A successful collaborative venture began in the fall semester of 2001 when James Bonk, professor of chemistry and director of undergraduate studies for the department, and Anne Langley, head of Duke's chemistry library, first offered Chemistry110—Chemical Information Retrieval, a half-credit course they created and continue to teach together. The course was designed originally to be taught in the fall to prepare chemistry majors for a spring semester independent study in a campus research lab. However, in response to student demand, Chem110 is now offered in both the fall and spring semesters and is taken not only by chemistry majors but also by students who want a solid background in information retrieval—no matter their major.

The lectures and practical applications cover all manner and variety of information sources, especially databases, and give students an opportunity to develop a variety of skills, from finding citations in Chemical Abstracts to searching for patents. The final and major assignment for the course is a review paper on a topic of each student's choosing in the field of chemistry. Student evaluations have been overwhelmingly positive–many students have said that writing the review paper was one of the most fun and rewarding assignments during their time at Duke, and all comment on the usefulness and practicality of the lectures. Now in its fifth year and sixth semester, Chem110 has proven to be of value for all parties involved—the students, the department, and the library.

Duke Provost Peter Lange and Executive Vice President Tallman Trask recently approved records retention guidelines that the Library's David Mitchell, records manager in University Archives, drafted for University administrative and management records. The guidelines describe and offer minimum retention periods for common office administration and programmatic records, such as routine correspondence/email, plans and reports, policies and procedures, and organizational charts. In addition, the guidelines cover records produced by standing or ad hoc committees.  Records retention guidelines established by Mitchell have also been approved for the Duke University Press and student records.

Faculty and graduate students from German Languages and Literature, History, Religion, and other departments, in partnership with the Library, will welcome scholars from around the world to Duke in early April for the fourth international interdisciplinary conference sponsored by the Frühe Neuzeit Interdisziplinär (FNI).  Founded in the early 1990s, FNI is a conference group that supports and promotes interdisciplinary research on the culture, politics, and society of German-speaking Central Europe during the early modern period (1400-1750).  The theme of the 2005 conference is "Orthodoxies and Diversities in Early Modern German-Speaking Europe."  One of the main reasons the conference will be held at Duke is the presence here of the Harold Jantz Collection of German Baroque Literature in the University's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.  The collection is one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the United States.  The Library will sponsor a reception for conference participants and will display items from the Jantz Collection in the Rare Book Room.