The Medical Library Association's international fellowship programs.
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This article describes the two international fellowship programs administered by the International Cooperation Committee of the Medical Library Association: (1) the program supported by the Rockfeller Foundation from 1948 to 1963; (2) the Eileen R. Cunningham program, supported by Mrs. Cunningham's bequest to the association, from 1971 to date. Comments and suggestions received from Cunningham Fellows in response to a letter sent to each by the author in the summer of 1977 are listed. The cost of the fellowship program, not only in terms of financial support but also in terms of human resources, is documented. While the program receives enthusiastic support from the International Cooperation Committee and many members of MLA, the membership needs to examine its mission with regard to the training of medical librarians from other countries, to determine whether future funding is to be sought. (+info)
Reflections on the Medical Library Association's international activities.
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An overview of the Medical Library Association's past international activities is given with emphasis on the international fellowship program, international exchange of materials, participation in the International Federation of Library Associations, and international congresses on medical librarianship. Problems presented by cultural and educational differences, as well as governmental, political, and economic influences affecting international activities are enumerated. Lastly, continuation of the association's current international activities is endorsed, especially the extension of bilateral agreements with health sciences library associations of other countries, and increased activity in comparative medical librarianship. (+info)
The limits of the comprehensible: reflections on medical librarianship.
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The current state of the health sciences library field is explored with emphasis on how changes in perspective and approach may be instituted. Special attention is paid to the attitudes and skills of the individual librarian as related to institutions and organizations. (+info)
Medical librarianship: a systems perspective.
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Medical or health sciences librarianship is viewed as a system whose components are the professional school, the professional group, and the professional association. As an open system it imports energy from these components, or subsystems, and transforms this energy into professionally identifiable products. The subsystems, in influencing the character of the medical and health sciences library profession, are interdependent and interrelated. However, linkages between the subsystems are becoming defective due primarily to lack of communication, information, and feedback. Stronger and more vigorous interaction among the subsystems is needed. (+info)
From Index Catalogue to Gopher space: changes in our profession as reflected in the Handbook and CPHSL.
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A fifty-year review of the history of health sciences librarianship, as reflected in four editions of the Handbook of Medical Library Practice and its successor, Current Practice in Health Sciences Librarianship, illustrates the significant changes our profession has undergone. Publication in 1943 of the first edition of the Handbook marked an important milestone in the development of the Medical Library Association, as a group of dedicated volunteers documented standard practice and recorded useful data. Administration of health sciences libraries has moved from art to science. Responsibility for the development of collections is now the sole purview of professional librarians. Automation and bibliographic standards have revolutionized the methods for controlling and providing access to information resources. And, the means by which assistance is provided to library users, through the use of computer and telecommunications technology, has changed dramatically. (+info)
Public empowerment through accessible health information.
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The Public Library Association (PLA) is developing plans for cooperative consumer health information services. Foremost for developing this program is the need for partnerships with health agencies and mechanisms to attract grant funding. The proposed project will expand the role of public librarians to address the health information queries they receive effectively. The project plans include the use of new technologies for delivery of health information, and the provision of tools, training, and resources. (+info)
The circuit rider librarian.
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Many hospitals are unable to maintain a full-or even half-time professional librarian to support the professional and nonprofessional hospital staff, and to assist with the development of education programs. To answer this need, the Cleveland Health Sciences Library has developed the "circuit rider librarian" concept. A designated librarian from the staff visits a group of hospitals and, for a fee, provides library service which the hospital could not or would not readily supply for itself. The only limitations on the expansion of such a program are the interest of the hospitals, their geographic proximity to each other and to the resource library, and the ability of the latter to handle the increased demand. (+info)
Three who made an association: I. Sir William Osler, 1849-1919 II. George Milbry Gould, 1848-1922 III. Margaret Ridley Charlton, 1858-1931 and the founding of the Medical Library Association, Philadelphia, 1898.
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The careers and personalities of the three founders of the Medical Library Association, Sir William Osler, George Milbry Gould, and Margaret Ridley Charlton are outlined, followed by a review of their role in the founding of the association. The career of Sir William Osler is well documented in existing literature, both in medical history and medical librarianship; the biographies of George Milbry Gould and Margaret Ridley Charlton are less known, and this article describes their lives in relation to the founding of the association. The issue of responsibility for the association's founding is explored, and primary recognition is attributed to Margaret Charlton. The author attempts to follow the tradition of Harvey Cushing in his The Life of Sir William Osler in allowing the characters to speak in their own words as much as possible. (+info)