Collection Development Policy: Physics
  • Subject Librarian(s):
    Lee Pedersen

  • Departmental Library Representative (DLR):
    See-Chen Ying

  • Description of the Academic Program | Home Page
    The Department of Physics offers an undergraduate concentration that requires a senior thesis with an Honors program requiring an honors thesis with work to be conducted over the last two semesters of study. Courses are provided in support of all the areas of study including courses on foundation mechanics, thermodynamics, relativity and quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology, group theory, solid state physics, electricity and magnetism, statistical mechanics, and physics of matter. The department aims to develop in its students a comprehensive grasp of the principles of physics, together with a productive capacity in research. Standard concentration programs include Physics, and there are also available degree programs in biophysics, mathematics-physics, engineering-physics, chemical-physics and geology physics/mathematics, and a four-year Master's degree program.

    The Physics graduate program offers opportunities to study and earn a Masters or a Ph.D. degree in Physics. The Brown Physics graduate program focuses on training and providing students the opportunities to perform independent research in some of the most current vital areas of physics. Graduate students at Brown pursue research in: Astrophysics and Cosmology, Condensed Matter Physics Experiment, Condensed Matter Theory, Elementary Particle Experiment, Elementary Particle Theory, and Neural Science. In addition to these areas, there are opportunities to conduct interdisciplinary research in the areas of biophysics, geophysics, physics of solid continua, polymer physics, and computational physics. The graduate program prepares students to participate fruitfully in research as soon as possible. Part of this preparation is to achieve familiarity with a core of physics topics at the graduate level. While first year graduate programs vary for different students according to differences in their undergraduate experiences, most first year students concentrate on classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, mathematical methods, experimental techniques, particle physics, and the physics of condensed matter. More specialized advanced courses complement a student's research program in later years.



  • Overview of the Collection
    The Physics Collection is an integrated part of the Sciences Collection. Consisting of 24,000 physics titles, of which almost 350 are print and/or electronic serials, the collection is very extensive in its coverage of all fields of physics. Of particular note are the resources available in the areas of Astrophysics and Cosmology, Condensed Matter Physics, High Energy and Particle Physics, as well as Fluid Dynamics, Acoustics, and Optics and Light. The interdisciplinary nature of physics allows it to benefit from many other science collections. Collections in mathematics and applied mathematics, engineering and chemistry all contribute support to meet the needs of the Department of Physics.

    With regard to electronic resources that support research in engineering: Compendex is the most comprehensive interdisciplinary engineering database in the world with almost seven million records referencing 5,000 engineering journals and conference materials dating from 1970.

    Other electronic resources that provide support the interdisciplinary areas of engineering include ACM Digital Library for computer science, and Medline for medicine, and MathSciNet and Zentralblatt MATH for pure and applied mathematics.



  • General Collecting Guidelines
    The Sciences Library at Brown University maintains a core collection in support of the research, study and teaching demands of the Department of Physics. Recognizing its critical role as a resource to this department, the Library attempts to acquire materials that create a RESEARCH level collection that will prove beneficial to the research and study needs of the faculty and students within the department. A RESEARCH level collection includes the major source materials required for dissertations and independent research, including materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It also includes all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in this field.

    It is an important priority to acquire all important new publications in the field of physics. All primary publishers in the field of physics are to be reviewed in order to ensure that all works are evaluated. Except for lower level introductory physics titles, all works are acquired from publishers such as MIT Press, Cambridge University Press, Harvard University Press, Oxford University Press, and Yale University Press. Other publishers that should be heavilty evaluated include AIP, IOP, American Physical Society, Springer-Verlag, Wiley, Academic Press, Clarendon/Oxford, Kluwer, World Scientific, McGraw-Hill, and other university presses. Consideration is given to works created by all noted authors and researchers in physics.

  • Specific Collecting Guidelines
    • Language: English, original or in translation.
    • Chronological Span: Primarily contemporary works.
    • Imprint Date: Current imprints. As needed retrospective materials in support of research needs, as well as to replace missing or damaged volumes, or to fill in identifiable gaps in the collection. Occasional acquisition of out of print material.
    • Geographical Range: Primarily United States, Europe, Asia, and India.
    • Types of Material Included: Monographs, journals, proceedings, annuals, reference tools, and web resources. Very limited purchase of audio-visual materials. Excluded: Textbooks, that focus on low level introductory physics.


  • Areas of Distinction
    The very broad based collection serves to cover many of the fields of physics with significant titles that cover foundational areas of study. Of note is the growing quality of the collection of materials science and engineering resources. Also of note is the resources available in support of Astrophysics and Cosmology, Condensed Matter Physics, High Energy and Particle Physics, as well as Fluid Dynamics, Acoustics, and Optics and Light. Since the area of physics has a significant mathematics component, a strong mathematics collection provides significant support. Brown has been acquiring materials to support pure and applied mathematics since its founding, making the retrospective collection quite strong. From very early works found in the Special Collections, to the most current works published, the whole collection serves as an area of distinction. Of significance is the coverage of titles published in Europe, especially those published during the late 1800's and the first half of the 1900's. The collection currently holds all of the major titles published in all fields of pure and applied mathematics.

  • Special Collections
    Lownes Collection of Significant Books in the History of Science contains over three-quarters of those texts recognized by scholars as the "great books" of science published since the middle of the 15th century. This collection is held at the John Hay Library.

    John Hay Library History of Science Collection is a major source for the history of mathematics.

  • Related Collections
    Brown is a member of the Center for Research Libraries, which "operates a global cooperative collection development program that assists academic and research libraries in making otherwise inaccessible and important research materials permanently available to scholars and researchers." CRL holds collections of international journals, newspapers and dissertations. The resources of the Ivy League institution's libraries are also available to Brown faculty and students via the Borrow Direct service and the Virtual Catalog makes the resources of the participating members of the Boston Library Consortium available upon request. For further information, check with the Interlibrary Loan Office (Phone: (401) 863-2750; Email: sci-ill@brown.edu

  • Selected List of Key Internet Resources