Issue 53 - FIZ Chemie Berlin

No: 53 (2/05), 20th Publication Year, ISSN 0930-276X November 2005
NEWS FROM
THE CHEMISTRY INFORMATION CENTRE, BERLIN
FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN
+report+
A Farewell to
Peter Schuhe
From "Networked Chemistry
Studies" to "CHEMGAROO"
Simply to the point.
www.chemistry.de
Deutsche Version
RÜCKSEITE

Content
2 Imprint
2 Editorial
3 A Message from the Managing
Director of FIZ CHEMIE Berlin
4 “He led the Administration into
Modern Times”
A farewell to Peter Schuhe
6 +News Ticker+
7 From “Networked Chemistry
Studies” to “Chemgaroo”
8 CHEMGAROO – From Project to
Product
10 Chemistry Modules for the Initial
Scientific Education
11 CHEMGAROO on campus
12 Schedule
Imprint
FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ is produced
and published twice yearly by the Fachinformationszentrum
Chemie GmbH (FIZ CHEMIE Berlin – The
Chemistry Information Centre).
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin
Franklinstrasse 11, D-10587 Berlin, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)30 399 77-0
Fax: +49 (0) 30 399 77-134
E-Mail: info@fiz-chemie.de
www.chemistry.de
Editor-in-Chief: Richard Huber
Telephone: +49 (0)30 399 77-217
Fax: +49 (0)30 399 77-132
E-Mail: info@fiz-chemie.de
Design and Layout:
ramminger Corporate & Marketing Communication GmbH
Bülowstrasse 66,
D-10783 Berlin, Germany
www.ramminger.de
Editorial deadline for this issue: 10th October 2005
Edition of 1500
ISSN: 0930-276X
© 2005 FIZ CHEMIE Berlin
The quoting or re-publishing of material from
FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ is encouraged
provided that appropriate acknowledgement is
made of FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ as
the source.
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin requests that a copy of the
reproduced material be sent to:
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin, Marketing & Communication,
P.O. Box 12 03 37, D-10593 Berlin, Germany.
FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ is sent to
customers and persons interested in the work and services
of The Chemistry Information Centre free of
charge. All enquiries or address changes should be
sent in writing to FIZ CHEMIE Berlin, Marketing &
Communication, P.O. Box 12 03 37, D-10593
Berlin, Germany.
FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+
Editorial
Das FIZ CHEMIE Berlin
under the sign of the owl
Dear reader,
what possibly could FIZ CHEMIE Berlin have to deal with owls, you may ask? Of all things
these nocturnal, shy birds of prey. The connection is not apparent to the uninitiated. It
so happens that the owl is the favourite animal of our former commercial director, Peter
Schuhe. And there is quite a bit about him in this new issue of the FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN
+report+.
On September 26, Peter Schuhe celebrated his 70th birthday.The occasion of his birthday
is also the occasion of Peter Schuhe and FIZ CHEMIE going separate ways after a close
relationship of many decades. Enough reason for an extensive ”special coverage”. So you
can expect some background information about Mr Schuhe and numerous pictures.You can
gain some insight into his eventful life's history and partake in his ceremonious farewell at
the House of Representatives in Berlin.
We would also like to keep you up to date on other issues concerning FIZ CHEMIE.The
key project Networked Chemistry Studies (VS – C) of the federal government was officially
completed with the handover of the final report in September 2005. Based on the
project results, manifold activities for the definition of a product line and the development
of a suitable product identity are under way since the beginning of the year.We can already
reveal this much: ”VS – C” will, in future, be called ”CHEMGAROO”. Apart from this,
there are already cooperations with, for example, the Centre for Technical Education in
Chemistry and the Hans-Boeckler Vocational College for the sustained evaluation of the
VS – C. Further cooperations are planned, amongst others, with oncampus gmbH. Online
courses for distance learning of a ”chemical engineering” study course are to be jointly developed
here.
You can expect to read these and other reports in the second issue of this year's inhouse
magazine. Enjoy your reading.Wishing you a merry and peaceful pre-Christmas season,
Richard Huber
Head Marketing & Communication Manager
2
Richard Huber

A Message from the Managing
Director of FIZ CHEMIE Berlin
Two significant events have left their mark on FIZ CHEMIE Berlin during the past weeks.
On the one hand the job for the structuring of a German competence centre for technical information,
on the other hand the retirement of our long standing managing director Peter
Schuhe.
Peter Schuhe had been the institute's founding managing director, subsequently a member
of the supervisory board and, towards the end of his extensive career, returned to the institute
for five years in the function of managing director. On the occasion of his retirement we
want to thank Mr Schuhe for his commitment with several special pages in this issue.
The consolidation of technical information in Germany is still actively supported by FIZ CHE-
MIE Berlin. FIZ CHEMIE Berlin was member of the committee responsible for creating an
appropriate concept paper for the joint federal/states commission. A decision on the recommendations
of this concept paper was, however, delayed as a result of the early election.
The cooperation of the technical information facilities located in Germany will be continued,
also on an operational level. Due to the great interest on part of the visitors, a joint trade fair
presence with FIZ Karlsruhe is planned again this year at the London Online Information.
Following the end of the financing of the federal key project Networked Chemistry Studies
in 2004, a comprehensive final report was compiled and forwarded to the supervisory committee.
In this project, FIZ CHEMIE Berlin had consolidated multimedial contributions by
16 universities into a single eLearning platform.The high number of users already in the project
phase was an encouragement for the further development and marketing of the system.
In order to further increase the performance capacity of the institute and to continue to meet
our high quality demands and those of our customers, an IT security audit was carried out
at our institute, which brought the infrastructure of FIZ CHEMIE Berlin up to date with
the latest technology.
In this final issue of FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ for 2005, I would also like to
thank all our employees for their successful cooperation. And thank you to our customers
for their confidence in us and the good business relationships.
Wishing you a peaceful and contemplative pre-Christmas season.
Prof. Dr. René Deplanque
Managing Director
3
Prof. Dr. René D eplanque
www.chemistry.de

“He led the Administration
into Modern Times”
A farewell to Peter Schuhe,
Managing Director of FIZ CHEMIE Berlin
He was always there, yet
seldom seen: for more than
a quarter of a century Peter
Schuhe has been actively
guiding the fate of FIZ
CHEMIE Berlin in various
responsible positions. The
man who preferred to operate
behind the scenes left
us on September 30 to go
into retirement.
This is already the second
time he is embarking on retirement.
The first time he
Peter Schuhe
was preparing himself for an
unhurried stage in his life
free of any vocational duties in 2000, he was head of division at the
Berlin Senate Office for Science, Research and Culture, responsible
for the research in engineering sciences, scientific infrastructure as
well as the relationship between the sciences and the economic sector.
He was 65 at that stage.
At that time, FIZ CHEMIE Berlin was seeking a successor for the
retiring commercial director,or rather:a succession solution.The new
one should be someone who a) had no ambitions for a long-term contract
and b) would be prepared to do the work for relatively low remuneration.This
peculiar situation came about because the German
Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and the state
of Berlin, being the responsible body for the institute, were just in
the process of checking whether FIZ CHEMIE could also possibly
be led by only one director, analogously to the organisational structure
of FIZ Karlsruhe. Just one problem remained: somebody had to
do the work in the meantime.
Interim solution a stroke of luck
At the time Dr Jan Michael Czermak (†) from the BMBF was chairman
of the FIZ CHEMIE supervisory board; Peter Schuhe his deputy.
Czermak, who was known for his unconventional problemsolving
abilities, asked Schuhe if he would be prepared to help out.
Schuhe said yes, and the supervisory board appointed him ”for an
interim period of two years”– and set the rumour mill buzzing.It was
speculated that it would not take very long now until the technical
information centres FIZ Karlsruhe and FIZ CHEMIE would be
amalgamated.
FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ 4
Berlin House of Representatives
Today, five years later, none of these speculations have come true.
Peter Schuhe, however, was a stroke of luck for FIZ CHEMIE.
”He led the administration into modern times”, reports the scientific
director of FIZ CHEMIE, Professor Dr René Deplanque, when
asked what impressed him most about his commercial colleague.
”Mr Schuhe introduced cost-performance calculation,contract management
and an early risk identification system to FIZ CHEMIE.He
enforced ISO 9000 in the administration, ensured the finances were
soundly based and redefined all job profiles. He leaves behind a
tidied state of affairs.”The collaboration with the elder management
colleague had always been very pleasant, says Deplanque. ”We were
not always of the same opinion, but we always found a way. A very
competent colleague, and fully reliable.”
Founding commercial director, supervisory board,
then commercial director once again
When the former senate officer stepped into his new position five
years ago, he already knew FIZ CHEMIE Berlin inside out. In the
80's he had already contributed significantly to the founding of the
institute. At that stage he had taught the baby to walk. For one and
a half years he had been the founding commercial director of the nonprofit
company.He was in charge until the corporate organs required
under corporate law had been determined. One of his tasks had been
the preparation of the appointment of Dr Christian Weiske as scientific
director, a formal matter, as Weiske was there right from the
start, ”as the most senior and competent staff member”, Schuhe reports.
When Weiske took over and the second director had been appointed
for the commercial division, Schuhe then returned to his position
as head of division in the Berlin administration. From there he
was acting as representative for the home state in the supervisory
board of FIZ CHEMIE Berlin. In this function he accompanied the
technical information centre for nearly two decades.The five ”pension
years” as commercial director rounded off the quarter of a century
alongside FIZ CHEMIE.
A gentleman of the new school
Peter Schuhe is a fine man. A gentleman of the new school, whose
concept of freedom was stamped by his experiences in the times of
war, the aftermath of the war and the period of '68. Born in Berlin,
he spent his entire life in the city apart from two years of evacuation
– always being in the focal point of events between East and West.
More than once this had an effect on his occupational and private
life; also in the period of transition, when he was actively engaged in
the restructuring and integration process of scientific institutes of the
former German Democratic Republic into the scientific system of the

Federal Republic.This also had to do with personnel issues; the verification
of the personal integrity of employees and deciding, who
should be taken on board. This was an especially encumbering task
for him, says Schuhe, who finds it hard to tolerate disloyalty, arrogance
and scheming.
A way with fellow men
His gentlemanly manner and thoroughly humanistic ideals could also
be felt clearly in his everyday working life at FIZ CHEMIE. ”He
has a way with fellow men and always offers his assistance”, his
secretary Angela Zoephel reports. Furthermore, she adds, he would
never forget a birthday of anyone in his immediate environment and
always had a personal gift for them. Nobody would expect this nowadays,
but that makes it even more special.
His special interest in his fellow human beings is something that accompanied
him right from the start. Neighbourliness as well as social
and political engagement were a matter of course for Schuhe.
Prior to the seizure of power by the nazis, both parents were members
of the union's German Workers Youth. Following the war, his father,
who was a factory engineer, worked as welfare worker for se-
(From left to right) Prof. Dr. René D eplanque,
Dr. Wolf-Dieter Lukas, Dr. Peter Krause, Jochen Stoehr
5
riously disabled persons at the State Employment Office. His father
and mother both worked for many years as honorary social commission
directors.
He actually wanted to become an engine driver
Influenced by this upbringing, Peter Schuhe did not want to work for
the ”disdainful” profit of a company. On the other hand, he was also
prejudiced against a civil service career due to the conflict with the
authoritative structures of the nazi period. All he really wanted as a
child was to become an engine driver. Somewhat later he then decided
on an engineering career, especially in climate engineering. That
this wish didn't come true has to do with the political change of direction
when the CDU was voted out in favour of the SPD in Berlin
in 1955. For the twenty-year-old, this signalled ”the setup of a democratic
and liberal administration”and evoked the hope of ”the development
of open-minded progressive administration officials”. He
sent in his application and was accepted. An exemplary civil services
career from government inspector to head of division ensued. The
main focus points of his work were nearly always research, engineering
science,technology and infrastructural measures.On the sideline,
the senate officer continued with legal studies at university
level and completed numerous EDP courses;among others at the Association
of German Engineers (VDI). His initial career aspiration
as engineer still had a hold on him, it seems.
Political engagement as a matter of course
Schuhe was always politically active, and still is. As in his professional
life, he never wrestled himself to the forefront in politics, but
quietly worked behind the scenes instead,diligently,with patience and
stamina, for the common welfare of all. When he was then asked to
take over a leading political role in the early 90's in the function of
local representative and divisional chairperson,his destiny had something
else in mind for him. His wife Evelyn fell seriously ill with cancer.
Schuhe immediately withdrew his candidacy in order to devote
himself to his wife and his daughter Sarah. Evelyn Schuhe passed
away in 1994.
Following this event, Peter Schuhe engaged himself politically once
more as spokesperson for technology matters for the Technical Committee
for Science, Research and Technology, and later for the Technical
Committee for Economic Issues, Technology, Employment and
Occupational Training at the SPD Regional Association for Berlin as
well as in the economic debates of Berlin. He is still continuing with
this work. His main concern in this regard is the best possible utilisation
of research potential for the creation of products, work and employment;
the instrument used for this purpose is a permanent encouragement
and furtherance of an intensive dialogue between the corporate
sector,research facilities as well as politics and administration.
Managing director as luggage minder
On a personal level, Peter Schuhe has two special fields of interest:
owls and art. Every type of owl reproduction is collected, and nobody
really knows why; or where this originated from. His interest in
art was awakened by his teachers while he was still in school. He was
especially taken with modern painting – impressionism and expressionism
initially. At a later stage, this was followed by art nouveau
www.chemistry.de

and critical realists such as Dix, Kollwitz and Grosz right up to the
Berlin artists Sorge, Behr, Albert, Duwe, Petrick, Gruetzke and
others. It fascinates him, he says, ”to arouse by means of art in order
to point out misery, adversity and the brutality of war”.
Sometimes, although be it very rarely, this passion also evokes suffering
in others. As incurred on a business trip to America, where
Peter Schuhe wanted to visit an exhibition ”in the middle of nowhere,
somewhere between the airport and the venue” (quote Deplanque).
The directors had all their luggage in the car. René Deplanque
thought it too risky to leave the vehicle unattended. So he patiently
waited for two hours in the car, minding the luggage. Until his commercial
colleague had quenched his thirst for art.
A farewell with a hint of anxiety
On the 26. September this year, Peter Schuhe celebrated his 70th
birthday. On the 30. September, he retired from FIZ CHEMIE. Now
he is looking forward to an educational journey to Central and South
America to visit the remains of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs – and
to spending more time with his daughter, his companion and his
friends.
The position of commercial director is no longer offered.This is something
which worries Peter Schuhe slightly when taking into account
the not yet completed processes concerning the reorganisation of the
information and communication system in the Federal Republic. He
wishes FIZ CHEMIE an enduring future, even under a possibly different
legal and organisational framework. That is why it is still of
importance to have consistent management and clear concepts for
the evaluation of work results to ensure the economic safeguarding
of the institute. These concerns are met through the newly defined
fields of responsibility, resulting from the retirement of Schuhe, for
Thomas Berthold, Administration Manager and authorised signatory,
as well as Andre Hermanns, the Management Assistant.
FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ 6
An appreciation in the Berlin House of Representatives
Within the framework of a ceremonial act in the Berlin House of Representatives
on the 30. September, to which all employees of FIZ
CHEMIE Berlin were invited along with many friends and companions,
representatives of the federal and local government showed
their appreciation for the high level of engagement shown by Peter
Schuhe in the performance of his duties at the facilities and in the
functions he was entrusted with over the many years of his service.
Dr Wolf-Dieter Lukas (Assistant Secretary at the BMBF), Dr Peter
Krause (former Undersecretary), Jochen Stoehr (former Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the senate) and Prof. Dr René Deplanque portrayed
a spirited picture of Peter Schuhe's career and accomplishments
as founding commercial director of FIZ CHEMIE as well as
senior staff member of the Senate Office. Prof. Dr Deplanque rounded
off the account with a multimedia presentation on the topic of
owls – a real surprise for the owl enthusiast Schuhe, as the program
had only mentioned a scientific recital, but not the title.
Subsequently, Peter Schuhe invited all attendees to a sociable drink
in the lobby of the House of Representatives. Here all former colleagues,
friends and work acquaintances had the opportunity to personally
bid Peter Schuhe a cordial farewell.
news+news+news+news+news+news+news+news+news+news+news
Infotherm now available
as Inhouse Version
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin has now made the deeper
levels of the Infotherm database with its thermodynamic
and physical data about mixtures and
pure compounds traceable for the large search
engines on the Internet. Henceforth English and
German term combinations on more than
170,000 HTML pages containing molecule de-
nominations and material and system properties
are leading directly to Infotherm.The chemist or
chemical engineer now searching for corresponding
terms on the Internet will, with high
probability, find what he is looking for on the
pages of FIZ CHEMIE.
Apart from the Internet version, Infotherm will
also be available as a so-called inhouse version
in the coming year, i.e. for installation on the
Lobby Berlin House of Representatives
personal workplace or on the company Intranet.
This product form meets the customer requirements
with regard to data security and availability.The
well known,individual customer support
of FIZ CHEMIE will come to bear to a
high degree. Prices and terms of usage will be
presented soon on the FIZ CHEMIE web pages
at www.chemistry.de.
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From “Networked Chemistry Studies”
to “CHEMGAROO”
The financing of the federal project Networked
Chemistry Studies by the German
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) ended on the 31.12.2004.
The project results are developed further by
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin and marketed under
the brand name of CHEMGAROO.
The name ”Networked Chemistry Studies”
was an outstanding choice for the federal key
project during the five-year period of financial
support. However, it was clear to everybody
at FIZ CHEMIE that a new product
group name had to be found for the marketing
of the various resulting products from
this project. It was the objective to create a
product identity, which appeals in equal
measure to education providers, teachers
and students.
The name should point out the relation of the
course content to chemistry, sound familiar
to the customer and facilitate fluent pronunciation.
At the same time a logo was sought
to support the trade name recognition.Thus,
”CHEMGAROO” was born.
• Chem being the prefix of the word chemistry.
• garoo being the second part of the English
word kangaroo.
This combination of syllables satisfies all demands
on a contemporary trade name. The
pronunciation of CHEMGAROO only differs
by one letter (”m” instead of ”n”) from the
pronunciation of the well known word kangaroo,
which every child knows. The name
can be used in German as well as English. It
could be expected that CHEMGAROO would
be connected with a logo containing a kangaroo
component. And, finally, the word
”garoo” is associated with the expression
”guru” (expert, being enlightened).The final
7
CHEMGAROO
syllable ”oo”, in turn, reminds of popular
search engines such as google or yahoo.
In order to protect the trade name, trademark
protection was applied for at the European
trademark office. Corresponding web
addresses have been reserved for the new
product range.
Management and staff at FIZ CHEMIE are
confident that, with CHEMGAROO, they
have found a product group name which is
suitable for establishing the education platform
in the coming years as the leading education
environment for the chemistry segment
and associated sciences.The high quality
of the content and its extensive volume in
connection with a highly specialised technological
platform stand for the uniqueness of
CHEMGAROO.
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Infotherm access:
www.chemistry.de/infotherm
Product sheet:
www.chemistry.de/katalog/engineering/
infotherm.html
New Management for the
Marketing & Communication
Group
Since August 2005 Richard Huber has been
leading the newly oriented marketing & communication
group at FIZ CHEMIE Berlin.
Richard Huber was born in Munich and studied
technical informatics at the Technical Universi-
The Brand Name
ty of Applied Sciences in Berlin. Initially Huber
worked for a software company as programmer,
multimedia developer and in marketing.
From 1999 to 2005 Huber was active as a scientist
at FIZ CHEMIE Berlin, responsible for the
planning and conceptualisation of the technical
structure for the federal key project Networked
Chemistry Studies. In 2002 he was placed in
charge of the overall project management for
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www.chemistry.de

CHEMGAROO –
From Project to Product
Under the umbrella brand name of CHEM-
GAROO, FIZ CHEMIE Berlin is marketing
the products developed in the federal key
project Networked Chemistry Studies
(VS – C) since the end of 2005. The first of
these offers is an interactive, multimedia
based encyclopedia for chemistry education,
chemistry-specific online courses, a media
collection and a platform for the publication
of complex scientific learning content.
The results compiled in the VS – C have been
a surprise to all participants.The volume of the
material,comprising approx.15,000 individual
multimedial pages on all topics of chemistry
and related sciences, is impressive to project
participants and outsiders alike.
A multitude of elaborately designed onscreen
displays, extensive video footage of experiments,
thousands of interactive 3D molecule
depictions as well as complex 3D animations
of camera rides through molecules and chemical
structures invite experienced as well as
inexperienced users to learn in a playful manner.
By means of powerful search functions
the user can call up learn content relating to
technical key phrases in a targeted way from
the multimedia based encyclopedia.
this project.Due to his experience as internal auditor
for ISO 9000 quality management at FIZ
CHEMIE,he is intimately familiar with many of
the inhouse processes and procedures.
Support for Management
With the retirement of the managing director
Peter Schuhe, Andre Hermanns has taken over
the newly created position of management
assistant.
Enzyklopädie
Encyclopedia
· lexicon of education content
· 15,000 linked pages
· multimedia based and interactive
Existing CHEMGAROO product range
But even the technical education platform developed
by FIZ CHEMIE presents a unique
solution within the large learning management
market.As there is hardly any field of topics
with such an extensive coverage as chemistry
on the VS – C, some completely new
technologies had to be developed for the education
platform. No other currently known
learning platform has the capability to display
such a variety of markups meeting the requirements
of all subject groups in chemistry
and related sciences and preprocess them for
the author.
Andre Hermanns previously worked as senior
consultant in the management and technology
consulting division of a large telecommunications
company in Bonn and was responsible for
the public sector segment. Up to the government
relocation to Berlin he was active in the
Lower House of German Parliament as personal
assistant for Prof. Dr. Heinz Riesenhuber, a
former Federal Minister.
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FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ 8
CHEMGAROO
Kurse Courses Platform Plattform
· self-learning course or blended
learning
· SCORM export
CHEMGAROO
contains
15.000 pages
CHEMGAROO
The Product
Mediensammlung
Media Collection
· graphics, animations, 3D molecules,
videos, audio files
· individually or as database
· LCMS
· flexible DTD
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Andre Hermanns completed his business studies
at the University of Passau.The London School
of Economics awarded him with a Master of
Science in International Politics. Within the
framework of the ERASMUS scholarship program
of the European Union, Andre Hermann
then continued his studies for two semesters at
the Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy.

With the project having ended in 2004, FIZ
CHEMIE now has the task of continuing with
the development and marketing of the VS – C
project results. Under the name of CHEM-
GAROO,four types of products will be offered:
• Encyclopedia
• Courses
• Media collection
• Platform
Networked, interactive and multimedia
based content motivate the learner
The multimedia based encyclopedia contains
approx. 15,000 learning pages and, via finely
tuned search functions, can be used on any
depth level for looking up key phrases. All
content is linked and optimised with more
than 25,000 media elements, approx. 900
exercises and 2,500 glossary and biographical
entries in order to ensure a motivating and
explorative approach. An inhouse version of
the encyclopedia can also be made available
to the customer. In this case, the customer
receives a combination of content, platform
technology and the underlying databases.
These can be set up on the computer centre of
the customer on existing hardware or, as offered
by FIZ CHEMIE,be set up and supplied
on a high performance computer.This inhouse
version offers the customer the decisive advantage
of supplying CHEMGAROO content
to all employees via the corporate Intranet
without the risk of opening security-critical
ports (interfaces) to the Internet and, possibly,
be spied upon. User interfaces and starting
pages can be adapted to the corporate
identity of the customer. Regular updates ensure
the highest possible up-to-dateness.
Courses for the systematic intermediation
of knowledge
While all content of the encyclopedia is freely
deducible, the FIZ CHEMIE courses offer
a certain combination of CHEMGAROO content
that corresponds to the desired training
goals of the customer. Based on the building
block structure of the content, any number or
type of new and individual courses can be generated.
These can be supplied as web based
training (WBT) within the CHEMGAROO
learning environment or in the SCORM-compatible
Moodle Platform (third party product,
open source). It is also possible to supply
the courses to a customer in the form of
static media (computer based training,CBT).
In this case it is differentiated whether the
customer prefers content in accordance with
the SCORM standard or freely designed courses
in HTML, XML or as PDF.
Experiencing sound and image with 25,000
media elements
During the project period, more than 25,000
media elements were created.These are currently
collected in a self-contained database
and made available to various target groups
via metadata markups.The customer selects
individual media elements or opts for the database
with the media collection. At present,
the media collection contains:
• 19,000 graphics
• 3,000 animations
• 2,300 3D molecules
• 650 videos
• 600 audio files
Example of a virtual experiment
The media elements are either offered for
download via a portal or can be sent to the
customer on static data carriers (CD-ROM,
DVD). A subscription service for large customers
(publishers,magazines) could also be an
option.
The diversity of the markup languages
is unique
The platform is purely a Learn Content Management
System (LCMS).The platform has a
very specialised area of application: the dynamic
arrangement of websites from various
databases (for content and media elements)
corresponding to the markup specifications of
a very complex, scientifically oriented DTD.
Unlike many commercial platforms, it can also
process very voluminous and highly specialised
markup languages. At the same time,
a passable way was found for authors to add
new scientific learning content into the various
databases. The platform can be used
9
either as installation version (various software
packages of FIZ CHEMIE, open source
technologies,commercial modules,databases
and services for setup and operation) or as a
service of the FIZ CHEMIE computer centre
with all ASP/ISP services included.
CHEMGAROO for various learning
scenarios
Due to the differentiation of the various products
within CHEMGAROO, it is possible to
provide the customer and interested parties
with a tailor-made offer meeting the individual
requirements. The eLearning segment
still does not represent a standardised market.
Every new training scenario is fundamentally
different to all previously generated
applications.This is due to the differences in
the corporate policies and the requirements of
learners,instructors and education providers.
It is of special importance for a diversified
learning environment such as CHEMGAROO
to have the capability of really providing a
customized offer.
CHEMGAROO
(currently found under the VS – C homepage):
www.vs-c.de
www.chemistry.de

Chemistry Modules for the Initial
Scientific Education
In the cooperation of FIZ CHEMIE Berlin
with the Centre for Technical Education in
Chemistry (bbz) and the Hans-Boeckler
Vocational College (HBBK), everything revolves
around the deployment of eLearning
in scientific education. With the help of the
CHEMGAROO technology, new content was
created for the bbz; the HBBK is using
existing CHEMGAROO content.
The original target group of CHEMGAROO
were students at German universities.
CHEMGAROO contains all the learning content
of six semester Bachelor studies in
chemistry. However, it was not only the universities
that were very interested in CHEM-
GAROO,but also facilities offering vocational
training in the chemical industry. In a pilot
scheme, FIZ CHEMIE Berlin embarked on
a close cooperation with two large vocational
training centres of the chemical industry,
the bbz and the HBBK.
Safeguarding quality right from the start
Together with FIZ CHEMIE, the bbz developed
learning units for the quality assurance
in analytical chemistry.This included the
creation of a calculation software for analytical
quality assurance (Java applet), which
serves to prepare the trainee for everyday
life in a laboratory.The measurement of individual
assays and assay lines represents a
focal point of everyday laboratory activities.
The ability to control measurement values
and detect possible measurement errors
must be extensively trained in the vocational
preparation of chemists and chemical laboratory
workers.The calculation program offers
support in dealing with measurement results.Trainees
enter their values into the program
in the laboratory and are immediately
provided with an analysis.
The program forms part of the learning unit
”software-supported quality assurance” in
instrumental analytics.The integration of the
program into a learning unit enables the
trainee to combine background knowledge
with software-supported data analysis.
New worlds of learning through the building
block principle.
Instead of only creating own training content,the
HBBK decided to rearrange existing
CHEMGAROO material. Due to the underlying
building block concept, CHEMGAROO
offers the advantage to easily restructure
the existing content and adapt it to new
training scenarios.
The first learn unit was on the topic of the
Grignard Reaction.This included the didactic
adaptation to the education level as well
as the restructuring and supplementation of
existing content with exercises. Many text
segments, pictures and videos could be
adopted.
Additional learning units on the topic of aromatics
were adapted and arranged into a
course.In order to motivate the target group
of trainees right from the start for this work
with electronic content, they could, in a special
seminar, search the CHEMGAROO material
for learn units about aromatics and
adapt the respective content to their specific
requirements. Just as with the above-mentioned
learning unit about the Grignard Reaction,
the text was reformulated and exercises
were added. Each page of a learning
unit ends with exercises. In this way, the student
can check his comprehension of the
content directly after working through the
page. Additionally, the exercises point to the
core information of the page and support the
repetition of the content. Apart from the
exercises and text changes,the molecular depictions
are also adapted to the vocational
training, e.g. through the supplementation
with free electron pairs.
CHEMGAROO supports the SCORM
standard
In order to ensure that the newly created
learning content does not merge with the
existing CHEMGAROO content, it is presented
in a separate learning environment. For
this purpose, FIZ CHEMIE installed the
open source software Moodle. Courses provided
in this external training environment
correspond to the so-called SCORM format.
SCORM is an exchange format for electronic
learning units.As many commercial plat-
FIZ CHEMIE BERLIN +report+ 10
CHEMGAROO
The Application
forms nowadays are supporting this standard,
the learning content defined in this way
can be deployed in numerous different training
scenarios. Furthermore, the training environment
Moodle also provides communication
programs such as chat and forums on
every course.
The learning unit about the Grignard Reaction
and the course on aromatics are already
being deployed in the vocational training.
Bernhard Niehues, teacher at the Hans-
Boeckler Vocational College, has reported a
significant increase of knowledge and the
interconnected learning success.
The cooperation in the areas of vocational
training offer new possibilities for the further
development of CHEMGAROO content.
Existing content custom-made to meet the
requirements of the academic education can
be easily adapted for the trainee.The individual
adaptation of the content in order to
meet the training objectives is very flexible –
whether for the use in classes, at the laboratory
or at home.
CHEMGAROO
(currently found under the VS – C homepage):
www.vs-c.de
Centre for Technical Education in
Chemistry:
www.bbz-chemie.de
Hans-Boeckler Vocational College:
www.hans-boeckler-berufskolleg.de

CHEMGAROO on Campus
Two of the five former federal key projects, the Networked Chemistry
Studies (now called CHEMGAROO) and the Virtual University
of Applied Sciences (now called oncampus), pursue a common
objective.The project plans to set up online courses for the Bachelor
studies in chemical engineering at universities of applied sciences
throughout Germany. For this purpose, the CHEMGAROO content
of FIZ CHEMIE Berlin is consolidated with the oncampus platform
of oncampus GmbH.
At the joint exhibition stand at the LEARNTEC 2005 in Karlsruhe,
FIZ CHEMIE and oncampus made plans for a concrete cooperation
in the area of chemical engineering studies at universities of applied
sciences. The long-term objective is the setup of a distance learning
scheme for chemical engineering, supported and organised by oncampus
and operated at the University of Applied Sciences in Luebeck.The
CHEMGAROO content conceived for the Bachelor studies is to be deployed
in real online studies. The laboratory part of the studies will
take place decentrally at polytechnic facilities cooperating with FIZ
CHEMIE throughout the country.
Following the coordination of the technical prerequisites on the development
level, learning modules based on CHEMGAROO content will
be created by oncampus staff members. A certain amount of credit
points will be allocated to each module according to the ECTS model.
The credit points stand for the performance to be rendered and are recognised
by the participating universities of applied sciences and taken
into account for a study course ”Bachelor of Chemical Engineering”
(working title) to be developed at a later stage.
At a meeting at the beginning of April in Luebeck, the ideas for the
joint development of accreditable online courses was specified and a
concrete roadmap for further procedures developed.There were also
talks with the University of Paderborn concerning the accreditation of
11
a university of applied sciences bachelor degree in chemical engineering
at a general university. According to Prof. Schubert (University of
Paderborn), such an accreditation by the University of Paderborn is
possible. If one takes into consideration the established dual concept
found at universities of applied sciences, according to which in-house
trained master chemists may, under certain conditions, be granted admission
to a study course at the university of applied sciences, this
leads to a permeability within the chemistry education,from the laboratory
chemist to the university professor at a general university. As far
as university policies are concerned, this would be quite a sensation.
Furthermore,all participating parties recognised the positive emanating
effect on the concept of key projects.The cooperation of two major
BMBF (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) projects
for defining a joint business model will have a long-term sustained
impact on future BMBF models for defining new projects.
Oncampus sees itself as the mediating agency for education content
from the former BMBF leading project ”Virtual University of Applied
Sciences” (VUAS).The VUAS was coordinated by a team led by Prof.
Granow from the University of Applied Sciences in Luebeck.The UAS
in Luebeck offers the study course chemical engineering. Oncampus is
not a content supplier, instead it adapts the content of other providers
to its own platform and the underlying education concept. Additionally,oncampus
is an ASP/ISP service provider for universities of applied
sciences and other education providers.
University of Applied Sciences in Luebeck:
www.fh-luebeck.de
oncampus GmbH:
www.oncampus.de
CHEMGAROO
The Application
Joint exhibition stand
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin and
FH Luebeck at the LEARNTEC 2005
www.chemistry.de

Schedule
Workshops January – February 2006
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin in co-operation with its
partners regularly offers public workshops
for beginners or experienced searchers in the
use of databases.In addition to public events,
Workshop schedule update: www.chemistry.de/en/service/workshops
Help Desk
Day Location Topic Price Duration
25.01.2006 Berlin Introduction to CAplus/REGISTRY free 1 Day
26.01.2006 Berlin Name and Molecular Formular Searching free 1 Day
27.01.2006 Berlin Structure Searching with STN Express free 1 Day
08.02.2006 Berlin Advanced Structure Searching free 1 Day
09.02.2006 Berlin CASREACT free 1 Day
10.02.2006 Berlin MARPAT/MARPATpreviews free 1 Day
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin
Help Desk Team
Postfach 12 03 37
D-10593 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 399 77 111
Fax: +49 (0)30 399 77 134
E-Mail: helpdesk@fiz-chemie.de
Exhibitions December 2005 – September 2006
Exhibition schedule update: www.chemistry.de/en/aktuelles/ausstellungen
Registration
Visit FIZ CHEMIE Berlin at our exhibition stand.
Take the opportunity to meet our staff at various places and learn more about our products and services.
Date Location Event
FIZ CHEMIE Berlin can also organise internal
company or institution workshops on
specific database questions. For further information,
please contact Help Desk.
Registrations for these events can only be accepted in writing,
no later than 7 calendar days before the workshop is
scheduled to begin.
Please send your registration to Help Desk. In the case of
too few registered participants for a particular event, FIZ
CHEMIE Berlin retains the right to cancel this event at its
discretion.
29.11. – 01.12.2005 London Online Information Joint stand with FIZ Karlsruhe
30.11. – 02.12.2005 Berlin Online Educa Joint stand with FH Lübeck
14.02. – 16.02.2006 Karlsruhe LEARNTEC Joint stand with FH Lübeck
19.03. – 22.03.2006 Hamburg Chemiedozententagung
26.03. – 30.03.2006 Atlanta ACS Spring National Meeting
15.05. – 19.05.2006 Frankfurt/Main ACHEMA Joint stand with FIZ Karlsruhe
10.09. – 14.09.2006 San Francisco ACS Fall National Meeting
Eine Serviceeinrichtung in der