An Estimate of Comparative Serial Literature Resources Supporting Research In Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry in Major Libraries of the United States

摘要

T HE continually growing volume and increasing diversification of technical literature present a major problem to scientists and librarians alike. Some of its dimensions are effectively illustrated by Stanton in the Wall Street Journal.' The problem is further amplified when we consider that, in today's keen international competition, we may not be able to spend precious time on experimental work merely because of the difficulties involved in reaching adequate resources of already published information. In connection with these and other considerations, it was felt that a study of the availability of scientific serial publications, as indicated in the Union List of Serials (1-3) and New Serial Titles, (4-5) may prove useful in evaluating our technical literature resources. The following survey can be viewed as the first in a series of similar studies.