Brief communications
The Beijing Medical Library By Alice J. Edwards Head, Access Services
Susan E. Meadows Information Services Librarian
J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, Missouri 65212 Yu-Mei Wang Vice-Head of Information Services Beijing Medical University Xue Yuan Lu 38 Haidian, Beijing People's Republic of China
This article reports on the new Beijing Medical Library, Beijing Medical University, People's Republic of China. The library was planned and built as a structure to house new and future technology and serve as a hub for university functions. The details of the new library were obtained through correspondence and discussions with Yu-Mei Wang, who was a visiting scholar at the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri [1]. The Beijing Medical University is briefly described. The architectural style, the planning process, and resulting library features, unique to a selfcontained university, are also discussed. Beijing Medical University is acclaimed by the Chinese government as one of the key universities in the People's Republic of China [2]. Founded seventy-nine years ago, it is located in the Hai Dian district in northwest Beijing City. In keeping with Chinese tradition, it is a self-contained medical university. Classes are taught in both Chinese and English to more than 5,000 students. The university faculty numbers 500. The curriculum emphasizes advanced and postgraduate studies. In addition to the library, the university includes a Scientific Analysis and Computer Center, a Division of Experimental Animal Service, an Audiovisual Education Center, a secondary health school, fourteen institutes and ten research centers. Research is carried out by more than 6,000 full-time workers currently involved in more than 200 projects. The facilities include the Institutes of Basic Medical Science, Environmental Science, Pharmaceutical Research, Stomatological Medicine, Mental Health, Clinical Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology, Nephrological Surgery, Hematological Diseases, Hepatic Diseases, Child and Adolescent Health, and Medical Education, and the Beijing Municipal Institute of Cancer Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(4) October 1992
Prevention. The research centers include the Immunological Research Center, Engineering and Training Center of Reproductive Medicine, Drug Dependence Research Center, Woman and Child Health Center, Children's Vision Protection Center, Eugenics and Mentally Retarded Children's Center, Kidney Disease Research Center, Plastic Surgery Research Center, Occupational Disease Research Center, and Digestive System Disease Research Center. The university has nine hospitals, including four teaching hospitals. The affiliated hospitals are First Hospital, Third Hospital, People's Hospital, Stomatological Hospital, and the Institute of Mental Health. Some of these hospitals have small library facilities, but they use the Beijing Medical Library as the primary resource. The teaching hospitals include Beijing Ji-Shui Tan Hospital, Post and Telecommunication Hospital, Beijing First Infectious Disease Hospital, and West-City District Epidemic Prevention Station. The teaching hospitals have 2,500 beds, average 10,000 outpatient visits daily, and admit more than 30,000 inpatients annually. LIBRARY NEEDS Most libraries in China, like those in the United States, have been hard-pressed to keep pace with the growing demands of their faculty and research communities. More useable library space was needed to make entire collections available and to enlarge reading areas. Also, more flexible use of space was required to accommodate rapid advances in computer technology. In an attempt to meet these needs, the number and size of library buildings have expanded dramatically in China in the last ten years. Library space has grown by over 560,000 square meters [3]. The Beijing Medical Library building faced the same problems as other Chinese libraries. The building had only two floors and no facilities for computers or duplicating services. Larger facilities were needed to incorporate computer technology; to enlarge microfilm and audiovisual capabilities; to accommodate 800 daily users, as well as lecture groups and foreign visitors; and to create a center for academic and university functions.
PLANNING AND MOVING The university president, the library director, and all library staff members were involved in planning the expansion. During a preplanning period, the library staff visited various new library buildings throughout China. After these visits and various staff meetings, Library Director Li Xue Yu drew the original sketch for the new building. The sketch was given to the Beijing Architectural Designing Institute for completion of the design. Individuals involved in the design 371
Brief communications Figure 1 Exterior view, Beijing Medical Library
included an architect, Yin Liping, and a consultant, Hong Weixian. Design and construction of the building took three years to complete. The process involved a close collaboration between the library and designers. The cost was U.S. $3.9 million. The library building, like other Beijing University buildings, was built with special government funding. Once the building was completed, the collection was transferred. The library and university staff volunteers moved 420,000 volumes during summer vacation, in twenty-seven days.
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES The Beijing Medical Library is a modern structure similar in architectural style to the newer sections of the university (Figure 1). This same style is apparent in other facilities in Beijing, such as the Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Library [4]. The functional look is achieved with unadorned glass and concrete walls. The exterior emphasizes flat, square lines; light-colored materials; multiwindowed walls; and limited architectural detail. The interiors accent simple lines and use color and decoration sparingly. The library has four levels, with a total floor space of 10,200 square meters (110,000 square feet), designed in a U-shaped form. Access to all rooms is from a single corridor running the length of each level. The building has 1,700 seats, including 170 specialized seats. The U-shaped design allows for growth with minimum disruption to users. Stack areas on all levels can be enlarged by enclosing the central, open court area, and all reading rooms can be expanded outward. Additional levels also could be added to the building. New construction is expected to be needed within ten years. 372
FLOOR PLAN
The first floor houses all technical services functions (Figure 2). There are rooms for checking, cataloging, acquisitions, binding, processing, and accounting. Library patrons use this level primarily to gain access to current newspapers and the Reader Store, which provides refreshments. Offices for staff are located next to the technical services areas, adjoining the student reading room. The second floor is the principal entrance to the library. The visitor's room and the exhibition room of university history are located on this level, as are the director's office, the administrative office, and the staff meeting room. A check room is located near the entrance. Here library patrons must show their identification cards to gain entrance. They use this level to access Chinese and foreign-language medical books. The third floor houses the Foreign Language Textbook Center, its adjoining office, and the information services office. Photocopy services are provided on this level. This new service now provides more than one million copies a year. The third floor also houses both the Chinese and foreign-language periodical reading rooms, as well as media services. The fourth floor houses the scientific report hall, a VIP room, the reference books room, the reference periodicals and reading rooms, and the information services instructional classroom. Two information services offices are near this classroom. INTERNATIONAL FEATURES Several features were incorporated to permit the library to become a hub for international university functions. First, the library was located near the administration building for easy accessibility. Second, the large scientific report hall can accommodate distinguished Chinese and foreign lecturers. Third, a history of the university showroom was added to the second level. This room offers guests the opportunity to view posters depicting important university events. Several other rooms for visitors also are available, including the foreign guest room, in which tea is served to many international visitors. This room contains light-colored furnishings to produce a warm effect. The Foreign Textbook Center is the first of its kind in China. Established in 1985, the center houses textbooks, reference books, and other teaching materials from other countries. These 3,500 titles are used by students and faculty as well as other medical institutions of China. Staff members act as consultants but do not provide any interlibrary loan services. Current titles cover a broad range of the life sciences and clinical medicine. The center's goal is to acquire as complete a collection as possible of foreign books and Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(4) October 1992
Brief communications
Figure 2 Floor plan, Level 1, Beijing Medical Library Exit
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journals. Currently, over 75% of the total acquisitions budget is spent on foreign books and journals. Two foreign textbook exhibitions have been sponsored by the center in the past several years.
ADDITIONAL SERVICES The library features a rare book room. More than 200 titles are stored in this closed collection; patrons must obtain special permission to use the materials. No environmental controls are used to preserve the rare book collection. The room frequently is used by professors and students in the Department of Medical History. Historic medical artifacts are being collected and will be added to this room. Audiovisual services have been expanded and computers introduced to the library. The library now has Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(4) October 1992
a microfilm-making room with a darkroom (Level 1), media services (Level 3), and an audiovisual room (Level 1). The media and audiovisual services departments work closely with the university's Audiovisual Education Center. One of the few rooms in the library with climate control is the computer room (Level 1). The room houses ten new IBM computers and one minicomputer. Computer services is developing online medical information networks, in addition to using the computers to enhance library services. At present, computers are used in cataloging and to access MEDLINE. Future plans include expanding computer use to include all library staff and adding wiring to provide for multiple hook-ups and electronic access to other campus sites. Several reading rooms were added to enhance the cultural, social, and political awareness of students at 373
Brief communications
the self-contained medical university. One of these rooms, the newspaper reading area on the first level, is adjacent to the student reading room. The newspaper area offers students access to the top newspapers in China. Another reading room on the second level houses a collection of fiction materials.
VISITORS' IMPRESSIONS Sally Chu of the Health Sciences Library, Mills-Peninsula Hospital, Burlingame, California, and Frances Flynn of the New England College of Optometry, Winthrop, Massachusetts, visited the Beijing Medical Library in September 1991. Both were impressed with the effective use of natural light in the building, its modern western look, and the general sense of open space conveyed by its floor plan. They appreciated the user accessibility of the tidy stack areas, as most libraries in China do not have open stack areas. Chu also liked the shape of the building and the central wall on each level, used to mount various displays. She did express concern over the small area used to house the one terminal for CD-ROM MEDLINE and the library's ability to keep the computer room cool and free of dust-a problem brought about by having just one air-conditioned room. Both librarians believed the space is flexible enough to allow for change. Stack areas are large enough for ease in shifting materials and for additions to the collections.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors acknowledge the help and support of Stephanie Poole and E. Diane Johnson, head, Information Services, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri.
REFERENCES 1. EDWARDS AJ, MEADOWS SE. A visiting scholar from the People's Republic of China. Med Ref Serv Q 1991 Win-
ter;10(4):39-47. 2. Beijing Medical University brochure. Haidian, Beijing, People's Republic of China. 3. ZHU, CHENG-GONG. User needs-the principal basis for designing college or university's library buildings. In: Adaptation of buildings to library use: proceedings of the seminar; held in Budapest June 3-7, 1985. New York: Saur, 1987: 206-15. 4. Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine brochure. Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Received November 1991; accepted February 1992 374
APPENDIX Library planning and construction data Architect: Contractor:
Yin Liping Beijing Third Building Company Consultants: Li Xue Yu Hong Weixian Furniture designer: Beijing Shuan Qiao Furniture Factory Contact person: Department of Buildings, Beijing Medical University Total floor space: 10,200 square meters = 110,000 square feet Project cost: 21,000,000rmb = $3,900,000 Public seating: 1,700 total 170 specialized 1,530 general
Physician retraining, lifelong learning, and the library By Mary Moore, M.A. Senior Associate Director for Public Services Library of the Health Sciences, and Curriculum Developer, Texas Tech MEDNET JoAnn Van Schaik, M.L.S. Senior Associate Director for Technical Services Library of the Health Sciences C. L. Montgomery, M.D. Associate Dean, Continuing Education School of Medicine Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Lubbock, Texas 79430 In a compelling article, Judith Messerle recently called on health sciences librarians to "enhance their positions as key players" in continuing education (CE). Librarians are in an ideal position, she wrote, to address individual learning needs [1]. The library at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) has been instrumental in the development and administration of an innovative and individualized CE program. It has been called "the first in the country to address remedial education for doctors who have fallen behind the times in medical knowledge" [2]. The impetus for this program came from the Texas Medical Foundation (TMF), which provides physician peer review through its Quality Assurance Committee. This review "sometimes identifies a practitioner whose basic fund of knowledge in various fields Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(4) October 1992
The Beijing Medical Library By Alice J. Edwards Head, Access Services
Susan E. Meadows Information Services Librarian
J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, Missouri 65212 Yu-Mei Wang Vice-Head of Information Services Beijing Medical University Xue Yuan Lu 38 Haidian, Beijing People's Republic of China
This article reports on the new Beijing Medical Library, Beijing Medical University, People's Republic of China. The library was planned and built as a structure to house new and future technology and serve as a hub for university functions. The details of the new library were obtained through correspondence and discussions with Yu-Mei Wang, who was a visiting scholar at the J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri [1]. The Beijing Medical University is briefly described. The architectural style, the planning process, and resulting library features, unique to a selfcontained university, are also discussed. Beijing Medical University is acclaimed by the Chinese government as one of the key universities in the People's Republic of China [2]. Founded seventy-nine years ago, it is located in the Hai Dian district in northwest Beijing City. In keeping with Chinese tradition, it is a self-contained medical university. Classes are taught in both Chinese and English to more than 5,000 students. The university faculty numbers 500. The curriculum emphasizes advanced and postgraduate studies. In addition to the library, the university includes a Scientific Analysis and Computer Center, a Division of Experimental Animal Service, an Audiovisual Education Center, a secondary health school, fourteen institutes and ten research centers. Research is carried out by more than 6,000 full-time workers currently involved in more than 200 projects. The facilities include the Institutes of Basic Medical Science, Environmental Science, Pharmaceutical Research, Stomatological Medicine, Mental Health, Clinical Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology, Nephrological Surgery, Hematological Diseases, Hepatic Diseases, Child and Adolescent Health, and Medical Education, and the Beijing Municipal Institute of Cancer Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(4) October 1992
Prevention. The research centers include the Immunological Research Center, Engineering and Training Center of Reproductive Medicine, Drug Dependence Research Center, Woman and Child Health Center, Children's Vision Protection Center, Eugenics and Mentally Retarded Children's Center, Kidney Disease Research Center, Plastic Surgery Research Center, Occupational Disease Research Center, and Digestive System Disease Research Center. The university has nine hospitals, including four teaching hospitals. The affiliated hospitals are First Hospital, Third Hospital, People's Hospital, Stomatological Hospital, and the Institute of Mental Health. Some of these hospitals have small library facilities, but they use the Beijing Medical Library as the primary resource. The teaching hospitals include Beijing Ji-Shui Tan Hospital, Post and Telecommunication Hospital, Beijing First Infectious Disease Hospital, and West-City District Epidemic Prevention Station. The teaching hospitals have 2,500 beds, average 10,000 outpatient visits daily, and admit more than 30,000 inpatients annually. LIBRARY NEEDS Most libraries in China, like those in the United States, have been hard-pressed to keep pace with the growing demands of their faculty and research communities. More useable library space was needed to make entire collections available and to enlarge reading areas. Also, more flexible use of space was required to accommodate rapid advances in computer technology. In an attempt to meet these needs, the number and size of library buildings have expanded dramatically in China in the last ten years. Library space has grown by over 560,000 square meters [3]. The Beijing Medical Library building faced the same problems as other Chinese libraries. The building had only two floors and no facilities for computers or duplicating services. Larger facilities were needed to incorporate computer technology; to enlarge microfilm and audiovisual capabilities; to accommodate 800 daily users, as well as lecture groups and foreign visitors; and to create a center for academic and university functions.
PLANNING AND MOVING The university president, the library director, and all library staff members were involved in planning the expansion. During a preplanning period, the library staff visited various new library buildings throughout China. After these visits and various staff meetings, Library Director Li Xue Yu drew the original sketch for the new building. The sketch was given to the Beijing Architectural Designing Institute for completion of the design. Individuals involved in the design 371
Brief communications Figure 1 Exterior view, Beijing Medical Library
included an architect, Yin Liping, and a consultant, Hong Weixian. Design and construction of the building took three years to complete. The process involved a close collaboration between the library and designers. The cost was U.S. $3.9 million. The library building, like other Beijing University buildings, was built with special government funding. Once the building was completed, the collection was transferred. The library and university staff volunteers moved 420,000 volumes during summer vacation, in twenty-seven days.
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES The Beijing Medical Library is a modern structure similar in architectural style to the newer sections of the university (Figure 1). This same style is apparent in other facilities in Beijing, such as the Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Library [4]. The functional look is achieved with unadorned glass and concrete walls. The exterior emphasizes flat, square lines; light-colored materials; multiwindowed walls; and limited architectural detail. The interiors accent simple lines and use color and decoration sparingly. The library has four levels, with a total floor space of 10,200 square meters (110,000 square feet), designed in a U-shaped form. Access to all rooms is from a single corridor running the length of each level. The building has 1,700 seats, including 170 specialized seats. The U-shaped design allows for growth with minimum disruption to users. Stack areas on all levels can be enlarged by enclosing the central, open court area, and all reading rooms can be expanded outward. Additional levels also could be added to the building. New construction is expected to be needed within ten years. 372
FLOOR PLAN
The first floor houses all technical services functions (Figure 2). There are rooms for checking, cataloging, acquisitions, binding, processing, and accounting. Library patrons use this level primarily to gain access to current newspapers and the Reader Store, which provides refreshments. Offices for staff are located next to the technical services areas, adjoining the student reading room. The second floor is the principal entrance to the library. The visitor's room and the exhibition room of university history are located on this level, as are the director's office, the administrative office, and the staff meeting room. A check room is located near the entrance. Here library patrons must show their identification cards to gain entrance. They use this level to access Chinese and foreign-language medical books. The third floor houses the Foreign Language Textbook Center, its adjoining office, and the information services office. Photocopy services are provided on this level. This new service now provides more than one million copies a year. The third floor also houses both the Chinese and foreign-language periodical reading rooms, as well as media services. The fourth floor houses the scientific report hall, a VIP room, the reference books room, the reference periodicals and reading rooms, and the information services instructional classroom. Two information services offices are near this classroom. INTERNATIONAL FEATURES Several features were incorporated to permit the library to become a hub for international university functions. First, the library was located near the administration building for easy accessibility. Second, the large scientific report hall can accommodate distinguished Chinese and foreign lecturers. Third, a history of the university showroom was added to the second level. This room offers guests the opportunity to view posters depicting important university events. Several other rooms for visitors also are available, including the foreign guest room, in which tea is served to many international visitors. This room contains light-colored furnishings to produce a warm effect. The Foreign Textbook Center is the first of its kind in China. Established in 1985, the center houses textbooks, reference books, and other teaching materials from other countries. These 3,500 titles are used by students and faculty as well as other medical institutions of China. Staff members act as consultants but do not provide any interlibrary loan services. Current titles cover a broad range of the life sciences and clinical medicine. The center's goal is to acquire as complete a collection as possible of foreign books and Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(4) October 1992
Brief communications
Figure 2 Floor plan, Level 1, Beijing Medical Library Exit
kTE
GAT E
journals. Currently, over 75% of the total acquisitions budget is spent on foreign books and journals. Two foreign textbook exhibitions have been sponsored by the center in the past several years.
ADDITIONAL SERVICES The library features a rare book room. More than 200 titles are stored in this closed collection; patrons must obtain special permission to use the materials. No environmental controls are used to preserve the rare book collection. The room frequently is used by professors and students in the Department of Medical History. Historic medical artifacts are being collected and will be added to this room. Audiovisual services have been expanded and computers introduced to the library. The library now has Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(4) October 1992
a microfilm-making room with a darkroom (Level 1), media services (Level 3), and an audiovisual room (Level 1). The media and audiovisual services departments work closely with the university's Audiovisual Education Center. One of the few rooms in the library with climate control is the computer room (Level 1). The room houses ten new IBM computers and one minicomputer. Computer services is developing online medical information networks, in addition to using the computers to enhance library services. At present, computers are used in cataloging and to access MEDLINE. Future plans include expanding computer use to include all library staff and adding wiring to provide for multiple hook-ups and electronic access to other campus sites. Several reading rooms were added to enhance the cultural, social, and political awareness of students at 373
Brief communications
the self-contained medical university. One of these rooms, the newspaper reading area on the first level, is adjacent to the student reading room. The newspaper area offers students access to the top newspapers in China. Another reading room on the second level houses a collection of fiction materials.
VISITORS' IMPRESSIONS Sally Chu of the Health Sciences Library, Mills-Peninsula Hospital, Burlingame, California, and Frances Flynn of the New England College of Optometry, Winthrop, Massachusetts, visited the Beijing Medical Library in September 1991. Both were impressed with the effective use of natural light in the building, its modern western look, and the general sense of open space conveyed by its floor plan. They appreciated the user accessibility of the tidy stack areas, as most libraries in China do not have open stack areas. Chu also liked the shape of the building and the central wall on each level, used to mount various displays. She did express concern over the small area used to house the one terminal for CD-ROM MEDLINE and the library's ability to keep the computer room cool and free of dust-a problem brought about by having just one air-conditioned room. Both librarians believed the space is flexible enough to allow for change. Stack areas are large enough for ease in shifting materials and for additions to the collections.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors acknowledge the help and support of Stephanie Poole and E. Diane Johnson, head, Information Services, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri.
REFERENCES 1. EDWARDS AJ, MEADOWS SE. A visiting scholar from the People's Republic of China. Med Ref Serv Q 1991 Win-
ter;10(4):39-47. 2. Beijing Medical University brochure. Haidian, Beijing, People's Republic of China. 3. ZHU, CHENG-GONG. User needs-the principal basis for designing college or university's library buildings. In: Adaptation of buildings to library use: proceedings of the seminar; held in Budapest June 3-7, 1985. New York: Saur, 1987: 206-15. 4. Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine brochure. Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Received November 1991; accepted February 1992 374
APPENDIX Library planning and construction data Architect: Contractor:
Yin Liping Beijing Third Building Company Consultants: Li Xue Yu Hong Weixian Furniture designer: Beijing Shuan Qiao Furniture Factory Contact person: Department of Buildings, Beijing Medical University Total floor space: 10,200 square meters = 110,000 square feet Project cost: 21,000,000rmb = $3,900,000 Public seating: 1,700 total 170 specialized 1,530 general
Physician retraining, lifelong learning, and the library By Mary Moore, M.A. Senior Associate Director for Public Services Library of the Health Sciences, and Curriculum Developer, Texas Tech MEDNET JoAnn Van Schaik, M.L.S. Senior Associate Director for Technical Services Library of the Health Sciences C. L. Montgomery, M.D. Associate Dean, Continuing Education School of Medicine Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Lubbock, Texas 79430 In a compelling article, Judith Messerle recently called on health sciences librarians to "enhance their positions as key players" in continuing education (CE). Librarians are in an ideal position, she wrote, to address individual learning needs [1]. The library at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) has been instrumental in the development and administration of an innovative and individualized CE program. It has been called "the first in the country to address remedial education for doctors who have fallen behind the times in medical knowledge" [2]. The impetus for this program came from the Texas Medical Foundation (TMF), which provides physician peer review through its Quality Assurance Committee. This review "sometimes identifies a practitioner whose basic fund of knowledge in various fields Bull Med Libr Assoc 80(4) October 1992
