About the Chemistry Library Collections

Print Books

Our print collection serves the research and information needs of the faculty and graduate students in the Department of Chemistry. It is primarily composed of chemistry books and journals, some of which are duplicated in the Gerstein Science Information Centre or at other libraries. Our Course Reserves collection includes print copies of required and recommended texts for Department of Chemistry courses, available for in-library use and/or short-term loan.

The print reference collection includes a full set of Beilstein, Gmeilin, Houben-Weyl and Science of Synthesis in addition to Chemical Abstracts from 1907-1966.

eBooks

We also have thousands of chemistry-specific eBooks, which you can access anywhere, anytime with your UTORid and password.

Journals

UofT Libraries has access to most key chemistry journals online (>400 titles).

If you are unable to find an online copy of a journal, please search the library catalogue since we may only have a print copy, especially for older journals. In recent years, many of the Chemistry Library's print journals were transferred to our off-site storage facility, UTL Downsview. Scanned copies of articles from these journals may be requested. We no longer receive new issues of print journals at the Chemistry Library.

If you are still unable to find an article you are looking for, please contact your librarian.

Theses

The Chemistry Library collection contains Chemistry MSc and PhD theses from 1979 on. Most theses published since 2000 are also available online through TSpace, U of T's institutional repository.

Scientific Instruments Archive

The Department of Chemistry has a large collection of historical scientific instruments, which were collected, preserved, inventoried and catalogued through the efforts of J. Brian Jones, University Professor Emeritus and Patricia Meindl, Chemistry Librarian Emeritus. A project is currently ongoing to create up-to-date catalogue records for these items and incorporate them into the University of Toronto Scientific Instrument Collection (UTSIC) catalogue.

This collection consists of around 300 artifacts, dating from the entire history of the department beginning in around 1843. Typical objects include balances, polarimeters, calculating machines and a wide selection of glassware, some of which was made on site at the department glassblowers. Much of the collection is housed in the Chemistry Library, as well as in display cabinets on the 1st and 4th floors of the Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories.