The Chemists' Club Library ANNE D. DUCA Library,
The Chemists' Club, New York 17, Ν. Y .
Downloaded by UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST on May 26, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: January 1, 1961 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1961-0030.ch028
The Chemists' Club Library's collection of 60,000 volumes is almost entirely restricted to chemical literature.
Particular emphasis is placed on spe
cialized phases of the chemical industry, notably biographical and
portrait material, prizes
and
awards listings, the CCDA and CMRA publications, the Society of Cosmetic Chemists collection, water marks and hand-made papers, the Natta reports, and
company histories.
Special services of the
library are described.
The Chemists' C l u b L i b r a r y stands unique among technical libraries i n the N e w York metropolitan area because its collection of 60,000 volumes is almost en tirely restricted to chemical literature. It includes on its shelves complete sets of all standard authors and periodicals w h i c h through the years have become bibles for the chemist and the research worker. O u r current periodicals titles number about 500, including society and trade publications w i t h i n our field; only those house organs of a strictly technical nature are kept permanently. W e have repre sentative books and periodicals on textiles and dyes, petroleum, glass, paper, phar macy, paint, leather, plastics, rubber, soaps and perfumery, fats, and essential oils. N o attempt is made to house a good collection of learned societies or of medicine, since the former are adequately covered i n the N e w York P u b l i c L i b r a r y and the latter i n the N e w York Academy of M e d i c i n e L i b r a r y . O u r library stacks are open to the technical p u b l i c from 9 A . M . to 5 P . M . , M o n d a y through F r i d a y , w h i c h permits leisurely browsing as w e l l as speedy check i n g of bibliographical references at the shelf. Furthermore, because our books do not circulate, even to members, the reader pressed for time is grateful for the reasonable assurance that he can put his hands on the book he needs w i t h a m i n i m u m of effort and time loss. W e are the official depository for publications of the C h e m i c a l M a r k e t Re search Association and the Commercial C h e m i c a l Development Association. Inas m u c h as many of these meeting papers are not published i n periodicals, the two sets of proceedings form a valuable and interesting addition to our library. A n up-to-date author and subject index is maintained by the library, so the material is of practical service to chemical market readers and to members of industrial market research departments. T h e Society of Cosmetic Chemists has deposited w i t h us its collection of books on chemistry and its applications i n the cosmetic field. These books are available 282 SEARCHING THE CHEMICAL LITERATURE Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1961.
Downloaded by UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST on May 26, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: January 1, 1961 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1961-0030.ch028
DUCA
Chemists' Club Library
283
for use b y the reading public, but may also be circulated to members of the So ciety of Cosmetic Chemists upon presentation of the proper member credentials. O u r special collection of references to biographical material is culled largely from periodicals, so we have at our fingertips information on a larger number of living chemists than most other formal biographical sources. W e note, too, any illustration w h i c h may accompany the biography and the resultant "portrait index" is a useful adjunct to the biographical one. A t the present time, we have about 9000 separate names i n our biography list and an additional 6500 in the portrait list. These two lists w i l l continue to grow. W i l l i a m s Haynes' gift to us of his very fine collection of 1500 portraits has also proved of inestimable value. O u r list of abbreviations contains interpretations—or translations—of frequently obscure society names and committee or bureau tides as well as full names of commercial products of chemical interest. Throughout the literature today, chem ical authors are prone to use the initial letters of a compound instead of the actual compound name, and this practice gives rise to puzzling problems for both reader and librarian. W e have almost daily use of this compilation and feel sincerely that its value to us far outweighs the several problems it creates. Awards in
Chemistry
O u r compilation of information on prizes and awards i n chemistry is continu ing. Actually, there seems to be a state of long-standing confusion i n the literature as to the year for w h i c h many awards are made. A n announcement of the award may be made i n November of one year; it may be formally presented to the recipi ent the following February. Some editors call it the award of the year w h e n the announcement was made; others, the award of the year when it was actually pre sented. Societies differ similarly in their dates; there are subdivisions of some awards, slight variations i n the name of an award from one year to the next, and other confusing details. It proves to be a sort of cataloging-reference-research problem to clarify some of the material we find. W e include a note of an illustra tion of the award, the citation, presentation, and acceptance speech where any or all of these are given i n printed form. A l l this necessitates constant revision i n our list as new information appears, but the list itself is i n current use for answering telephone inquiries and even for occasional photostats. Existing at present on cards,, the list cannot be made available outside our own precincts. W e are glad, however, to answer telephone and mail inquiries concerning its entries. W e are making a concerted effort to collect printed material on chemical market research, particular emphasis being placed on statistics of interest to the chemical industry. O u r collection of the chemical economics handbooks is of tremendous help i n the search for statistics. It is i n daily use and has proved invaluable to the library staff, the market research worker, and the layman. Although we actually have only the Official Gazette of the U. S. Patent Office, we are still able to help many readers seeking patent information because we are subscribers to the Uniterm Index to Chemical Patents. W e also collect information on the history of specific companies, where such is available to us. T h e history of special industries, such as inkmaking, dental alloy manufacture, cellophane, and various other interesting specialties, is also i n de mand. O u r collection has been enriched b y a gift of books on papermaking, included i n w h i c h are books of hand-made paper w i t h hand-set type and hand-made bind ings. F r o m the same source came a magnificent collection of water-marked papers.
SEARCHING THE CHEMICAL LITERATURE Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1961.
284
ADVANCES
IN
CHEMISTRY
SERIES
F o r the past five years, the library and the L i b r a r y Committee have organized an annual spring symposium on a single topic of current interest. T h e 1960 sub* ject was market research and two weeks before the meeting date, we were forced to close registration w i t h 250 registrants because of space limitations. Regular photostat and translation services are available to our readers; prices are standard w i t h others i n the city and this department is a busy one. W e can also provide a quick positive photostat of easily reproduced material.
Downloaded by UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST on May 26, 2018 | https://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: January 1, 1961 | doi: 10.1021/ba-1961-0030.ch028
BASED on a paper presented before the Division of Chemical Literature, Symposium on Searching the Chemical Literature, 130th Meeting, A C S , Atlantic City, N . J., September 1956. Revised 1960.
SEARCHING THE CHEMICAL LITERATURE Advances in Chemistry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1961.
