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Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry

Study Guide for Ouellette textbook

A Study Guide (SG) is available for the Ouellette textbook. This page provides some information about that SG, to help you decide whether you want to buy it. It also gives you some guidance on how to buy it. The SG is not required.
 
General comments about SG's
What is in this SG?
What do I know about this SG? 		Getting the SG
Errata

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General comments about SG's

I am not a big fan of SG's. Seems to me that a good book doesn't need one, and a bad book isn't helped by one. Further, I do not think you should have to pay extra to get the answers to the problems in the book. Nevertheless, many textbooks have SG's, and some may have useful supplementary material -- and often the book answers. I know that some students like SG's. If you do, and/or really would like to have your own set of the answers, then you can read on for more information to help you judge this SG.

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What is in this SG?

As the complete title (Study Guide and Solutions Manual) suggests, the SG has two major sections.

The first, the SG per se, provides additional instructional material. This averages about 10 pages per textbook chapter. To the extent I have looked through the SG, this is all presented as a series of "objectives", with a brief discussion, but mainly a series of examples, which are discussed in detail. For example, for Ch 3 (our first chapter), there are 15 objectives, and 31 examples discussed in detail. There are no "additional problems" (or sample tests), but you could work through the examples yourself before reading her explanation; that would often be a very good approach.

The second part of the SG is a complete solutions manual for all the end-of-chapter problems in the textbook. This includes the odd numbered ones, whose answers are already in the textbook. In principle, the SG has more complete "solutions", sometimes with explanation, whereas the textbook simply has answers. For most exercises, this really doesn't make much difference.

The SG also has a brief Introduction, which discusses how to study organic chemistry -- and how to participate in one of the great rituals of modern organic chemistry, using curved arrows. The Intro is useful, though certainly not necessary. If nothing else, I came away from reading the Intro with a good feeling about the style of the SG.

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What do I know about this SG?

I have no real experience with the SG, and have received no feedback from students about it. I have glanced at the SG, and my impression is that it reads well and may usefully complement the book. The objectives and examples look good.

It is important to emphasize that the SG is not required. I will never assign anything in it, and will not assume you have used it when writing tests. I will also try to provide you the answer section in class. If you find that the textbook + class serves your needs, that is fine. On the other hand, if your personal style is that you often like SG's, my sense of this one -- based on limited observations so far -- is that it may be quite helpful.

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Getting the SG

The SG is: M H Bailey & R J Ouellette, Study Guide and Solutions Manual to accompany Organic Chemistry - A Brief Introduction, 2/e, 1998, Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-850348-6.

To buy it online, I would encourage you to start with one of the price comparison services listed on my Buying books page. It is probably most efficient to search by ISBN. The list price is about $50 (Fall 2006); inexpensive used copies are common from online sources.

CAUTION

It is easy to mix this book up with two other books, and I have found that some of the online listings give the wrong book. Watch for...

There are two Ouellette textbooks, each with a SG by Mary Bailey. Make sure you get the SG for our book, Organic Chemistry - A Brief Introduction.

Prentice Hall has another textbook, with a similar title, by Bailey & Bailey -- neither of whom is the Mary we are interested in. For some reason, the two Bailey books are mixed up in some online listings. Even searching by ISBN may retrieve records for the Bailey & Bailey textbook. Don't worry if the price comparison service does this; go ahead and check the offers from individual stores. What matters is what the bookstore listing says. Remember, you want the Bailey SG for the Ouellette book, Organic Chemistry - A Brief Introduction. (If there is a picture, both the textbook and the SG have the same cover, with a caterpillar climbing the book title.)

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Errata

Errors in the SG are not in the handouts, but are in the Errata list file. Students who have the SG should get this file: Errata file, Ouellette 2/e. It is also linked to the Updates page. Please let me know of any errors you find.

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Last update: January 14, 2009

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