BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
methods for obtaining funds to implement its objectives. Inherent in the wide selection of members for EMAC is the concept that sources of funds might come from a variety of agencies or departments both within the medical and dental schools, the hospital itself, the coastal region, and elsewhere. The potential development of EMAC also ensures a system for assisting the library in its development of effective and realistic budgetary requests for educational media. The library can no longer be viewed as a passive recipient of funds, but must actively participate in the competitive acquisition of limited resources in the hospital environment.
DISCUSSION An additional advantage of EMAC is to overcome the traditional conception of the library and its structured role in education (2). The traditional concept of the library as a silent area where books must be individually guarded, loved, and maintained on the shelves can be shattered by the presence of nonprint media which may be noisy and distracting. In addition, media with their innovative communication techniques may help overcome inertia and resistance to allow the library to expand to its full capacity and new role. Linked with the traditional image of the library has been the concept that patient care has a greater priority than library-related functions. However, as educational technology advances, it becomes evident that quality patient care depends upon numerous factors, foremost among which are continuing professional education. In addition, patient education may be dramatically accomplished by the use of multimedia presentations. That these two facets of education are synergistic is often overlooked. However, quality patient care cannot be achieved without a library capable of providing the educational resources for both professional and patient education. The linking of patient education with a strong health science library in the hospital creates the necessary atmosphere to enhance patient care. An additional benefit of an educational media advisory committee will be in the implementation of PSRO standards. In all likelihood, new information can best be delivered to a variety of physicians by using multimedia presentations. An example of this is
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 63(2) April 1975
the continuing education credit granted by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Practice for the utilization of videotape programs (3). In addition, Harbor General Hospital has recently become involved in continuing medical education programs, several of which have been successfully completed. Examples are programs in emergency medicine, perinatology, and radiology. It is envisioned that the use of multimedia will rapidly expand along with the growth of the Los Angeles County Hospitals and their continued commitment to community involvement and continuing medical education. The library's contribution to improved patient care and continuing medical education cannot be minimized. Indeed, the library's role in both areas can be enhanced through audiovisual materials. The library of tomorrow is potentially here today if the concept of EMAC can effectively be initiated in your library. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The help of Mrs. Rita Kemp is gratefully acknowledged. REFERENCES 1. WALDRON, J. S. Instructional Development Unit; A Guide to Organizing an Instructional Development Unit in Health Science Educational Institutions. Atlanta, National Medical Audiovisual Center [n.d.]. 2. KRONICK, DAVID A. Nonprint media as information resources: Software and hardware. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 62: 19-24, Jan. 1974. 3. The National Antibiotic Therapy Test. (An eightyminute examination via television taken by an estimated 20,000 physicians between March 25 and April 7, 1974. The examination was made available by the Network for Continuing Medical
Education.)
The Librarian and Medical Writing BY VIRGINIA PARKER, Librarian
Health Sciences Library Queen's University Kingston, Ontario
IN the announcement of electives offered to fourth-year students in the Queen's University 225
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
use is a logical way to avoid such frustrations and problems. As a step toward instructing allied health For those who consider a knowledge of language an personnel in the use of the Biomedical Library essential element of effective communication and who wish to prepare themselves for the medical profession at the University of California, San Diego, the in this respeet, Miss Virginia Parker, Health Sciences Reference Department planned and taught a Librarian, in cooperation with other members of the course entitled "How to Use the Biomedical Faculty of Medicine, offers an elective in medical Library." As of this writing, the course has writing. With the advice of a Department Head, the student selects a topic for a review paper. He prepares been offered twice, and student response to the paper under the joint supervision of Miss Parker both sessions has been enthusiastic. This article and another member of the Faculty of Medicine who will outline the goals, content, and mechanics is knowledgeable in the subject selected. This enables of the course, and may be of use to others who the student to acquire knowledge in the subject field of his choice as well as a knowledge of language and of are planning or considering such courses. The primary goal of the class was to give the library research methods. Seeing the paper in print can be a reward if the undertaking is successful. enrollees the information they need to do simple library tasks efficiently on their own. A This one-to-one course has been given just second goal was to make the enrollees aware of once, and the experiment proved successful. the policies and services of the Reference and The paper developed at the student's pace. Circulation Departments, two departments they Long private sessions facilitated the teaching must deal with constantly. The hope was not to and learning of the elements of language and turn them into sophisticated, expert researchstyle. Since the paper was on medical history, ers, but rather to give them a firm foundation there was less need for consultation with the in the basics of library use-a foundation upon other faculty member than there would have which they could build as needed. been if a more technical subject had been In planning the course, the first decisions chosen. However, a faculty member who is an were the length and time of meeting. It seemed authority on medical history did review the most practical for the class to meet during the final paper. working day, especially since Borda and Murray Librarians have long been engaged in teaching had reported high absentee rates in a similar the art of bibliography. To add the function of class held during the evening (1). Furthermore, teaching the art of writing is an appropriate the class would be work-related for the stuextension of the librarian's role. dents; asking them to give up personal time to attend did not seem reasonable. Since this was to be a basic course, a few hours seemed the A Class in Library Use for Allied Health most appropriate length. Given a shorter time, even the basics could not be covered. Given a Personnel longer time, the content was likely to become BY WILLIAM MAINA, Reference Librarian more specialized than most of the enrollees needed. With these considerations in mind, the Biomedical Library decision was made to offer the class for 1 1/2 University of California, San Diego hours a day, two days in a row. Scheduling was La Jolla, California for two consecutive days so that material discussed the first day could easily be integrated into the discussions of the second day, AMONG the frequent users of medical librar- with less need for refreshing memories. ies are allied health personnel doing research or An outline for the class was planned with the other tasks for physicians. Unfortunately, these two-session format in mind. (See below for emissaries may have little or no background in outline.) The first session was to cover the using a medical library. The result is often arrangement of the collection, the use of the frustration and problems for the allied health card catalog and serials list, and the services and person, the librarian, and ultimately the physipolicies of the Library. Session two was to cian. Education of secretaries, research assist- cover specific reference tools that were likely to ants, and other allied health personnel in library be of particular interest to the enrollees. For
Faculty of Medicine the following description of an elective in medical writing appears:
226
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 63(2) April 1975
methods for obtaining funds to implement its objectives. Inherent in the wide selection of members for EMAC is the concept that sources of funds might come from a variety of agencies or departments both within the medical and dental schools, the hospital itself, the coastal region, and elsewhere. The potential development of EMAC also ensures a system for assisting the library in its development of effective and realistic budgetary requests for educational media. The library can no longer be viewed as a passive recipient of funds, but must actively participate in the competitive acquisition of limited resources in the hospital environment.
DISCUSSION An additional advantage of EMAC is to overcome the traditional conception of the library and its structured role in education (2). The traditional concept of the library as a silent area where books must be individually guarded, loved, and maintained on the shelves can be shattered by the presence of nonprint media which may be noisy and distracting. In addition, media with their innovative communication techniques may help overcome inertia and resistance to allow the library to expand to its full capacity and new role. Linked with the traditional image of the library has been the concept that patient care has a greater priority than library-related functions. However, as educational technology advances, it becomes evident that quality patient care depends upon numerous factors, foremost among which are continuing professional education. In addition, patient education may be dramatically accomplished by the use of multimedia presentations. That these two facets of education are synergistic is often overlooked. However, quality patient care cannot be achieved without a library capable of providing the educational resources for both professional and patient education. The linking of patient education with a strong health science library in the hospital creates the necessary atmosphere to enhance patient care. An additional benefit of an educational media advisory committee will be in the implementation of PSRO standards. In all likelihood, new information can best be delivered to a variety of physicians by using multimedia presentations. An example of this is
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 63(2) April 1975
the continuing education credit granted by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Practice for the utilization of videotape programs (3). In addition, Harbor General Hospital has recently become involved in continuing medical education programs, several of which have been successfully completed. Examples are programs in emergency medicine, perinatology, and radiology. It is envisioned that the use of multimedia will rapidly expand along with the growth of the Los Angeles County Hospitals and their continued commitment to community involvement and continuing medical education. The library's contribution to improved patient care and continuing medical education cannot be minimized. Indeed, the library's role in both areas can be enhanced through audiovisual materials. The library of tomorrow is potentially here today if the concept of EMAC can effectively be initiated in your library. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The help of Mrs. Rita Kemp is gratefully acknowledged. REFERENCES 1. WALDRON, J. S. Instructional Development Unit; A Guide to Organizing an Instructional Development Unit in Health Science Educational Institutions. Atlanta, National Medical Audiovisual Center [n.d.]. 2. KRONICK, DAVID A. Nonprint media as information resources: Software and hardware. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 62: 19-24, Jan. 1974. 3. The National Antibiotic Therapy Test. (An eightyminute examination via television taken by an estimated 20,000 physicians between March 25 and April 7, 1974. The examination was made available by the Network for Continuing Medical
Education.)
The Librarian and Medical Writing BY VIRGINIA PARKER, Librarian
Health Sciences Library Queen's University Kingston, Ontario
IN the announcement of electives offered to fourth-year students in the Queen's University 225
BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS
use is a logical way to avoid such frustrations and problems. As a step toward instructing allied health For those who consider a knowledge of language an personnel in the use of the Biomedical Library essential element of effective communication and who wish to prepare themselves for the medical profession at the University of California, San Diego, the in this respeet, Miss Virginia Parker, Health Sciences Reference Department planned and taught a Librarian, in cooperation with other members of the course entitled "How to Use the Biomedical Faculty of Medicine, offers an elective in medical Library." As of this writing, the course has writing. With the advice of a Department Head, the student selects a topic for a review paper. He prepares been offered twice, and student response to the paper under the joint supervision of Miss Parker both sessions has been enthusiastic. This article and another member of the Faculty of Medicine who will outline the goals, content, and mechanics is knowledgeable in the subject selected. This enables of the course, and may be of use to others who the student to acquire knowledge in the subject field of his choice as well as a knowledge of language and of are planning or considering such courses. The primary goal of the class was to give the library research methods. Seeing the paper in print can be a reward if the undertaking is successful. enrollees the information they need to do simple library tasks efficiently on their own. A This one-to-one course has been given just second goal was to make the enrollees aware of once, and the experiment proved successful. the policies and services of the Reference and The paper developed at the student's pace. Circulation Departments, two departments they Long private sessions facilitated the teaching must deal with constantly. The hope was not to and learning of the elements of language and turn them into sophisticated, expert researchstyle. Since the paper was on medical history, ers, but rather to give them a firm foundation there was less need for consultation with the in the basics of library use-a foundation upon other faculty member than there would have which they could build as needed. been if a more technical subject had been In planning the course, the first decisions chosen. However, a faculty member who is an were the length and time of meeting. It seemed authority on medical history did review the most practical for the class to meet during the final paper. working day, especially since Borda and Murray Librarians have long been engaged in teaching had reported high absentee rates in a similar the art of bibliography. To add the function of class held during the evening (1). Furthermore, teaching the art of writing is an appropriate the class would be work-related for the stuextension of the librarian's role. dents; asking them to give up personal time to attend did not seem reasonable. Since this was to be a basic course, a few hours seemed the A Class in Library Use for Allied Health most appropriate length. Given a shorter time, even the basics could not be covered. Given a Personnel longer time, the content was likely to become BY WILLIAM MAINA, Reference Librarian more specialized than most of the enrollees needed. With these considerations in mind, the Biomedical Library decision was made to offer the class for 1 1/2 University of California, San Diego hours a day, two days in a row. Scheduling was La Jolla, California for two consecutive days so that material discussed the first day could easily be integrated into the discussions of the second day, AMONG the frequent users of medical librar- with less need for refreshing memories. ies are allied health personnel doing research or An outline for the class was planned with the other tasks for physicians. Unfortunately, these two-session format in mind. (See below for emissaries may have little or no background in outline.) The first session was to cover the using a medical library. The result is often arrangement of the collection, the use of the frustration and problems for the allied health card catalog and serials list, and the services and person, the librarian, and ultimately the physipolicies of the Library. Session two was to cian. Education of secretaries, research assist- cover specific reference tools that were likely to ants, and other allied health personnel in library be of particular interest to the enrollees. For
Faculty of Medicine the following description of an elective in medical writing appears:
226
Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 63(2) April 1975
