Subject Specialist Librarian: Ruth Collings
Description of Current Collection and Academic Programmes Supported
The Department of Chemistry of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science offers undergraduate and graduate programs in chemistry up to the Ph.D level. Chemistry is a foundation science and as such is related to both biology and physics. Core areas in chemistry are analytical, biological, inorganic, organic and physical and theoretical chemistry. These are covered fairly extensively in the collection at levels ranging from introductory to advanced. Specialized areas such as materials science, mass spectrometry, gas phase ion chemistry and medicinal chemistry are seeing growth in the collection based on faculty interests.
Undergraduate courses in chemistry begin with general chemistry, moving on to introductory courses in biochemistry, organic, inorganic and physical chemistry and then to more advanced areas in theoretical and applied chemistry . The latter cover introductory quantum chemistry, atmospheric chemistry, computational chemistry and biological chemistry and serve as preparation for future study at the graduate level.
Graduate level programs include the areas of analytical, atmospheric, biological, inorganic, organic, physical and theoretical chemistry with specializations in atmospheric chemistry, gas-phase ion chemistry, materials science and medicinal chemistry. The chemistry collection is designed to support all these areas. Research activities in the Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry and the Combinatorial Chemistry Facility also have an impact on the chemistry collection.
The chemistry collection includes monographs and periodicals required for undergraduate and graduate level programs. Profiles of chemists and monographs on the history of chemistry are collected at a less comprehensive level. Occasionally symposium or conference proceedings may be acquired. As students and faculty opt for a web environment value-added features such as concurrent usage and hypertext linking between resources will dictate the acquisition of materials. Space and binding considerations will also influence selection policy.
Related collections at York
There are no significant collections at York related to chemistry.
Languages
English language works predominate. English translations of important foreign language journals are acquired.
Geographical Areas
There is no specific geographic area of coverage.
Chronological Coverage
There are no specific chronological limits but emphasis is on current coverage. The Landmarks of Science collection includes original historical works. More recent publications on the history of chemistry are also acquired when available.
Date of Publication
Current works predominate. Retrospective purchases may include e-journal backfiles for which the library has a current subscription.
Duplication
Duplicate textbooks are purchased for the Reserve collection as required by class size.
Types of Materials
Monographs are purchased in soft cover when available. Online versions of reference works may be purchased if heavy use is anticipated. E-books are purchased individually and as part of packages. CD-ROMs accompanying textbooks are becoming the norm in chemistry and are kept at the Circulation desk. Online is the preferred format for periodicals. Relevant government documents are obtained through Government deposit with links to online versions when available. Theses are purchased by institutional subscription to online databases. Electronic databases are acquired for accessing the chemistry literature. Software for structure searching and statistical software is licensed for in-library use and loaded on dedicated workstations. Bibliographic management software is licensed by the York University Libraries for on-campus as well as remote use.
Electronic Resources
E-journals are purchased separately and as part of consortium packages. Online versions of print journals are preferred. Cancellation of print volumes is only possible when permanent archival access is assured. In recent years open access journals are being published and made available through sponsorship, author fees or institutional memberships. York University Libraries provides access to these journals through the e-resources database.
Scifinder Scholar incorporating Chemical Abstracts and Web of Science which covers the Science Citation Index are the major online abstracting and indexing services acquired. Both on-campus and off-campus access is desired.Scifinder Scholar provides comprehensive coverage of the chemical literature but at present is only available for searching on campus. The multidisciplinary Web of Science provides unlimited access to the core journals in chemistry. This database and the Applied Science and Technology Index which has basic coverage of pure and applied areas in chemistry are available for remote access. The library also provides online access through the e-resources database to freely available subject-specific databases if available.
Online versions of encyclopedias and handbooks are being acquired wherever possible as they allow frequent updates. Older print versions will continue to be held in the library till user preferences dictate otherwise.
Multimedia titles incorporating online tutorials in chemistry are purchased on CD-ROM for undergraduate use. Chemical naming and structure searching software is purchased for in-library use. Statistical software is also being licensed for student use in the library. Access to a web-based bibliographic management software package is licensed by York University Libraries for campus as well as off-campus use.
Both US and Canadian government documents published by relevant agencies are acquired by York University librarians. York University Libraries is a full-depository of federal government documents. When available online versions of government documents are linked to the print catalogue record. Locations of print material are decided based on subject coverage. Science and technology materials are located in the Steacie Science and Engineering Library. All microform materials are located at Scott Library.
Links to selected web resources useful for chemists are made available through a subject pathfinder from the main library homepage. A subject listing of online databases, e-books and e-journals is also available through the subject pathfinder. Links to free theses and patent databases extends coverage of the chemistry literature.
Gifts
Gifts of monographs are accepted if they fall within collection policy guidelines.
Relegation and Weeding
Superseded editions and out-of-date textbooks are weeded during inventory of the monograph collection. To create more library space for collections, journal print volumes are weeded or transferred to storage if a permanent online archive is available.
Resource Sharing
The University of Toronto Libraries have additional resources in chemistry. The Atmospheric Environment Service Library collection is useful for environmental chemistry and the atmospheric sciences. Direct borrowing agreements with other libraries both local, regional and national are available for graduate students and faculty. Undergraduate students may borrow items from Ontario libraries with the exception of the University of Toronto.
The Resource Sharing Department at Scott Library provides worldwide access to journal articles, theses, conference proceedings, reports and patents. RACER ( Rapid Access to Collections by Electronic Requesting) an initiative of Ontario Council of University Libraries¿ Scholars Portal is a user mediated requesting service available to all York users.
Document delivery services from CISTI ( Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information) and from Chemical Abstracts Service are available to all users at a nominal charge.
This service is available through the Steacie Science and Engineering Library Interlibrary Loans office.
Collecting Levels
| L.C. Class |
Description | Current Level |
Desired Level |
| QC 879.62 - 882 | Atmospheric Chemistry | 3b | 4 |
| QD 1 - 69 | Chemistry - General | 3a | 3a |
| QD 71 - 145 | Analytical Chemistry | 3b | 4 |
| QD 96 | Spectroscopy (Applied) | 3b | 4 |
| QD 115 | Electrochemical Analysis | 3a | 3b |
| QD 117.C5 | Chromatography | 3b | 4 |
| QD 146 - 196 | Inorganic Chemistry (General) |
3b | 3b |
| QD 172.T6 | Inorganic Chemistry: Transition Metals |
3b | 4 |
| QD 241 - 449 | Organic Chemistry (General) |
3b | 3b |
| QD 271 - 291 | Organic Analysis | 3b | 4 |
| QD 320 - 377 | Carbohydrates | 3b | 3b |
| QD 380 - 9 | Polymers . Macromolecules | 3b | 3b |
| QD 410 - 412 | Organometallic Chemistry and Compounds |
4 | 4 |
| QD 415 - 433 | Biochemistry including proteins, peptides, amino-acids and nucleic acids |
3b | 4 |
| QD 450 - 731 | Physical and Theoretical Chemistry |
3b | 4 |
| QD 506 | Surface Chemistry | 3a | 3b |
| QD 510 - 536 | Thermochemistry | 3a | 3b |
| QD 551 - 571 | Electrochemistry | 3b | 4 |
| QD 701 - 731 | Photochemistry | 3a | 3b |
| QD 901 - 999 | Crystallography | 3b | 3b |
| RS 402 - 429 | Medical and Pharmaceutical Chemistry |
3a | 3b |
| TD192-196 | Environmental Chemistry | 3a | 3b |
| TP 1 - 154 | Chemical Technology | 3a | 3a |
| TP 155 - 156 | Chemical Engineering | 2 | 3a |
| TP 248 - | Biotechnology including bionanotechnology |
3a | 3b |
Last update: 2008