Brief Communications A Core Textbook Collection in a Health Sciences Library BY ELVIN D. BESS, Associate Librarian ROBERT T. DIVETT, ED.D., Librarian and Associate Professor of Medical Bibliography Health Sciences Library University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico
A CORE collection of biomedical textbooks, selected primarily for self-study use by medical, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health students has been in existence for four years at the University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Library. The collection, modelled loosely after the basic book collection recommended for community hospital libraries by Stearns and Ratcliff [1], was set up originally as a demonstration unit for a series of workshops for New Mexico hospital librarians. Because the materials in the demonstration unit were needed by the library's primary user groups even during the brief time span of the workshops, the unit was set up as a noncirculating collection in the main reading area of the library. The unit not only proved to be very effective in teaching the hospital librarians, it also was an immediate success with the medical students, a group of whom requested that it be retained after the workshops. This request was accepted and the core collection was established on a permanent basis. Later, duplicate copies were purchased for the circulating collection. The core collection continues to be very popular and receives heavy use, not only by students but also by faculty, house staff, nurses, local physicians, and other health science professionals. In addition, the library's reference staff consults it frequently and now considers it an essential adjunct to the regular reference collection.
sciences students. In this respect, it has succeeded far beyond expectations. Beginning students, in particular, are invariably pleased at being put immediately in touch with some of the "best" textbooks in the various health sciences fields. Also, many of the problems encountered by clinicians and researchers can be quickly solved by consulting the .books representing their specialties in the core collection. Finally, the core collection provides a substantial body of reference information that the library's reference staff uses regularly. SUBJECT AREAS
Currently, the core collection consists of some 211 high-use titles in forty-one broad subject areas, and requires about forty linear feet of shelving. This rather extensive amplification of Stearns and Ratcliff's list of eighty-seven books was necessary to meet the demands of the university's health sciences schools, colleges, and affiliated programs. The subject areas still conform basically to Stearns and Ratcliff's classification with certain deletions, additions, and other modifications made necessary by the particular requirements of the Health Sciences Library. Each of the forty-one subject areas is assigned a number, and each book in that subject bears that number in the form of a large numeral, 5/16-inch high, on its spine. For example, all pediatric books are assigned the number 30, and a large numeral 30 is affixed to each book on that subject. Table 1 lists the subject areas currently in use. This particular breakdown works well for this library. Other libraries, of course, with different demands on their resources, may elect to use other arrangements.
THE NUMBERING SYSTEM Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the core collection is the use of the large numerals to identify subject areas. We originally used embossed Dymo tapes, but these seemed to be PURPOSE continually falling off. As a result, misshelving by Although the core collection can still serve as a users was very much a problem. Since the large representative selection of titles suitable for com- numerals have been in use, however, these probmunity hospital libraries, its primary function has lems have all but vanished. The simple numbering system may evoke smiles shifted to serve as an easily accessible self-study collection of standard textbooks for health from some librarians who may tend to equate it
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2)April 1977
287
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS TABLE 1 NUMBERED SUBJECT AREAS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Allergy Anatomy Anesthesiology Arthritis & Rheumatism Biochemistry Cardiology Dental hlygiene
Dermatology Diagnosis Dietetics & Nutrition
Endocrinology Gastroenterology Genetics Geriatrics Hematology Hospitals Immunology Infectious Diseases Internal Medicine Laboratory Methods
21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41.
with the classification of books by color or size. Nevertheless, this system constitutes a valid basic classification scheme that is surprisingly effective for small convenience collections. The principal disadvantage of such a system is the inconvenience of adding or removing a numbered category, since any change in the sequence requires renumbering all items in all the categories following that change. Core books are cataloged in much the same way as are other book acquisitions. During processing, however, the large numeral is affixed to the spine just above the call number. Various kinds of precut, pressure-sensitive numerals are available. However, since we already owned a Reynolds Leteron Model LE-200 Tapesign Machine, we use it to produce our numerals. This is an electric machine which cuts numbers (and letters) from colored tapes. The numbers are self-adhesive, but we have found it necessary to cover each one with a plastic spine label protector. CIRCULATION POLICY In order to maximize their availability to readers, core books are noncirculating. They are used in-house much in the manner of reserve books except that they are not charged out on loan. Anyone wishing to use a core book simply goes to the core collection shelves and gets the
288
Microbiology Neoplasms Neurology Nursing Obstetrics & Gynecology Ophthalmology Orthopedics Otorhinolaryngology Pathology Pediatrics Pharmacy & Pharmacology Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physiology Preventive Medicine & Public Health Psychiatry Radiology & Nuclear Medicine Respiratory Diseases Statistics Surgery Toxicology Urology
desired book. After using it, the reader reshelves it to make it immediately available to other users. BOOK SELECTION There are many standard lists of selected biomedical books, most of them useful, some out of date, and all with their own orientation toward a particular group of individuals or institutions. In addition to the Stearns and Ratcliff list, this library has found the lists compiled by Brandon [2], Inke [3], and West, Wender, and May [4] to be useful in selecting titles for the core collection. The Stearns and Ratcliff list is now somewhat out of date. Although we still coinsult it, we now rely more on the other three lists to keep the collection current and appropriate to the various subject fields. Brandon's deservedly famous list is intended as a selection aid for the small library of a hospital, medical society, clinic, or similar organization. Inke's compilation covers the textbooks most frequently recommended by medical school faculties. One hopes it will be updated soon. West, Wender, and May's excellent list is clinically oriented and omits basic science texts. These lists are used selectively. Insofar as practicable, each title considered for inclusion in the core collection is checked against the library's computer-generated circulation statistics to determine the use received by that item or its preceding edition. Whenever the statistics show Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2) April 1977
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
the actual use of a particular book to be small, that title normally is not added to the core list even though it might appear on all the standard lists. The entire core list is revised and updated annually. Individual superseded editions, however, are replaced automatically by the new editions at the time they are received. This paper does not purport to present the definitive core collection for biomedical libraries, and will not publish its own selection here. Rather, this paper is intended as an exposition of how such a collection is handled and utilized in this particular library. Similar collections in other institutions, having different demands on their resources and services, will require correspondingly different orientations. What we are presenting in this paper is a concept, a pragmatic concept that has worked, and worked very well for us. We hope it will prove useful for others. REFERENCES 1. STEARNS, NORMAN S., AND RATCLIFF, WENDY W. An integrated health-science core library for physicians, nurses and allied health practitioners in community hospitals. N. Engl. J. Med. 283: 1489-1498, Dec. 31, 1970. 2. BRANDON, ALFRED N. Selected list of books and
journals for the small medical library. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65: 191-215, Apr. 1977. 3. INKE, GABOR. A list of most frequently recommended medical textbooks. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 59: 589-598, Oct. 1971. 4. WEST, KELLY M.; WENDER, RUTH W.; AND MAY, RUBY S. Books in clinical practice 1971-1975; a
selected and annotated list for medical practitioners, indexed by subject and author. Postgrad. Med. 56 (7): 60-81, Dec. 1974.
The Mount Sinai Medical Center Library User Survey BY JANE S. PORT, Associate Librarian for Public Services Gustave L. and Janet W. Levy Library Mount Sinai Medical Center New York, New York
THE Gustave L. and Janet W. Levy Library at the Mount Sinai Medical Center of New York is a research resource for faculty, students, and staff of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Mount Sinai Hospital, its affiliated hospitals, and the other units in the City University of New York Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2)April 1977
(CUNY). The library is located in close proximity to several other medical schools and hospitals in New York City, and to the New York Academy of Medicine Library, which is open to the public. The Levy Library has been in its present location since July 1974. Most of the collection is readily accessible in open stacks, and the facility has been praised by users for its comfortable study and public spaces. During the academic year the library is open and staffed 97.5 hours per week, including evenings and weekends. Reference librarians are on duty Monday to Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. and Saturday until 2:00 P.M. Anticipated budget cuts recently impelled the library administration to evaluate scheduling and staffing patterns in order to maximize staff during periods most suited to our primary users. We decided to find out which user groups were in the library at various periods throughout the week, and whether nonaffiliated individuals were using the collection or services to the detriment of our primary users. METHOD
The library staff involved in the survey met to discuss its purpose and method, and to prepare for anticipated problems. In order to allow for changes in use patterns due to examinations, holiday schedules, and other seasonal variations, four sample weeks between February and July 1976 were selected. In a series of brief interviews with library users during scheduled sampling periods, the staff collected and recorded the data sought. During the sample weeks, staff members interviewed every individual in the library at the following times: Monday to Friday: 10 A.M., 2 P.M., 10 P.M. Saturday: 11 A.M., 2 P.M., 8 P.M. Sunday: 2 P.M., 8 P.M. Staff explained the purpose of the survey and asked users to provide the following information: Primary affiliation: Mount Sinai CUNY Affiliated hospital Other Position: Student House staff Faculty/attending physician Other Mount Sinai employee Other 289
A CORE collection of biomedical textbooks, selected primarily for self-study use by medical, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health students has been in existence for four years at the University of New Mexico's Health Sciences Library. The collection, modelled loosely after the basic book collection recommended for community hospital libraries by Stearns and Ratcliff [1], was set up originally as a demonstration unit for a series of workshops for New Mexico hospital librarians. Because the materials in the demonstration unit were needed by the library's primary user groups even during the brief time span of the workshops, the unit was set up as a noncirculating collection in the main reading area of the library. The unit not only proved to be very effective in teaching the hospital librarians, it also was an immediate success with the medical students, a group of whom requested that it be retained after the workshops. This request was accepted and the core collection was established on a permanent basis. Later, duplicate copies were purchased for the circulating collection. The core collection continues to be very popular and receives heavy use, not only by students but also by faculty, house staff, nurses, local physicians, and other health science professionals. In addition, the library's reference staff consults it frequently and now considers it an essential adjunct to the regular reference collection.
sciences students. In this respect, it has succeeded far beyond expectations. Beginning students, in particular, are invariably pleased at being put immediately in touch with some of the "best" textbooks in the various health sciences fields. Also, many of the problems encountered by clinicians and researchers can be quickly solved by consulting the .books representing their specialties in the core collection. Finally, the core collection provides a substantial body of reference information that the library's reference staff uses regularly. SUBJECT AREAS
Currently, the core collection consists of some 211 high-use titles in forty-one broad subject areas, and requires about forty linear feet of shelving. This rather extensive amplification of Stearns and Ratcliff's list of eighty-seven books was necessary to meet the demands of the university's health sciences schools, colleges, and affiliated programs. The subject areas still conform basically to Stearns and Ratcliff's classification with certain deletions, additions, and other modifications made necessary by the particular requirements of the Health Sciences Library. Each of the forty-one subject areas is assigned a number, and each book in that subject bears that number in the form of a large numeral, 5/16-inch high, on its spine. For example, all pediatric books are assigned the number 30, and a large numeral 30 is affixed to each book on that subject. Table 1 lists the subject areas currently in use. This particular breakdown works well for this library. Other libraries, of course, with different demands on their resources, may elect to use other arrangements.
THE NUMBERING SYSTEM Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the core collection is the use of the large numerals to identify subject areas. We originally used embossed Dymo tapes, but these seemed to be PURPOSE continually falling off. As a result, misshelving by Although the core collection can still serve as a users was very much a problem. Since the large representative selection of titles suitable for com- numerals have been in use, however, these probmunity hospital libraries, its primary function has lems have all but vanished. The simple numbering system may evoke smiles shifted to serve as an easily accessible self-study collection of standard textbooks for health from some librarians who may tend to equate it
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2)April 1977
287
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS TABLE 1 NUMBERED SUBJECT AREAS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Allergy Anatomy Anesthesiology Arthritis & Rheumatism Biochemistry Cardiology Dental hlygiene
Dermatology Diagnosis Dietetics & Nutrition
Endocrinology Gastroenterology Genetics Geriatrics Hematology Hospitals Immunology Infectious Diseases Internal Medicine Laboratory Methods
21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41.
with the classification of books by color or size. Nevertheless, this system constitutes a valid basic classification scheme that is surprisingly effective for small convenience collections. The principal disadvantage of such a system is the inconvenience of adding or removing a numbered category, since any change in the sequence requires renumbering all items in all the categories following that change. Core books are cataloged in much the same way as are other book acquisitions. During processing, however, the large numeral is affixed to the spine just above the call number. Various kinds of precut, pressure-sensitive numerals are available. However, since we already owned a Reynolds Leteron Model LE-200 Tapesign Machine, we use it to produce our numerals. This is an electric machine which cuts numbers (and letters) from colored tapes. The numbers are self-adhesive, but we have found it necessary to cover each one with a plastic spine label protector. CIRCULATION POLICY In order to maximize their availability to readers, core books are noncirculating. They are used in-house much in the manner of reserve books except that they are not charged out on loan. Anyone wishing to use a core book simply goes to the core collection shelves and gets the
288
Microbiology Neoplasms Neurology Nursing Obstetrics & Gynecology Ophthalmology Orthopedics Otorhinolaryngology Pathology Pediatrics Pharmacy & Pharmacology Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physiology Preventive Medicine & Public Health Psychiatry Radiology & Nuclear Medicine Respiratory Diseases Statistics Surgery Toxicology Urology
desired book. After using it, the reader reshelves it to make it immediately available to other users. BOOK SELECTION There are many standard lists of selected biomedical books, most of them useful, some out of date, and all with their own orientation toward a particular group of individuals or institutions. In addition to the Stearns and Ratcliff list, this library has found the lists compiled by Brandon [2], Inke [3], and West, Wender, and May [4] to be useful in selecting titles for the core collection. The Stearns and Ratcliff list is now somewhat out of date. Although we still coinsult it, we now rely more on the other three lists to keep the collection current and appropriate to the various subject fields. Brandon's deservedly famous list is intended as a selection aid for the small library of a hospital, medical society, clinic, or similar organization. Inke's compilation covers the textbooks most frequently recommended by medical school faculties. One hopes it will be updated soon. West, Wender, and May's excellent list is clinically oriented and omits basic science texts. These lists are used selectively. Insofar as practicable, each title considered for inclusion in the core collection is checked against the library's computer-generated circulation statistics to determine the use received by that item or its preceding edition. Whenever the statistics show Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2) April 1977
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
the actual use of a particular book to be small, that title normally is not added to the core list even though it might appear on all the standard lists. The entire core list is revised and updated annually. Individual superseded editions, however, are replaced automatically by the new editions at the time they are received. This paper does not purport to present the definitive core collection for biomedical libraries, and will not publish its own selection here. Rather, this paper is intended as an exposition of how such a collection is handled and utilized in this particular library. Similar collections in other institutions, having different demands on their resources and services, will require correspondingly different orientations. What we are presenting in this paper is a concept, a pragmatic concept that has worked, and worked very well for us. We hope it will prove useful for others. REFERENCES 1. STEARNS, NORMAN S., AND RATCLIFF, WENDY W. An integrated health-science core library for physicians, nurses and allied health practitioners in community hospitals. N. Engl. J. Med. 283: 1489-1498, Dec. 31, 1970. 2. BRANDON, ALFRED N. Selected list of books and
journals for the small medical library. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65: 191-215, Apr. 1977. 3. INKE, GABOR. A list of most frequently recommended medical textbooks. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 59: 589-598, Oct. 1971. 4. WEST, KELLY M.; WENDER, RUTH W.; AND MAY, RUBY S. Books in clinical practice 1971-1975; a
selected and annotated list for medical practitioners, indexed by subject and author. Postgrad. Med. 56 (7): 60-81, Dec. 1974.
The Mount Sinai Medical Center Library User Survey BY JANE S. PORT, Associate Librarian for Public Services Gustave L. and Janet W. Levy Library Mount Sinai Medical Center New York, New York
THE Gustave L. and Janet W. Levy Library at the Mount Sinai Medical Center of New York is a research resource for faculty, students, and staff of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Mount Sinai Hospital, its affiliated hospitals, and the other units in the City University of New York Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 65(2)April 1977
(CUNY). The library is located in close proximity to several other medical schools and hospitals in New York City, and to the New York Academy of Medicine Library, which is open to the public. The Levy Library has been in its present location since July 1974. Most of the collection is readily accessible in open stacks, and the facility has been praised by users for its comfortable study and public spaces. During the academic year the library is open and staffed 97.5 hours per week, including evenings and weekends. Reference librarians are on duty Monday to Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. and Saturday until 2:00 P.M. Anticipated budget cuts recently impelled the library administration to evaluate scheduling and staffing patterns in order to maximize staff during periods most suited to our primary users. We decided to find out which user groups were in the library at various periods throughout the week, and whether nonaffiliated individuals were using the collection or services to the detriment of our primary users. METHOD
The library staff involved in the survey met to discuss its purpose and method, and to prepare for anticipated problems. In order to allow for changes in use patterns due to examinations, holiday schedules, and other seasonal variations, four sample weeks between February and July 1976 were selected. In a series of brief interviews with library users during scheduled sampling periods, the staff collected and recorded the data sought. During the sample weeks, staff members interviewed every individual in the library at the following times: Monday to Friday: 10 A.M., 2 P.M., 10 P.M. Saturday: 11 A.M., 2 P.M., 8 P.M. Sunday: 2 P.M., 8 P.M. Staff explained the purpose of the survey and asked users to provide the following information: Primary affiliation: Mount Sinai CUNY Affiliated hospital Other Position: Student House staff Faculty/attending physician Other Mount Sinai employee Other 289
