Finding Good literature sources./General Chemistry I 1210L.
In this course we will work with you to improve your writing of journal article type reports (JARs). You will start by focusing just part of the report for two partial reports and write two full reports.

In order to write well, we need to understand the topic and have references that support our statements. For these JARs, we will require at least two peer-reviewed or reliable sources in addition to the laboratory guide to promote this process and improve your lab reports. One of these can be the textbook. More information (sources) generally makes for a better lab report.

References are necessary to provide background theory, to evaluate the quality of the experimental data, compare data to literature values, and to support conclusions. As you do the assignment, keep in mind that you will need to search for literature sources for your four JARs so this is practice for later.

The goals of this assignment are to help you learn:
• What is a journal article and how is it different from other writing?
• How to find peer-reviewed or reliable sources. (Where do we start?)
• How to evaluate a source (the CRAAP test).
• How to get the full article once you find the reference (usually through the WSU library system).
• Correctly cite the references.
• Obtain references that may be useful on a future journal article report, in particular the “Spectroscopy and Atomic Spectra”

What is a “good” literature source? See the CRAAP test for evaluating this (see Pilot).
• Currency
• Relevance
• Authority
• Accuracy
• Purpose
• One of the hardest things for students is to find relevant information for an experiment that they can understand.
• Most of the experiments in general chemistry are well established; therefore, readable, useful information will likely not be found in recent research articles. You will most likely be looking for educational or non-expert materials.

Where do we start? (in general)

• What do you want to know? What for? What level of detail?
• “I just need some dumb reference to meet the 3 reference rule!”
• “I really don’t have much to say about the theory of this experiment. In fact I don’t understand it. So, to write a good introduction I need a better underlying theory with references.”
• “How does my data compare to the expected value? Did we really screw up that badly?”
• “When only have 5 colored lines but the table has hundreds. Which is which?”

• Once we have the question or topic, what are the search keywords we need?
• This takes some trial and error. Too many results, too few results, useless results. Ask your Librarian.
• Combination of keywords. Using OR, AND and wildcards *
“lab report” OR “laboratory report” (Note the quotes to search for phrases)
• Using truncation, such as lab* (to search for lab, labs, and laboratory) or writ* (to search for write, writing, and written)
• Phrase searching (quotation marks) and truncation searching work in both QuickSearch and Google Scholar.
• Where and how to search? – Start on our classes’ library search page. Quick-search, Google Scholar, see the tips provided on that page. It is best to avoid generic “Google” if you want reliable information.

• How to pick a good source?

Literature search assignment:

Topic 1 : How do I write a successful or top quality chemistry JAR type lab report (or actual journal article)? Find at least one reliable source on writing successful chemistry JAR type lab reports or articles (not ones we’ve provided). Ideally this would be one that would be useful to you.

Motivation: Although we have provided a number of resources and instructions on writing journal article reports it may be useful to find some of your own. Also looking at some real, readable journal articles might help with understanding the goal of a JAR.

Topic 2: Find at least one reliable source for the wavelengths of Argon in the visible spectrum.

Motivation:
In a few weeks we will be measuring the spectral lines of several atoms in low pressure gas discharge tubes. A common problem with spectroscopy is assigning wavelengths to the lines detected and comparing the measured wavelength to the literature values. Read the “Spectroscopy and Atomic Spectra” experiment (#43, week 4) to get started.

In order to do this comparison we need two things. One, the literature values for Argon transitions in the visible spectrum. The problem is that the tables of lines often include far more lines than we can see with our detector (your eye). Two, how do we assign the ones we see to the values in the literature? We need some method of identify which of the lines are the ones we see.
A Few pointers: Start with our class library page where there are a number of pointers.
http://guides.libraries.wright.edu/CHM1210SandersSpring2015
We will be using low pressure discharge tubes so that is the type of spectra you’ll be looking for. In some tables Ar neutral is called Ar I (what we’re looking for). Ar II would be Ar+ .

For each topic: (See worksheet.)
• Keep track of successful search terms or keywords. Record in lab notebook.
• Obtain access to the full text
• Print out at least one page to attach to the worksheet assignment indicating that the full text was obtained.
• Get the proper citation as would be used in the reference section.
• Perform a CRAAP test on the Argon reference you selected.

General Chemistry I 1210 Finding Good Literature Sources
Due: beginning of lab section Week 3

Name: Sec. # TA name:

Type answers on this worksheet, print out, and attach one page from topic 1 and one page from topic 2. We don’t need the whole article but it needs to demonstrate that the full text was obtained.

Topic 1. Find at least one reliable source on writing successful chemistry JAR type lab reports (not ones we’ve provided). Ideally this would be one that would be useful to you.

• Successful keywords and combinations used. (Also in your lab notebook)

• Citation(s) in proper APA, MLA, or ACS format. At least one but you can include more if you want.

• Why do you trust this source?
• In what way will this be useful for your Journal article report? (one or two sentences)

Topic 2. Find at least one reliable source for the wavelengths of Argon in the visible spectrum.

• Successful keywords and combinations used. (Also in your lab notebook)

• Citation(s) in proper APA, MLA, or ACS format. At least one but you can include more if you want.

• Why do you trust this source? Attach the CRAAP test for this reference

• In what way will this be useful for your Journal article report? (one or two sentences)
• What color does an argon light look like?
• How does a neon light compare to an argon light.
• Attach one or more pages from the article for topic 1.
• Attach one or more pages from the article for topic 2.
• Attach the CRAAP test for topic 2.