STATEMENT OF DR. ABE RUBIN, EDITOR AND SECRETARY OF THE COUNCIL ON EDUCATION, AMERICAN PODIATRY ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D.C. Dr. RUBIN. With your permission, sir, if I may have the full statement incorporated in the record, I will limit my remarks to a very short summation. I am Abe Rubin, D.S.C., a doctor of podiatry, executive secretary of the Council on Education of the American Podiatry Association and editor of Journal of the American Podiatry Association. With me is Mrs. Thomas Boyd, B.S., M.L.S., librarian of the Stickel Memorial Library of the American Podiatry Association. Our colleges and our associations support fully this legislation. Aware of the very wide support for the legislation, we have limited our presentation to a discussion of podiatry college needs and the extent of this need. This is presented in the table in exhibit A. We also raise the same question that some of the others voiced here as to whether or not this legislation extends the opportunity for Federal support to our libraries. We are suggesting two minor amendments should they be necessary to assure this opportunity to our colleges to help them better serve our students, faculties, practitioners, and through them the health of the Nation. We thank you for the opportunity of presenting our views to you and will feel privileged to answer any questions you may have. Mr. MACDONALD. Are there any questions? Thank you very much for your statement, sir. STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN PODIATRY ASSOCIATION, BY DR. ABE RUBIN The American Podiatry Association is a voluntary, nonprofit federation of 52 component societies. The association's council on education, which I represent here today, is listed by the Commissioner of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as the national accrediting agency for the five podiatry colleges. Three of the colleges are more than 50 years old. One celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, and one will graduate its 1st class in 1967. The colleges are all private, independent, nonprofit institutions. The minimal education program is 4 years of podiatry college after 2 years of undergraduate work. We appear before you today to express the interest and support of the podiatry profession and its colleges in the legislation you are considering as H.R. 3142 and similar and related legislation. In 1960, the podiatry profession established a special commission to examine in depth the whole program of podiatry education. This commission was chaired by William K. Selden, LL. D., executive secretary of the National Commission on Accreditation. Besides the chairman, this commission consisted of three educators from the field of higher education (nonpodiatrists); one doctor of medicine (a medical educator); and a member of the board of trustees of a podiatry college. This commission was organized to examine from a broad point of view, the profession's educational program and advise on steps necessary to improve this program. In fulfilling the latter part of this obligation-i.e., recommendations for the future, the Selden commission made the following statements on library needs: It is recommended that each college of podiatry (a) Increase the space in the library to provide adequately for reading and reference purposes, and for shelving of books; (b) Increase the number of volumes and periodicals on a selective basis; (c) Bind and file back issues of periodicals; (d) Catalog and index all library holdings; and (e) Employ a professionally trained librarian on a full-time basis. Recently, the staff of the council on education made a study of the five podiatry colleges in order to compare existing conditions with the recommendations of the Selden commission made in 1961. The fact remains that progress is being made but at a pace alarmingly slow. Figures on the attached exhibit A show that library conditions in our colleges have an average deficit in space needs of 4,097 square feet; an average deficit in volume needs, of 8,541. The need to expand the libraries in our podiatry colleges is vital. In the last 5 years our college enrollments have risen 40 percent, operating costs have risen 131 percent, and average cost of education per student has nearly doubled. Our students must, in most cases, travel considerable distances to avail themselves of adequate library facilities because the podiatry college libraries cannot meet their needs an obviously unsatisfactory arrangement. Our 5 colleges of podiatry have a total enrollment of 625 students. To provide the number of podiatrists needed by 1980, podiatry colleges will have to graduate about 600 students annually beginning with 1968. This is approximately three times their present capacity.1 One very real factor in the need for more podiatrists is the rapidly expanding older population. Two-thirds of all patients requiring podiatry care are over 45 years of age. The libraries in our podiatry colleges must grow and must grow rapidly. Basic collections need to be revised and enlarged; budgets must be expanded to purchase all latest literature on foot health; and additional professional personnel must be employed to organize and administer such libraries. The Health Professions Educational Assistance Act of 1963 provides podiatry colleges with the opportunity to participate in support being provided by the Federal Government for expansion and improvements in education for the health professions. We urge that your committee amend the language of the present legislation to provide the same opportunity for their libraries as proposed by H.R. 3142. This can be accomplished with two simple amendments and these are attached in exhibit B. The podiatry profession fully supports the need of the legislation known as Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965 and thanks you for the opportunity of presenting this opinion to you. It will be a privilege to answer any questions you may have. EXHIBIT A Library deficits for the 5 podiatry colleges (1st-year enrollment ranges from 40 to 60 students) 1 Based on council on education's suggestions for minimal library requirements. Based on GSA figures from "Program for Developing Medical Libraries," President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer, and Stroke, February 1965. 3 Square feet. Volumes which means books and serials (serials includes periodicals, annual reports, yearbooks, proceedings, and transactions of societies). 1 Blauch, Lloyd E., Ph. D. Number of podiatrists needed. Journal of the American Podiatry Association. 55 356-359, 1965. 2 Rubin, Abe, D.S.C. Enrollment, spaces, manpower shortages and projected podiatry construction. Journal of the American Podiatry Association. 54: 709-712, 1964. 3 Fuchsberg, Robert R. Report presented to the 1965 annual meeting of the American Podiatry Association (in preparation for publication). (Mr. Fuchsberg is on the staff of the National Center for Health Statistics.) EXHIBIT B PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 3142 Page 3, line 20, after the word "dentistry" add the word "podiatry”. Page 14, line 19, after the word "physicians" add the words "and podiatrists.". Mr. MACDONALD. Mrs. Phyllis V. Parkins, Director, BioSciences Information Service, Philadelphia. STATEMENT OF PHYLLIS V. PARKINS, DIRECTOR, BIOSCIENCES INFORMATION SERVICE, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Mrs. PARKINS. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I am very pleased to be able to present a brief statement on behalf of Biological Abstracts, as representing one of those biomedical publications I think are referred to in section 399 of the proposed legislation. I do not know whether an abstracting and indexing service is very familiar to the members of the committee or not. Our chief product is a journal published semimonthly and covering well over a hundred thousand, that is, analyzing and publishing abstracts of well over a hundred thousand research articles in the life sciences. So you can see it is a very large area of world literature that is covered and much of it is biomedical in importance. Approximately half of our supporting subscriptions come from abroad. I think perhaps the committee might like to know that Biological Abstracts, in this country, is the world's largest and most important abstracting service in the life sciences, located in Philadelphia, and more precisely, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania where Dr. Luther Terry will be residing in the near future. We have been greatly concerned that financial support of those existing services that are widely used to further the dissemination of information in the medical sciences would not be included under the provisions of this act. Our fears may be groundless. The wording in section 399, as I pointed out in my submitted statement, refers only to those publications that are associated with institutions of higher education; yet there are many nonprofit, active information disseminating services that are not directly associated with institutions of higher education. In general, and certainly I can say it more boldly than that, we do endorse this legislation as being a very forward move in furthering the communication of information in the medical sciences, which is very important to the future advance of medical practice. Mr. MACDONALD. Thank you very much. Are there any questions? Mr. VAN DEERLIN. Mr. Chairman, I did not get what the witness' fear was. Mrs. PARKINS. It is presented in detail in my formal statement, sir, and perhaps we had better not use the time for reading it precisely. Mr. VAN DEERLIN. Thank you. (The statement presented by Mrs. Parkins follows:) STATEMENT OF BIOSCIENCES INFORMATION SERVICE OF BIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS, BY PHYLLIS V. PARKINS, DIRECTOR Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, in general, H.R. 3142 (Harris) represents an extremely forward-looking effort toward strengthening the health services of this country, in our opinion. Communication of new knowledge in the medical and related sciences is indeed basic to its application in bettering the health of our own citizens and peoples everywhere. On behalf of BioSciences Information Service of Biological Abstracts, however, and in the interest of other nonprofit organizations and societies in a similar situation with respect to the proposed legislation, I wish to bring to your attention wording in H.R. 3142 (Harris) that would appear to be in conflict with the stated purpose of this bill. Please refer to section 399-"Financial Support of Biomedical Scientific Publications," page 20, lines 18 to 25, continued as lines 1 and 2 of page 21. More specifically, I would call to your attention lines 21 and 22, beginning “contracts with, public or private nonprofit institutions of higher education and individual scientists ***" Since several of the "biomedical publications of a nonprofit nature," and "writing, editing, and publication of reviews, abstracts, indexes * * *" are almost wholly sponsored by scientific societies and (or) private nonprofit organizations, rather than by "institutions of higher education and individual scientists," the present wording of the bill would exclude a large number of societies and organizations sponsoring existing biomedical publications and information services from receiving financial assistance in the proposed program. As a consequence of their exclusion the purposes of the bill under consideration would be seriously impaired. In actuality, apart from libraries and library services, very few information activities (nonprofit scientific journals or abstracting and (or) indexing publications) are sponsored or controlled by institutions of higher education. Permit me to use Biological Abstracts as one example of a nonprofit organization that might be ineligible for aid in furthering the communication of biomedical information-under the provisions of the bill as it is worded at present. Yet in 1965 our chief publication, Biological Abstracts and its indexes, published semimonthly, will present indexed abstracts of at least 110,000 research articles, the bulk of which can be classed as biomedical in content. In addition, a publication to appear for the first time this month-BioResearch Titles will index and include complete references for another 20,000 research articles not represented in Biological Abstracts. For 1966-120,000 indexed abstracts are planned; 60,000 additional articles will be represented in BioResearch Titles. Biological Abstracts has been published continuously since 1926, and is now the world's largest and most comprehensive abstracting and indexing service of its kind. It is widely used as an information tool in biomedical research, both here and abroad. In view of the sizable effort required to support biomedical scientific publications, and in the interest of the national economy, I feel certain it was not the intention to deny financial assistance to existing publications of vital importance to biomedicine. There are a great many, both primary and secondary, that can contribute substantially to the aims and goals represented by Bill H.R. 3142 (Harris). As evidence, permit me to submit copies of Biological Abstracts, current abstract issues and indexes, for examination of the committee. Included, also, are an outline of subjects covered in Biological Abstracts, and a breakdown of proportionate coverage by subject for the preceding year. Mr. MACDONALD. Mr. William Budington, Special Libraries Association, Chicago, Ill. STATEMENT OF WILLIAM S. BUDINGTON, SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION, CHICAGO, ILL. Mr. BUDINGTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to make three very brief points which are amplified in the statement which I trust may be included in full in the record. Mr. MACDONALD. Without objection, that may be done. (The statement follows:) STATEMENT OF WILLIAM S. BUDINGTON, IN BEHALF OF THE SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION My name is William Budington. I am associate librarian of the John Crerar Library in Chicago; this is a private organization providing free public library services in science, technology, and medicine, and is the largest such public library in this country. I am here to present the views of the Special Libraries Association, of which I am the past president. This association is composed of some 6,100 members who are librarians and information specialists employed in private and public organizations and institutions, including industrial, academic, association, and independent nonprofit activities. Our association wishes to express its wholehearted support of H.R. 3142. In its "declaration of policy and statement of purpose," the bill itself pinpoints the needs for action. It is hardly necessary for me to speak again of the rate at which scientific research is outpacing itself, in terms of utilization of known facts, old and new. In the health sciences, this is especially critical in today's context of concern for our Nation's health and the continuing welfare of our citizens. While we are accustomed to support research activity, we have not provided adequately for dissemination and availability of generated results. To insure prompt and effective use of our new skills and knowledge, it is essential that the creation, recording, bibliographic control and availability of medical knowledge be assured; this requires federalized, coordinated support at each phase of the communicative chain in this vital area. Of all areas of scientific communication, medicine is presently seeing perhaps the most interesting advancement, through work at the National Library of Medicine. Through experimentation, and in current applications, we are witnessing application of computer technology and mechanization to the storage and rapid dissemination of data and ideas. The proposed legislation will promote a network of facilities which will be largely autonomous and soundly prepared; yet they will be continually infused and mutually supportive in seeing that the needed, correct and latest information is always ready, anywhere in our country. Support of libraries and information activity is commonly seen as building more buildings and buying more books. These are indeed basic. But present and future needs reflect even more basic changes. It is not sufficient to buy a book, shelve it and maintain silence around it. Today's librarians and information specialists are only secondarily interested in a book as a container; they are vitally concerned with its content and, as expressed by our association slogan, with "putting knowledge to work." Creation of such content and knowledge in the biomedical sciences has been spurred by Federal expenditures; in this subject area alone, such support now totals more than $1 billion per year in sponsored research. In virtually no instances have these grants provided for libraries or for increased facilities in the supply and flow of information. Operating budgets and added space for libraries has had to come from institutional funds, and you will be hard put to find much evidence of any support from local resources. If money wasn't to be had for libraries before the grant. it isn't there afterward, either. The bill speaks-and one naturally thinks of medical schools, local practitioners, and institute researchers as benefiting most. In reality, the influence is much broader. The membership of our own association includes but 580 members in its biological sciences division. In the space sciences, nuclear sciences, technology, chemistry and similar areas are another 2,800. And all of them have need of medical information ranging from casual to constant. Recall, if you will, such topics as aerospace physiology, radiation hazards, toxicity of materials, air pollution and the like. An aircraft company may have a good technical library; it must depend on other sources for medical documents and information. While such industry naturally turns to, say, a local medical school, this library is seldom equipped to serve these demands in addition to its own staff and students. Provision of regional medical library centers will thus benefit industry in addition to existing medical school facilities. It will also insure such resources in areas where no topflight medical libraries of any kind are now to be found. To some extent, the present bill is aimed at curing present ills. We need better libraries and library facilities now. We need better trained staff now, grounded in the subject matters of medical science and library or information science. We need radically new techniques now, to cope with a present flood of information and publications. But if we need these things now, and badly, what is in |