Every effort is made to replace missing materials in a timely way if they are available. Increased access to electronic format may help to address this challenge. The collection is strong on periodicals from the 19th century. The collection of textbooks is strong, but it needs to be assessed and weeded, and a selection of textbooks for undergraduate mathematics made in Spanish, Russian, and Chinese for English as a Second Language students. Another ongoing challenge is to mesh collecting with the Courant Institute Library.
Unnecessary duplication is avoided.
Reference works to support research and graduate study, including the basic indexes for mathematics and statistical sciences, are housed at the Courant Institute and linked to the Bobst Library online public access catalog whenever possible. While efforts are made to avoid unnecessary duplication between Bobst and Courant, and to focus subject collections in one location or the other, this can be a challenge and there are numerous grey areas. Some Courant faculty have joint appointments with other NYU departments and are doing research in subjects areas that are established parts of research. Using mathematical tools to model aspects of neuroscience is one example. Modeling of flows in the atmosphere and the ocean is collected at CIMS because the research interest originated there.