These sections of S. 597 also recognize that all medical libraries do not need to be self sufficient (if, indeed, any medical library could achieve completeness today). Smaller collections may satisfy a large percentage of immediate clientele needs and they may be effectively supplemented by a nearby regional library which can fill requests for less demanded but frequently very expensive material. In different parts of the country, this regional function is performed by different types of libraries; in some cases medical school libraries are serving the entire community, in other cases private hospitals, medical societies, and governmental agencies are performing this reservoir function. The increasing amount of medical literature and the rising costs of operating a comprehensive medical library is outstripping the capacity of any one institution to furnish adequate support. The National Library of Medicine recognizes its inability to meet the medical literature needs of the entire Nation without support from a network of regional libraries. It is both economical and logical to prevent the deterioration of these reservoir libraries by furnishing Federal support in recognition of the vital function which they are already performing. Failure to secure greater support will result in less effective service which will jeopardize existing support. In many communities there are no other institutions able to meet these needs if existing regional libraries fall victim to rising costs and increasing demands without means of increasing income. S. 597 contains provisions which will aid science in the transmission of new knowledge and the methods by which it is preserved and brought forth when needed. It provides for research in methods of handling scientific data, so that society can get the most efficient return for the money it invests in medical libraries; and it provides for the training of people who will handle these data. It allows for support of syntheses of existing knowledge so that each individual does not, himself, have to go through the entire record to extract the meaningful portions for his field, and it provides for the compilation of historical discussions of the means whereby the discoveries were made, thus (hopefully) putting out more fruitful ways to investigate problems in the future. Since the results of medical advance are now preserved in written form, the bill makes provision for the collection of such publications in strategic positions around the country, as well as for the buildings and other storage depots which will contain these publications. But it also sees to it that the exciting new frontiers of the transmission of medical data, as exemplified by the medlars system at the National Library of Medicine, are expanded and made available on a wider scale. The Medical Library Association, representing about 2,000 medical libraries and librarians throughout the world, wholeheartedly supports the provisions of this bill. The impact which Federal moneys, particularly grants for research and teaching in medicine, have had on U.S. medical libraries is profound. It has made the needs of the users far outstrip the abilities of the institutions with which the libraries are connected to support them. Unless the scientific information handling apparatus of the country is brought up to the level of the research, teaching, and patient care of this country, we may very well see either a decline in the status of our medical sciences, or find different and more expensive methods of reaching the same goals being attempted by society. We urge, therefore, that the Senate pass S. 597, the Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965, speedily, and we hope that the necessary funds to implement it will be provided in the next executive budget. Thank you, Senator. The CHAIRMAN. How much do you think the benefit of this bill might be to the smaller hospitals who may have what we would term a relatively small training program? Dr. BRANDON. As far as support to small hospital libraries are concerned, I would say this, that it should help them build working collections which would provide for the needs of the practicing physician, and other individuals on the staff of that hospital. Depending on the size of the hospital, these needs will vary. However, the establishment of regional libraries where they have excellent resources available to them in an immediate vicinity would back up the needs of the researcher working in these small hospitals. I can foresee a training program not only within a large medical center library, either a medical school or medical society, but also a training program in hospitals themselves to help train librarians in the work of hospital library science. The CHAIRMAN. I was very much interested in your statement, and particularly the emphasis which I felt you gave to the need for regional libraries. You feel that is a very important part of the overall program, don't you? Dr. BRANDON. Yes; I believe it is, Senator Hill. We recognize that there are greater and greater demands being placed on the National Library of Medicine from all areas of the United States and, as a matter of fact, of the world. We feel that if support is not given to decentralize some of these services, that it will be impossible for the National Library of Medicine, in time, to keep up with this demand and to give us the service, within a reasonable length of time, that our researchers require. There already exists a pattern of medical library regionalization, but this needs to be strengthened and by all means supported. The CHAIRMAN. You have brought us a splendid statement, Doctor, which we appreciate very much. I was interested to see that you are director of the William H. Welch Medical Library. I may say that just before Dr. Welch left New York to come down to Johns Hopkins, my father studied under him in New York. He also said he was the first person to put a dissecting apron on him and he had a tremendous amount of admiration for Dr. Welch and surely Dr. Welch is entitled to be named one of the big four, isn't that right? Dr. BRANDON. That is correct. Even today I meet people who remember "Popsie Welch" and the influence that he had on their training and on their use of libraries, as a matter of fact, because, as you know, Dr. Welch had a great interest in them. The CHAIRMAN. He must have been a wonderful man. Thank you very much, Doctor. We certainly appreciate your being here and your fine testimony. Dr. BRANDON. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Now, Dr. Richard H. Logsdon, past chairman, Association of Research Libraries, and director of libraries at Columbia University. Doctor, we are happy to have you here. STATEMENT OF DR. RICHARD H. LOGSDON, DIRECTOR, LIBRARIES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, ACCOMPANIED BY JAMES E. SKIPPER, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES Dr. LOGSDON. Thank you, and appearing with me to help us in any question period is Dr. Skipper who is executive secretary of the Association of Research Libraries. The CHAIRMAN. Good. Where are you from, Doctor?, Dr. SKIPPER. Washington. The CHAIRMAN. That is what I thought. You have been with us before. Dr. SKIPPER. That is right. The CHAIRMAN. You are still here in Washington, aren't you? The CHAIRMAN. We are glad to have you here. Dr. SKIPPER. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. All right, Doctor, you may proceed in your own way. Ďr. LOGSDON. It is a pleasure to appear here to testify before your subcommittee. Our organization was established in 1932, a relatively new association among library groups. It comprises some 75 institutional members. These are the larger academic public and special libraries which collect comprehensively in support of research. Of particular note today is that 61 of the members are American university libraries, 47 of which operate medical schools and medical research centers. Our member institutions accordingly are carrying a substantial part of the total responsibility for nurturing biomedical research and medical education. They are similarly in a good position, we feel, to assess present shortcomings of the whole information complex and in turn to assess also the opportunity offered to Congress in this bill to strengthen both medical library resources and medical library services. This testimony is based not only on 17 years of direct experience at Columbia in the administration and financing of library services to one of these medical research centers, but also on knowledge of the pressures which are being felt by medical libraries generally. The case for this bill can be stated briefly under four headings: (1) Programs of education and research in medicine and the health related fields will be effective only if supported by adequate library and information services. (2) Medical library resources and services are not now adequate to the needs of the research community. (3) The gap between present levels of support and adequacy is too large to be closed quickly if at all from nongovernmental resources. (4) The program set forth in S. 597 in our opinion is soundly conceived and would achieve a dramatic and balanced development of medical library resources. ADEQUATE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR RESEARCH One of the best guarantees that funds available for research will be spent effectively is through the provision of adequate library resources. Medical libraries form a vital link in the chain of communication of ideas and information in the health sciences. They serve as custodians of recorded knowledge; the recipients of a vital torrent of publications reporting the results of current research; and as the principal means through which medical school teaching is kept up to date and research guided to new frontiers of discovery and understanding. Only through well organized, comprehensive, and readily available collections is it possible for the researcher to know what has been done in his field of specialization, the direction of current research, and the areas needing further study. The findings of research must be reported and put to use if the original objectives of research grants from whatever source or sources are to be achieved. The ultimate objective is, of course, better patient care and here, too, the library plays an important role by bringing the distance between the findings of research and the practicing physician. MEDICAL LIBRARY RESOURCES ARE NOT ADEQUATE That funds available for beiomedical research have increased much faster than appropriations for medical libraries is, I believe, well established. Funds from the Federal Government alone have risen from $27 million in 1947 to an estimated $1.3 billion. This emphasis on the part of Government, coupled with funds from nongovernmental sources has, in a real sense, created the library problem by generating the so-called explosion both in publication output and, of course, in the number of users to be served. Similarly increasing specialization in research has brought demands for library and other information services of a much more sophisticated nature calling for subject analysis in depth and ultimately, of course, machine handling of bibliographical records. Taken together these influences call for a higher proportion of total funds for information services at a time when library support is almost certainly falling behind on a percentage basis. FEDERAL SUPPORT NECESSARY TO BRIDGE THE GAP The logic of Federal support for strengthening medical library serv ices is, I believe, uncontestable. Not only is the gap so large as to preclude early correction from private sources, but the Federal Government itself is likely to be the principal beneficiary. Improved information services will, as stressed earlier, increase the effectiveness of Federal funds for research and in addition decrease the possible incidence of needless duplication of research. Time is, of course, important in that each year of delay risks the losses which can be gener ated by a poor communication network. THE PROVISIONS OF S. 597 ARE SOUNDLY CONCEIVED Those responsible for the drafting of this bill are to be commended for the care and appropriateness with which the several key aspects of a good medical library program are considered. I should now like to comment briefly on those separate provisions especially those which deal particularly with medical library services. SECTION 393-CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES It seems to be especially difficult to secure construction funds for library buildings. At Columbia, to cite one example, the money must be sought from individual donors or foundations as is true of other privately supported institutions. A medical library area planned years ago for a relatively small collection and before the dramatic expansion in biomedical research is simply not meeting current needs for collections, for staff activities, and for services. While some funds. are in hand for new building, it may be several years before construction could begin from private sources alone. A matching grant, on the other hand, would make it possible to begin immediate construction. And as Dr. Brandon has pointed out, this situation is duplicated in dozens of other universities and medical centers throughout the country. SECTION 394-TRAINING IN THE MEDICAL LIBRARY SCIENCES The shortage of library personnel generally, and especially of persons qualified in specializations like medical librarianship, has been a critical handicap in the maintenance of good library service. The investment in training provided for in this section including the program for information specialists would be extremely helpful in recruiting the staff necessary for achieving high standards of service. SECTION 396-RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN MEDICAL LIBRARY SCIENCE I find it gratifying to see the emphasis given in this bill to research and development. Libraries have been so hard pressed through the years to provide the essentials in acquisitions, organization of collections and reference services that there has been all too little attention given to research in the nature of library operation itself. The program here proposed would go a long way toward correcting this lack of emphasis in the past and would contribute to the improvement and efficiency of library operations not only in medical libraries but libraries generally. SECTION 397-IMPROVING AND EXPANDING THE BASIC RESOURCES I think this section offers the promise of the kind of direct and quick strengthening of resources and services at the very important local level which could bring immediate benefits to research programs. It should help to correct the present imbalance between the levels of local support for research and support for medical libraries. SECTION 398-REGIONAL MEDICAL LIBRARIES There is growing evidence and increasing conviction that the total information needs of the society will finally be met only through the creation of a network of libraries, each providing a level and quality 49-825-65 |