Taylor & Francis holds the copyright of this article for all situations other than single use copies made for scholarly purposes.Three widely used databases—MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science—were compared for their relative ability to retrieve the largest number of articles within the drug literature, using three search terms: two for specific drugs (atorvastatin and olanzapine) and one for a major class of drugs (statins). These drugs and the class of drugs were chosen for their longevity and continued high clinical and scientific interest, as indicated by the many articles concerning them published in scholarly and professional journals over the last two decades. Significant differences were observed in the journal coverage and the number of documents each database retrieved, with Scopus significantly outperforming the other two databases in these respects. Based on the results from this limited but by no means atypical study of comparative strengths and degree of coverage, the best option for retrieving the largest numbers of articles on a particular drug in the literature would be to use both Scopus and Web of Science, as these two databases complement each other with respect to the journal coverage. MEDLINE retrieved much smaller numbers of documents in all searches and should be used only when the other two databases are not available

The blended model for information literacy instruction described in this article introduces students not only to efficient techniques for finding scientific literature and properties of chemical compounds, but also to managing this information with a bibliographic management program (EndNote Online). The model blends face-to-face instruction with online tutorials posted on a LibGuide page prepared for each course. A graded online assignment designed in SurveyMonkey was used to assess student learning. During the instruction, students learned to find literature in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, SciFinder, and Web of Science. They also searched for properties of chemical compounds in ChemSpider, PubChem, Reaxys, and SciFinder using a chemical name, molecular formula, CAS Registry Number, or by drawing a molecular structure. The results from the assignments showed that students learned how to find literature and chemical property information efficiently and use a bibliographic management program to store, organize, share, and cite references. This article presents the implementation of the model in two small (40−60 students) and one large (380− 460 students) undergraduate chemistry courses. The information literacy instruction described in this article was carried out in more than 20 undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Maryland College Park. It provided more than 5000 students with versatile skills that they can use throughout their college education and even later in their professional life. The design of the model and its implementation was a result of a close collaboration between the chemistry librarian and the course instructors. KEYWORDS: First-Year Undergraduate/General, Second-Year Undergraduate, Upper-Division Undergraduate, Cheminformatics, Curriculum, Computer-Based Learning, Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives, Internet/Web-Based Learning ■ INTRODUCTIONWith science becoming more interdisciplinary and complex and the volume of publications growing so quickly, it is becoming increasingly difficult for students and researchers to find and manage scientific information efficiently. Management of scientific information includes how students and researchers perform a search, narrow down results, export references to a bibliographic management program, and insert citations in a Word document. Teaching students how to find chemical information and manage scientific literature more efficiently could help them use such transferable skills not only in a particular course but throughout their college education and later in their professional life. 1 Information literacy instruction has been a major responsibility of chemistry librarians for decades and many articles describe how such programs were introduced in the chemistry curriculum. 2−8 Two recent books, "Chemical Information for Chemists: A Primer" 9 and "The Future of the History of Chemical Information" 10 include chapters written by experts in chemical information who share their vision of the field and its future. They also pro...

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Teaching information literacy is a major responsibility for subject/liaison librarians, but advances in information-retrieval systems, such as improved natural language searching and Semantic Web, could significantly change the role librarians play in this area. This chapter examines the future of information literacy and how librarians could redefine their role by expanding it to include management of scientific information and research data, different instruction formats, and new approaches for assessing student learning. This will make library instruction a much more appealing, engaging, and useful experience for students and researchers. Responding to the needs of a generation born into a digital culture will require that librarians learn new skills and play new roles in supporting the educational and research goals of their institutions be redefined