General policies and principles for the Library's collections are stated in the General Collection Development Policy.  

Purpose of the Collection

The purpose of the collection activity in chemistry and biochemistry is to support the instructional curriculum and research activity in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department up through the doctoral level, at least meeting the requirements of the American Chemical Society for departmental accreditation.

Academic Department/Program Description

The UCSB Chemistry and Biochemistry Department carries out "research in the areas of Biochemistry, Inorganic/Analytical Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physical/Theoretical Chemistry." Many faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students are also involved in interdisciplinary programs, including the Graduate Program in Biomolecular Science and Engineering, the Materials Research Laboratory, the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, and the Neuroscience Research Institute.

The Department offers B.A. and B.S. degrees in Chemistry, a five year joint B.S./M.S. degree in Chemistry and Materials, a B.S. degree in Biochemistry, and a Chemistry minor. At the graduate level, the Department offers the M.A., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry. Graduate students select one of the five traditional program areas (Biochemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, or Physical Chemistry) upon selection of a research advisor, but interdisciplinary research and exploration is common and strongly encouraged.

Scope

Materials purchased in chemistry and biochemistry support the research and curriculum needs of the department and are generally current English language resources. Preference is given to electronic formats due to space considerations in the library as well as convenience of access.

Because the budget for serials is fully committed, new subscriptions are considered only if an equivalent dollar amount of existing local subscriptions can be cancelled

Systemwide and Other Resources

In order to maximize our purchasing power, the vast majority of materials selected for chemistry and biochemistry are purchased consortially with other UC campuses.  These include:

  • Databases, including Reaxys, SciFinder and Web of Science.
  • Monographs, including titles from the American Chemical Society, Elsevier, Royal Society of Chemistry, Springer, Thieme and Wiley.
  • Serials, including titles from the American Chemical Society, Elsevier, Nature Publishing, Royal Society of Chemistry Springer, Thieme and Wiley.

Subject librarian: Charles F. Huber
Policy Last Updated: April 2015