Information Services

Collection Development Policy

Chemistry

Purpose

The Chemistry Department at Connecticut College offers degrees in Chemistry, Biochemistry with professional certification from the American Chemical Society.   A degree in Environmental Chemistry is also offered, along with interdisciplinary majors in Biochemistry, Cellular, and Molecular Biology.   The purposes of the library collection materials are to support both the pedagogical and research goals of the department.

General Guidelines

The library collection will serve the needs of the students in Chemistry courses, and as a foundation for independent research in chemistry.   The pedagogical needs of the faculty will be served for researching materials to be used in lectures and labs.   Faculty research needs will be accommodated within the scope of the general guidelines and limits of the materials budget. Whenever possible, the Library will collect appropriate materials for keeping up-to-date with the current work in their fields, and materials to support academic work and assist in writing papers and books.   In general, the Library does not collect textbooks or multiple copies of materials.

Faculty are invited to submit purchase requests and make recommendations to the departmental liaison.   The liaison, in consultation with the Director of Information Resources, will make the final purchasing decision.

The periodic removal (weeding or deselection) of extraneous and obsolete materials from the shelves will be conducted using the criteria outlined in the Collection Development and Information Access Policy.

Types of Materials Collected

The primary types of materials that support the Chemistry Department include monographs, serials, databases, and software, but the emphasis will be on serials (including online journals) and databases.   For all types of materials, the emphasis will be on current materials published in English.

Currently, all print journal holdings are kept permanently.   Access to the online journals are provided through the Journal Locator.   Access to Chemical Abstracts will be provided through SciFinder Scholar.   The library also provides access to the Beilstein database.   Beilstein is searched with the MDL CrossFire Commander client, developed by MDL Information Systems, Inc. The most current version for PCs is Commander 7. MDL no longer develops Commander for the Macintosh platform.

Format of Materials Collected

Monographs and general reference works will be acquired in print format.   In general, the library will subscribe to journals in one format only.   Preference will be given to electronic journals whenever possible, with the exceptions listed in the Collection Development and Information Access Policy.   Preference will also be given to electronic indexes with full text access to journal articles when coverage is comparable.

Languages

Materials for the chemistry collection shall be primarily in English.

Geographical Areas

Materials shall be predominantly collected from North American and European publishers.  

Chronological Guidelines

Chemistry is a discipline that relies on both new and old research.   Therefore, the collection needs to reflect both the current trends in the field and previous research extending back through the early twentieth century.   Older monographs that are not relevant to the needs of the faculty or students will be considered for removal from the collection.   As shelf space for journals becomes more of an issue, it may be necessary to either withdraw or store back issues of journals.   The library liaison will work with the department to determine which volumes would be the best candidates for such a project, if necessary.  

Special Collections and Manuscripts

Special Collections includes some older works on Chemistry, and may be viewed by appointment only.   The acquisition of special collection materials will be determined by the Special Collections Librarian.   Special Collections also collects all faculty monograph publications and all Honors Theses by seniors at Connecticut College .

Other Resources Available

Currently enrolled students and Connecticut College faculty and staff have access to monographs, audiovisual materials, and government documents from Trinity College and Wesleyan University through the CTW Consortium.   Interlibrary loan provides access to monographs not held by CTW as well as journal articles not available at Connecticut College .

Creation Date and Revision History

Draft document created March 2005 by Melodie Hamilton, Library Liaison to the Chemistry Department.   Draft forwarded to Bruce Branchini, Chair of the Chemistry Department for review and comment.

LC Class

QD

Collection Development and Information Access Policy

The Collection Development and Information Access Policy can be viewed at:

http://www.conncoll.edu/is/info-resources/colldevpolicy.html

Ordering Library Materials

Recommendations and requests for purchase of chemistry materials should be addressed to Melodie Hamilton, Library Liaison to the Chemistry Department.

Liaison

Melodie Hamilton
Electronic Access/Serials Librarian
Charles E. Shain Library
(860) 439-2669
melodie.hamilton@conncoll.edu