6/7 Van Pelt Closure: Due to needed electrical switchgear and breaker replacement, the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center will be closed on Saturday, June 7. It will reopen for regular hours on June 8.

Changes coming to Books by Mail: Starting in fall 2025, Books by Mail items will only be shipped to addresses in the contiguous United States 50 miles or further from campus. We will make exceptions for students, faculty, and staff with disabilities. Learn more

Fisher restoration: Fisher Fine Arts Library is open and operating normally during ongoing exterior work. Find more details about this important restoration project.

Overview

Collection Description

The Chemistry collection supports active research in Penn's Chemistry Department and is not a historic collection; therefore, the major thrusts of the collection may change slightly over time as the research program evolves. In general, however, we collect in the broad areas of organic, inorganic, physical, theoretical, and biological chemistry, with additional material that supports important analytical techniques used by our researchers.

Contact

Doing Research

Searching for chemical information can be challenging. Primary research is published as journal articles and dissertations, as well as being protected in the patent literature. Secondary search tools allow one to discover relevant information through text-based searching by keyword and controlled vocabulary, numeric searching for property values and ranges, and structure and substructure searching for substances and reactions. Please see the Chemistry Library home page for a list of selected search tools, and contact Judith Currano (currano@pobox.upenn.edu) if you have questions about finding a particular piece of information or doing an exhaustive search of the literature on a topic.

Chemistry Research Guides

Maps and More

Campus Libraries Map

Staff Information

Resources for Staff Committees