December 1995 - chemweb - imperial.ac.uk

Delivering Chemistry Tutorials using the Web
by Paul May 21 Dec '95

21 Dec '95

Hi, For the past year, our Educational Technology Service have been developing a system to deliver multiple-choice tutorial questions using the web. It's based on an HTML-compatible language called TML (Tutorial Markup Language), and allows several different question types, with automatic logging of the student's score, etc. I've just written an example tutorial in TML using Chemistry-based questions and it's now on-line on our ETS server at: http://www.ets.bris.ac.uk/ets/resource/tutorial/tutorial.htm I'd be interested to hear what you think of it... Any comments about TML itself should go to joel.crisp(a)bris.ac.uk, who wrote it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Paul May, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK tel: +44 (0)117 9287667, fax: +44 (0)117 9251295 email: paul.may(a)bris.ac.uk WWW: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Chemistry/staff/pwm.htm "Another squashed hedgehog in the gutter of the information superhighway" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Re: Molecule of the Month
by h.rzepa＠ic.ac.uk 21 Dec '95

21 Dec '95

>What's the general feeling on this as a concept? Would people >be willing to create a new MOTM page, say, once a year? If the only people >willing to have a go are me and Henry, the idea won't fly, but if a few >more seem enthusiastic it could become quite a nice (fun) resource... It might be an idea to send the URLs to a) Netropolitan of New Scientist b) John Emsley. This way, we could get a bit more publicity and momentum! Dr Henry Rzepa, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, LONDON SW7 2AY; rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk via Eudora Pro 2.1.3; Tel (44) 171 594 5774; Fax: (44) 171 594 5804. World-Wide Web URL: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/ ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. Archived as: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/chemweb/ To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Molecule of the Month
by Paul May 21 Dec '95

21 Dec '95

Hi, I liked the your MOTM, Henry. I haven't got round to doing my own, yet, but will do it over Xmas. If we can generate some interest in this as an idea, I might try and set up an archive web page which points to all the MOTMs that will hopefully be made over the next year. At the start of each month I'll add the new MOTM (created by one of the Chemistry webmasters out there) to the top of the list. What's the general feeling on this as a concept? Would people be willing to create a new MOTM page, say, once a year? If the only people willing to have a go are me and Henry, the idea won't fly, but if a few more seem enthusiastic it could become quite a nice (fun) resource... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Paul May, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK tel: +44 (0)117 9287667, fax: +44 (0)117 9251295 email: paul.may(a)bris.ac.uk WWW: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Chemistry/staff/pwm.htm "Another squashed hedgehog in the gutter of the information superhighway" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Re: Delivering Chemistry Tutorials using the Web
by Paul May 21 Dec '95

21 Dec '95

Hi, > > Very impressed with the scope TML allows. Its structured > format would allow easy generation of source, all be it with > a fair amount of typing. Our ETS Dept are working on that too. Hopefully there should be a version of their CalScribe software (based on MS Toolbook), which can prompt the Question-setter with questions such as: 'Please type text of question', 'Please type correct answer', Please type 1st incorrect answer', etc. That way the question-setter needn't have to know much about the mechanics of TML at all, the program formats the whole tutorial for him. CalScribe does this already to a certain extent, but soon it'll be able to export the finished tutorial as a TML file. Watch this space... > But would its primary role be to assess or to instruct. ie. > should wrong answers yield an informative response. If the > instructional element is missing then its appeal to users > would be low and probably only for required testing. If an > instructional role is expected then I think users will be > put of by the thought of logged scoring. Both, but not at the same time, for the reasons mentioned above. It can be used as a teaching aid, with *very* detailed questions and answers, including large images, multiple pages of text, and hopefully rotatable molecules, etc, but this requires a lot of initial input from the question- setter who has to write it all! Alternatively it can be used as a quick and easy assessment method, where the scores are password protected for each student, and logged. > > Password access would also greatly reduce the number of users > and really might well restrict it to the realms of LAN based > CAL packages. > > Each student gives himself his own password, so we know it's him each time he uses the system for different tutorials. > > > I've just written an example tutorial in TML using Chemistry-based > > > questions and it's now on-line on our ETS server at: > > > > http://www.ets.bris.ac.uk/ets/resource/tutorial/tutorial.htm > > A nice demonstration. Even though the original demo illustrated > the styles available having, the material in context shows the > potential more. Glad you liked it. It took me about 7 hours in total. > I didnt realise toluene would nitrate in the meta position. Neither did I till I looked it up! (I'm a Physical Chemist). But apparently it nitrates at all 3 positions in the ratio of about ortho=35% meta=5% para=60% (or something like that...) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Paul May, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK tel: +44 (0)117 9287667, fax: +44 (0)117 9251295 email: paul.may(a)bris.ac.uk WWW: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Chemistry/staff/pwm.htm "Another squashed hedgehog in the gutter of the information superhighway" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Molecule of the Month
by h.rzepa＠ic.ac.uk 20 Dec '95

20 Dec '95

Although our archive is quite young, I already cannot find the posting which suggested a "Molecule of the Month". Anyway, I have put ours up on http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/motm/perkin.html For those interested, it was the last week of term, and I was trying to find something to do with my tutorial group other than eat mince pies. Finally, I decided to shoot off to the College archives, where we have a sample of Perkin's Mauve. Hence the above! When I have time, I will scan the silk sample, and put that up as well. As a matter of interest, has anyone else produced a MOTM? If so, I will link to it. Also, the trip to the archives reminded me that one of the oldest chemical samples I have seen dates from 1828, being Ballard's Bromine. Does anyone know of older interesting samples of synthetically prepared chemicals? Best wishes for the festive season to all! Dr Henry Rzepa, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, LONDON SW7 2AY; rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk via Eudora Pro 2.1.3; Tel (44) 171 594 5774; Fax: (44) 171 594 5804. World-Wide Web URL: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/ ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Publishing chemical structures on the Web: The ACS Policy
by h.rzepa＠ic.ac.uk 13 Dec '95

13 Dec '95

The following is an extract of a recent policy decision by the ACS regarding 3D coordinates, and other information published on a Web site. The "I" is not me, but someone else. "The posting of work on an electronic bulletin board constitutes prior publication and such work cannot be accepted for publication in JACS. I recently requested clarification from a Senior Research Associate at the ACS and received the folowing response. The current Notice to Authors for JACS states 'the work reported therein has not received prior publication and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere in any medium, including electronic journals and computer data bases of a public nature.' The revision that you mentioned they plan to add of 'electronic bulletin boards' only makes it more clear that JACS won't print items previously posted. " This produced extensive disucussion, which is archived on http://www.unige.ch/crystal/w3vlc/dis-wwwpub.html Curiously, the ACS edict does not mention WWW, but refers to "electronic journals or bulletin boards". I might add from my own experience with the recent ECCC-2 conference, that informal approaches to ACS journal editors seemed to imply that if the electronic material was only up for <30 days, it might not count! Hence, ECCC-2 as a chemistry conference, ran for <30 days!! Finally, I might mention that the ECTOC conference CD is the entity that will be abstracted by CAS, not the electronic version. Dr Henry Rzepa, Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, LONDON SW7 2AY; rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk via Eudora Pro 2.1.3; Tel (44) 171 594 5774; Fax: (44) 171 594 5804. World-Wide Web URL: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/ ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Web Management Software
by awilson＠chemwww.bham.ac.uk 11 Dec '95

11 Dec '95

Hello all! At Birmingham, we took the decision about 15 months ago to set up our own server solution, Apple-based (MacHTTP). We now have a dedicated 6150 Server (lots of hard disk, memory, RAID etc.) and use the famous WebStar (commercial version). This was essentially Apple's Internet in a box solution and works pretty well out of the box. As far as management software goes, we use NetForms and NetCloak as well as cgis and some Apple script stuff. There are two shareware utilities (cron and WebStat) for statistics. Although this is an easy solution to maintain, there are drawbacks (Apple script is slooooooow) and we may move to a Silicon Graphics platform in the future (depends on the cash situation). We can also run a dedicated email service and general archiving facility on this machine. Anyone thinking of setting up a departmental server can do alot worse than this route in my opinion. Alan ps I am a full-time staff and part-time webmaster! Different thread, but perhaps relevant. pps Apologies to anyone visiting bham - we are currently undergoing a major re-vamp. Should be on-line in our new form after the Xmas break...... (famous last words) ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Re: Getting the powers that be interested in the web
by Paul.Archer＠nottingham.ac.uk 11 Dec '95

11 Dec '95

>> >> Dave Currie >> >> p.s. I am a postdoc, and it interesting to see what the positions are of the >> people who are administering depts' web pages ! > > I am also a post-doc as I suspect <em>most</em> webmasters are. > The WWW is young persons `thing' essentially and we need to work > at it to demonstrate the tremendous possibilities it offers. I am a Technician (responsible for the graphic requirements of the department). Like others I set up the site to satisfy my own interests (hence the reason it is situated in my user area). Unfortunatly I still think it is still only for my interests in the Web (The department shows little interest I am always pushing for fresh information). One of the reasons I suggested computer conferences instead of live conferences is because my department made me take the day off to attend the meeting and cover my own traveling expences. I would be intersested in the circumstances other Web masters work. Is it mainly done in our own time or do some people get time allocated when they can officially work on their pages? Thanks for setting up a computer conference. I may not be able to attend all meetings, but i will monitor all mailings. ============================================================================ Paul Archer Dip.Comp A17, Department of Chemistry University of Nottingham, fax: +44 115 951 3562 University Park, tel: +44 115 951 3453 Nottingham. NG7 2RD.UK. e-mail:Paul.Archer@nottingham.ac.uk or :100421.426@compuserve.com ============================================================================ ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Getting the powers that be intersted
by Paul May 11 Dec '95

11 Dec '95

Hi, > I would be intersested in the > circumstances other Web masters work. Is it mainly done in our own time or > do some people get time allocated when they can officially work on their > pages? I'm also a postdoc (a Royal Society Reseacrh Fellow) and I do most of the Bristol Web pages in my spare time. However, being the Webmaster is recognised as an official School of Chemistry admin 'duty', with similar status to being on a teaching-type committee. But no actual resources are given for the main web page (that's left to our computer centre to organise...). They did cover the costs of attending the London meeting, though, (but since it only cost 8.75 on the coach so it was a bargain, really :-) ). But I, too, have to scrounge around to find useful things to put on the web. We now advertise any job (postgrad, postdoc, etc) vacancies on the web page, and I've had a hard job persuading non-web colleagues to use even this *free* service... I recently put up our safety handbook, and all the Risk Assessment forms and COSHH forms that researchers have to fill in before they do any risky expts. That way they can download the appropriate forms when they need them, print them out, sign them and then send them to our safety officer with the minimum of hassle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr Paul May, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, UK tel: +44 (0)117 9287667, fax: +44 (0)117 9251295 email: paul.may(a)bris.ac.uk WWW: http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Chemistry/staff/pwm.htm "Another squashed hedgehog in the gutter of the information superhighway" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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Re: Getting the powers that be interested in the web
by Stephen Le Hunte 11 Dec '95

11 Dec '95

> One of the > reasons I suggested computer conferences instead of live conferences is > because my department made me take the day off to attend the meeting and > cover my own traveling expences. I would be intersested in the > circumstances other Web masters work. Is it mainly done in our own time or > do some people get time allocated when they can officially work on their > pages? > That's pretty bad. I myself am a postgrad PhD student, who at the time it was required was the only person who knew HTML. I had offered previously to do a Web site for the department, but it was after some of the lecturers had been shown a demonstration that they asked me to do it. Seeing as how I did it for free (I've heard of postgrad's getting paid up to 750 to do department's web site), they paid my expenses for the trip to London for the conference. Cheers Stephen ------------------------------------------ Stephen Le Hunte (cmlehunt(a)swan.ac.uk) Author of the HTML Reference Library ftp://ftp.swan.ac.uk/pub/in.coming/htmlib/ ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. To unsubscribe, send to listserver(a)ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa(a)ic.ac.uk)

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