Kromer, John
http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5049
John Kromer2024-03-29T10:20:15ZHow Much!? Estimating the cost of an assignment in an organic chemistry class.
http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5259
How Much!? Estimating the cost of an assignment in an organic chemistry class.
Kromer, John
Objective: To estimate the library costs of completing an assignment in an organic chemistry class.
Methods: Students in Chemistry 254: Organic Chemistry for Majors were required to write a paper on an organic name reaction (a reaction named after the chemist who discovered it). This study attempts to take a holistic account of various costs associated with completing this assignment. Upon submission of their papers, students’ bibliographies were collected. Different price estimates such as cost per use of the particular journals and interlibrary loan cost for the individual articles were used to determine a range of possible costs for each article a student cited. An estimated cost of a librarian’s time in delivering SciFinder training sessions was factored in, as was the cost of each student having access to SciFinder.
Poster presented at Special Libraries Association 2015 All-Sciences Poster Session, Boston, MA, June 15, 2015.
Small Samples, Broad Applications: Using Bibliographies to Support Instruction, Collections, and Budgets
http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5216
Small Samples, Broad Applications: Using Bibliographies to Support Instruction, Collections, and Budgets
Kromer, John
Students in Organic Chemistry for Majors were required to write a paper as the culminating course assignment. Prior to completing this assignment, students were given the option of attending a library instruction session covering relevant databases and resources. Upon submission of their papers, bibliographies from 53 students were collected and evaluated. Bibliographies of students who attended an instruction session showed improvement in several key areas in comparison to the bibliographies of those students who chose not to attend.
Subsequently, calculations were made to attempt a holistic account of costs associated with completing the assignment. Factors such as the cost of journals, databases, and librarian time were all included in the overall cost estimate. Instruction librarians can use bibliographies to quantify their impact on student success, thereby justifying their value to potentially reticent faculty members. This method of comprehensive accounting can help justify collections and staff budgets to library and university administration, and with a larger sample size could also help guide collections decisions in the particular subject area.
Impact of a Library Instruction Session on Bibliographies of Organic Chemistry Students
http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5134
Impact of a Library Instruction Session on Bibliographies of Organic Chemistry Students
Kromer, John
Students in Chemistry 254: Organic Chemistry for Majors were required to write a paper about an organic name reaction (a reaction named after the chemist who discovered it). Before turning in this assignment, students had the option of attending a one-hour library instruction session covering SciFinder, sources for spectra, ACS Style, and print resources about organic name reactions. 25 students attended library sessions while 30 did not. Bibliographies were collected and graded for all students. Comparisons were made between those students who attended the session and those who did not, on such criteria as use of scholarly sources, properly citing articles and spectra, and correct use of ACS Style. Students achieved 14% higher bibliography scores (82% vs. 68%) by attending a library session, used more scholarly sources (96% of sources scholarly vs. 81% for non-attendees), and used spectra from appropriate sources better (86% of attendees vs. 32% for non-attendees). ACS Style proved difficult for session attendees and non-attendees alike.
2014-06-16T00:00:00ZBoolean and Truncation
http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/5038
Boolean and Truncation
Kromer, John
Classroom handout describing Boolean operators and truncation.
2014-03-26T00:00:00Z