Measurement of journal availability in a biomedical library

During a twelve-day period in October and November 1971, users of the Woodward Biomedical Library were asked to report each time they failed to find a needed journal issue or volume in the library. They reported 370 cases of failure. In 100 of these cases (27%) the journal was not held by the library or had not yet been received; in 66 (18%) it was in some stage of the binding process; in 64 (17%) it was in circulation; in 34 (9%) it was in use in the library; and in 41 (11%) user error was involved. The 64 journals required while in circulation constituted 4.7% of a total of 1,373 journals circulated during the period. Indications are that circulation may not be as great a problem as users have supposed and that more attention should be given to other user problems with journals.     

Evolution of a processing system in a large biomedical library.

The processing system used in the UCLA Biomedical Library is modest in size and still under development. Its origins date back to a batch mode serials control system begun in the mid-1960s. This was converted to an on-line system which currently has modules for check-in, updating and retrieval, claims, bindery preparation, and invoice information. Titles can be retrieved at the terminal by search of any word in the title, by subject heading, language, country of publication, and type of publication. The system is adaptable to network use and at present is shared with one other library. To the serials system has been added a computer-assisted cataloging and card production system. The latter utilizes serials nucleus software as well as design for data input and data storage. In-house listings and coding procedures overlap in a general way. Work is under way on further integration of the two processing subsystems and a feasibility study has been completed for addition of a subsystem for acquisitions which will combine and adapt features of the other two; for example, information retrieval characteristics from both, catalog coding and programs for acceptance of data, serials programs for claims, and other output programs. Cost benefits of the subsystems are described and discussed.     

A negative trend of biomedical research in Libya: a bibliometric study

Background: It is well established that Libya is lagging behind its peers in biomedical research. The aim of this study is to analyse all the original biomedical publications affiliated with Libya from 1973 to 2007. Methods: PubMed and the Science Citation Index Expanded were searched for ‘original research’ biomedical studies affiliated with Libya. The generated data were hand searched and 329 ‘original research’ studies were included in the analysis. Results: The first study was published in 1973. Publication rate peaked to an average of 15.2 studies per year during 1986–1996 and dropped to an average of 8.8 studies per year during 1997–2007. Of 166 first authors; 41% were Libyans and 59% were expatriates. The latter contributed 104 studies between 1986 and 1996 and 36 studies between 1997 and 2007, while the Libyans contributed 63 and 61 studies in the two respective periods. Authors affiliated with Benghazi produced 67% of the published studies, while authors from Tripoli produced 30% and other medical schools, hospitals and research centres from other Libyan cities produced only 3%. Conclusion: This study showed a decline in biomedical research publication in Libya. We propose that the lack of a research culture among the Libyan medical professionals is one of the factors contributing to this decline, which coincided with the departure of expatriate doctors from Libya. Raising awareness of the importance of research and improving research skills among Libyan medical professionals may help to reverse the current trend.     

Promoting library research: The research review competition

This column describes the Research Review Competition, a program developed by the Library at LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York to promote research and writing skills. The Competition, which since 1980 has recognized well-written research papers that reflect mastery of library research skills, is a success with students and faculty, and highlights the library's role in the academic process.     

Use of NEXIS in a medical research library

The NEXIS online system is used a great deal in business and law libraries, but has been virtually overlooked by medical librarians due to their perception of the system as expensive and difficult to search. The changing health care environment has placed new demands on medical searchers for just the type of legal, business, governmental, and news information found in the full-text files in NEXIS. Through the recent introduction of News Plus software, NEXIS can be searched as never before by those unaccustomed to full-text search techniques. Besides simplifying the search process, the new software has cost-saving features since search building and file selection are accomplished offline, and several activities may be done simultaneously. NEXIS via News Plus should be seriously considered as an addition to the repertoire of online systems accessed by medical librarians.     

Promoting library services to qualified nurses:towards a market-led approach

This article summarizes a research projectcarried out with the nursing staff of South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust. A ‘communityprofile’ looked at nurses’ use of library and information services for patient carepurposes and found that only a small proportion of all categories of qualified staff were libraryusers. A postal questionnaire was used to investigate why nurses sought information,what they used it for, where they obtained it from and how valuable they perceived it to be. Theresults show that personal and departmental collections were used quite frequently and theinformation was widely disseminated by the nurses to patients and their families, to colleagues andto students. The overall message from the survey was that the information obtained is valuedhighly and is used for various important purposes in health care delivery, such as educatingpatients and their families and revising treatment plans. However, nurses have difficulty inaccessing libraries, which are judged to contain the most accurate, reliable and up-to-dateinformation. The data from the community profile and questionnaire were furtheranalysed using soft systems methodology, in order to identify problems in the traditional model ofinformation delivery to nurses via a conventional library and information service. These were theninvestigated further and a series of recommendations for action drawn up.     

Developing a publicity plan for library research: the Rochester Study

The hospital librarians in Rochester, New York and a research team developed and administered a questionnaire to measure the impact of information provided by the librarian on physicians' clinical decision making. While the research was underway, the librarians also developed a publicity plan. The goal of the plan was to create awareness of the study results in the local client population, as well as in the health care community at large. The plan served to describe and put in priority order the types of media that the librarians would use to publicize the study to target groups. This article includes examples of a nationwide and an institution-specific publicity plan. those developing publicity plans for future library research may want to allocate adequate funds to hire a media consultant to increase their prospects for national exposure.     

A suggested approach to a library building program

The preliminary building program suggested in this paper makes use of outlines, graphs, charts, and lists, rather than long-winded paragraphs, to describe the needs, objectives, and philosophy of the library. It is hoped that a short, concise, but detailed, report using these methods will save time and make the report more attractive to read, thereby encouraging the many people who will need to assist in the building planning to use the report.     

Interlending in a university library: The KFUPM library experience

This paper describes the statistics of 1340 inter-library loan/photocopy (ILL) requests processed by the Reference & Information Services Division of the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) Library, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia from 1 April 1985 to 31 March 1986. The objective of compiling the statistics is to assess the weak and strong areas of the library’s collection so that necessary steps may be taken to balance the collection. Also, it is hoped that these statistics would provide valuable results which will help in managing ILL in future as the number of ILL requests are increasing every year.     

数字图书馆可用性评价方法研究

本文介绍了数字图书馆可用性的含义和数字图书馆可用性评价的内容,从可用性检查、可用性测试、可用性调查三个方面分析了数字图书馆可用性评价的主要方法。