Resumen de "Six Degrees of Separation"-Revealing a "Small-World Phenomenon" through a Chemistry Literature Search Activity
Danielle Dennie, Louis A. Cuccia
In this literature search assignment, the concept of six degrees of separation is used to highlight the interconnectivity of research papers. This assignment challenges students to link two papers together only through references. Through this assignment, students get hands-on experience with various library and online literature searching tools, specifically Web of Science’s cited reference search. The assignment also develops students’ ability to comprehend the evolution and communication of scientific information, as well as teaching them how to think critically about information in order to evaluate it, draw conclusions, and follow a logical path of inquiry. Finally, students can be introduced to how citation information is often used (and misused) to evaluate journals, papers, and researchers. [Abstract graphic image is used under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license; see Rosvall, M.; Bergstrom, C. T.Mapping Change in Large Networks. PLoS One 2010, 5, e8694.]
