Abstract

This book provides a foundation to the resources and services unique to physics librarianship that will help you work successfully with your users. The first part of the book includes an overview of the discipline, including current hot topics of research (chapter 1), a brief introduction to the library liaison role (chapter 2), an analysis of the life cycle of information in physics and how physicists use different kinds of information (chapter 3). The second part of the book delves into the different types of information resources (books, journals, websites, and data sets) and describes which resources you need to develop and maintain an effective collection for your users (chapters 4, 5, and 6). Professional organizations in physics and resources for professional development for physics librarians are discussed in chapter 7. The final chapter provides a glimpse of some of the changing roles and opportunities for new services for physics librarians. After reading this Sudden Selector’s Guide, you will have a much better understanding of what physics is, what physics librarians do, and how they build their collections. - Introduction