holdings at each campus to facilitate interlibrary loans. The State University of New York is also contemplating such à program. Regional consortiums of university and public libraries are being organized—in Los Angeles County and metropolitan New York City, for example—with the same goal. Many libraries are also making increased use of facilities that amount to "libraries for libraries," such as the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago. The center, founded in 1949, is sponsored and financed by some 90 major research libraries. Its 3 million volume collection consists principally of rarely used materials such as old books, foreign language newspapers, and foreign doctoral dissertations. Member libraries, according to assistant director Robert Gordon Collier, no longer have to acquire materials held by the center because copies or loaned volumes are only two or three days away by mail. The Center for Research Libraries' principal deficiency is its still small catalog, Mr. Collier concedes. The library is studying an expanded journals acquisition program, however, that would nearly double the 7000
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subscriptions it now holds. Particular emphasis will be placed on acquiring journals that are not subscribed to or that may be canceled by member libraries. Such an expansion will be expensive, however, and Mr. Collier points out that the fiscal picture at the center is no better than that of the libraries that support it. A true national center for such materials may thus be quite some time in the making.
"A b-Mercapto Acid may work for you where an a-Mercapto Acid won't!"
Student assistant stipends stay even The mean stipend for first-year assistants in chemistry is essentially unchanged in 1971-72 from that in 197071. Although the mean dropped slightly—from $2705 to $2683—the drop was less than the standard deviation in each. This finding is one result of a survey of first-year teaching assistant stipends carried out for two years by Marquette University chemistry professors Scott L. Kittsley and David M. Schrader. Last summer, they surveyed chairmen of 176 Ph.D.-granting chemistry departments, receiving 141 replies. From the replies, they tabulated "average stipends" by subtracting tuition and other charges and, where necessary, adjusting to a ninemonth basis. Among other findings of the survey: ο Grouped by departmental reputa tion—according to a scheme worked out by K. D. Roose and C. J. Andersen in 1970 for the American Council on Education—there is a general reduc tion in stipend with departmental reputation. However, the largest dif ference, $272, is nearly the same as the smallest standard deviation. • Of the departments reporting, 14% make only 12-month offers. Of the re mainder, which offer nine- and 10month stipends, some 80% of the stu dents have some summer support, bringing their stipends to essentially the equivalent of the 12-month mean of about $3327. • The mean number of hours per week required of teaching assistants is 12 ( ± 7 ) . But the skew is heavy enough on the high side that it is per haps more accurately represented as 12 (+10, - 4 ) . • Summer duties are extremely var iable. Of 110 replies, 28 departments indicate no required summer duties at all, while 16 required 20 hours or more.
EVANS b-Mercaptopropionic Acid HS-CH2-CH2-COOH Data Sheet available cover ing references to: stabilizers, antioxidants, catalysts, anti bacterial agents, pharmaceu ticals, etc. Samples available on request.
CHemeTics, ir\c. 90 Tokeneke Road Darien, Connecticut 06820 Phone: 203-655-8741 Cable: EVANSCHEM TWX: 710-468-2148
MARCH 6, 1972 C&EN
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