Oregon State University Libraries Evaluation of the Collection supporting a

Proposal to Initiate a Bachelor of Science program in Molecular Biology

This Oregon State Libraries’ (OSUL) assessment reviews the print monographic, e-book, and electronic serials collections as related to broad science information needed to support the proposed Molecular Biology program. From the OSUL perspective, students and researchers will tap various components of the library collections. As stated in the Cat 1 proposal, “the disciplinary foundations of the Molecular Biology major are derived partly from traditional biochemistry (rooted in chemical cellular processes) and partly from molecular control of cellular life (DNA/RNA/protein).” This makes it challenging to make recommendations on adequacy and funding needs as multiple areas of the science collection must be maintained to provide adequate access to information.

Summary of Recommendations

The monographic collection appears to be adequate to support the needs of this program.

The journal collection is currently marginally adequate to support the needs of this program. The use of ILL will need to be monitored for titles OSUL does not have current subscriptions to.

Print Monographs and E-Books

Library evaluations of proposed programs have traditionally included the analysis of OSUL’s print monograph collection. In addition to the OSUL collections, OSU is served well by our membership in the Orbis/Cascades Alliance, whose combined collection is substantial. Students and faculty can order from the collections of all the libraries in the Orbis Cascade Alliance through the Summit catalog. University of Oregon, Portland State University, University of Washington and Washington State University are some of the larger research libraries represented in the Summit catalog. Books requested through Summit are delivered to OSUL within three to five working days. Access to Summit more than doubles the number of available monographs in the relevant subject areas.

Table 1: Relevant Monographic Titles in OSUL and Summit

Subject Heading / OSUL Titles / Additional Titles available through Summit / Total Available Monographs
Biochemistry / 1,450 / 1,673 / 3,123
DNA / 457 / 586 / 1,043
Genetics / 2,683 / 4,677 / 7,360
Genomes / 82 / 94 / 176
Genomics / 190 / 313 / 503
Molecular Aspects (e.g., Heart--Molecular Aspects) / 338 / 539 / 877
Molecular Biology / 1,153 / 1,114 / 2,267
Proteins / 1,068 / 1,125 / 2,193
Proteomics / 101 / 130 / 231
RNA / 167 / 211 / 378
Total / 6,754 / 9,383 / 16,137

The growing availability of e-books makes it possible to expedite access to more information from various locations. This obviously better serves our distance learners and is a convenience for our on-campus students and faculty. OSUL has over 5,000 e-books on relevant topics available.

Serials/Journals

In the sciences, ready access to current information is expected. The OSUL maintain a satisfactory collection of journals appropriate for molecular biology. There is concern that with regular price increases to our licenses and a flat budget that access may be eroded over time. The OSUL already have sacrificed timely access to some titles in favor of an embargo period to cut costs. There are 289 titles covered under the category Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Web of Science. Of these, 54 have an Impact Factor above 5.0. OSUL has current subscriptions to 34 of these titles and access to older issues of an additional 16 titles. See Table 2 for details on the titles that we have current access to, those with embargoes up to 18-months, and the titles not owned by the OSUL.

Table 2 – Core Journals

Journal Title / ISSN / Impact Factor / OSU Holdings
Acta crystallographica. Section D, Biological crystallography / 0907-4449 / 14.103 / 2002-2009
ACS chemical biology / 1554-8929 / 5.442 / 2006-present
Addiction biology / 1355-6215 / 5.914 / 1996-1 year ago
Advances in carbohydrate chemistry and biochemistry / 0065-2318 / 7.133 / v.24-63 (paper only; cancelled 2010)
Advances in microbial physiology / 0065-2911 / 6.545 / v.1-54 (print only)
Annual review of biochemistry / 0066-4154 / 27.681 / 1997-present
Antioxidants & redox signaling / 1523-0864 / 7.189 / 2007-2011
Biochimica et biophysica acta. Gene regulatory mechanisms / 1874-9399 / 5.456 / 2008-present
Biochimica et biophysica acta. Reviews on cancer / 0304-419X / 9.033 / 1995-present
BioEssays / 0265-9247 / 5.423 / 1998-present
Biomacromolecules / 1525-7797 / 5.371 / 2000-present
Cell / 0092-8674 / 31.957 / 1995-present
Cell death and differentiation / 1350-9047 / 8.371 / 1997-1 year ago
Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS / 1420-682X / 5.615 / 1997-present
Chemistry & biology / 1074-5521 / 6.157 / 1995-present
Critical reviews in biochemistry and molecular biology / 1040-9238 / 5.578 / 1997-18 months ago
Current biology / 0960-9822 / 9.494 / 1995-present
Current opinion in chemical biology / 1367-5931 / 9.471 / 1997-2009
Current opinion in lipidology / 0957-9672 / 5.839 / 1999-2009 (print only)
Current opinion in structural biology / 0959-440X / 8.738 / 1994-2005 (print only)
Cytokine & growth factor reviews. / 1359-6101 / 8.831 / N/A
EMBO journal / 0261-4189 / 9.822 / 1982-present
EMBO reports / 1469-221X / 7.189 / 2000-present
Expert reviews in molecular medicine / 1462-3994 / 6.623 / 1997-2002
FASEB journal / 0892-6638 / 5.704 / 1987-present
Free radical biology & medicine / 0891-5849 / 5.271 / 1995-present
Genome research / 1088-9051 / 14.397 / 1991-6 months ago
Human molecular genetics / 0964-6906 / 7.692 / 1996-1 year ago
Molecular and cellular biology / 0270-7306 / 5.372 / 1981-present
Molecular aspects of medicine / 0098-2997 / 10.375 / N/A
Molecular biology and evolution / 0737-4038 / 10.353 / 1983-present
Molecular cancer / 1476-4598 / 5.134 / 2002-present
Molecular cell / 1097-2765 / 15.28 / 1997-present
Molecular ecology / 0962-1083 / 6.275 / 1992-present
Molecular ecology resources / 1755-098X / 7.432 / 2008-present
Molecular interventions / 1534-0384 / 6.481 / 2001-1 year ago
Molecular plant. / 1674-2052 / 6.126 / N/A
Molecular psychiatry / 1359-4184 / 14.897 / 1997-1 year ago
Molecular systems biology / 1744-4292 / 11.34 / 2005-present
Natural product reports / 0265-0568 / 10.178 / 1984-present
Nature chemical biology / 1552-4450 / 12.948 / 2009-present
Nature medicine / 1078-8956 / 22.864 / 1998-present
Nature structural & molecular biology / 1545-9993 / 11.902 / 2004-present
Nucleic acids research / 0305-1048 / 8.278 / 1974-present
Oncogene / 0950-9232 / 7.357 / 1997-1 year ago
Plant cell / 1040-4651 / 9.251 / 1989-present
PLoS biology / 1545-7885 / 12.69 / 2003-present
Progress in lipid research / 0163-7827 / 10.25 / 1995-present
RNA / 1355-8382 / 5.088 / 1995-present
Science signaling / 1937-9145 / 7.648 / N/A
Structure / 0969-2126 / 5.994 / 1995-present
Trends in biochemical sciences / 0968-0004 / 13.076 / 1995-present
Trends in microbiology / 0966-842X / 8.434 / 1995-present
Trends in molecular medicine / 1471-4914 / 9.571 / 2001-present

The titles OSUL does not subscribe to currently get a low to moderate number of ILL requests (1-8 per year). We recommend monitoring usage of inter-library loan for current issues of those titles under embargo and unsubscribed titles to see if usage justifies licensing of current content.

Indexes and Databases

The core indexes to the relevant information for this program are SciFinder Scholar, Medline and Web of Science. The OSUL maintain access to all as these are core to many of OSU’s primary research areas.

Key library services & librarian expertise

Expertise within the OSUL is covered by Laurel Kristick. In that capacity, she provides instruction as requested either in-class or via the web, responds to reference inquiries, and develops materials to assist faculty members and students in their research.

The collections for the various aspects of this discipline are built by Laurel Kristick and Uta Hussong-Christian. Providing access to items not owned by OSUL is the domain of the Interlibrary Loan and Summit staff both at OSUL and at lending libraries. Print articles located in the OSU Libraries collections may be requested via the Scan and Deliver service, which provides PDFs of the requested articles. Additional services for students include the physical attributes of the libraries including excellent computer facilities, study areas for individual and group work, and practice rooms for students.

Respectfully submitted,

Laurel Kristick

Collection Assessment and Science Librarian

September 5, 2013

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