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EDITOR'S CORNER
You've all done very well! (Does anybody else watch the British sitcom ARE YOU BEING SERVED? If you do, you will recognize that quote from the decidedly doddering "Young Mr. Grace". Although I am in recovery from my addiction to that show, I now find that Mrs. Slocum, Mr. Humphrey, et al. have taken up permanent residence in my brain.)
Anyway, the result of your excellent BLABbing this month is that this is quite a long issue (about 11 pages), and I hope that you will not run out of energy before you get to the reader inquiries at the end. Jett McCann's inquiry, in particular, raises some very interesting questions that could be the basis of a fruitful discussion in these pages.
In responding to inquiries, please address your responses to both the originator and to me, so that I can include appropriate responses in a future issue.
From: Melanie Wilson, Univ of Iowa <CADMLWTS%UIAMVS@UICVM.UIC.EDU> and Luiza B. Balthazar, New York Medical College <LUIZA@NYMC.EDU>
Peter Scott, a systems person at the University of Saskatchewan Libraries, has established a web home page for publishers' catalogs. It includes over 150 publishers from Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. Publishers include Springer, Addison-Wesley, Williams & Wilkins, Elsevier, Kluwer, Butterworth, Cold Spring Harbor, and many many university presses, among others.
Access: http://www.usask.ca/~scottp/publish.html
The number of catalog items included seems to vary widely by publisher, but for many entries one can get not only bibliographic information and cost but also a view of the table of contents and even a sample of text.
(Luiza adds:) The info. varies from publisher to publisher, but one may search by au, ti, su, even keyword. Brief descriptions are available, as well as table of contents. Monographs and journals are included. For more information about this resource, contact Mr. Scott at: scottp@herald.usask.ca
From: "Melanie Wilson, Univ. of Iowa <CADMLWTS%UIAMVS@UICVM.UIC.EDU>
This item from the MEDLIB-L listserv was of interest to me and no doubt some others.
From: Gayle Williams <williaga@MLC.LIB.MI.US>
Subject: BOOK DONATION GROUPS
To: Multiple recipients of list MEDLIB-L
<MEDLIB-L@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU>
Thanks to all who answered my request for names and addresses of organizations which accept donations of medical books. I have summarized for the list.
Krishna Kittur
Information and Documentation Officer
National Instt. Of Rehabilitation Trng & Res. Olatpur, Post: Bairoi, Dist:
Cuttack
Orissa, 754010, INDIA
Thanks again to everyone. Happy Holidays!
Gayle Williams
Bi-County Community Hospital
Warren MI 48089
williaga@mlc.lib.mi.us
From: The Editor <dmorse@hsc.usc.edu>
The newsletter RESEARCH ACTIVITIES from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research notes that the GUIDELINE REPORT to accompany Clinical Practice Guideline #4 (Cataract in Adults) is now available. It is available from NTIS (PB 94-175809) for $44.50 (bound) or $17.50 (microfiche). "The GUIDELINE REPORT includes treatment recommendations for providing the highest quality of care for cataract patients, as well as supporting evidence, including information about the guideline development process and methodology, literature search methods and literature review lists, and procedures followed during peer and pilot review of the guideline."
From: Lori Davidson, InfoSource <lkdavid@paw.montana.com>
Just got this message on medlib-l today -- of interest for BLAB?
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 17:32:27 -0500
From: Marian Frear,PC-D,OHP Naturopathic College <frearm@ohsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list MEDLIB-L <MEDLIB-L@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu> Subject: alt med history
A message for librarians interested in alternative medicine and in the history of medicine: In recent years several excellent works on the history of chiropractic, homeopathy, the water cure movement, Eclectic, herbal and Chinese medicine have been published, but none on naturoapthic medicine. This void has now been filled by the newly released book Nature Doctors: Pioneers in Naturopathic Medicine, by Friedhelm Kirchfeld and Wade Boyle, ND. Friedhelm is a librarian at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, OR. Nature Doctors portrays not only the leading American representatives of naturoapthy such as Benedict Lust, Henry Lindlahr and John Bastyr, but also their famous predecessors in the European nature cure movement such as Priessnitz, Kneipp and Bismarch's personal physician, Dr. Schweninger. It makes entertaining and refreshing reading because these healers were colorful and rebellious personalities. The book is available from Medicina Biologica, 2939 NE Flanders St., Portland, OR 97232, TEL (503) 287-6775. Price $29.95 + $4 s&h.
Friedhelm Kirchfeld, MLS
NCNM Library
11231 SE Market St., Portland OR 97216
From: Richard Gedye <GEDYER@oup.co.uk>
Subject: Full text journals on CD-ROM from OUP
I wondered if you would be interested in the following brief details of developments at Oxford University Press in the publication of full text biomedical journals on CD-ROM.
>From 1995, Oxford University Press will make two journals (one
well-etablished and one new) available in full text on CD-ROM:-
a) Nucleic Acids Research will publish its 1995 (Volume 23) output in four quarterly CD-ROMs, available to all hard copy subscribers for a small extra subscription fee. Current NAR subscribers will have received a free CD-ROM with Vol 22 No 23, containing the full text of NAR in 1993, as a demonstration of what NAR on CD-ROM can offer.
b) Human Reproduction Update is a new bi-monthly review journal. Each issue will comprise one hard copy issue, plus one CD-ROM. The CD-ROM will contain the full illustrated text of the hard copy, plus an ongoing Bibliography of Human Reproduction, as well as video sequences referred to in the main text, etc.
If you already subscribe to the parent journal, Human Reproduction, you will receive Vol 1 Issue 1 (hard copy and CD-ROM ) free in January 1995. If not, and you would like a copy of the first issue, a message to the following address below will do the trick:-
Richard Gedye
Oxford University Press
Walton Street
Oxford
OX2 6DP
England
Tel: +44 1865 267785 (direct)
Fax: +44 1865 267782
E-mail: gedyer@oup.co.uk
From: Kittie Henderson, EBSCO <KITTIEH@EBSCO.COM>
Bill Leazer Retires After 25 Years in the Subscription Service Industry
Bill Leazer bid farewell to his role as Special Projects Coordinator for EBSCO's Biomedical Division when he officially retired on Dec. 31. Leazer's retirement follows a 25-year career in the subscription service industry, with his last two years spent at EBSCO.
Leazer joined EBSCO in January 1993 when EBSCO acquired Majors Scientific Subscriptions Division. F. Dixon Brooke Jr., Vice President, EBSCO Subscription Services Division General Manager, has expressed his gratitude for Leazer's valuable contributions to EBSCO. "It has been EBSCO's gain to have the opportunity to be associated with Bill Leazer."
Before Leazer worked at Majors and EBSCO, his distinguished career propelled him from coast to coast. During the 1950s, he worked for Maxwell Scientific International in New York City where he promoted Pergamon Press books in the United States and was instrumental in establishing their U.S. offices. Leazer spent the next 10 years with Springer-Verlag New York Inc. He joined their staff in 1961 and eventually became promotion manager for the Western Hemisphere.
Seeking a change of environment, Leazer traded the hustle and bustle of New York for the open plains of Dallas, Texas. He joined Majors Scientific Books Inc. in 1971, where he established their Standing Order Continuations Department. During his tenure at Majors, Leazer was manager of the Journals Division and eventually became vice president, the position he held at the time EBSCO acquired Majors Scientific Subscriptions.
Leazer said one of the things he most enjoyed about his 25 years in the subscriptions business was his time spent with librarians. "Librarians across the country have become my family, especially the medical librarians. They have all been articulate, intelligent, helpful and a lot of fun to be with. I am indeed blessed, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to have served these dear friends", Leazer said.
Leazer graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. and completed his master's degree at Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio, after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. Leazer traveled to Vienna, Austria to complete his post graduate studies at the Vienna Academy of Music.
Some of Leazer's more colorful endeavors before working in the publishing and subscription industries included assisting Quakers at a refugee camp in Traiskirchen, Austria during the Cold War and working for world-famous Patelson's Music Store, located right behind Carnegie Hall. He also had his brush with fame when he worked as an assistant seretary for actor Richard Burton for three years.
Though Leazer's retirement plans are uncertain, his ties with EBSCO will not sever. He will continue to be associated with EBSCO as a consultant.
From: Barbara Koehler, Johns Hopkins <bmk@welchgate.welch.jhu.edu>
Here at Welch Medical Library, we made a decision some years ago to cancel G&B subscriptions. A few have crept back in but we are trying to get rid of those as well. We do not want to deal with this publisher at all if we can help it. We are still getting a lot of ILL requests for these materials and are using that venue to compensate for not subscribing. This is costing quite a bit in royalty payments but not as much as subscribing would cost.
>From Deborah Sibley, University of Masss.
<Deborah=Sibley%LIBRARY%UMASS@BANYAN.UMMED.EDU>
Regarding your question on Gordon and Breach:
At the University of Massachusetts Medical Center Library, we only get 7 Gordon and Breach titles and 9 Harwood titles. They are all bill laters through our vendor. While I'm waiting to hear how (ie, level and price), we're going to be billed for 1995 issues/volumes, we are working with our Library Committee with the expectation that we will cancel all of those titles.
Two of the Harwood titles are things that we have an agreement in a corsortium to provide for the consortium. I'm expecting that at a consortial meeting next week, there will be some discussion about if the group's expectation is that we would continue to buy them even though we're sort of restrained from providing them through our regular document delivery processes. This is an area I hadn't thought we'd have to think about, but as it turns out we do! (As do other libraries in the consortium who have "ownership" responsibilities for other G&B/Harwood titles.) But then I guess one of that publishing group's intentions is to break up just such consortial agreements to share in any way each other's resources.
From: Jo Anne Boorkman, U.C. Davis <jaboorkman@ucdavis.edu>
At UC Davis Carlson Health Sciences Library, we have decided to drop the three subscriptions we have to Gordon & Breach and Harwood publications with 1996. The subscription rates for these three publications has increased beyond what is reasonable. We will be continuing to follow the US Copyright guidelines.
From: Paul Wrynn, NYU Medical Center <wrynnp01@mclb91.med.nyu.edu>
Connective Tissue Research is the only Gordon & Breach journal subscribed to by the Ehrman Medical Library. For 1995, the library received a renewal notice at a 235% price increase over 1994: the price would go from $732. to $1722. The publisher describes this as a "Network" rate, even though we are dealing with a print publication. Additionally, the publisher has indicated that renewals received after January 1, 1995 may be subject to a higher rate for the same subscription.
The library has instead decided to cancel the journal for 1995 rather than face the following costly and unnecessary difficulties:
1) at a time when library budgets in the United States routinely show increases below 5%, the lack of collegiality shown by a 235% increase appears particularly insensitive.
2) the "Network License" proposal relates to photocopying and interlibrary loan. These are already covered in the United States by the Copyright Clearing Center, where publishers are reimbursed for interlibrary loan of articles copied. With a $1.75 per page fee, Gordon & Breach have certainly availed themselves vigorously of this method of remuneration.
Additionally, the processing of an unnecessary contract would add pointless burden onto busy library staffs, costing further money for the time to process it. It just is not worth this effort for one journal
3) the contract provides that the library would agree to submit to Swiss copyright law in the event of a dispute. Since the library is already abiding by existing U.S. law, there is no reason to ask the library to abide by foreign laws. Again, for one journal, I would not even think of showing this one to our legal department: they might doubt my sanity.
An anoymous BLABber reports that there is a Gordon & Breach Hotline for dispatch information on G&B titles. The number is (201) 643-7500. You enter the ISSN of the title followed by the pound sign, and you will hear the last issue published and the expected publication date of the next issue.
INQUIRIES INQUIRIES INQUIRIES INQUIRIES
From: Paul Wakeford, U.C. San Francisco <wakeford@library.ucsf.edu>
I have a topic I'd like some info on....what kind of business, if any, do libraries do with/through their campus bookstores? I imagine some biomedical libraries might work in conjunction with the larger campus libraries. I just don't have any sense of this, but suspect there may be some possibly untapped benefits.
From: Pamela Rose, University of Buffalo HSLMELA@UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU
The Health Sciences Library, University of Buffalo, is beginning to look at how we can better serve our patrons by making the information gathering process less intense.
We would appreciate your taking time to answer two questions:
1. Has anyone consolidated their forms (ie: ILL, material requests, missing book, etc.)into a smaller number of forms?? If yes, would you share them with us??
2. Has anyone made their library forms, consolidated or not, available electronically? If so, would you share them with us??
Thanking you in advance!
From: Linda Rosenstein, U. Pennsylvania <rosensteinl@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
Is it my imagination or are new editions being published at an increasingly rapid rate? It seems as though the time between editions of medical books is decreasing. Are there any "hard" facts from the vendors or publishers who read this publication?
From: Helen Seaton, Arizona State University <ICHJS@ASUVM.INRE.ASU.EDU>
Have you ever heard of a publisher named GR Press, Inc., P.O. Box 4116, Winter Park, FL? I received some flyers from them and there are a couple of titles that look interesting. However, since I have never heard of them before, I felt a little nervous about ordering. The books are fairly expensive
Thanks.
From: Jett McCann, Medical College of Georgia <JMCCANN@mail.mcg.edu>
The Greenblatt Library at the Medical College of Georgia has not had a serials collection budget increase since 1989. This has resulted in reducing an already very small serials collection (1,600 titles in 1989) to under 1,100 for 1995. This number includes all subscriptions, monographic serial titles, all standing orders, and library tools (Books in Print, Ulrich*s, Index Medicus, CINAHL, various index and abstract subscriptions). All comparisons to benchmark institutions show us woefully below anyone else who, like us, is a state supported, academic health sciences library supporting schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, graduate studies, and allied health sciences. The other library collections, books, media, etc., have also been seriously affected, although end-of-year *spare* money has occasionally been available to add to the book budget. Book money has also been shifted in some years to the serials budget to cover inflationary costs, with the result that even with the small serials collection, our annual expenditure proportions average more than 90% serials and the rest for all other collections.
As Head of Serials and Government Documents, I have been stating that we were already very lean in 1989 (smaller than our peers), and now are well below lean, whatever that means. We of course provide access to interlibrary loan and document delivery services, but charge our users for articles on a cost-recovery basis, so access vs ownership is a very real issue, especially for schools, departments and students with no funds to pay for access. We are *stand alone* - no academic university next door which would house some of the titles (business, education, social sciences) which our users need. So much for the background woe-is-me information.
In pursuing alternative financing arrangements and solutions, we have been challenged to come up with a list of what should be considered a core collection (journals, books, and media) for an academic health sciences library - something along the lines of the Brandon-Hill list, only for schools including teaching, patient care, and research activities. In fact, one suggestion has been to have a core collection that the state would pay for, and a research collection, to be funded from a portion of grants/research dollars brought onto campus. We currently do not directly receive any of the grant/research overhead dollars. I know several efforts have been attempted to identify serial titles as research vs clinical, and those are a help as a starting point (Mark Funk, Danny Jones, Lynn Fortney).
I have spoken with some collection development librarians, and no one has ever heard of an academic health sciences core collection list, especially for journals. One suggested it would be every English title in Index Medicus/MedLine, which would be about 1,600 titles. It has also been proposed that the research journal collection would not necessarily mean ownership, but access via something like ADONIS, which is considered heavily research oriented, with the research portion of the collection dollars paying for the system and the articles used. All such ideas are on the table as part of the discussion.
My questions:
-Has anyone ever heard of a core collection list for an academic health sciences library? (books, serials, and media) -Has anyone done any work that they would care to share? -Has anyone got any advice? My thanks in advance.
| The BIOMEDICAL LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS BULLETIN (ISSN: 1064-699X) is published
by
the Medical Library Association's Collection Development Section with the
cooperation of the University of Southern California Norris Medical Library.
BLAB is published more or less monthly, and includes items of news and opinion
contributed by its readers concerning biomedical library acquisitions.
Editor: David H. Morse: dmorse@hsc.usc.edu. Paper mail: USC Norris Medical Library, 2003 Zonal Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033. Telephone: (213) 342-1134. The BULLETIN is distributed free of charge, in electronic form only.
Requests for subscriptions and all editorial correspondence should be sent to the editor <dmorse@hsc.usc.edu>. | |