Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques

— March 1998 —

In-Class Demos

1. What will you demonstrate?
   • Power of searching?
   • Typical search for audience?
   • Emphasize content or logistics (i.e., truncation symbol, how to print)?
2. Variety of access points to information.
   • Convergence of several concepts
   • Avoid nomenclature uncertainties
   • Avoid reliance on indexing limitations
3. What if you cannot go online in class?
   • Store results from earlier search and go through “screens”. Can do in several ways:
     • do PowerPoint capture;
     • take “snapshots” from Internet and store on desktop;
     • use word processing stored search.
   • See following article about Internet demos.
4. Use transparencies of actual search printout.
   • Select a database on CD-ROM.

Grace Baysinger, Head Librarian and Bibliographer
Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library, Stanford University Libraries
graceb@stanford.edu