The Library of the Royal Society of Physicians in Budapest becomes today's Semmelweis Medical History Library

Objectives:

The 170-year history of the library of the Royal Society of Medicine in Budapest illustrates both that political and cultural context matter and that “medical” libraries, if they survive, in due course become primarily “medical history” libraries.

Methods:

Two of the authors are on the staff of the Semmelweis Medical History Library; the third is a US scholar who makes frequent use of the library. Together, they avail themselves of archival and published materials—and personal experience with the collection—to establish the context that produced the original library, trace its evolution, and describe its present-day incarnation.

Results:

A tale of transformation emerges that reflects how collections are likely to change. The authors present events and individuals in the life of the Royal Society''s library and paint a picture of the value of today''s Semmelweis Medical History Library. Unique treasures in the collection are described.

Conclusion:

The story told here is of how a particular nineteenth-century library became a twenty-first–century institution. The authors establish its peculiarly Hungarian context and potential value to librarians and historians from outside Hungary. The overall message is that general medical libraries everywhere are perforce likely to become medical historical libraries over time.

Highlights

• Context matters. The historical background of a library helps determine its functions and its future; shifts in modes of publishing affect and monetary concerns shape the development and preservation of an historical collection.
• Libraries evolve. Medical libraries undergo a normal and profoundly useful transformation over time into repositories of medical history.
• Books alone do not a library make: Libraries can and should be settings for continuing education, cultural affirmation, and assistance to scholars by preserving and making available for use a variety of sometimes rare archival and published materials.

Implications

• Knowing the political and cultural background of a library is essential to understanding its history as well as its present-day status.
• Preserving and expanding historical collections demands vigilance and creative management, especially under difficult fiscal and political circumstances. The loyal and diligent work of Hungarians and others who helped build and preserve this library can serve as a model for other threatened collections.
• Sharing the story of a relatively unknown library''s development brings its general assets and unique resources to the attention of a wider audience of librarians and scholars. Few outside Hungary have previously had any way of knowing about the Semmelweis Medical History Library''s rich holdings.

     

Medical library development at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

While libraries of all kinds in Nigeria have many problems, some medical libraries are well established and are giving the services expected of such libraries anywhere. In current conditions of restricted finance and distance from metropolitan countries, consultation and cooperation in serials acquisitions together with union catalogs of serials would be of great value. Modern copying methods make this practical. Union catalogs of monographs would also be valuable. Two new major medical libraries are projected-one half-built, the other still at the planning stage. Each must be planned to give area services rather than purely local and internal services.     

The medical library: its function in a clinical pharmacy program

Because of the many demands currently being made upon physicians, a Clinical Pharmacy Training Program has been established to assist them in a patient-oriented program of drug therapy. This program provides clinical training for students in the College of Pharmacy, North Dakota State University, and for our local hospital pharmacy interns and residents. Our Medical Library enters into this program by providing training in medical literature resources to students and staff involved in this program. Cooperation between the Medical Service, Pharmacy Service and Library Service, serves to promote our Medical Library as the resource and reference center at this hospital.     

Medical library services in Kuwait: history and future prospects

Despite immense resources and a growing interest in education and libraries, library development in Kuwait has been restricted by the problems common to all developing countries. These include an overdose of bureaucracy, lack of trained librarians, and little perception of the library's importance in the educational system. Medical librarianship is virtually a new field. The only medical library of any significance in the country is the Faculty of Medicine Library established in 1974 to serve the newly organized Faculty of Medicine of Kuwait University. In recent years, the Faculty of Medicine Library has gone through several reassessments and many changes. It has expanded its collection, begun computerized searching, and recruited several professional librarians. Now semiautonomous from the university's Libraries Department and housed in a new, modern building, the library has the potential to become the main medical library in the Persian Gulf area.     

Planning for a library system: Connecticut Regional Medical Program

A formal medical library system is developing nationally to improve library service, but not all users or even all librarians are alert to the need. The main stimulus seems to come from federal money and from leaders at the top, rather than from the small local library and its user, yet progress depends on participation at all levels. Planning for a state-wide medical library system as part of the Connecticut Regional Medical Program began with a survey of the state's medical library resources, which led to a grant request for operating funds to strengthen reference and inter-library loan service in Connecticut and to begin a training and consultation program for medical librarians in the state. These activities are intended to expand and intensify in Connecticut those back-up services provided for all of New England by the New England regional medical library service at the Countway Library in Boston and also are related to the other Regional Medical Program activities planned for Connecticut.     

新时期图书馆形象再塑

本文阐述了升为高职院校后图书馆所面临的形势及发展方向,针对图书馆形象再塑发表了一些建议。     

Beyond the library: IAIMS at Georgetown University

The strategic planning process and the pilot phase projects undertaken by Georgetown University for an Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) are described. Emphasis is placed on core services such as a local area network, an academic information management center in the library, and expansion of health sciences databases for improved access to biomedical information. Special applications in education and clinical care are highlighted. The library, a key to IAIMS activities, has emerged in a leadership role at Georgetown.     

The institute of Ethiopian studies library and its documentation services

During the last few decades research activities have grown rapidly in Ethiopia. Introduction of higher education and foreign assistance for this purpose have led the Ethiopian Government to set up several research institutes in the country. The Institute of Ethiopian Studies is one of them, set up to enable research activities in various areas of Ethiopian culture as well as to provide a documentation centre for them. Information and documentation are considered to be the infrastructure of research work. The present state of information and documentation services of the Institute is briefly described along with its history, activities and sections. The importance of introducing some new devices, such as compiling bibliographies, cumulative indexes, book lists and starting a newsletter to keep the researchers abreast of new developments at the Institute.