University of Michigan-Flint

The University of Michigan-Library collection for Chemistry is in critical condition. As noted on the WLN worksheets the book collection is very outdated and has very poor coverage of the topics taught at UM-FLINT. The chemistry programs taught at UM-Flint are certified by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The ACS has guidelines for certification that include library support. The guidelines include journal titles to be included for chemistry research in an undergraduate library. 14 or more journal titles from their list are the minimum for certification. UM-Flint has 15 of the titles required by the ACS.

The book collection is very out of date. The median age is in the 1970-74 range. This is over 20 years old for this collection. Recommendations for books in the physical sciences are for 10 percent of the current collection published during the past 5 years. From a sample survey of the books in the chemistry collection no publication dates were from 1995 and 1996. 10 percent of the collection from the median age sample went back to 1989. Several subjects of the book collection are on a 1-2 (minimal or basic information) level when they need to be on the 3 (study or instructional) level. Some subjects, antibiotics and catalysis, are totally lacking any representation.

The chemistry collection totals about 1247 books. This is only 86% of 1450, which is the desired number according to the modified ACRL standard. Using the modified WLN standard, 1247 amounts to a 2b rating. For a 3b, the goal level rating, the collection would need at least 2477 chemistry titles.

Acquisitions. The 1997/1998 monographs allocation for the Chemistry Department is $797. Taking a proportional share of librarians budgets, plus the reference allocation, yields a weighted total of $966. This is sufficient to buy approximately 7 books at a discounted average price of $134.32 apiece. This amounts to about 1% of the total domestic publishing output for chemistry, for an AC rating of 2a. Acquiring 10% of the publishing output per year would require a monographs allocation of $7119.

As mentioned in the ACS library requirements Chemical Abstracts must be available for students and faculty. This is the literature "pointer" for chemistry worldwide. For the University of Michigan-Flint library Chemical Abstracts is available through an information provider, DIALOG. This is an online resource used by an intermediary, the liaison librarian for the Chemistry Department, to conduct chemical literature searches.

The journal literature is the primary source of information for chemistry. Books are used as supplemental resources to journal literature. The ACS library requirements also specify that the chemistry collection must have a minimum of 14 titles from their Journal List for Undergraduate Programs. Four titles must from their general content list and the journal collection must have at least one title from the areas of analytical, biological, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry. The University of Michigan-Flint library barely meets these requirements with 15 titles. This is a critical situation if the Chemistry Department is to maintain its ACS certification. As the chair of the Department has pointed out, UM-FLINT chemistry majors on graduation are in demand both in academe and industry because the chemistry programs are ACS certified. Certification benefits both the students majoring in Chemistry at the University of Michigan-Flint and the chemistry discipline at large.

Prepared by Prof. Robert Stach, Kui-Bin Im, and Paul G. Streby.

Ratings for Chemistry CL=Current collection level; AC=Acquisitions commitment; GL=Goal level
LC class	Line no.	Category	CL	AC	GL	Comments
QD 1 - 69	CHE 001	Chemistry (General)	1a		3b
QD 71 - 145	CHE 005	Analytical chemistry	2a		3b
QD 146 - 196	CHE 012	Inorganic Chemistry (General)	1a		3b
QD 241 - 449	CHE 017	Organic Chemistry	3a		3b
QD 450 - 731	CHE 029	Physical & Theoretical Chemistry	2b		3b
QD 901 - 999	CHE 039	Crystallography	3a		3b
DIVISION AS A WHOLE			2b	2a	3b	1247 monographs; 2b under modified WLN standard; 86% of modified ACRL standard

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0 -- Out of scope

1 -- Minimal level
1a ---- Minimal level, uneven coverage
1b ---- Minimal level, even coverage

2 -- Basic information level
2a ---- Basic information level, Introductory
2b ---- Basic information level, Advanced (Appropriate for community college students)

3 -- Study or instructional support level
3a ---- Basic study or instructional support level (Adequate to support lower division undergraduate courses)
3b ---- Intermediate study or instructional support level (Adequate to support upper division undergraduate courses; not adequate for master's degree programs)
3c ---- Advanced study or instructional support level (Adequate to support master's degree programs)

4 -- Research level (Adequate to support doctoral research)

5 -- Comprehensive level