Providing health information to the general public: a survey of current practices in academic health sciences libraries

A questionnaire was mailed to 148 publicly and privately supported academic health sciences libraries affiliated with Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC-accredited medical schools in the United States and Canada to determine level of access and services provided to the general public. For purposes of this study, "general public" was defined as nonaffiliated students or health care professionals, attorneys and other nonhealth-related professionals, patients from affiliated or other hospitals or clinics, and general consumers. One hundred five (71%) libraries responded. Results showed 98% of publicly supported libraries and 88% of privately supported libraries provided access to some or all of the general public. Publicly supported libraries saw greater numbers of public patrons, often provided more services, and were more likely to circulate materials from their collections than were privately supported libraries. A significant number of academic health sciences libraries housed a collection of consumer-oriented materials and many provided some level of document delivery service, usually for a fee. Most allowed the public to use some or all library computers. Results of this study indicated that academic health sciences libraries played a significant role in serving the information-seeking public and suggested a need to develop written policies or guidelines covering the services that will be provided to minimize the impact of this service on primary clientele.     

History of medicine on the Internet: resources for librarians

This paper offers an inventory of Internet resources on the history of medicine. Some sites are bibliographic; they supply book and journal citations. Some provide leads (or links) to more specific information, and some include full-text articles or historical essays. Because this material is intended to furnish librarians with reference direction, more attention is given to bibliographic and "linked" sites. This paper updates a previous version published in Medical Reference Services Quarterly in Spring 1998.     

雪球地球

我们人类的祖先真是度日艰难。带剑齿的猫科动物和毛茸茸的猛犸象已日渐成为威胁，而严酷的气候却是一个历时漫长的挑战。在过去的数百万年里，他们面对的是一个接一个的冰川期。在2万年前最未一个冰川期的极盛时，超过两公里厚的冰川覆盖了北美和欧洲的许多地区，冰川夹带着寒冷一直南延至现今的纽约市那样远的地方。     

量子幽闭恐怖

归根到底，世界是由费米子构成的。人们熟悉的质子和中子是费米子，组成它们的夸克也是费米子。电子的费米子本性是元素周期表结构的基础(从而也是整个化学的基础)。由于1995年科学家取得了一项阶段性成就——在一种稀薄气体中实现了玻色一爱因斯坦凝聚，因而近几年中费米子的亲戚——玻色子受到了很大重视。但现在该轮到费米子大出风头了，     

不速之客:年轻球状星团

传统观点认为，球状星团是宇宙中一群古怪的“老家伙”，但实际上存在许多年轻的球状星团，并不断有更新的产生。