Library Course Assessment for
Physics 140 & 141
revised August 14, 2004
Introduction | Monographs | Serials | Bibliographic Tools | Costs
Introduction
This is the Library assessment for Phys140 Studio Physics – Mechanics and Modern Physics and Phys 141 Studio Physics – Optics, Electricity and Magnetism.
140 will first be offered in 2005-3 and every fall semester thereafter with an expected enrollment of 40-100 students (one or two sections). 141 will first be offered in 2006-1 and every spring semester thereafter with an expected enrollment of 40-100 students (one or two sections).These courses will be taught in an integrative lecture-lab tutorial format at the Surrey campus, and will cover the same content covered in Phys 120 and Phys 121. The course outlines for Phys 120 and 121 were used as the basis for this assessment.
Monographs
Physics 140
The course textbook is not in the Surrey Library collection. Based on the expected enrollment, 2 copies of the course text will be required for course reserve.
Physics for scientists and engineers : a strategic approach / Randall D. Knight. Pearson Educ Hghr Ed. 0805386858. $185
One-time cost: $370
In addition, a core collection of books on the topics of this course should be acquired for the Surrey collection. This subject is currently not within collecting scope for Surrey. For example, the general LC Subject Heading “Physics,” which applies to the course text and many other titles treating the course material at an introductory level, retrieves 349 books in the SFU catalogue system-wide, but only 2 at Surrey. Other holdings were analyzed using Library of Congress Subject Headings and are listed below. Surrey holdings are listed first, and total SFU holdings in brackets. These include only the books on the main headings, not the sub-headings associated with each.
Cosmology 1 [236]
Dynamics 0 [171]
Gravitation 0 [78]
Mechanics 0 [130]
Nuclear physics 0 [201]
Oscillations 0 [58]
Particles (Nuclear physics) 0 [263]
Quantum theory 2 [742]
Relativity 0 [54]
Statics 0 [28]
Phys 141
The course textbook is not in the Surrey Library collection. Two copies of the course text will be required for course reserve; these costs are covered under Phys 140 which uses the same text.
Overall SFU Library and Surrey Library holdings were analyzed using Library of Congress Subject Headings and are listed below. Surrey holdings are listed first, and total SFU holdings in brackets. These include only the books on the main headings, not the sub-headings associated with each.
Dielectrics 0 [54]
Diffraction 0 [28]
Electric circuits 11 [58]
Electric fields 0 [6]
Electricity 1 [72]
Electromagnetic theory 0 [102]
Geometrical optics 0 [25]
Light 0 [33]
Magnetic fields 0 [21]
Magnetism 0 [91]
Optics 0 [94]
A core collection of 20 books should be established in support of both Physics 140 & 141. At an average book price of $105, this represents a one-time cost of $2100. This will include adding a few titles to the reference collection at Surrey for use by students requiring background and definitions to pursue course readings. These will be specialized handbooks, encyclopedias and dictionaries of physics.
There will also be a need to add a small number of new titles each year to maintain the currency of the collection. 5 x $105 = $525/year.
Serials
The Library’s electronic journals in Physics are available to students at the Surrey campus. For an introductory Physics course, this, along with the Library’s collection of electronic journals in Science, will provide adequate access to journal literature.
Bibliographic Tools
The Library maintains a list of bibliographic tools in Physics that will be useful for students in these courses can use for finding literature on subjects related to the courses.
Costs
One-time cost: $2470
Ongoing cost: $525/year
These costs will be covered from designated Surrey funding and do not need to be borne by the Dept. of Physics.