Cristina Sewerin's presentation "Care and Feeding of your Chemical Engineer: Understanding & supporting your user's information needs."

1. Care and Feeding of your Chemical Engineer:
Understanding & supporting your users' information needs
University of Toronto Chemistry Librarian Workshop - June 14, 2012
Cristina Sewerin,
Physical and Applied Sciences Selector/Instruction & Reference Librarian/Liaison for Chemical
Engineering, Environmental Engineering & Materials Science, University of Toronto
http://flic.kr/p/6VE7zs

2. definitions
CHEMICAL ENGINEER: n. A person who does for
profit what a chemist does for fun.

3. Chemical engineering is…
a primary engineering discipline based on the
fundamental sciences of
chemistry, physics, biochemistry and
mathematics, in which processes are
conceived, designed and operated to effect
compositional changes in materials of all kinds
http://www.apsc.utoronto.ca/Calendars/2012%2D2013/Curriculum_and_Programs.html#Program4

4. motivations
Q: What is the difference between a chemist
and a chemical engineer?
A: Oh, about $10 K a year.

5. Chemical Engineers….
• play an important role in the development of a
healthier environment and safer and healthier
industrial workplaces
• develop new industrial processes that are more
energy-efficient and environmentally friendly
and create products that improve the quality of
life
• are responsible for improvements in technology
and in evaluating and controlling hazards
http://www.apsc.utoronto.ca/Calendars/2012%2D2013/Curriculum_and_Programs.html#Program4

6. Undergrad program
Year 1
• fundamental background in all areas of engineering
• Classroom reinforced with lab studies
Year 2
• fundamentals of chemical engineering: chemistry; heat, mass and momentum transfer; applied
mathematics
• develop skills in communications
• labs important
Year 3
• fundamentals "scaled up" to applications of engineering and chemistry, including hands-on learning
• emphasis on design and economics of industrial units and processes
Year 4
• brings it all together
• Student chooses area of interest
• emphasis on engineering and applied science applications
• Emphasis on plant design and research thesis
http://www.chem-eng.utoronto.ca/undergrad/undergrads/program.htm

7. Research focii – U of T
• Biomolecular and Biomedical Engineering
• Bioprocess Engineering
• Chemical and Materials Process Engineering
• Environmental Science and Engineering Informatics
• Pulp and Paper Surface and Interface Engineering
• Sustainable Energy
http://www.chem-eng.utoronto.ca/research/clusters.htm

8. Pressures & expectations:
DLEs
http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/policy/academic/DLE.htm

9. Degree Level Expectations for Graduates Receiving the Degree of
Bachelor of Applied Science
• Each graduate will have achieved the following general learning objectives:
• a. Depth of knowledge that cultivates critical understanding and intellectual rigour in at least
• one engineering discipline.
• b. Competencies in learning and applying knowledge to solve problems facing society and that
• are fundamental to responsible and effective participation in the workplace, in the
• community, in scholarly activity, and in personal life:
– i. Critical and Creative Thinking
– ii. Oral and Written Communication
– iii. Quantitative Reasoning
– iv. Teamwork
– v. Information Literacy
– vi. Ethical Thinking and Decision-Making
• c. Breadth of knowledge across mathematics, basic sciences, engineering sciences, engineering
• economics and engineering design that cut across the engineering disciplines and across a
• range of nontechnical areas including the humanities and social sciences and an awareness of
• the impact of technology on society.
• d. Integration of skills and knowledge developed in a student’s course of study through a
• capstone experience in the upper years.
http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/Assets/Provost+Digital+Assets/Provost/policy/DLE/BASc_DLE.pdf

10. Pressures & expectations:
CEAB
http://www.engineerscanada.ca/e/files/Accreditation_Criteria_Procedures_2010.pdf

11. graduation time laundry list
• Knowledge base for engineering
• Problem analysis
• Investigation
• Design
• Use of engineering tools
• Individual and team work
• Communication skills
• Professionalism
• Impact of engineering on society and the Environment
• Ethics and equity
• Economics and project management
• Life-long learning
http://www.engineerscanada.ca/e/files/Accreditation_Criteria_Procedures_2010.pdf

12. http://flic.kr/p/6VE7zs

13. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/series/university-subject-profiles+chemicalengineering

14. Library support
Information literacy
Collections

15. Understand faculty’s priorities
e.g.,
• Depth but also breadth
(manufacture, environmental, human
health, societal)
• Critical, reflective approach
• Life-long skills building

16. Map – where possible – IL to needs
Year 1 Year 1
• fundamental background in all areas of
engineering • APS111
• Classroom reinforced with lab studies
• APS112
Year 2
• fundamentals of chemical engineering:
chemistry; heat, mass and momentum transfer;
applied mathematics
Year 2
• develop skills in communications • CHE204
• labs important
Year 3
• fundamentals "scaled up" to applications of Year 3
engineering and chemistry, including hands-on
learning • CHE397
• emphasis on design and economics of industrial
units and processes
Year 4
Year 4
• brings it all together • CHE499
• Student chooses area of interest
• emphasis on engineering and applied science
•
applications
Emphasis on plant design and research thesis
• Graduate seminar
• Consultations

17. Course site library content

18. Start point: Chem Eng libguide
http://guides.library.utoronto.ca/chemeng

19. Start point: Standards & Codes
http://link.library.utoronto.ca/MyUTL/guides/index.cfm?guide=standards

20. Start point: Safety
http://guides.library.utoronto.ca/safety

21. Start point: Ethics
http://link.library.utoronto.ca/MyUTL/guides/index.cfm?guide=engineeringethics

22. Assignment specific support
where possible
http://engineering.library.utoronto.ca/students/course-guides

23. Assignment specific support
where possible
http://webapps.utsc.utoronto.ca/itcdf/start.php

24. Collections

25. Major A & I
• Compendex
• Web of Science
• SciFinder Scholar
• Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management
• Medline
• Paper Village
• Various from allied
disciplines, e.g., Factiva, Business Source
Premier, ProQuest

26. Core reference - electronic
• Kirk-Othmer
• Ullmann’s
• CRC
Handbook
• Perry’s
• Knovel
• Reaxys
• Many others

27. Knovel

28. Wiley MRWs, Standard RWs
• Encyclopedia of Inorganic and Bioinorganic
Chemistry
• Patai's Chemistry of Functional Groups
• Encyclopedia of Radicals in Chemistry, Biology
and Materials
• Nanotechnology

29. Data sources
• CRC Handbook
• SciFinder
• Knovel
• Wiley MRWs
• Reaxys
• etc
http://www.lab-initio.com/screen_res/nz063.jpg

30. Standards
Basic introductions: 1st, 2nd years
Greater detail: 3rd, 4th years
Challenges
• understand not just the legislation, but
relationship legislation & associated
regulations and standards

31. Standards
Canadian materials
• understanding gov’t level at which material
produced
• Third year
– Occupational Health and Safety Act
– Ontario Government health & safely publications
– Workplace Hazardous Materials Information
System (WHMIS)

32. Standards
Third year: design for safety
• Curriculum introduces them to US materials
– process safety reviews
– US NFPA documents

33. Library role: IL support
• basic orientation at first-year level
• more in-depth support as students enter third
& fourth year
• summaries of materials accessible on the web
both by topic and by government level
• what can be found hardcopy in the library as
compared to the web, and how it can be
found

34. Library role: Collections
• hybrid approach
– standing orders for core materials
– e.g., ASTM Standards, major building, fire and
trades codes
– individual selection
– where unsure, in consultation with faculty and
researchers
– Keep ears open at desk & in consults
– Keep eyes open for updates: society & govt
sites, major commercial sources such as
Techstreet

35. Workplace readiness
Gauging Workplace Readiness: Assessing the
Information Needs of Engineering Co-op
Students
Jeffryes & Lafferty, U. Minnesota, ISTL Spring
2012, http://www.istl.org/

36. Workplace readiness
• Jeffryes & Lafferty surveyed engineering students in
a work placement as part of the cooperative
education program
• current snapshot of the information seeking
environment in the engineering profession
Gauging Workplace Readiness: Assessing the Information Needs of Engineering Co-op Students Jeffryes & Lafferty, U. Minnesota
ISTL Spring 2012 http://www.istl.org/

37. Workplace readiness
• Looked at
– on-the-job information usage
– comfort level accessing different types of
engineering literature
– experience learning to use specific resources
• 42 students 86% response rate
• Heavy on mech eng

38. Findings
• All respondents indicated having to find some sort of
information during their work placement
• Most students learned to use resources from an
instructor or on their own
• Role of instructors greater than anticipated - had
expected that the students would primarily be self-
reliant or look to peers

39. Findings
• Disconnect: most frequently taught to find vs what
they most often needed to find
• Students who taught themselves how to find a
particular type of information were more likely to
describe that experience as "difficult“

40. Findings
• more students worked with industry standards than
any other type of literature
• over half had no previous experience searching for
them
• only resource students categorized as "Very Difficult"
to find
• reminder to academic librarians not to overemphasize
books and journal articles when working with
engineering classes

41. Closing thoughts
• be aware of curricular
needs, pressures, priorities
• be aware of breadth of
needs
• foster a critical, reflective
approach: lifelong skills
buildings

42. Thank you!
http://orientation.skule.ca/