On the fly collection development to support emergent energy research initiatives

Abstract

Within the last few years, two major energy research initiatives have been undertaken on the Caltech campus: the Resnick Sustainability Institute (RSI) and the Joint Center for Artifical Photosynthesis (JCAP). RSI's research includes the production of electricity and fuels from renewable sources, the distribution and storage of energy, and other sustainability projects. JCAP's area of research is focused on achieving a system of artificial photosynthesis for utilizing solar energy. Both of these projects require resources from a broad range of fields, including chemistry, physics, biology, environmental &systems engineering, and more. This talk will give a brief description of some of the research being done in these projects, along with an overview of where energy research has traditionally been categorized in terms of collection development. A publication analysis will be presented to elucidate where information is being referenced from and where affiliated researchers are publishing, and how this correlates with the current collection holdings. Other considerations, such as identifying resources, outreach to groups about availability, and re-use of the collections, will also be discussed.