Developing a preservation policy and procedure statement for a health sciences library

The preconditions for creating a preservation policy document in a health sciences library are an existing preservation policy for the institution of which it is a part and administrative support for preservation. The assumption underlying preservation activity, from the formulation of general guidelines to the detail of operating procedure, is that collection development and preservation are complementary functions. Documentation of operational procedures in some detail should be a part of the statement. Since preservation activity cuts across functional library structures, all management staff should be involved in the planning process and be made aware of their responsibilities. The creation of a preservation policy statement will highlight unaddressed issues, procedural inadequacies, and differences in staff perceptions of priorities, but a written statement provides a framework for setting priorities and making decisions.     

Medicine and health care: implications for health sciences library practice

The American health care system is experiencing a period of unprecedented change. This paper identifies and discusses the major changes in patient care, research, control of the health care system, and medical education, and their implications for health sciences librarians. These changes have resulted in new demands for effective information delivery and a broader health sciences library clientele. There are both challenges and opportunities for health sciences librarians as they respond to information pressures of the current health care environment and anticipate future needs.     

Inside outreach: a challenge for health sciences librarians.

OBJECTIVE: Like medical and health sciences libraries throughout the country, the Lamar Soutter Library (LSL) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School is dealing with ever-increasing outreach needs in times of diminishing funding. With the goal of reshaping the library's outreach program to better serve our patron groups, the Outreach Study Group was formed to investigate existing models of outreach. METHODS: The group initially examined the current literature and subsequently conducted a nationwide survey of medical and health sciences libraries to identify trends in outreach. This article details the methods used for the survey, including establishing criteria for selecting participants, determining the focus, and developing and conducting the survey. RESULTS: Of the 40 libraries invited to participate, 63% completed the survey. An analysis of the data revealed successes, problems, and trends. The group's conclusions led to recommendations for the LSL's future outreach efforts. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the data revealed key findings in the areas of strategic planning, funding, and evaluation. A thoughtful definition of outreach ensures that outreach activities are expressions of the library's mission. Funding shifts require flexible programs. Evaluation provides data necessary to create new programs, sustain successful ones, and avoid repeating mistakes.     

Electronic publishing: implications for health sciences libraries and librarians

Increasingly we hear of "electronic publishing" in the form of books and journals made available as databases, either through traditional online services or through electronic message services. This paper explores its potential impact on the medical library community and on the relationship between end user and librarian. The librarian's new roles as intermediary, facilitator, and advocate for end users are examined. The question of developing expertise for evaluating information as well as facilitating access is addressed.     

Scenario planning: a tool for academic health sciences libraries

Objective: Review the International Campaign to Revitalise Academic Medicine (ICRAM) Future Scenarios as a potential starting point for developing scenarios to envisage plausible futures for health sciences libraries. Method: At an educational workshop, 15 groups, each composed of four to seven Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) directors and AAHSL/NLM Fellows, created plausible stories using the five ICRAM scenarios. Results: Participants created 15 plausible stories regarding roles played by health sciences librarians, how libraries are used and their physical properties in response to technology, scholarly communication, learning environments and health care economic changes. Conclusions: Libraries are affected by many forces, including economic pressures, curriculum and changes in technology, health care delivery and scholarly communications business models. The future is likely to contain ICRAM scenario elements, although not all, and each, if they come to pass, will impact health sciences libraries. The AAHSL groups identified common features in their scenarios to learn lessons for now. The hope is that other groups find the scenarios useful in thinking about academic health science library futures.     

Relationship with the health sciences community

The relationship with the health sciences community and the need for more medical schools and their establishment is described. Emphasis is placed on the geographical location of the new facility within the state.Library policies, and affiliations, both local and national, are discussed.     

Complementary competencies: public health and health sciences librarianship.

OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to identify opportunities for partnership between the communities of public health workers and health sciences librarians. METHODS: The authors review competencies in public health and health sciences librarianship. They highlight previously identified public health informatics competencies and the Medical Library Association's essential areas of knowledge. Based on points of correspondence between the two domains, the authors identify specific opportunities for partnership. RESULTS: The points of correspondence between public health and health sciences librarianship are reflected in several past projects involving both communities. These previous collaborations and the services provided by health sciences librarians at many public health organizations suggest that some health sciences librarians may be considered full members of the public health workforce. Opportunities remain for productive collaboration between public health workers and health sciences librarians. CONCLUSIONS: Drawing on historical and contemporary experience, this paper presents an initial framework for forming collaborations between health sciences librarians and members of the public health workforce. This framework may stimulate thinking about how to form additional partnerships between members of these two communities.     

Building a retrospective collection in pharmacy: a brief history of the literature with some considerations for U.S. health sciences library professionals

This paper argues that historical works in pharmacy are important tools for the clinician as well as the historian. With this as its operative premise, delineating the tripartite aspects of pharmacy as a business enterprise, a science, and a profession provides a conceptual framework for primary and secondary resource collecting. A brief history and guide to those materials most essential to a historical collection in pharmacy follows. Issues such as availability and cost are discussed and summarized in checklist form. In addition, a glossary of important terms is provided as well as a list of all the major U.S. dispensatories and their various editions. This paper is intended to serve as a resource for those interested in collecting historical materials in pharmacy and pharmaco-therapeutics as well as provide a history that gives context to these classics in the field. This should provide a rationale for selective retrospective collection development in pharmacy.     

Business information sources for health sciences librarians.

As the health care industry becomes more business oriented, health sciences librarians will encounter more patrons seeking business information. Administrators and managers of health care facilities are primarily in need of business information. This paper discusses those resources with which health sciences librarians must be familiar to successfully meet the challenges of these new demands. It identifies traditional and online sources, and emphasizes business sources geared to the health care industry. The business managers of the health care facility represent a new patron market for the health sciences librarian.     

Building the electronic health sciences library for the twenty-first century: the Galter Library experience

Constructing home pages for World-Wide Web access has become a major activity in academic health sciences libraries. At the Northwestern University, Galter Health Sciences Library staff are creating the library's new health information system using Web resources and integrating them with existing library systems-NUmed (OVID MEDLINE) and LUIS/NUcat (NOTIS). Development of Web pages, including selection and organization of electronic information, has become the building process for the electronic library. Selection, organization, design, and construction are important factors in the creation of an efficient and useful information system. Using resources like the World-Wide Web and tools like Netscape, library staff are designing an interface, defining policies and guidelines, and creating the tools that will give users easy access to local and international electronic, scholarly information resources. In this paper, the process used at Northwestern is shown as a model of an electronic health sciences library for the twenty-first century.     

Introducing health sciences librarians to the Internet

The Internet is no longer just for the adventurous explorers or the technical experts--it has found its way into the mainstream of librarianship. New users are coming onto "the net" in droves. A wealth of information is currently available dealing with the mechanics of the Internet and there are general guides to the available resources. More work needs to be done, however, in developing subject specific materials. This paper will report on the strategy that Scott Memorial Library, Thomas Jefferson University, has employed to develop staff skills and awareness and to take advantage of the resources and opportunities that the network provides for the health sciences community.