In process, more detail to be added

SUSANNE J. REDALJE
CHEMISTRY LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON


AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY MEETING
SAN FRANCISCO MARCH 28, 2000

Selected Beilstein Publication Date Coverage
Publication Year Number of Publications
1771 1
1801 1
1850 255
1875 1,770
1885 4,388
1900 8,024
1910 12,892
1920 8,045
1925 18,371
1930 22,910
1955 58,164
1995 45,650

SURVEY RESPONSES

LENGTH OF TIME PROVIDING MINERVA/CROSSFIRE ACCESS:
      5   UP TO ONE YEAR (ONE HADN'T STARTED AT TIME OF SURVEY)
      4   UP TO 2 YEARS
      5   UP TO 3 YEARS
      2   UP TO 4 YEARS
      3   UP TO 5 YEARS


AVERAGE NUMBER OF SEARCHES/MONTH
      6      100-200
      5      201-300
      1      301-400
      2      401-500
      3      501-600
      2      601-700
      3      800-
(for more detailed statistics go to:
http://www.library.wisc.edu:4001/ 


PRIMARY USERS (BEST GUESS)


10     GRADUATE STUDENTS 

7        BOTH FACULTY AND GRADUATE
          STUDENTS

2        UNDERGRADUATES, GRADUATE
           STUDENTS, AND FACULTY

2        POSTDOCS

 
DOCUMENT DELIVERY



OFFER DOCUMENT DELIVERY: 17	
OFFER ONLY ILL: 2



CHANGE IN LEVEL OF REQUESTS
SEE A LOT OF CHANGE: 2
SEE A MODERATE CHANGE: 4
SEE NO CHANGE: 9
DON'T KNOW: 5


SEE CHANGE IN NATURE OF REQUESTS
YES: 5
NO: 5
 STORAGE/SPACE ISSUES



SPACE IS PROBLEM
YES: 12
NO: 6


HAVE/WILL HAVE REMOTE STORAGE
YES: 16
NO: 4


IMPACT ON DECISIONS OF WHAT TO TRANSFER
YES: 5
NO: 9
NOT SURE 1

Conclusion Highlights:

Only libraries from research institutions replied to the survey. I will be sending the survey out again via a different forum to see if I can get responses from other types of institutions to see if my conclusions hold. Beilstein Crossfire has had an impact on use of our collections. It is clear from responses in addition to the experiences at the University of Washington, that older materials are being used. It is difficult to quantify and qualify for several reasons. For the most part, the journals indexed by Beilstein over the years are core for chemistry collections. Barring space problems and gaps in the collections, most librians might not be aware of the issue at all, unless, as in my case, you walk through the copyroom to get to your office. While use of the collection, particularly older materials, is a good thing, it does have implications. Many of the older titles are brittle and any additional use is likely to destroy them. Most institutions indicated that space is an issue. Those with remote sites currently or in planning need to consider what items are sent to storage and how users are going to be able to get to those items in storage.

"BEILSTEIN CROSSFIRE CERTAINLY KEEPS OLDER LITERATURE IMPORTANT AND UP FRONT"

                   quote from one respondant 
 OTHER CHEMISTRY-RELATED DATABASES (those with more than one reply)


SCIFINDER SCHOLAR					14
					(2 MAY ADD IN NEAR FUTURE)
WEB OF SCIENCE						15
ASSORTED CA						 7
(CA STUDENT, CA ON CD, STNWEB, ETC.)
BIOSIS					        	 4
CURRENT CONTENTS					 4
INSPEC							 4
MEDLINE							 4
COMPENDEX						 2
POWDER DIFF.						 2	
PROP. OF ORGANIC CMPNDS			                 2
SPRESI						 	 2
WILSON INDEXES						 2