Message-Id: <199608061553.RAA25596@mail.uni-muenster.de>
From: "Oliver Obst" <obsto@uni-muenster.de>
To: medibib-l@MEDSUN08.uni-muenster.de
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 1996 17:57:44 +0100
Subject: Vierteljaehrliches AGMB-Mitteilungsblatt erwuenscht ?
Liebe Medibibler,
als ich 1994 Medibib-l gruendete, beabsichigte ich, den
Informationsaustausch zwischen den deutschsprachigen
Medizinbibliothekaren in Form eines elektronischen Mitteilungsblattes
(MB) zu foerdern. Manches kam dabei zustande - manches nicht. Drei
Charakteristika von Medibib-l sind in diesem Zusammenhang etwas
prohibitiv:
1. Nicht alle AGMB-Mitglieder sind erreichbar - noch nicht einmal
ein Drittel hat eine Emailadresse. Jedes Mitglied sollte aber
Zugang zum einem MB haben.
2. Medibib-l ist nicht gleich AGMB und umgekehrt.
3. Medibib-l kann man nicht in die Hand nehmen.
Nicht nur wegen der Zugaenglichkeit haette ein gedrucktes MB gewisse
Vorteile. Mit grosser Sicherheit wuerde die AGMB von einem solchem
vierteljaehrlich erscheinenden MB profitieren, oder? (einige
Vorteile s.u.)
Weniger sicher dagegen ist, ob genuegend Mitglieder ein solches
Projekt mitgestalten und mittragen wuerden. Der AGMB sollte aber ein
eigenes MB einen Versuch schon wert sein! Dies geht aber nur mit
moeglichst weitgehender Arbeitsteilung: Man braeuchte einen Editor,
der die Leute animiert, Beitraege zu schreiben und diese redigiert.
Jemanden, der diese Beitraege zu einem Heft zusammensetzt. Einen
Drucker. Einen Verteiler. Und vor allem _VIELE_, die einen Beitrag
schreiben (und sein er noch so klein).
Ausserdem muesste man sich auch Gedanken ueber die Finanzierung
machen. Ein gutes MB ist - wie alles wertvolle - nicht umsonst zu
haben.
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Was wuerde ein MB fuer Vorteile mit sich bringen? - Soviele wie wir
uns nur vorstellen koennen! Ein paar Beispiele:
- Forum fuer Ideen, Weiterentwicklungen, Informationen ueber 'die
anderen'. Von den guten Ideen der AGMB-Mitglieder erfaehrt man
leider oft nur zufaellig.
- Kolummen fuer Personalnachrichten, Stellenangebote, Eine
Bibliothek stellt sich vor, Internetadressen, interessante Artikel
und Fortbildungsangebote, finanzielle, gesetzliche Aenderungen
- (Mitglieder-)Werbung fuer die AGMB. Es gibt doch wohl mehr als 200
deutschsprachige Medizinbibliothekare?! Je mehr Mitglieder - desto
mehr profitieren von der AGMB.
- erhoehter Nutzen der Mitglieder von der AGMB. Erhoehter Nutzen der
AGMB von den Mitgliedern.
- erhoehtes Renomme der AGMB bei ihren Mitgliedern und international.
usw. usw. usw.
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Wie koennte ein solches MB aussehen? Das haengt von denen ab, die
mitmachen! Vorbilder koennten die EAHIL Newsletter, die MLA
Newsletter(!), die MLA/ICS Newsletter, die VDB/VDDB-NAchrichten(?),
und viele andere mehr sein.
Vielleicht koennten sich die aktiv Interessierten mal in einer freien
Minute am Montag morgen in Basel zusammensetzen? Dass 1977/79 der
letzte diesbezuegliche Versuch nach wenigen Nummern scheiterte
("Medizin, Bibliothek, Dokumentation") ist kein Argument, um
fatalistisch die Haende in den Schoss zu legen, sondern sollte eher
als Motivation verstanden werden, 1997 - genau 20 Jahre nach dem
ersten Versuch - einen zweiten, erfolgreicheren folgen zu lassen.
Bitte schreiben sie ihre Anregungen, Ideen und Kritik an die Liste!
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! A C H T U N G !
Dies ist uebrigens der letzte Medlib-l Digest. Sie haben sicher
schon an den vorhergehenden Mails erkannt, dass mich momentan andere
Aufgaben in Anspruch nehmen (und nicht so schnell wieder loslassen
werden...). Uebrigens moechte ich mich fuer die "review medibib-l"
Mail entschuldigen, die sie letzte Woche bekamen. Sie sehen, sowas
passiert selbst einem erfahrenem Listowner...
Es ist natuerlich traurig, dass nach knapp zwei Jahren der Digest
eingestellt wird, aber vielleicht findet sich ja der ein oder
andere, der diesen sehr verdienstvollen Service weiterfuehrt? Das Lob
der Listenteilnehmer waere ihm oder ihr gewiss!
Ansonsten werden ich weiterhin in loser Folge die ein oder andere
interessante Information an sie weiterleiten.
Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
Oliver Obst
P.S.: Danke den 3(!) Bibliotheken, die die Zahl und den Etat ihrer
Zeitschriften und Monos gemeldet haben. An alle anderen deutschen
Medizinbibliotheken: Es ist noch nicht zu spaet! Ihre Antwort ist
sehr wichtig und wird auf Wunsch vertraulich behandelt.
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1 Thread bezueglich eines Artikels vom Mark Frisse in Acad Med.
2 Warum Index Medicus notwendig ist
3 Emabse vs. Medline
4 Put a Good Librarian, Not Software, in the Driver's Seat
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1111111111111
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 17:06:01 +500 From: "T.
Scott Plutchak" <tscott@LISTER2.LHL.UAB.EDU> Subject: Re: Frisse
Article Acad Med
Pamela Van Hine askes how we are to respond to Mark Frisse "(and
other leaders') predicting the demise of the medical library". But
that not quite what Mark predicts. In the Academic Medicine article
Mark says, "When (not if) clinical publications are made widely
available through the Internet, small and medium-sized hospital
libraries will either reinvent themselves or perish." Further on he
adds, "The Internet offers hospital librarians a way to increase
their skills and deliver greater value to residents, students,
practitioners, and administrators." It is in developing those skills
and delivery mechanisms that our futures lie.
If one believes that the purpose and point of a medical library is
to house a collection of print publications and perhaps to do
mediated Medline searches, then I think we are indeed facing the
demise of the medical library. If we try to develop ways of arguing
for bigger collection budgets and against end-user searching, we
will surely fail. If, however, the role of the library and the
librarian is to provide the expertise, training and consultation
that health care workers of all types need in order to make their
way through this dizzying information arena in which we now operate,
then I think we are becoming rapidly more valuable -- to the extent
that we are succesful in marketing ourselves (not necessarily our
libraries) to the people charged with running our institutions.
As long as we can convincingly argue that having a print collection
is the most effective, cost-efficient means of getting information
that people need to them when they need it, we will have room and
resources for those collections. The day we can't make that argument
convincingly, we need to send the paper to the dumpster. Mark also
says in the article, "Sucessful hospital librarians are those who
already have realized that they are in the knowledge business, not
the book business."
T. Scott Plutchak
Director
Lister Hill Library
University of Alabama at Birmingham
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 12:14:41 -0500
From: Millard Johnson <zendog@INCOLSA.PALNI.EDU>
Subject: Re: Frisse Article Acad Med
Plutchak said:
"If one believes that the purpose and point of a medical library is
to house a collection of print publications and perhaps to do
mediated Medline searches, then I think we are indeed facing the
demise of the medical library. ..."
***********
Zendog's standard lecture on "How to survive in the
Internetworked information environment."
The trick is to NOT focus on any technology (computer, CD,
Internet, or printed paper) but to understand the basics of what
a library is and what a librarian does.
Voila:
1. Know your clients. Who are they; what do they do; what kind
of information will help them do what they do?
2. Know the sources of information that will satisfy your clients
need.
3. Acquire access rights to the sources of information that your
clients need.
4. Arrange the information and provide access tools so your
clients can get information quickly and easily.
5. Pay the bills.
As a librarian you have three kinds of resources to use in your
work: people, information resources, and technology. Think about
the strengths, costs, and limitations of each, and configure them
with the above five points in mind.
Books, computers, buildings, networks are not a library. They
are only tools you may deploy. If the librarian neglects any of
the above five steps, the library is at risk of failure at any
time. If the librarian focuses exclusively on any particular
tool, or tool set, the library is at risk of failure when the
technology changes.
Thus endeth the lecture.
*********************************************************
Millard Johnson INCOLSA
zendog@incolsa.palni.edu
I would rather risk failure than achieve it without risk
*********************************************************
2222222222222
From: "Thomas L. Mead" <Thomas.L.Mead@DARTMOUTH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Experience vs Computer
Brian (bdm@teleport.com) wrote: "I would be very interested in hearing
other tales of library or medical library reference experiences of
Experience vs. the Computer. "
===============
(long ago) I learned MEDLINE before I ever really dug into Index Medicus.
When I finally did discover IM, I was astounded. I can speed-read this
stuff! It's all organized by the legal/appropriate subheadings! I can get
a mental "handle" on how big the literature is! The references are sorted
by journal-name. The non-English-language references are separated. I can
copy a page (...except that IM is too big physically...). I remember
thinking: "what is the baud rate of a push of the photocopier button..."
(now)
WWW is so very distracting. I think McLuhan would call it a "hot" medium.
So, the problem now is to find that balance (exploring the Internet vs
exploring the reference-tools 5 yards away).
Tom Mead
tom.mead@dartmouth.edu
3333333333333
Date: Sat, 6 Jul 1996 13:03:47 -0400
From: Tom Flemming <tomflem@FHS.CSU.MCMASTER.CA>
Subject: Re: Excerpta Medica & MEDLINE
The only comment I would add to the description of the differences Tom
Mead lists between Medline and Embase is that the studies I can recall
seeing put the overlap rate for journal titles much lower than 60%. My
recollection is that only about 33% of the titles the two indexes cover
are shared.
This gap, in my practical experience of searching the two, doesn't always
show up. What I mean by that curious statement is that when you are
searching the literature for things like drug trials for pathologic
conditions common in North America and western Europe, you frequently see
very little difference in the retrieval. Both services cover the major
medical titles in which authors prefer to publish if they are looking for
recognition.
On the other hand, when searching for physiotherapy, or alternative
therapies of any kind, or for drugs, conditions or treatments not
commonly used/encountered or known in North America, you get surprisingly
interesting and different material from Embase.
Remember, each index is a creature of its own political/social and
professional environment, and those environments are different. Europe
is NOT a lot like the U.S. in many ways. When Elsevier decides which
journals to include in Embase, there are different forces in play than
those which operate when NLM prunes or adds to its list of journals
covered in Medline. These considerations explain to me quite a lot about
why the coverage of the two indexes is different.
Further documentation and study is needed to explain why Embase is
better, in some respects, than Medline.
.....................................................................
Tom Flemming Internet: tomflem@fhs.csu.McMaster.ca
Health Sciences Library Ariel: 130.113.181.186
McMaster University Voice: (905) 525-9140 x22321
1200 Main Street West Fax: (905) 528-3733
Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5
Visit the _Health Care Information Resources_ page
URL http://www-hsl.mcmaster.ca/tomflem/top.html
444444444444444444
Nardi, Bonnie A., Vicki O'Day, Edward J. Valauskas. "Put a Good
Librarian, Not Software, in the Driver's Seat" The Christian
Science Monitor [http://www.csmonitor/com88] (132) (June 4,
1996): 18. -- Yes, the electronic world is revolutionizing
information but it still requires human beings (namely
librarians) to analyze information requests, anticipate
information needs and weed out false drops, not to mention
evaluate and judge the reliability of sources. A summary of a
study conducted of corporate librarians in Silicon Valley,
this article is a delightful ode to special librarians and
their demonstrated ability to adjust to the ever-changing
landscape of electronic resources while at the same time
understanding their clients' information needs in ways that
"intelligent software agents" cannot. It seems as if I'm
starting to read more and more articles like this. Is the
rest of the world finally starting to get it? Or has the
American Library Association retained the services of a very
effective PR firm? -- MP
Einen anderen Artikel, der in diesselbe Kerbe haut, finden
sie unter:
http://www.gnn.com/gnn/wr/96/05/10/webarch/index.html
Mit freundlichen Gruessen Yours sincerely
Oliver Obst
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