The National Center for Biotechnology Information Entrez Direct (EDirect) software facilitates programmatic access to numerous biomedical, chemical, and literature databases from within a Unix terminal. EDirect has traditionally been used for command line access to NCBI data within the fields of computational biology and bioinformatics. This…

Recently there is an increasing need for experiments that can be conducted remotely. In this sense, this paper presents three experiments about materials science and an X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique that can be taught and performed entirely remotely. The first experiment is about the calculation of lattice parameters, atomic radii, and…

How do cultural heritage scientists and art conservators identify pigments and other painting media in a decorated object or painting, preferably without taking samples that could potentially damage the artwork? A major emphasis in the characterization, authentication, and conservation of works of art and cultural heritage objects is the use of…

Using tangible models to help students visualize chemical structures in three dimensions has been a mainstay of chemistry education for many years. Conventional chemistry modeling kits are, however, limited in the types and accuracy of the molecules, bonds and structures they can be used to build. The recent development of 3D printing technology…

Cheminformatics is a widely used interdisciplinary field that is important for many chemistry areas. Cheminformatics skills are necessary for dealing with a large amount of chemical information and are considered essential for various tasks such as data analysis, visualization, storage, etc. This paper presents the basic cheminformatics chemistry…

Structured databases of chemical and physical properties play a central role in the everyday research activities of scientists and engineers. In materials science, researchers and engineers turn to these databases to quickly query, compare, and aggregate various properties, thereby allowing for the development or application of new materials. The…

Introductory materials science and engineering courses universally include the study of crystal structure and unit cells, which are by their nature highly visual 3D concepts. Traditionally, such topics are explored with 2D drawings or perhaps a limited set of difficult-to-construct 3D models. The rise of 3D printing, coupled with the wealth of…

In recent years, life cycle assessment (LCA), a methodology for assessment of environmental impacts of products and services, has become increasingly important. This methodology is applied by decision makers in industry and policy, product developers, environmental managers, and other non-LCA specialists working on environmental issues in a wide…

Parts 1 and 2 of this series described the educational value of experimental three-dimensional (3D) chemical structures determined by X-ray crystallography and retrieved from the crystallographic databases. In part 1, we described the information content of the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and discussed a representative teaching subset of…

The ability to use computer-based technology is an essential skill set for students majoring in chemistry. This exercise details the introduction of appropriate uses for this technology in the organic chemistry series. The incorporation of chemically appropriate online resources (module 1), scientific databases (module 2), and the use of a…

This paper describes an upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level course on computers in chemical education that was developed and offered for the first time in Fall 2007. The course provides future chemistry teachers with exposure to current software tools that can improve productivity in teaching, curriculum development, and education…

Described are some computer software that can be used in chemistry classrooms: (1) "Polymer Tacticity in Simulated NMR Spectra"; (2) "Teaching Magnetic Resonance Imaging Using Computer Animation"; (3) "Emergency Response Database"; (4) "An X-ray Diffraction Pattern Simulator"; and (5) "Multiple-Choice…

Presented are two applications of computer technology to chemistry instruction: the use of a spreadsheet program to analyze acid-base titration curves and the use of database software to catalog stockroom inventories. (CW)

Discusses a visual database of information about chemical elements. Uses a single sided 12-inch, 30-minute, CAV-type videodisk. Contains a picture of almost every element in its stable form at room temperature and normal atmospheric pressure. Can be used with the video controller from "KC? Discoverer." (MVL)

Reviews the chemistry computer database program "KC? Discoverer" from Project SERAPHIM. This program enables the user to look at chemical, physical, and microscopic properties of each element. Lists other available program options as FIND, GRAPH, LIST elemental properties, and SORT. Describes hardware requirements. (ML)