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Collection Policy Statement Index
(Classes QB, QC, and QD and selected portions of Z)
Contents:
I. Scope
II. Research strengths
III. General policy and collecting intensity levels
I. Scope
This section of the Collections Policy Statement on Science and Technology covers the subclasses QB (Astronomy), QC (Physics) and QD (Chemistry) and applicable subclasses of Class Z. The Library's collections in these classes encompass nearly 145,000 titles. In addition, some of the numerous abstracting and indexing services, catalogs of other scientific libraries, and specialized bibliographic finding aids for these fields are classed in Z.
II. Research strengths
- General
The Library's holdings in the combined three fields are remarkably strong; in general, collecting intensity is at level 4 (Research level) according to guidelines established by the Conspectus of the Research Libraries Group.(1) The Library has long runs of many important serials and the major abstracting and indexing services--Chemical Abstracts, Physics Abstracts, and Astronomischer Jahresbericht and its successor, Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts.
The Library receives, via copyright and Cataloging in Publication, a high proportion of monographs and serials currently published in the United States, as well as many titles from European publishers with offices in the United States.
The Library of Congress was ranked first among participating libraries in a 1988 Research Libraries Group verification study on chemistry serials, with holdings of 96 percent of all core titles listed in the study.
- Areas of distinction
The Library has strong holdings of the serial publications of scientific societies and institutions in the physical sciences for the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries, when they were received via the Smithsonian deposit. Many significant rare volumes are to be found in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division as, for example, in astronomy, landmark works of Copernicus and Kepler; in physics, those of Galileo, Newton, and Maxwell; and, in chemistry, those of Boyle, Lavoisier, and Mendeleev. The Manuscript Division's collections include papers of a number of notable astronomers, physicists, and chemists, such as Alexander Dallas Bache, Matthew Fontaine Maury, Simon Newcomb, Asaph Hall, T.J.J. See, Irving Langmuir, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Vannevar Bush, Merle Tuve, George Gamow, and Glenn Seaborg.
III. General policy and collecting intensity levels for physical sciences (Classes QB, QC, and QD)
The Library collects materials in the physical sciences primarily at the Research level (collecting intensity 4) as defined by the RLG Conspectus, with the exception of several topics which are collected at the Instructional Support level (collecting intensity 3) and certain specific topics within inorganic and organic chemistry (QD146-QD197 and QD241-QD441 respectively), which are collected with an intensiveness that approaches the comprehensive level. The following list is arranged according to the major subclasses of Classes QB, QC, and QD of the Library of Congress classification. The collecting intensity levels are numbered to conform to the RLG Conspectus. For definition of these levels, see General Introduction to these statements.
Astronomy
| Class | Subject | Intensity | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB1 | Periodicals, societies, congresses, serial collections, yearbooks | 4 | |
| QB4 | Observations | 4 | |
| QB6 | Star catalogs | 4 | |
| QB15-QB36 | History and biography | 4 | |
| QB44 | Popular works | 3 | |
| QB61-QB62.7 | Study and teaching. Research | 3 | |
| QB84.5-QB115 | Astronomical instruments | 4 | |
| QB140-QB237 | Practical and spherical astronomy | 4 | |
| QB275-QB343 | Geodesy | 4 | |
| QB349-QB480 | Theoretical astronomy, celestial mechanics, and astrophysics | 4 | |
| QB495-QB903 | Descriptive astronomy | 4 | |
| QB981-QB991 | Cosmogony, cosmology | 4 | |
| Z5151-Z5156 | Bibliography | 4 | General and specific topics 3 |
Physics
| Class | Subject | Intensity | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| QC1 | Periodicals, societies, congresses, serial collections, yearbooks | 4 | |
| QC5 | Dictionaries and encyclopedias | 4 | |
| QC6.9-QC16 | History and biography | 4 | |
| QC19.2-QC20.85 | Mathematical physics | 4 | |
| QC24.5 | Popular works | 3 | |
| QC30-QC48 | Study and teaching. Research | 3 | |
| QC51 | Laboratories | 3 | |
| QC52 | Data processing | 3 | |
| QC53-QC55 | Instruments and apparatus | 3 | |
| QC60 | Museums | 3 | |
| QC61 | Handbooks, tables | 3 | |
| QC71 | Addresses, essays, lectures | 3 | |
| QC81-QC114 | Weights and measures | 4 | |
| QC120-QC168 | Descriptive and experimental mechanics | 4 | |
| QC170-QC197 | Atomic physics, constitution and property of matter | 4 | |
| QC220-QC246 | Acoustics, sound | 4 | |
| QC251-QC338.5 | Heat | 4 | |
| QC350-QC467 | Optics, light | 4 | |
| QC474-QC496.9 | Radiation physics (general) | 4 | |
| QC501-QC766 | Electricity and magnetism | 4 | |
| QC770-QC798 | Nuclear and particle physics, atomic energy, radioactivity | 4 | |
| QC801-QC809 | Geophysics, cosmic physics | 4 | |
| QC811-QC849 | Geomagnetism | 4 | |
| QC851-QC999 | Meteorology, climatology | 4 | |
| QC926.6- QC928.74 | Weather modification | 4 | LC has primary RLG collecting responsibility |
| QC930.5-QC959 | Wind | 3 | LC has primary RLG collecting responsibility |
| QC994.95-QC999 | Weather forecasting | 3 | LC has primary RLG collecting responsibility |
| Z7141-Z7145 | Bibliography | 4 | General and special topics. See also Bibliography of: Atomic Energy, Z5160-Z5164; Electricity Z5831-Z5835; Meteorology Z6861-Z6885 |
Chemistry
| Class | Subject | Intensity | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| QD1 | Periodicals, societies, congresses, serial collections, yearbooks | 4 | |
| QD4-QD5 | Encyclopedias and dictionaries | 4 | |
| QD11-QD22 | History and biography | 4 | |
| QD23.3-QD26.5 | Alchemy | 4 | |
| QD40-QD49 | Study and teaching. Research | 3 | |
| QD71-QD142 | Analytical chemistry | 4 | |
| QD146-QD197 | Inorganic chemistry | 4 | Nonmetals, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals 4+ |
| QD241-QD441 | Organic chemistry | 4 | Terpenes, gums and resins, alkaloids, proteins, amino acids 4+; carbohydrates, antibiotics 3 |
| QD450-QD731 | Physical and theoretical chemistry | 4 | |
| QD901-QD999 | Crystallography | 4 | |
| Z5521-Z5526 | Bibliography | 4 | General and special topics |
Notes:
1. For a complete definition of the Conspectus collecting intensity levels, see the General Introduction to these statements.
