The Sciences Library at Brown University maintains a core collection in support of the research, study and teaching demands of the Department of Physics. Recognizing its critical role as a resource to this department, the Library attempts to acquire materials that create a RESEARCH level collection that will prove beneficial to the research and study needs of the faculty and students within the department. A RESEARCH level collection includes the major source materials required for dissertations and independent research, including materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It also includes all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in this field.
The Library collections for Physics, housed in the Sciences Library, include an estimated 23,000 titles, of which 300 are currently received serials. In addition, Physics derives interdisciplinary benefits from the collections of Applied Mathematics, Biological and Medical Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering, Computer Science and Geology.
The table below indicates the financial support the Library has provided for the Department of Physics for the past five years, and shows a 32% increase in funding.
|
Library
Expenditures
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Firm
Orders
|
$3,427
|
$2,432
|
$942
|
$2,184
|
$672
|
$2,001
|
|
Approvals
|
$31,000
|
$20,473
|
$ 24,325
|
$14,344
|
$5,973
|
$15,091
|
|
Serials
|
$202,768
|
$230,928
|
$256,611
|
$267,909
|
$283,322
|
$296,002
|
|
TOTAL
EXPENDITURES
|
$237,195
|
$253,833
|
$281,878
|
$284,437
|
$289,967
|
$313,094
|
The financial support indicated above is also supplemented by funding for the purchase of reference materials, and electronic resources.
ELECTRONIC SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Access to the journal literature in physics has greatly improved over the past year. Currently, the Library provides access to nearly 200 Physics journals online. In many cases, the electronic version of the journals is made available weeks, sometime months ahead of the availability of the print publication. Therefore, the physics researcher is able to access these titles from the office or the lab at the point that they are needed. With the development of the Proxy Server, access is no longer limited to the person on campus.
In addition to the availability of core print indexes to the physics literature, the Library provides access to several significant web based bibliographic databases. Science Citation Index provides electronic access to the literature of physics and Astronomy, as well as other disciplines, and has begun to link citations directly to the full-text of online journals. Also, the Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Materials Science Collection of databases allows researchers to search nine different databases, in a single search. This resource provides direct support of several physics specialties such as condensed matter and materials research.
Although the journal literature is very important, Library support is provided for identifying important physics monographs. WorldCat, the OCLC database, makes it possible for the researcher to identify monographs, conference proceedings, and research reports from around the world. WorldCat now makes it possible for the physics researcher to directly request an item of interest that is held by another institution. The Virtual Catalog is a new project that will allow researchers gain possession of physics titles held by cooperating libraries in as little as five days.
Increased access to the journal literature and to the significant monographic literature, are several ways in which the Library is attempting to meet the information needs of the Physics Department. By working with the faculty of the Department of Physics, the Library must strive to maintain a research level collection in areas that include Astrophysics and Cosmology, Condensed Matter Physics, High Energy and Particle Physics, as well as Fluid Dynamics, Acoustics, and Optics and Light among others. This must be done in an age where issues of access and availability apply to both print and electronic resources and funding remains a difficult hurdle. As the collection grows in the wake of ever increasing amounts of information, along with the increased availability of electronic resources, ensuring that information literacy and competency are achieved becomes a paramount task for the Library. Not only must the Library and the Physics Department work together to ensure the quality of the collection, but it must as work to ensure that it is a usable collection.
Mark Shelton, Physics Librarian
Department of Physics
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