   
Newsletter of the IFLA Section of Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries (On-line)
October 1997,
Vol. 18, No. 4
ISSN: 1025-5680
New Chair Elected
The Section of Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries of IFLA
welcomes a new chair, Jerome Kalfon of the Bibliotheque de l'Universite
Rene Descartes of Paris. He is the Chief of the Information Section of
the Library.
The Standing Committee met twice during the 63rd General Conference of
IFLA in Copenhagen, Denmark, this summer. This issue of the Newsletter
also includes reports from the Section Annual Report, the Secretary/
Treasurer's Report, and remarks by Monique Cleland on the tenth
anniversary celebration of EAHIL in Budapest.
Standing Committee Report, Jean-Philippe Accart.
Nominations: A nomination form had been sent to all former and new
section standing committee members. Unfortunately, only five forms were
returned and it was agreed that only members present at Copenhagen could
be elected for the office of chair and secretary/treasurer because
decisions regarding the future programs had to be decided during the
conference. Members accepting nominations and elections were reminded
that they agreed to attend at least three out of four conferences.
Jerome Kalfon from France was elected chair and Ysabel Bertolucci of the
United States the secretary/ treasurer and information coordinator.
Newsletter: The electronic publication of the Newsletter has greatly
improved the financial status of the Section. However, it is not
certain that members look at it regularly on IFLANET. In order to
evaluate readership, a large mailing was prepared in late spring in an
effort to reach all members and corresponding members of the Section.
It is hoped that many responses from this 100-letter mailing will help
advertise the Newsletter and alert more individuals to its availability.
The new Section members plan to redefine the purpose of the Newsletter,
evaluate its content and format, and to develop its readership.
Sponsors could be solicited to support the mailing of a printed version
of the Newsletter to be sent to those not yet on the Internet.
Each new issue of the Newsletter will be announced through the
List-Serve facilities of IFLANET. In her written report, Editor
Lucretia McClure stated that three issues of the Newsletter had been
mounted electronically so far in 1997 with a fourth issue planned after
the meeting.
Membership: The Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries Section is
one of the smallest in IFLA. A large mailing was prepared in late
spring to one hundred libraries world wide with the purpose of
soliciting new members. A short questionnaire was included with the hope
that it will provide suggestions to the new Section officers concerning
ways to increase membership.
Future Congresses: The future of the leadership development project has
been uncertain. However, the 8th International Congress of
Librarianship in 2000 in London presents an opportunity to launch this
project in a more positive and pragmatic way. The Section will ask
EAHIL President, Elisabeth Husem, to agree that whatever benefits have
accumulated from registrations to the Copenhagen workshop should be used
to sponsor a young librarian from a developing country or from one of
the Baltic States.
The organizing committee for the Bireme Conference in Costa Rica in
March of 1998 has requested financial support as well as the designation
of a teacher from IFLA. Edward Valauskas forwarded the request to
Monique Cleland asking the Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries
Section to provide the support. The Committee agreed that the funds IFLA
had granted for the Copenhagen workshop, not needed because of the
efforts of Alice Norhede, should be transferred to the Bireme project.
It was also suggested to ask Headquarters to grant funds for planning
ICML congresses. Funds not used should be given to the Bireme Conference
organizing committee.
International Congress of Medical Librarianship: The Biological and
Medical Sciences Section of IFLA is the agent responsible for selecting
the venue for this major congress every five years. The congresses
provide a platform for interaction and development among several hundred
participants who attend each time. The World Health Organization and
the National Library of Medicine as well as organizations such as EAHIL
and Bireme have become active participants in the congresses.
Planning for the 8th Congress in London is well underway and proposals
for the congress in 2005 are being solicited by the Section. The
Section is seeking official representation in the organizing committee
of future ICMLs.
Standing Committee Report, Jerome Kalfon.
Year 2000: The 8th ICML and the 7th EAHIL Conference will meet jointly
in London in 2000. Arne Jakobsson has been designated as Chair of the
contributed papers program and is the person to contact if the Section
wishes to collaborate with EAHIL in these events.
IFLA 1998 in Amsterdam: Patricia Yocum, Chair of the Science and
Technology Libraries Section of IFLA, has proposed a joint program with
the Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries Section on the theme of
changing library cultures. The program could include sub-themes related
to electronic journals, the changing structure of library organization,
services, the changing nature of work, resistance to change, social
implications of change, in the doctor-patient relationship, for example.
Each section would provide at least two contributions. An interactive
workshop is also being considered for Amsterdam. In keeping with the
IFLA general theme for 1998, topics for the workshop could include how
users influence library practices, the changing of users' perceptions of
the role of the library, the changing of library habits, the involvement
of librarians with the rights of patients to have information, right of
informed consent, patients as consumers of information, etc. Abstracts
of presentations need to be distributed before the conference.
IFLA 1999 in Bangkok: The IFLA General Conference theme in Bangkok will
be "The Library as Gateway to an Enlightened World." The Section
members suggested that the Section program focus on patient rights to
information in various cultures with themes such as "Enlightened
Citizenry and Our Health," "How Do You Promote Health Knowledge."
"Public Health Policy," and "Health Information for All Revisited."
New Directory Project: The need for a new version of a medical
libraries world-wide directory is not new. With the facilities offered
by IFLANET, it now seems possible to consider the possibility again.
The proposition will be presented as a new project and funding requested
from Headquarters. Ysabel Bertolucci, Catherine Petit and Renee Bush
will work on this project.
Additional reports: The Standing Committee has seven members from six
countries and five corresponding members. Sixty-five members have
registered for the Section.
Nearly 60 persons attended the session on "Improving Access to
Electronic and Medical Information" at the meeting in Copenhagen. The
same number also participated in the Workshop on "Resources Sharing in
Medical Libraries: Informatics and Human Aspects" that was organized in
conjunction with EAHIL under the leadership of Alice Norhede.
Marketing the Section: The brochure outlining the Section's programs is
available on IFLANET. Monique Cleland presented a paper at the Budapest
Workshop organized by EAHIL on "Managing Information in the New
Electronic Age." The International Journal of Special Libraries,
INSPEL, published its first issue for 1997 on the Beijing program
presented by the Biological and Medical Sciences Libraries Section
program.
A fitting Celebration for the 10th Anniversary of EAHIL, in Budapest, Hungary!
by Monique Cleland
With 120 participants and 22 countries represented, EAHIL is alive and
well! After the very successful workshop organized by Alice Norhede for
the 10th anniversary of the foundation of EAHIL, at the 63rd annual
conference of IFLA in Copengahen, a spirited group of EAHIL members had
again convened, this time in Budapest, Hungary, to celebrate the 10th
EAHIL anniversary.
The majestic buildings along the shores of the Danube, the quiet hills
of Buda with the soaring steeple of Mathias Church, dedicated to Saint
Stephen, the busy streets of Pecs, with their grand facades speaking of
past grandeur and the large avenues resounding with the clamor of
numerous street cars, horns of fast taxis and the large crowds crossing
the ever busy streets, all of this is modern Budapest, the seat of this
1997 EAHIL conference!
The National Library of Hungary, in the old palace of Buda, had opened
its doors to the EAHIL event. It was perhaps for some of us, a sobering
thought to have this meeting housed in buildings which have become part
of the Unesco World Human Heritage program since 1988.
An objective, at times even candid assessment of the state of health in
Hungary, delivered by the Ministry of Health, was a fitting opening for
the conference. The Hungarian public health system is undergoing a
complete overhaul in its approach to improving public health and trying
to remedy to its current problems. Education and information are
paramount in the efforts undertaken first to evaluate the situation and
then to change habits, centuries old. The daily diet of the Hungarian
people loaded with rich food has all of the ingredients adverse to what
current nutritional knowledge is advocating. Statistics seem to indicate
that the Hungarian people are worse off on many accounts related to
known dieting problems of a modern society, whether it is circulatory
problems, weight control, various kinds of cancer. The economy of an
effective public health system is also being studied and new methods of
management are being devised. Quality control is foremost in the schemes
designed.
In this context, the road was thus well indicated for medical librarians
gathered in Budapest to pursue their work in this three days anniversary
conference. In times when hard competition and serious economic
constraints weigh heavily on everyone, it is paramount that thoughts and
actions be tempered by a code of ethics. Thus, Lois Ann Colaianni, of
the National Library of Medicine of the USA, reminded participants in
the first plenary session, of everyone's obligations and active role we
have to play, in observing ethical rules of conduct in all of our
activities. Partnership stands high in the objectives set by EAHIL for
the coming decades. With information management and communication being
increasingly dominated by technology, it will become the more important
to stay abreast of it all. Monique Cleland, former president of EAHIL,
presented an overview of some aspects of technological changes which
will undoubtedly affect our future activities in every sphere of our
daily life. As a member of the Section of Biological and Medical
Sciences Libraries of IFLA M. Cleland encouraged everyone to look also
towards IFLA, the International Federation of Library Associations, to
stay abreast of it all and thus manage our daily responsibilities in a
world forever changing ever so faster. The tone was set for looking at
where some libraries stand today. Libraries in countries of eastern
Europe are already catching up with their colleagues in the west and
very impressive reports of activities were presented along with the
economic problems to be overcome.
In Hungary, just like for the public health system, a critical
evaluation of the higher education program has been undertaken and
reforms are in progress. As a component of an education program,
libraries have a long history of development and represent an important
element in the cultural heritage of this country. Today, too, libraries
are being looked at critically. Standardization in practices, whether
cataloging or interlibrary loans along with automation are now an
integral part of reform projects. In the Czech Republic like in Hungary,
economic constraints define the rate of progress achieved. Very careful
planning and budgeting are more than ever the limiting factors.
Ambitions are big but budgets remain small. Ingeniousness, alertness and
much patience seem to be part of the important elements which will
assure the success of projects!
Automated Projects: Libraries in Slovenia and in the Slovak Republic.
Internet of course was mentioned in most if not all of the
presentations. Internet can be a source of much spurious and unwelcome
information as outlined in a paper about policies set in North Carolina
medical libraries to counteract several cases of pornographic unpleasant
discoveries. But the lnternet is neither good nor bad, it just is, and
it is very much what we are going to make of it which will define its
usefulness or its destructive influence" (Workshop program, p. 98,
M.Cleland). As positive aspects of the use of the Internet, the Web
direct access for patients to medical information is a fairly new but
very promising development. Two papers, one out of Hungary, the other
one out of Italy, reported studies where the patient is the primary
inquirer into medical information, without the intervening of
intermediaries. But all of this is still very much in the realm of
experimentation. And as pointed out by Suzanne Bakker of
Amsterdam, signposts or a mental map [are necessary less we] get lost in
cyberspace" (Workshop program, p.29, S. Bakker). Several papers on the
future of the electronic journal were the focus of much attention. It is
a credit to the organizers of the conference to have invited several of
the publishers currently prominent in the development of an electronic
journals collection. To summarize their presentation would require much
space because of the many aspects involved. It seems fair to say that as
of today, much confusion and uncertainty surrounds the question of the
future of the electronic journal. So far, from the reports heard, it
seems that journals publishing has not changed substantially its concept
and that mechanical printing methods have only been transposed into
electronic digital printing methods but the overall scheme of publishing
has remained the same. Is it time to rethink the very process of
diffusing information? Should not scientific authors, in particular,
take the lead in re-thinking totally the process of the information
production and of its access?
It is fair to say that the conference did not answer these questions.
However, by providing the opportunity to discuss these important aspects
of today's world of information, it has contributed, unquestionably, to
raise our awareness of the many problems we are confronted with, in the
age on Internet.
The text of most papers presented at the conference were available to
participants as a preliminary publication. The full text of all the
papers will be published as proceedings in the coming months.
As with any conference gathering, the social aspects of such a meeting
were not overlooked by our colleagues in Hungary. There were several
generous luncheons and receptions where participants could enjoy the
many flavors of Hungarian cooking, all sponsored by the publishing
houses of Ebsco, Swets, UMI and Silverplatter. Visits to local
libraries, an evening enlivened by Hungarian folklore as well as for
some of the participants, a tour up to the Danube Bend where the mighty
stream flows from south to north for a short stretch, all of these
contributed to make this conference a fitting event for the 10th
anniversary of the founding of EAHIL.
From the Editor
With this issue of the Newsletter, there is a change of leadership in
the Section. I wish to welcome the new Chair, Jerome Kalfon of Paris.
We all look forward to hearing his ideas and plans for the Biological
and Medical Sciences Libraries Section of IFLA.
I also wish to extend my appreciation to Jean-Philippe Accart, Chair for
the past two years. All of us thank him for his efforts to bring growth
and enthusiasm to the membership. It has been a great pleasure to work
with him and I am sure that you will join in sending Jean-Philippe
congratulations on a job well done!
Many thanks are also due to Monique Cleland who has served with
diligence and energy as Secretary/Treasurer and Coordinating Officer of
the Section these past two years. Your help has been most appreciated!
Another Change
We live in an era of change, but one recent one in the library world
brings regrets to many. In October of this year, 1997, the grand Round
Reading Room of the British Museum closed its doors to scholars for the
last time. In this room all manner of history was created--and now the
room itself is history.
It was a sad day for all who studied and worked there as it was for all
of us who only knew it through books and stories. There, will, of
course, be a new humanities reading room in the new British Library near
St. Pancras Station, less than a mile but more distant than a lifetime
from the old one. The change is a vivid reminder of the value of
library buildings as well as their holdings to the people who use them.
Virtual has no meaning here!
Lucretia W. McClure
Editor
164 Elmore Road
Rochester, New York 14618-3651
E-mail: LMCL@db1.cc.rochester.edu
Fax: 716-473-8688
Phone: 716-244-8703
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