
In ads? On Facebook?
Goldacre, B. (2011) Battling
bad science.
http://www.ted.com/talks/be
n_goldacre_battling_bad_sci
ence.html

7. THE INFORMATION CYCLE
 Why is the sky blue?  What is the best
alternative energy
source?
Image by roebedo

8. EVALUATE
 Check for CRAP
 Currency
 Reliability
 Authority
 Purpose/Point of
View
 Examples
 Pacific Northwest
Tree Octopus
 Autism and Vaccines

9. DATABASES
 Find a list on the Course Gateway
 Choose one to start but do not stop there!
 Make it simple for the computer
 Specific keywords
 Try to think of different combinations
 AND, OR, NOT

10. FIND A PARTNER!
 Each group choose a different database to
analyze:
 ACS
 Science Direct
 Scopus
 PubMed

11. TOPIC: NANOTECHNOLOGY
 Which words seemed to find the best results?
Synonyms?
 Is there an advanced search?
 Can you access full text?
 What features of the database were useful? (time
limit, peer reviewed option, citations etc.)
 Problems?

12. PRESENT YOUR DATABASE
 ACS
 Science Direct
 Scopus
 PubMed

13. FEATURES TO REMEMBER
 Use the database to find synonyms
 Check the abstract
 Limitation tools – Time frame, Information type
 References Cited/Times Cited
 Citation creation
 Compose lists
 Import to RefWorks
 Interlibrary Loan - Illiad

14. CITATION GUIDES
 CSE Style Guide from
Cook Library
 Diane Hacker website
Young Boy (age 5) Contemplates What To
Write/draw On A Piece Of Paper. [Photo].
Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica Image
Quest.http://quest.eb.com/images/167_3990831

15. QUESTIONS?
 Laksamee Putnam
 lputnam@towson.edu
 Cook Library Reference:
 410.704.2462.
 IM/email
 Phone: 410.704.3746.
 Please provide feedback on this session:
 http://bit.ly/CHEM401feedback12