Collection Development Policy: Chemistry
Subject Librarian: Scott Opasik
Purpose of Policy
To build a collection that serves the teaching, learning, and research needs of students taking Chemistry courses and the faculty teaching those courses.
Program Description
Chemistry offers the following degrees:
- BS in Chemistry
- BS in Biochemistry
- BA in Chemistry
- Minor Chemistry
- Minor in Biochemistry
New and Expanded Areas of Teaching
- Biochemistry
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Nanotechnology
- Pharmacology
- Environmental (Green) Chemistry
Faculty Area of Research Interest
- The biochemistry of metalloproteins and their role in the detoxification of heavy metals in the environment; chemistry education.
- Organometallic chemistry; trimetallic carbonyl clusters; perfluoroalkyl lead compounds
- Lower bounds to energy eigenvalues of atomic and molecular systems; upper and lower bounds to observable properties of atomic and molecular systems; methods to solve the Schrödinger equation.
- Activated iodine oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds; asymmetric copper-catalyzed [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of alkyl and aryl substituted allyl sulfides.
- Development of sensitive electroanalytical methods to detect pollutants in environmental samples; electrochemical modification of electrode surfaces.
- Antibody engineering, phage display, biosensor design, allosteric interactions.
Student Population
The majority of students who take chemistry courses are not majoring in chemistry. Chemistry provides courses that support many non-chemistry majors including Nursing, Biology, and Computer Science as well as courses that fulfill general education requirements (Visual Literacy and Common Core - the natural world)
Departmental Use of Library Resources
The Chemistry department depends heavily on journals, less on monographs.
The use of library resources are required for:
- CHEM-C 301 Chemistry Seminar – capstone course for senior
- CHEM-C 430 Inorganic Chemistry/CHEM-C 335 Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory
Accreditation Requirements
First and foremost, the library must build a collection that meets the ACS accreditation standards. (ACS Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures for Bachelor's Degree Programs, 2015)
These include:
- Broad range of peer-reviewed chemical literature that is readily accessible.
- No fewer than 14 current and archival, peer-reviewed journals.
- A minimum of three journals that have a general focus.
- A minimum of one journal that covers each of the following areas:
- Analytical chemistry
- Biochemistry
- Inorganic chemistry
- Organic Chemistry
- Physical Chemistry
- Chemistry Education.
- The library must provide timely access to periodical literature not available on site.
- Students must have access to databases that allow them to develop literature searching skills, including structure-based searching, and that support research and instructional activities.