Newsletter of the IFLA Section of Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries (On-line)

July 1996, Volume 17,
No. 3
ISSN: 1025-5680

East Meets West in Medical Librarianship: The Beijing "Rendez-vous"

The program will be presented during the 62nd IFLA meeting in Beijing scheduled for August 25-31, 1996. The conference theme will be: "The Challenge of Change - Libraries and Economic Development".

The Biomedical Section Program Update

1. Views from the East

   - Liu Xiao-Chun and Fang Ping (Hunan Medical University)
   Developing Medical Library and Information Science Education in China

   - Wang Zhaoling (Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences)
   The Construction and Development of Resource Sharing Network for Medical Literature in China

2. East Meets West

   - Dizhi Xiong and Li Ma (China Medical University)
   The Selection and Training of Successors for Medical Library Directors in China

   - Frances Groen (McGill University of Montreal)
   East Meets West: A Decade of Partnership in Library Education between McGill University and China Medical University

   - Lois Ann Colaianni (US National Library of Medicine)
   Access to Biomedical Information from the East in the US National Library of Medicine's Databases

3. Agriculture and Biotechnology

   - Zhao Huaying and Lin Gensheng (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science and Fujian Agriculture University)
   The Effect and Experience of Chinese Libraries in the Service for Agricultural Development

   - Chen Ziyi and Zhang Shuyong (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
   Achievements, Experiences and Prospects in Services Providing Literature Information for Biotechnology

4. Professional Perspectives

   - Mariam Ginman (National Library of Health Sciences of Finland)
   The Impact of Professional Values on Library Performance

The Aims of the Program Session

1. To have real and true contacts with our Chinese colleagues and know their professional conditions

2. To enforce the work of the Section, encouraging the development of Program sub-themes (Agriculture and Biotechnology this year for example)

3. To link medical librarianship between East and West and develop cooperation

   Jean-Philippe Accart
   Chair

The Workshop on Traditional Chinese Medicine

The proposed agenda is:

8:30 - Meet at one hotel
9:15 - 9:30 - Welcome and introduction
9:30 - 11:45 - Talk on the history,, education and current use of Chinese Traditional Medicine
12:00 - Lunch
13:30-14:30 - Visit to a Library of Chinese Traditional Medicine
14:30-16:30 - Visit to a hospital or clinic using Chinese Traditional Medicine
17:30 - Dinner

Please let me know if you will be attending the IFLA meeting and would like to attend this workshop. Attendance is limited to 10-12 people.

Lois Ann Colaianni

Section of Biological and Medical Sciences Librairies

Standing Committee - Meeting I

AGENDA

1. Welcome from the Chair

2. Approval of the Agenda

3. Approval of the Minutes of the Istanbul 1995 Meeting

4. Chair's report

5. Other reports:
   a) Report of the Section Newsletter's Editor (Lucretia McClure)
   b) Report of the Section Secretary-Treasurer (Monique C. Cleland)
   c) Report on the Coordinating Board meeting (Jean-Philippe Accart)

6. Mid-Term Program, as outlined by Jean-Philippe Accart in the questionnaire from Headquarters.

7. Nomination and election of new officers for the Bio.-Med. Sc. Section at the IFLA 1997 (Copenhagen) General Conference.

8. Any other business

BMA Library Hosts in Honour of Lois Ann Colaianni, Hon FLA

Ross Shimmon, LA chief executive, paid tribute to Mrs. Colaianni's contribution to the development of medical librarianship throughout the world, and presented her with a copy, signed by all those present of Health care librarianship and information work, recently published by the Association. He said that only four honorary FLAs were awarded annually, that overseas librarians were honoured only in exceptional cases, and that both the award and the celebration dinner were indicative of the respect and affection engendered by Mrs. Colaianni's professional example and promotion of good practice and cooperation.

From The Editor

The book includes chapters on delivery of health care, health information, interactive television and the Internet. Of particular interest is the chapter on health education for many of us are in institutions of learning and we see daily the changes in how students are being trained. Education is increasingly taking place in ambulatory centers, out-patient clinics, and in private practice settings rather than in the acute care hospital.

The use of media in education can foster learning through exploration and discovery as we move away from the traditional methods of instruction.

The final chapter provides a review of some of the "potholes along the superhighway." Among the problems discussed are the lack of availability of electronic access to many individuals, especially those who are poorly educated and have little income. Many persons who do not have access find little success in searching the Internet or in determining the "best" information.

This book is provocative, giving a glimpse of the possibilities as well as the difficulties that change brings. Librarians are in the learning business and as partners in the endeavors that encompass delivery of health knowledge and training new persons in the health professions, we need to be aware of the importance of the new technologies in improving the health of all citizens.

Health and the New Media: Technologies Transforming Personal and Public Health, edited by Linda M. Harris. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995.

As editor, I again invite you to participate in the Newsletter. Please send your news of librarians, libraries or issues and concerns to:

Lucretia McClure,