Collection Policies

The purpose of the collection is to support teaching and research in the following areas: analytical chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, physical chemistry, environmental chemistry, clinical chemistry and drug chemistry.  The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry offers the BS degree with majors in Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Chemistry with Teaching Licensure.  It also offers minors in Chemistry and Biochemistry, as well as courses that are integrated into pre-med, pre-dental, pre-veterinary, pre-pharmacy and pre-optometry studies.  The Department also offers the MS degree in Chemistry with specialties or "tracks" in analytical chemistry, biochemistry, clinical chemistry, environmental sciences, marine sciences, medicinal chemistry and organic chemistry.  In addition to supporting these programs, the library collection supports the PhD in Biomedical Sciences (offered jointly by Old Dominion with the Eastern Virginia Medical School), especially in the areas of biochemistry and clinical chemistry. Although chemical information needs are centered in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, faculty and students in related fields, e.g., biological sciences, oceanography, geology, physics, and engineering, also have interests in the subject matter of chemistry and biochemistry.

 Languages: The primary language of collection is English, but materials in other languages may be acquired by faculty request. Translations into English are preferred whenever available.

Chronological Guidelines: Emphasis is on current developments. Older materials are selectively acquired.

Geographical Guidelines: Not applicable.

Treatment of Subject: Emphasis is on research materials. Graduate texts and upper division textbooks may be acquired by faculty request. Lower division textbooks are not acquired. Books on the practice and methods of chemistry are acquired. Books on computer applications, equipment used in chemistry, and statistical/mathematical treatment of chemistry are acquired. Books on the political or legal aspects may be acquired to support the curriculum. There is cooperation between the Old Dominion University Library and the Eastern Virginia Medical School Library in collecting medical books and journals so that those dealing with basic chemistry are acquired by ODU, and those dealing with medicinal chemistry are more comprehensively acquired by EVMS. Biography and history of chemistry are acquired selectively to support teaching needs.

Types of Materials:  Encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, treatises, monographs, collected works, serials, conference/symposium proceedings, bibliographies, and directories are acquired.  Materials are acquired in print or electronic formats as appropriate.

Date of Publication: The emphasis is on current publications, but older standard materials are acquired as needed.

Other General Considerations: Geochemistry is treated in the Geology policy; Chemical Oceanography in the Oceanography policy; Histochemistry in the Medical Laboratory Sciences policy; and Chemistry Education in the Education policy.

 

SUBJECT DIVISION	COLLECTING LEVEL key to collecting codes
Analytical Chemistry: Classical qualitative and quantitative methods; instrumental, spectroscopic and electrochemical methods; X-ray diffraction; separation methods.	3b
Inorganic Chemistry: Synthesis and characterization of inorganic and organometallic compounds; nuclear chemistry; bonding theories; coordination compounds and bioinorganic compounds.	3b
Organic Chemistry:  Methods and techniques of syntheses and characterization; study of structures and reactions; organo-metallic compounds; bioorganic compounds and biomimetic pathways.	3b
Physical Chemistry:  Surface chemistry; colloids, catalysis and reaction kinetics; photochemistry; electrochemistry; magnetic phenomena; quantum chemistry; polymer systems; thermodynamics.	3b
Biochemistry: Biochemical methods and interactions; carbohydrate, lipid, nucleic acid and enzyme systems; X-ray diffraction; nucleic acid and protein structure and function; biological catalysis.	3b
Clinical Chemistry: Application of the analytical techniques noted under Analytical Chemistry, to the specific study of body fluids and tissues and biochemicals of medical significance.	3b
Environmental Chemistry: Analytical techniques noted under Analytical Chemistry applied to specific environmental applications; detection of pollutants in air or wastewater; water purification; monitoring of pollutants or treatment methods; inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry of natural waters, soils, and atmosphere; trace metals in natural waters (especially seawater), metal speciation (including trace metal), metal complexation, organometallics.	3b
Drug Chemistry: Design of pharmacologically active compounds; application of techniques and methods noted under Analytical and Organic Chemistry and possibly Biochemistry to design, synthesis and assessment of drug efficacy, molecular modeling, X-ray diffraction, and enzyme systems.	3b

                                                  UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

Increasingly, federal government information is being provided in electronic formats, with an emphasis on aggregate databases served over the World WideWeb. These sites provide comprehensive access to scientific information through indexing, search engines, and in some cases, the full text of government publications.  Web sites of interest to researchers in chemistry and related sciences include PubScience, DOE Information Bridge, and the EPA Service Center for Environmental Publications.  Perry Library maintains links from its Information Resources page to these important sources of government information.

Print and microform publications from the federal government are housed separately from other materials in the library and have a special classification system called the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) system. The following table shows some of the class areas which contain  materials pertaining to chemistry and biochemistry.
 

SuDoc #	TYPE OF PUBLICATION	COLLEC- TION CODE key to  collecting codes
C 13    C 55	Various publications of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration, NIST, including Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory  Various publications of the U.S Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including branches of the Environmental Research Laboratories	3
EP1.23  EP1.88	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the Chesapeake Bay Program	3
HE 20 HE 20.4001:-4048:	Various publications of the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services Publications of the Food and Drug Administration	3
I 19 I 19.42/4:	Various publications of the United States Geological Survey USGS Water Investigations	3
J 1.14	FBI publications on forensic toxicology and forensics of controlled substances	3
NAS 1.2  NAS 1.15  NAS 1.26  NAS 1.55  NAS 1.60  NAS 1.61	NASA Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch  NASA Technical Memoranda  NASA Contractor Reports  NASA Conference Publications  NASA Technical Papers  NASA Reference Publications	3b

12/2000
Bibliographer:  Renee Davis (revision of an earlier version by Anne Rees)

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