[Some ways to improve scientific and technical medical information in the public health system of the Moldavian SSR].
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The economic plight of the 1970s often limits the librarian, who should be the final selector, to insufficient funds for acquiring essential publications. The librarian, in addition to making every effort to acquire the best possible collection, must provide access from other libraries, within and outside one's parent institution, to materials not acquired; for this purpose, an effective document delivery network has proved more significant than formal plans for shared acquisitions. Too much is published, but the choices become more manageable with selection criteria that include limiting subject scope and keeping within the English language. In regard to journals, new titles should be added only reluctantly; cancellation lists compiled with the help of selective lists, the librarians' judgment, and users' responses; and newsletters and state journals pruned to a mimimum. As to books, selective lists should be consulted; congress proceedings generally ignored; and reprinted collections, multiple copies, and gifts considered with care. Book reviews are more useful selection aids now that lack of funds causes delays in purchasing than when new titles were acquired promptly with less discrimination. Audiovisual media, although widely pushed, do not replace printed materials, are not of central importance to many faculties, are expensive, and thus comprise a bandwagon which the impoverished library cannot afford to board without extra funding. The less money there is, the more need for a librarian's selection skills.
This paper reports the results of a survey undertaken by the World Health Organization of health sciences libraries in Southeast Asia. It includes information on clientele, budget, personnel, collections, lending policy, dissemination of information, and reference services. The survey indicates that the collections in most of the health sciences libraries in Southeast Asia are deficient and that services provided to readers are inadequate. Recommendations for improvement are outlined.
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A review of the planning process for personnel at the University of Cincinnati's new Health Sciences Library is discussed. The staff of two libraries were involved in the plan. The final organizational pattern encompassed present staff plus justification for additional staff who would be necessary in the expanded facility.
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Once the major decision to automate library processes is made, there are a variety of problems which may be encountered before the planned system becomes operational. These include problems of personnel, budget, procurement of adjunct services, institutional priorities, and manufacturing uncertainties. Actual and potential difficulties are discussed.
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In the rapid development of optical disc technology, compact disc read-only-memory (CD-ROM) is gaining popularity as a reference tool. The National University of Singapore Medical Library (NUSML) is the first special library of the University Library System to introduce CD-ROM technology by setting up of the MEDLINE on CD-ROM system to complement its reference and information services since February 1989. The experiences of the Library is setting up the system and feedback obtained from end users through a questionnaire survey are presented in this paper. The success of the implementation of the new services has also given rise to new problems which have implications on library user education programmes, manpower planning, collection development and system security.
The Nigerian medical librarian has an uphill task in his effort to satisfy the journal needs of users of his library. His problems stem from difficulties in the selection and acquisition of journals, delay in postal services, budgetary and other administrative controls, and the changing nature of medical education and health-care services in Nigeria. The librarian's attempts to solve these problems include increased subscriptions to journals and use of interlibrary loans, but the absence of union lists of holdings of other libraries, the heavy cost of photocopying services, and poor postal facilities present another dimension to his problems. Eventually his best solution seems to lie in the establishment of a national center for "least used" journals to serve as a source stock for the country's medical libraries.
Although serial literature is extremely important to a library collection, it is also the source of many problems. Specialty journal selection is difficult, particularly for the librarian of a small or intermediate-size library that is not in a position to develop or maintain an exhaustive or inclusive collection in a particular field or discipline. Steadily increasing journal costs and recent economic trends necessitate establishment or reexamination of a periodical collection policy. In this investigation, the technique used analyzes citations assigned to medical subject headings (MeSH) and subheadings by indexers who prepare the MEDLARS data base. Citations have been retrieved by exploiting the on-line nature of the MEDLARS data base. A four-year time period is used to identify specialty journals in the area of nursing. Results given include a separate rank-order listing arranged by decreasing frequency of productivity for each MeSH term searched. A composite listing is given for the 16,355 unique citations retrieved. The approach illustrated and data presented may be useful in establishing library policy for questions of periodical subscription and setting of priorities for binding and microform purchases. The purpose of the approach described is to predict collection demand with efficiency and economy.
The aim of this paper is to continue the discussion on the defects of the structures of medical resources and their applicability at the present time, and then to design the qualitative networklike subsystem of the new research Quantitatively Medicine Simulating and Operating by Computer (QMSOC) and a five-library model of the new knowledge-base of QMSOC. Finally, a set of results from the primary functions of exploitation of pancreas-glucagon-insulin information by QMSOC are presented.
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A review of the problems encountered in serials control systems is followed by a description of some of the present-day attempts to solve these problems. Specific networks are described, notably PHILSOM (developed at Washington University School of Medicine Library), the UCLA Biomedical Library's system, and OCLC in Columbus, Ohio. Finally, the role of minicomputers in present and future developments is discussed, and some cautious guesses are made on future directions in the field.
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.
The Martland Hospital Library converted many of its periodical backfiles to 16 mm microfilm cartridges. Some details of program implementation, user reactions, costs, and problems are discussed. In a teaching hospital library microfilm in cartridge format has been well accepted by patrons, in part because the need to read from a projection screen has been minimized by granting liberal printing privileges.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio joined the PHILSOM system, a comprehensive serials control network, in 1971. The experiences of the library in using the system are described. The major benefit of the system has been multiple copies of the holdings list which have made the serial records publicly accessible and significantly increased their value. Tallies of these lists' use indicate that more than half of serials-related questions are now answered directly by the users. The effects of PHILSOM on the procedures of the serials department--processing, claiming, bindery, and personnel are described. Costs to the network and the UTHSCSA Library are briefly summarized.