A regional cooperative acquisition program for monographs.

A cooperative acquisition program for monographs for the twelve resource libraries in Region IX of the Regional Medical Library Network is described. Each of the participating libraries has agreed to purchase all books of an assigned publisher which fall within a prescribed subject-format profile. It is hoped that this will help to reduce unnecessary duplication and contribute toward the development of resources in the region.     

TALON--the first five years.

The South Central Regional Medical Library Program, Region IX in the national network of medical libraries, was one of the last to be organized and funded. The particular makeup of this organization has permitted a good deal of flexibility in the identification and implementation of various types of network services and activities. The following is a brief account of some of these network functions during the first five years relating the successes and failures in network strategies and describing the further evolution of programs and refinement of a regional plan which will advance network services.     

‘The feeling of exclusion’: Young peoples' perceptions of art galleries

This article first looks at the relationship between museums and art galleries and their potential audiences and, in particular, the under-represented sector of young visitors. It examines the main findings from the limited research available on young visitors, and goes on to discuss theories delineating the differences between the cultures, identities and values of culture consumers and culture providers. The second part of the article looks at what specific museums have done towards being more inclusive in their appeal, and then reports the findings of a survey of young people in relation to New Zealand's Auckland Art Gallery. The survey found that young people's ideas of what constitutes modern, relevant art do not match standard art criteria, and that most exhibitions and marketing methods do not mesh with their worldview. The article concludes by using data from the survey to suggest ways of engaging more young people with public art galleries.     

The use of personal digital assistants in the health sciences: results of a survey.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to determine how personal digital assistants (PDAs) are used on an academic health sciences campus to define the level of training and support the library can provide to the students and faculty. METHOD: A Web-based questionnaire was developed. A total of 1,538 health sciences faculty and residents were sent an email message requesting participation. Data from the returned surveys were analyzed with SPSS. RESULTS: Sixty-one percent of survey respondents used PDAs. The address book, date book, and calculator were the most common uses reported for PDAs. Residents also reported a high use of drug databases on their PDAs. Most survey respondents indicated they would like to learn more about clinical resources for PDAs. CONCLUSIONS: Many opportunities exist for librarians to provide training and support for PDAs, in addition to evaluation and promotion of clinical software for PDAs.