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Information Competencies for Chemistry Undergraduates and Related Collaborative Endeavors
Marion C. Peters
Librarian Emeritus
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
mpeters@ucla.edu
Information Competencies for Chemistry Undergraduates: The Elements of Information Literacy, (2012-) now in its second edition and available as a Wikibook since 2012, resulted from collaboration by chemistry librarians participating in several professional organizations. Sections covering a) the library and scientific literature and b) scientific communication and ethical conduct, while developed for those teaching chemistry undergraduates, would be applicable for other science students. In addition, "Further Reading" provides a selection of relevant background documents.
Librarians interested in developing information competencies for other scientific disciplines may find it useful to engage in similar efforts, particularly as their institutions and discipline-related societies emphasize information literacy and skills for undergraduate programs. Physics librarians, for example, could find faculty partners in the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and have contributed in the past to comPADRE, a site for depositing physics teaching resources which includes an information fluency category (Viele 2008). As another model, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Engineering Libraries Division (ELD) adopted Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology in 2011 "with an additional standard that addresses the importance of entrepreneurial information skills in engineering" (ASEE/ELD Accreditation and Standards Committee 2011). The results, from librarians with subject expertise working collaboratively, benefits those science and engineering librarians covering multiple subject disciplines or new to the profession.
Background
The adequacy or not of information seeking skills of recent chemistry graduates becomes apparent quickly as they move into professional positions in industry or onto advanced degree programs. Repeating research unknowingly for results that can be found in the literature is an inefficient, costly use of resources and may even have tragic consequences (Perkins 2001). Librarians in industrial settings were providing training to address deficiencies in these areas. Librarians at academic institutions granting advanced degrees also noted a lack of or uneven preparation at the undergraduate level. As Herman Skolnik, then editor of the Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences and an advocate for life-long learning, asked in 1984, "May we assume … that chemistry majors are educated in and knowledgeable of the chemical literature? The answer, of course, is NO!" (Skolnik 1984).
Chemistry librarians and information professionals engaged in instructional efforts have a history of collaborating with each other. In June 1994 discussions among attendees led by Carol Carr, University of Pennsylvania, and Arleen Somerville, University of Rochester, focused on "The Ideal Chemical Information Curriculum" at the first National Chemical Information Symposium, University of Vermont (Carr & Somerville 1994). Various versions exist now as "The Ideal Curriculum" was modified and updated by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemical Information (CINF) Education Committee. ACS CINF presented workshops on "Teaching Chemical Information: Tips and Techniques" at ACS national meetings for several years. "The Ideal Curriculum" also influenced the content of continuing education courses offered by the Special Libraries Association's (SLA) Chemistry Division.
Impetus
A decade later at SLA's 2004 Annual Conference, the SLA Chemistry Division Executive Board approved the formation of an Ad Hoc Committee on Information Literacy. With several hundred members from academic, corporate, industrial, and governmental settings, the SLA Chemistry Division provided an excellent venue for focusing on information literacy for chemistry undergraduates. Frequently division members hold memberships in ACS Division of Chemical Information and ACRL Science and Technology Section (STS) as well.
Prior to the committee's formation, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) had issued Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (2000). Interpreting ACRL's Standards to make them relevant for chemistry students and faculty was a concern for academic chemistry librarians and the impetus for the Ad Hoc Committee's formation and charge. Meanwhile, ACRL's Science and Technology Section (STS) Information Literacy in the Sciences Task Force also reviewed and refined ACRL's Standards and issued Information Literacy Standards for Science and Engineering/Technology in 2006 (ALA/ACRL/STS Task Force n.d.) subsequently followed with a five-year review by the ACRL STS Information Literacy Standards Review Task Force (2011). Their review detailed current trends in specific sciences and engineering sub-disciplines in accompanying appendices.
Round One
Achieving consensus among Ad Hoc Committee members needed time as co-chairs Cory Craig and Linda Maddux took the lead in drafting the initial document for review. After several rounds of drafts, Information Competencies for Chemistry Undergraduates was issued in January 2007 and publicized (Craig & Maddux 2007). As Cory Craig, co-editor wrote in the Division's E-Newsletter in 2007 "Just what do undergraduate chemistry majors need to know about using the library and finding chemical information? This has been the focus ... for the past two years. The result ... a set of guidelines that identify the information literacy skills and knowledge that undergraduate chemistry majors should have in order to effectively navigate the chemical literature and be well-prepared for graduate work and/or employment as a chemist" (Craig 2007).
The Ad Hoc Committee's work proved useful as the ACS Committee on Professional Training (CPT) released a revision of ACS Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures for Bachelor's Degree Programs in 2008 (ACS Committee on Professional Training 2008). The ACS Guidelines include the requirement in Section 7.2 Chemical Literature Skills that "approved programs must provide instruction on the effective retrieval and use of the chemical literature." This added emphasis to the 1983 ACS Guidelines which noted the necessity of formal instruction in chemical information, either in a specific course or as part of coordinated instruction within other upper level chemistry courses (Lee & Wiggins 1998).
7.2 Chemical Literature Skills. Students should be able to use the peer-reviewed scientific literature effectively and evaluate technical articles critically. They should learn how to retrieve specific information from the chemical literature, including the use of Chemical Abstracts and other compilations, with online, interactive database-searching tools. Approved programs must provide instruction on the effective retrieval and use of the chemical literature. A specific course is an excellent means of imparting information-retrieval skills, though such a course usually would not qualify as an in-depth course. Integrating the use of these skills into several individual courses is also an effective approach. Both library and online exercises should be a part of such instruction on information retrieval.
Another goal targeted for the SLA Chemistry Division Ad Hoc Committee was partnering with ACS Division of Chemical Information and ACRL Science and Technology Section to develop, maintain, and review information literacy competencies for chemistry undergraduates. This was achieved in part with the second edition of Information Competencies for Chemistry Undergraduates, as it is issued jointly by the SLA Chemistry Division and ACS Division of Chemical Information following approval by the Chemistry Division's Executive Board and CINF's Executive Committee.
An Evolving Document; Plus Chemical Information Sources
Curriculum changes, including some promoted by ACS Committee on Professional Training in 2008, influenced revisions to the second edition of Information Competencies which added content on ethical conduct and citation/reference manager software, resources for student presentations at ACS national meeting poster sessions, and reflected the increased use of crystallographic data in undergraduate courses. The Committee on Professional Training also consulted with CINF in preparing the ACS Guidelines supplement on Student Skills -- Chemical Information Retrieval issued in 2008 (Chemical Information Retrieval n.d.). Revised and reissued as Chemical Information Skills in 2012 (ACS Committee on Professional Training 2012), it now includes a link to Chemical Information Sources. Originally compiled by Dr. Gary Wiggins, Indiana University, and released as a Wikibook in 2007, Chemical Information Sources continued as a collaborative effort by chemistry librarians, mostly from Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The ACS CINF Education Committee has recently assumed responsibility for managing the site.
The Committee on Professional Training is currently revising its Guidelines with a goal of reissuing them in 2015 (ACS Committee on Professional Training n.d.). This will prompt another review to keep Information Competencies relevant. The CPT draft available for comment retains an emphasis on chemical information skills. Moving Information Competencies from a PDF format with quarterly updates to a Wikibook format in 2012 better accommodates the rapidly changing information environment. A monitored e-mail box, cheminfolit@ucdavis.edu, provides for comments and suggested updates between extensive reviews.
Publicity Increases Visibility; Plus XCITR
Publicizing the availability of Information Competencies has involved sending e-mails to various mailing lists, including CHMINF-L and STS-L, and outreach to other relevant groups including ACS Division of Chemical Education and ACS Committee on Professional Training. This has also provided an opportunity to publicize XCITR (eXplore Chemical Information Teaching Resources), a repository for exploring and sharing chemical information teaching resources and another example of a collaborative effort (XCITR n.d.; Chemical Information Sources/CIIM/How to Teach Chemical Information 2014-). Both SLA Chemistry Division and ACS CINF host chemical information literacy pages on their web sites as does ACRL's {Instruction Section} (IS), and ACRL's STS Science Information Literacy Committee and Chemical Information Sources. All sites provide links to the Information Competencies for Chemistry Undergraduates Wikibook. With time Information Competencies, to provide a few examples, has been referred to in developing assessments (Mandernach et al. 2014), mapped to learning outcomes (Galloway 2012), or cited in articles, library web guides, book chapters (Sparks 2012), and conference presentations.
Start Now
"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today." -- Chinese Proverb
References
ACS Committee on Professional Training. [n.d.] Committee on Professional Training. [Internet]. [Accessed December 1, 2014]. Available from http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/about/governance/committees/training.html
ACS Committee on Professional Training. 2012. Chemical Information Skills. [Internet]. [Accessed December 1, 2014]. Available from http://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/about/governance/committees/training/acsapproved/degreeprogram/chemical-information-skills.pdf
ACS Committee on Professional Training. 2008. Undergraduate Professional Education in Chemistry. [Internet]. [Accessed December 1, 2014]. Available from {http://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/about/governance/committees/training/acsapproved/degreeprogram/2008-acs-guidelines-for-bachelors-degree-programs.pdf}
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ASEE/ELD Accreditation and Standards Committee. 2011. ASEE-Engineering Libraries Division: Information Competency Standards for Engineering. [Internet]. [Accessed December 1, 2014]. Available from http://depts.washington.edu/englib/eld/committees/accreditationstandards/infocompetencystandards.php
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XCITR. [n.d.] Welcome to XCITR. [Internet]. [Accessed December 1, 2014]. Available from http://www.xcitr.org/
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