Planning a new library in an age of transition: the Washington University School of Medicine Library and Biomedical Communications Center By Susan Crawford, Ph.D. Director and Professor of Biomedical Communication
Barbara Halbrook, B.S. Deputy Director Washington University School of Medicine Library Box 8132, 660 South Euclid Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63110
In an era of great technological and socioeconomic changes, the Washington University School of Medicine conceptualized and built its first Library and Biomedical Communications Center in seventyeight years. The planning process, evolution of the electronic library, and translation of functions into operating spaces are discussed. Since 1983, when the project was approved, a whole range of information technologies and services have emerged. The authors consider the kind of library that would operate in a setting where people can do their own searches, order data and materials through an electronic network, analyze and manage information, and use software to create their own publications.
Twenty-seven years ago, the University of Chicago Graduate Library School appointed its first physicist as dean. A few months later, the cover of the school's Library Quarterly featured fire and hammer shattering a large rock [1]. To many in graduate training at the time, the message was that the foundations of a profession that began with recorded history were being demolished. The prophecy was disturbing, and adjusting to a quantitative view of the world was a severe discontinuity. But the evolution has been relentless, and technology has changed the information field rapidly and profoundly. By the 1980s, the technological life cycle of personal computers-the time between introduction of faster, more powerful processors-was estimated at roughly two to five years and decreasing [2]. Planning a new library in an age of transition is a formidable task. In July 1989, the Washington University Medical School (WUMS) Library opened its first Library and Biomedical Communications Center in seventy-eight years. Developing the center entailed conceptualizing what the biomedical communications system might be like in the next ten to twenty years and translating functions into operating spaces. Since 1983, when the planning process started, a whole range of new information technologies had emerged. For the present, the library would conBull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
tinue doing all the things it has always done: acquire new books and journals, process and deliver documents, and retrieve information from both electronic and published sources. It was also anticipated that new resources and services would grow parallel to the present library and would require new relationships and priorities.
Why a library? Factions within the medical center wanted an animal care center, a neurosciences building, an outpatient office building, and additional parking facilities. Why a library? Factions within the medical center wanted an animal care center, a neurosciences building, an outpatient office building, and additional parking facilities. Gaining legitimacy culminated into a zero-sum game in which funds and space won by one faction would result in loss by another. Besides, some argued that the library of the future "will be a logical device instead of a physical location" [3]. As long as the school continued to be accredited, the total 29,000 square feet of library space and collections stored in three locations (one of which was seven 283
Crawford and Halbrook
miles away) were status quo and undisturbed for over twenty-one years. In 1982, after a year of trials, the staff concluded that decisions are made by people and therefore alterable. At this point, strategy turned from library concerns to convincing faculty and administration that it was in their interest to have a new library with new information technology to support their programs. When the network of friends reached a reasonable threshold, the library asked senior faculty to introduce a resolution before the governing Executive Faculty to provide that the next building priority would be a new library. A year and a half later, the resolution was adopted.
The staff first decided where it wanted to go, assessed the information environment, then determined what was needed to meet the objectives.
financial support, and its information technology and library environments. The WUMS library self-assessment covered its governance, physical plant, resources, programs, and status of automation and technology. Since 1981, the library has had a computerized, integrated library system which, with continuous enhancements, was transformed into an information system with a wide range of services. The network infrastructure for the medical center was in place for communicating within and outside the university community.
The new Library and Biomedical Communications Center was envisioned as a node within the worldwide information network. It would be a seamless gateway through which faculty, students, and the community could access and manage information, interact with one another, and interface with other computers.
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Three documents that were among the most influential in health sciences library development during the 1980s guided the planning process. Matheson and Cooper's integrated academic information management system (IAIMS) called for the integration of information systems in medical centers to support research, teaching, patient care, and administration [4]. The GPEP report emphasized the development of independent learning skills that would endure throughout a lifetime [5]. The joint AAHSLD-MLA report Challenge to Action provided a framework for strategic planning and self-assessment, challenging librarians to take advantage of new opportunities for change [6]. The staff first decided where it wanted to go, assessed the information environment, then determined what was needed to meet the objectives. The WUMS Library and Biomedical Communications Center supports programs of some 16,000 faculty, staff, and students in the School of Medicine and the medical center. The library carries out this mission by * maintaining a strong resource collection with a wide range of media; * providing support services for retrieval, delivery, and management of information; * applying new information technology and decision-support systems; and * educating faculty and students in using technology for self-directed learning. The assessment of the medical center included its major functions and activities, its organization and 284
The new Library and Biomedical Communications Center was envisioned as a node within the worldwide information network. It would be a seamless gateway through which faculty, students, and the community could access and manage information, interact with one another, and interface with other computers. A network of knowledge workstations in the library, the medical center, and the community would access databases distributed among the family of institutions. The ultimate goal was to develop a new framework for organizing knowledge and supporting scholarship that would enable the medical center to reach the universe of knowledge in one step. These objectives were translated into a Library and Biomedical Communications Center with three major components: * A Biomedical Communications Center that brings together new information technology and different forms of media. These include computer-assisted instruction, decision-support systems, machine-readable databases, artificial intelligence-based systems, and software for data analysis and management. At the heart of the center is the media/computer laboratory that includes some fifty computer workstations for retrieving, using, and managing information. * A Distributed Knowledge Network that integrates information sources in the medical center and links local, national, and international computers and databases. * A health sciences library that acquires, processes, and delivers information resources that include monographic, journal, rare books, and archival collections. Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Planning a new library
ARCHITECTURAL SUMMARY The design of the building was derived in part from the nature of the site-a courtyard with buildings on three sides and the fourth side facing westward toward a large park. To the east, a seven-level atrium connects the library with the preclinical sciences buildings. The concrete and glass structure sits on a foundation of bedrock one level below the main floor. On entering the library, one is greeted by the public services area with a large circular staircase in an atrium that soars over 100 feet (Figure 1). A profile of the eight-level Library and Biomedical Communications Center is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1 Seven levels of balconies overlook the atrium
Flexibility and changing needs were major considerations in the building design. There are few permanent interior load-bearing walls, and the book stacks are freestanding so that they can be rearranged. Flexibility and changing needs were major considerations in the building design. There are few permanent interior load-bearing walls, and the book stacks are freestanding so that they can be rearranged. Cable trays and conduit channels beneath the floors are easy to access, and additional cabling for electric power and telecommunications may be added. Conduits for electrical wiring and for communication cables are provided in each interior column and along exterior walls. A 100-foot, stone walkway leads to the entrance of the library, as shown in the floor plan for the public services areas on level 1 (Figure 3). A pioneer in information technology, WUMS library began applying computers to library operations more than twenty years ago. Initially, they were used only for management functions such as acquisitions, cataloging, and serials control. In the second phase, these functions were integrated to produce a single, machine-readable database that was accessible through a campuswide telecommunications network. These developments paved the way for the third phase-a network of knowledge workstations distributed in departments of the medical center for accessing, interactive manipulating, and selective downloading of data. During 1985-1987, Washington University's telecommunications network was completed through support from the Digital Equipment Corporation and the National Institutes of Health. As shown in Figure 4, the network has three components: broadband cable that links departments of the medical center, microwave that links with the main campus 3.5 miles Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
away, and satellite that links with outside organizations. The library is connected to this network through computers of the school's Medical Computing Facility. Long limited by physical conditions, WUMS library can now respond to needs of the medical center for services and technologies. A four-year strategic plan was developed for equipping the Biomedical Communications Center and the Distributed Knowledge Network. Among the ten goals are
* to provide a state-of-the art computer teaching and media center; * to progressively upgrade and enhance equipment for the library's information system, including the development of knowledge workstations; * to provide audiovisual production and editing facilities for the medical center; and 285
Crawford and Halbrook Figure 2 Profile of the eight-level Ubrary and Biomedical Communications Center
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Figure 5 shows components of the Biomedical Communications Center, which is situated on level 6. The Media/Computer Center includes some fifty workstations to access and retrieve information, send messages, use a range of media, process information, download information onto disks, use and test support systems and learning tools, and administer online examinations. There are five group study rooms for meetings, for viewing, and for telecommunica286
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tions. It also includes 180 linear feet of shelving for equipment, software, and audiovisual media. For group instruction, two classrooms, with audiovisual equipment, seat over 100 persons or two groups of fifty. Five scholars' offices will be equipped with terminals for visiting faculty. The center occupies a total of 12,144 square feet. IAIMS at Washington University, a highly decentralized environment, will likely take a route similar to that of medical centers with large, autonomous departments [7]. The approach will entail demonstrated use and step-wise adoption, building upon the Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Planning a new library
Figure 3 Level 1: A stone walkway leads to the entrance of the library and the public services areas
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LEVEL particular strengths of the medical school. For the present, the goal of integration in this setting will mean the ability to access the numerous research, teaching, and patient care databases, rather than incorporation under a central unit. THE LIBRARY COLLECTIONS In planning space for the collections, the staff worked on the assumption that monographs and serials would Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
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continue to increase at their present rate or slightly accelerate until other forms of storage became widely used. Growth of the medical center archives would accelerate, due to the presence of a visible and new facility to which people are attracted to make donations. The archival collections would be housed in their original form, would not become outdated or superseded, and would not be purged periodically. The rare books collection would grow slowly but increase by about 60% during 1990, when the St. Louis 287
Crawford and Halbrook Figure 4 Telecommunications network at the Medical Center
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As three collections housed in different locations needed to be interfied with provision for twentyyear growth, a computer program was written to determine the distribution of titles. An uncomplicated shelving scheme was adopted: all monographs are on the lower level, and journals are on levels 2, 3, and 4. Journal sequence is alphabetical by title, continuing on succeeding floors. As three collections housed in different locations needed to be interfiled with provision for twenty-year growth, a computer program was written to determine the distribution of titles. All stacks are open and accessible with the exception of the rare books and archival collections. Each floor is interspersed with reading areas and provided with photocopying facilities. The Archives and Rare Books Division is located on level 7 (Figure 6). The History of Medicine Gallery with lighted glass cases built into the wall leads to the Rare Books Reading Room. There are twenty brassscreened cases lining the reading room for displaying the choicest of the library's rare books collections, 288
them the Bernard Becker Collection in Ophthalmology and Optics. Furnishings are earth toned and contemporary. Beyond the reading room are storage areas that include over 6,000 linear feet of special shelving for archival records and historical medical artifacts. For the rare books collection there are 2,500 linear feet. Within the storage area is a maximum security chamber. These rooms are equipped with special temperature and humidity controls and a halon gas fire extinguishing system. Offices for the archivist, the rare books librarian, and support staff overlook Forest Park, the medical center, and the skyline of the city's Central West End. There is provision for a restoration laboratory with ample work space. The total area for the division covers 8,592 square feet. Also on level 7 is the King Faculty Center, a 2,456square-foot space where faculty and staff can meet in small groups, hold lectures or receptions, and host dinners for up to 120 persons. As the medical center is a confluence of autonomous organizations and the library is a unifying force, an area carpet is being created by a St. Louis artist to reflect this relationship. among
A PLACE FOR STUDY AND INTERACTION In recalling early experiences, Evens noted that "libraries are more than books and librarians and more Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Planning a new library Figure 5 The Biomedical Communications Center ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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than computers and networks ... they should serve as a meeting place, a place to work and occasionally pl;ay, and a symbol of academic excellence" [8]. Others have agreed that, although library and information access may become decentralized, a public scholarly space for study and for interacting is essential in a university [9]. On the matter of layout, it has been found that users generally like to study in small areas designed for individual use [10]. Meier's recommenBull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
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dation that the library should be examined as a system of interconnecting settings, in which a variety of behaviors occur, was an important consideration in planning [11]. Six months of operation have confirmed that the library is indeed a place for faculty and staff to get away from pressures. The library seems busiest in late evening as students from many divisions and colleges converge. In a place of large, dimly lit reading rooms filled 289
Crawford and Halbrook Figure 6 History of Medicine: Archives and Rare Books
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with dining room-sized oak tables, user reading spaces have been scaled to human dimensions. Spaces are provided for reading, thinking, communicating with computers, and using media, alone or in small groups. There is also space for breaking intensive periods of concentration by moving to an esthetic view or by meeting with colleagues in one of many lounges. Study areas are, therefore, distributed throughout the 290
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building overlooking the atrium or the 3.5-mile-long park. For those who wish privacy, there are two types of study carrels, each with special lighting and some with tilted book holders. Tables that usually seat two persons are interspersed with informal areas (Figure 7). Five group study rooms seat six to eight persons. All spaces are landscaped and most of the furnishings are custom-made. Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Planning a new library Figure 7 Study areas interspersed throughout the library 'w;.
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DISCUSSION Planning a library is much like creating a work of art. The form and functions reflected in glass and stone are like a Rorschach test-they tell a lot about the planners. The building mirrors a world view and a perception of the profession-who they are and what they do. Parsimony in experimental design as in architecture or the esthetic curve of a staircase are to be admired. But mistakes are also paraded before the users who are the first to point them out. Even political compromises are prominent in a location, a color, or a space. And what kind of a world will this be? Matheson has called the vision a "clouded crystal ball" [12]. On the speed of advances in modern science, Koshland cites Sydney Brenner "that a modern computer hovers between the obsolescent and the nonexistent." He goes on to say that "the most unsettling feature of science is probably the rapidity at which it changes Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
cultural values ... faster than the social system can accommodate to such change" [13].
Parsimony in experimental design as in architecture or the esthetic curve of a staircase are to be admired. But mistakes are also paraded before the users who are the first to point them out. Architecture reflects the time we live in. What are the enduring values and functions of a library? If people can do their own searches, order data and materials through an electronic network, use software to create publications, and make these available elsewhere, where does the library fit in? In many settings today, the library is viewed as one component among distributed databases, specialized decision-support systems, and a knowledge network. What 291
Crawford and Halbrook
kind of spaces are needed? Libraries move into the future with a personal and rational vision, time-bound as it is, and leave some room for the unknown. REFERENCES 1. WINGER H. The cover design. Libr Q 1965 Jan;35(1): cover, 61. 2. DEAN N. A hard look at hardware. OCLC Newsletter 1989 Nov/Dec;182:15-22. 3. HooKER H. Campus wide computer network. Washington University Record 1988 Sep 1;13:4-5. 4. MATHESON NW, COOPER JAD. Academic information in the academic health science center: roles for the library in information management. J Med Educ 1982 Oct;57(10, pt. 2):1-93. 5. Physicians for the twenty-first century; the GPEP report. Washington, DC: Association of American Medical Colleges, 1984.
6. AsSOCIATION OF ACADEMIC HEALTH SCIENCEs LIBRARY DIRECTORS/MEDICAL LIBRARY AssOCiAI1ON JOINT TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP GUIDELINES FOR ACADEMIC HEALTH SCIENcEs LiBRARIES. Challenge to action: planning and evaluation guides for academic health sciences libraries. Chicago: Medical Library Association, 1986. 7. DEAN, op. cit. 8. EvENs RG. The structure and function of libraries in an electronic world. Presentation to Washignton University School of Medicine alumni. St. Louis: May 6, 1989. 9. LEwIs DW. Inventing the electronic library. Coll Res Libr 1988 Jul;49(4):291-304. 10. LUSHINGTON N, MILLS WN, JR. Libraries designed for users: a planning handbook. Hamden, CT: Library Professional Publications, 1980:143. 11. MEIER R. Information input overload: features of growth in communications-oriented institutions. Libri 1963;13(1): 1-44.
292
12. MATHESON NW. A clouded crystal ball and the library profession. Bull Med Libr Assoc 1977 Jan;65(1):1-5. 13. KOSHLAND D. To see ourselves as others see us. Science 1990 Jan 5;247:9.
Received February 1990; accepted February 1990 APPENDIX Library planning and construction data Architect
Murphy, Downey, Wofford and Richman Bannes-Shaughnessy, Inc. 114,075 83,055 $16,200,000 $10,560,000 1,900,000
Contractor Gross square feet Net square feet Project cost Construction Furnishings Linear feet of shelving Main book/journal collectior (for 420,000 volumes) 93,073 Archives and rare books 6,250 Public seating (number of seatEs) 160 Study tables 94 Carrels Lounges 137 Multimedia workstations 50 Classrooms 100 30 Group study rooms October 26, 1987 Groundbreaking Opening July 1989
Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Barbara Halbrook, B.S. Deputy Director Washington University School of Medicine Library Box 8132, 660 South Euclid Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63110
In an era of great technological and socioeconomic changes, the Washington University School of Medicine conceptualized and built its first Library and Biomedical Communications Center in seventyeight years. The planning process, evolution of the electronic library, and translation of functions into operating spaces are discussed. Since 1983, when the project was approved, a whole range of information technologies and services have emerged. The authors consider the kind of library that would operate in a setting where people can do their own searches, order data and materials through an electronic network, analyze and manage information, and use software to create their own publications.
Twenty-seven years ago, the University of Chicago Graduate Library School appointed its first physicist as dean. A few months later, the cover of the school's Library Quarterly featured fire and hammer shattering a large rock [1]. To many in graduate training at the time, the message was that the foundations of a profession that began with recorded history were being demolished. The prophecy was disturbing, and adjusting to a quantitative view of the world was a severe discontinuity. But the evolution has been relentless, and technology has changed the information field rapidly and profoundly. By the 1980s, the technological life cycle of personal computers-the time between introduction of faster, more powerful processors-was estimated at roughly two to five years and decreasing [2]. Planning a new library in an age of transition is a formidable task. In July 1989, the Washington University Medical School (WUMS) Library opened its first Library and Biomedical Communications Center in seventy-eight years. Developing the center entailed conceptualizing what the biomedical communications system might be like in the next ten to twenty years and translating functions into operating spaces. Since 1983, when the planning process started, a whole range of new information technologies had emerged. For the present, the library would conBull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
tinue doing all the things it has always done: acquire new books and journals, process and deliver documents, and retrieve information from both electronic and published sources. It was also anticipated that new resources and services would grow parallel to the present library and would require new relationships and priorities.
Why a library? Factions within the medical center wanted an animal care center, a neurosciences building, an outpatient office building, and additional parking facilities. Why a library? Factions within the medical center wanted an animal care center, a neurosciences building, an outpatient office building, and additional parking facilities. Gaining legitimacy culminated into a zero-sum game in which funds and space won by one faction would result in loss by another. Besides, some argued that the library of the future "will be a logical device instead of a physical location" [3]. As long as the school continued to be accredited, the total 29,000 square feet of library space and collections stored in three locations (one of which was seven 283
Crawford and Halbrook
miles away) were status quo and undisturbed for over twenty-one years. In 1982, after a year of trials, the staff concluded that decisions are made by people and therefore alterable. At this point, strategy turned from library concerns to convincing faculty and administration that it was in their interest to have a new library with new information technology to support their programs. When the network of friends reached a reasonable threshold, the library asked senior faculty to introduce a resolution before the governing Executive Faculty to provide that the next building priority would be a new library. A year and a half later, the resolution was adopted.
The staff first decided where it wanted to go, assessed the information environment, then determined what was needed to meet the objectives.
financial support, and its information technology and library environments. The WUMS library self-assessment covered its governance, physical plant, resources, programs, and status of automation and technology. Since 1981, the library has had a computerized, integrated library system which, with continuous enhancements, was transformed into an information system with a wide range of services. The network infrastructure for the medical center was in place for communicating within and outside the university community.
The new Library and Biomedical Communications Center was envisioned as a node within the worldwide information network. It would be a seamless gateway through which faculty, students, and the community could access and manage information, interact with one another, and interface with other computers.
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Three documents that were among the most influential in health sciences library development during the 1980s guided the planning process. Matheson and Cooper's integrated academic information management system (IAIMS) called for the integration of information systems in medical centers to support research, teaching, patient care, and administration [4]. The GPEP report emphasized the development of independent learning skills that would endure throughout a lifetime [5]. The joint AAHSLD-MLA report Challenge to Action provided a framework for strategic planning and self-assessment, challenging librarians to take advantage of new opportunities for change [6]. The staff first decided where it wanted to go, assessed the information environment, then determined what was needed to meet the objectives. The WUMS Library and Biomedical Communications Center supports programs of some 16,000 faculty, staff, and students in the School of Medicine and the medical center. The library carries out this mission by * maintaining a strong resource collection with a wide range of media; * providing support services for retrieval, delivery, and management of information; * applying new information technology and decision-support systems; and * educating faculty and students in using technology for self-directed learning. The assessment of the medical center included its major functions and activities, its organization and 284
The new Library and Biomedical Communications Center was envisioned as a node within the worldwide information network. It would be a seamless gateway through which faculty, students, and the community could access and manage information, interact with one another, and interface with other computers. A network of knowledge workstations in the library, the medical center, and the community would access databases distributed among the family of institutions. The ultimate goal was to develop a new framework for organizing knowledge and supporting scholarship that would enable the medical center to reach the universe of knowledge in one step. These objectives were translated into a Library and Biomedical Communications Center with three major components: * A Biomedical Communications Center that brings together new information technology and different forms of media. These include computer-assisted instruction, decision-support systems, machine-readable databases, artificial intelligence-based systems, and software for data analysis and management. At the heart of the center is the media/computer laboratory that includes some fifty computer workstations for retrieving, using, and managing information. * A Distributed Knowledge Network that integrates information sources in the medical center and links local, national, and international computers and databases. * A health sciences library that acquires, processes, and delivers information resources that include monographic, journal, rare books, and archival collections. Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Planning a new library
ARCHITECTURAL SUMMARY The design of the building was derived in part from the nature of the site-a courtyard with buildings on three sides and the fourth side facing westward toward a large park. To the east, a seven-level atrium connects the library with the preclinical sciences buildings. The concrete and glass structure sits on a foundation of bedrock one level below the main floor. On entering the library, one is greeted by the public services area with a large circular staircase in an atrium that soars over 100 feet (Figure 1). A profile of the eight-level Library and Biomedical Communications Center is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1 Seven levels of balconies overlook the atrium
Flexibility and changing needs were major considerations in the building design. There are few permanent interior load-bearing walls, and the book stacks are freestanding so that they can be rearranged. Flexibility and changing needs were major considerations in the building design. There are few permanent interior load-bearing walls, and the book stacks are freestanding so that they can be rearranged. Cable trays and conduit channels beneath the floors are easy to access, and additional cabling for electric power and telecommunications may be added. Conduits for electrical wiring and for communication cables are provided in each interior column and along exterior walls. A 100-foot, stone walkway leads to the entrance of the library, as shown in the floor plan for the public services areas on level 1 (Figure 3). A pioneer in information technology, WUMS library began applying computers to library operations more than twenty years ago. Initially, they were used only for management functions such as acquisitions, cataloging, and serials control. In the second phase, these functions were integrated to produce a single, machine-readable database that was accessible through a campuswide telecommunications network. These developments paved the way for the third phase-a network of knowledge workstations distributed in departments of the medical center for accessing, interactive manipulating, and selective downloading of data. During 1985-1987, Washington University's telecommunications network was completed through support from the Digital Equipment Corporation and the National Institutes of Health. As shown in Figure 4, the network has three components: broadband cable that links departments of the medical center, microwave that links with the main campus 3.5 miles Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
away, and satellite that links with outside organizations. The library is connected to this network through computers of the school's Medical Computing Facility. Long limited by physical conditions, WUMS library can now respond to needs of the medical center for services and technologies. A four-year strategic plan was developed for equipping the Biomedical Communications Center and the Distributed Knowledge Network. Among the ten goals are
* to provide a state-of-the art computer teaching and media center; * to progressively upgrade and enhance equipment for the library's information system, including the development of knowledge workstations; * to provide audiovisual production and editing facilities for the medical center; and 285
Crawford and Halbrook Figure 2 Profile of the eight-level Ubrary and Biomedical Communications Center
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Figure 5 shows components of the Biomedical Communications Center, which is situated on level 6. The Media/Computer Center includes some fifty workstations to access and retrieve information, send messages, use a range of media, process information, download information onto disks, use and test support systems and learning tools, and administer online examinations. There are five group study rooms for meetings, for viewing, and for telecommunica286
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tions. It also includes 180 linear feet of shelving for equipment, software, and audiovisual media. For group instruction, two classrooms, with audiovisual equipment, seat over 100 persons or two groups of fifty. Five scholars' offices will be equipped with terminals for visiting faculty. The center occupies a total of 12,144 square feet. IAIMS at Washington University, a highly decentralized environment, will likely take a route similar to that of medical centers with large, autonomous departments [7]. The approach will entail demonstrated use and step-wise adoption, building upon the Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Planning a new library
Figure 3 Level 1: A stone walkway leads to the entrance of the library and the public services areas
I
LEVEL particular strengths of the medical school. For the present, the goal of integration in this setting will mean the ability to access the numerous research, teaching, and patient care databases, rather than incorporation under a central unit. THE LIBRARY COLLECTIONS In planning space for the collections, the staff worked on the assumption that monographs and serials would Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
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continue to increase at their present rate or slightly accelerate until other forms of storage became widely used. Growth of the medical center archives would accelerate, due to the presence of a visible and new facility to which people are attracted to make donations. The archival collections would be housed in their original form, would not become outdated or superseded, and would not be purged periodically. The rare books collection would grow slowly but increase by about 60% during 1990, when the St. Louis 287
Crawford and Halbrook Figure 4 Telecommunications network at the Medical Center
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Metropolitan Medical Society Library and the School of Dental Medicine collections would be added to the WUMS library.
As three collections housed in different locations needed to be interfied with provision for twentyyear growth, a computer program was written to determine the distribution of titles. An uncomplicated shelving scheme was adopted: all monographs are on the lower level, and journals are on levels 2, 3, and 4. Journal sequence is alphabetical by title, continuing on succeeding floors. As three collections housed in different locations needed to be interfiled with provision for twenty-year growth, a computer program was written to determine the distribution of titles. All stacks are open and accessible with the exception of the rare books and archival collections. Each floor is interspersed with reading areas and provided with photocopying facilities. The Archives and Rare Books Division is located on level 7 (Figure 6). The History of Medicine Gallery with lighted glass cases built into the wall leads to the Rare Books Reading Room. There are twenty brassscreened cases lining the reading room for displaying the choicest of the library's rare books collections, 288
them the Bernard Becker Collection in Ophthalmology and Optics. Furnishings are earth toned and contemporary. Beyond the reading room are storage areas that include over 6,000 linear feet of special shelving for archival records and historical medical artifacts. For the rare books collection there are 2,500 linear feet. Within the storage area is a maximum security chamber. These rooms are equipped with special temperature and humidity controls and a halon gas fire extinguishing system. Offices for the archivist, the rare books librarian, and support staff overlook Forest Park, the medical center, and the skyline of the city's Central West End. There is provision for a restoration laboratory with ample work space. The total area for the division covers 8,592 square feet. Also on level 7 is the King Faculty Center, a 2,456square-foot space where faculty and staff can meet in small groups, hold lectures or receptions, and host dinners for up to 120 persons. As the medical center is a confluence of autonomous organizations and the library is a unifying force, an area carpet is being created by a St. Louis artist to reflect this relationship. among
A PLACE FOR STUDY AND INTERACTION In recalling early experiences, Evens noted that "libraries are more than books and librarians and more Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Planning a new library Figure 5 The Biomedical Communications Center ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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than computers and networks ... they should serve as a meeting place, a place to work and occasionally pl;ay, and a symbol of academic excellence" [8]. Others have agreed that, although library and information access may become decentralized, a public scholarly space for study and for interacting is essential in a university [9]. On the matter of layout, it has been found that users generally like to study in small areas designed for individual use [10]. Meier's recommenBull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
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dation that the library should be examined as a system of interconnecting settings, in which a variety of behaviors occur, was an important consideration in planning [11]. Six months of operation have confirmed that the library is indeed a place for faculty and staff to get away from pressures. The library seems busiest in late evening as students from many divisions and colleges converge. In a place of large, dimly lit reading rooms filled 289
Crawford and Halbrook Figure 6 History of Medicine: Archives and Rare Books
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with dining room-sized oak tables, user reading spaces have been scaled to human dimensions. Spaces are provided for reading, thinking, communicating with computers, and using media, alone or in small groups. There is also space for breaking intensive periods of concentration by moving to an esthetic view or by meeting with colleagues in one of many lounges. Study areas are, therefore, distributed throughout the 290
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building overlooking the atrium or the 3.5-mile-long park. For those who wish privacy, there are two types of study carrels, each with special lighting and some with tilted book holders. Tables that usually seat two persons are interspersed with informal areas (Figure 7). Five group study rooms seat six to eight persons. All spaces are landscaped and most of the furnishings are custom-made. Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
Planning a new library Figure 7 Study areas interspersed throughout the library 'w;.
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DISCUSSION Planning a library is much like creating a work of art. The form and functions reflected in glass and stone are like a Rorschach test-they tell a lot about the planners. The building mirrors a world view and a perception of the profession-who they are and what they do. Parsimony in experimental design as in architecture or the esthetic curve of a staircase are to be admired. But mistakes are also paraded before the users who are the first to point them out. Even political compromises are prominent in a location, a color, or a space. And what kind of a world will this be? Matheson has called the vision a "clouded crystal ball" [12]. On the speed of advances in modern science, Koshland cites Sydney Brenner "that a modern computer hovers between the obsolescent and the nonexistent." He goes on to say that "the most unsettling feature of science is probably the rapidity at which it changes Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
cultural values ... faster than the social system can accommodate to such change" [13].
Parsimony in experimental design as in architecture or the esthetic curve of a staircase are to be admired. But mistakes are also paraded before the users who are the first to point them out. Architecture reflects the time we live in. What are the enduring values and functions of a library? If people can do their own searches, order data and materials through an electronic network, use software to create publications, and make these available elsewhere, where does the library fit in? In many settings today, the library is viewed as one component among distributed databases, specialized decision-support systems, and a knowledge network. What 291
Crawford and Halbrook
kind of spaces are needed? Libraries move into the future with a personal and rational vision, time-bound as it is, and leave some room for the unknown. REFERENCES 1. WINGER H. The cover design. Libr Q 1965 Jan;35(1): cover, 61. 2. DEAN N. A hard look at hardware. OCLC Newsletter 1989 Nov/Dec;182:15-22. 3. HooKER H. Campus wide computer network. Washington University Record 1988 Sep 1;13:4-5. 4. MATHESON NW, COOPER JAD. Academic information in the academic health science center: roles for the library in information management. J Med Educ 1982 Oct;57(10, pt. 2):1-93. 5. Physicians for the twenty-first century; the GPEP report. Washington, DC: Association of American Medical Colleges, 1984.
6. AsSOCIATION OF ACADEMIC HEALTH SCIENCEs LIBRARY DIRECTORS/MEDICAL LIBRARY AssOCiAI1ON JOINT TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP GUIDELINES FOR ACADEMIC HEALTH SCIENcEs LiBRARIES. Challenge to action: planning and evaluation guides for academic health sciences libraries. Chicago: Medical Library Association, 1986. 7. DEAN, op. cit. 8. EvENs RG. The structure and function of libraries in an electronic world. Presentation to Washignton University School of Medicine alumni. St. Louis: May 6, 1989. 9. LEwIs DW. Inventing the electronic library. Coll Res Libr 1988 Jul;49(4):291-304. 10. LUSHINGTON N, MILLS WN, JR. Libraries designed for users: a planning handbook. Hamden, CT: Library Professional Publications, 1980:143. 11. MEIER R. Information input overload: features of growth in communications-oriented institutions. Libri 1963;13(1): 1-44.
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12. MATHESON NW. A clouded crystal ball and the library profession. Bull Med Libr Assoc 1977 Jan;65(1):1-5. 13. KOSHLAND D. To see ourselves as others see us. Science 1990 Jan 5;247:9.
Received February 1990; accepted February 1990 APPENDIX Library planning and construction data Architect
Murphy, Downey, Wofford and Richman Bannes-Shaughnessy, Inc. 114,075 83,055 $16,200,000 $10,560,000 1,900,000
Contractor Gross square feet Net square feet Project cost Construction Furnishings Linear feet of shelving Main book/journal collectior (for 420,000 volumes) 93,073 Archives and rare books 6,250 Public seating (number of seatEs) 160 Study tables 94 Carrels Lounges 137 Multimedia workstations 50 Classrooms 100 30 Group study rooms October 26, 1987 Groundbreaking Opening July 1989
Bull Med Libr Assoc 78(3) July 1990
