General Purpose

To support instruction, study, and research at B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. levels in Physics and to support an undergraduate minor in Astronomy.

Subject Description

The program emphasizes atomic, molecular and optical physics, chemical physics, condensed-matter physics, high-energy physics, and nuclear physics. Other important subdisciplines include molecular biophysics, gravity research, and theoretical physics.

Overlap with Other Subjects

Physics overlaps with chemistry, electrical and computer engineering, materials science and engineering, mathematics, and nuclear engineering.

Languages Collected and Excluded

English is the primary language of the collection. Materials in Eastern and Western European languages are considered selectively.

Geographic Parameters

Publication sources are primarily in the United States and Europe.

Chronological Scope

Emphasis is on current research.

Dates of Publication

Mainly current publications are acquired for the collection.

Retrospective Acquisitions

Not much emphasis is placed on retrospective acquisitions. However, exceptions are made under special circumstances.

Type of Materials Collected and Excluded

All types of materials are collected with emphasis on scholarly monographs and journals. Conference proceedings and technical reports are selectively collected. Undergraduate materials are collected in astronomy along with selected scholarly publications in astrophysics.

Formats of Materials Collected and Excluded

All formats are collected with an emphasis on print and electronic.

Cooperation with Other Libraries

No formal cooperative collection development agreements are in place.

Alternate Access to Resources

Interlibrary loan is a source of materials not in the UT collection. There is a heavy dependence on the collection at ORNL and the arXiv.org e-print archive.

Position Responsible for Collection

Science Reference Librarian, Teresa Berry

Corresponding Fund

Physics and Astronomy

Other Factors

None

August 5, 2004