In 2014 the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was selected as the new venue for the International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy (ISMS) after 69 years at Ohio State University. Averaging around 500 presentations from shorter talks to longer plenary presentations, the symposium promotes a collaborative environment where graduate students present their first professional meeting. World leaders in chemistry, physics, atmospheric science, and others involved in molecular spectroscopic research also meet each year. From the start, the University of Illinois Chemistry Library was an integral part of the ISMS conference planning. As part of the support for the symposium, the Chemistry Library coordinates and deposits the abstracts and presentations for all ISMS presentations in the University of Illinois institutional repository (IDEALS) in an open access environment. Using library endowment monies, the Chemistry Library established ISMS as a publisher through the CrossRef metadata and Digital Object Identifier (DOI) services. Using scripts written by the Library, each ISMS abstract and presentation are assigned an DOI, which enables researchers to include them in promotion and tenure documents, grant applications, and other professional documents as a permanent location of their presentation(s). This is both a low cost publishing model for the ISMS community (US$1.00 per DOI) and a new model of Chemistry library services that can be adapted in other disciplines and audiences. Additionally, the Chemistry Library offers computers to check email, group study rooms to practice presentations, hosts the registration, vendor, and conference sponsor areas with nearby food and beverage stations (yes, in the Library) with comfortable seating arranged to promote interactions between these various groups. By having the symposium at a research university during slower summer months, the ISMS costs for registration, housing, and facilities usage are kept lower than conference cities and hotels. This often permits multiple researchers from groups to attend, present, and learn together. This collaboration builds team building skills in the various research groups. The University of Illinois Chemistry Library is creating new models and ideas for library spaces. With emphasis on scholarly collaboration and communication, libraries can be the model for new research interactions.

New models for chemistry library impacts through an international symposium

256th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.