The Leatherby Libraries is pleased to offer access to a new database of use to the science and engineering students and faculty on the Chapman University campus: Optics InfoBase Premium from the Optical Society of America (OSA). As with our recent subscription to the IEEE Electronic Library, the acquisition of Optics InfoBase Premium was a collaborative effort with the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler School of Engineering.

Optics InfoBase Premium provides access to 19 key OSA journals, with coverage going back to 1917 where applicable. It also includes over 775 conference and meeting proceedings, e-book versions of Lasers and Century of Optics, and the Optics ImageBank, which contains over one million images from OSA’s core journals that can be linked, viewed in full size, or exported to PowerPoint or PDF files.

Dr. Nasim Mohammadi Estakhri, professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the Fowler School, spoke with us about how enthusiastic she is about this new subscription: “Access to relevant research literature is crucial for me to identify the current state of research in my areas of interest, create foundational knowledge, as well as identify research trends. Access to OSA publications is particularly useful for me as OSA is one of the top Optics and Photonics publishers, also hosting major conferences in my field. I literally checkout a paper from OSA website every day!” Her colleague Dr. Mark Harrison, also a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, shares her excitement, and says, “Coming back to academia from industry, having easy access to the latest research in these fields is really helpful to catch back up with the latest advances in optics and photonics research. Not only that, but I frequently use articles from OSA journals as teaching tools for students I do research with so they can learn what they need to know about photonics to work on research projects with me.”

Dr. Andrew Lyon, Dean of the Fowler School of Engineering, and Dr. Kevin Ross, Interim Dean of the Leatherby Libraries, shared a joint statement on the new subscription: “We’re both delighted to be continuing the partnership between the Leatherby Libraries and the Fowler School of Engineering. By providing Fowler students and faculty the top-notch resources they need, we’re paving the way for truly excellent research from the university’s newest school.”

Please contact Leatherby Libraries’ Coordinator of Scholarly Communications & Electronic Resources, Kristin Laughtin-Dunker, at laughtin@chapman.edu with any questions.