LIS 657���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Jonathan Eaker Carolinas Medical Center Library Site Visit ����������� Once again, I really was not sure what to expect at the library in the hospital. I thought the library was just used by doctors to help diagnose people so I expected all the books to be high level medical books. I was not sure if the doctors came in themselves or called in and asked for something. I thought that if they called and asked the librarians to look up something there may be a liability issue if they found the wrong thing and a person got sicker or something. ����������� We met Elizabeth White at the front of the hospital and she guided us around to the library. The library is in the same building as the residents and is used heavily by them. They call it an �Information Resource Center,� but I suspect they do that for the same reason they call themselves �Biomedical Information Specialists�: because it draw attention and gets them more money. The library itself looks very nice. They have a large circulation desk and 10 public PCs at the front. The PCs can be used by anyone who works at the hospital to browse or check email or whatever they need. They have a collection of older historical books to the left when you come in. There are phones available for the doctors to use if they are needed to talk to a patient but she said that if they need to discuss more detailed medical problems they are encouraged to talk in a private room. ����������� On the lower floor they also have a small consumer health section but their focus is on clinical information. The general collection and reference are on stacks. They have the newest periodicals out so they can be looked at. They also have a shelf of new purchases which stay up about a month before they are added to the collection. They said the doctors really like to look through the new books and new periodicals. They have the bound periodicals on moveable shelves. There is a computer lab available to use. There is study space available for anyone to use. Microfiche is used for the larger journals to save space. When you go up a stairway to the second floor there are more shelves that house the video library, Index Medicus, and some more journals. There are also offices and study rooms upstairs. One problem with the second floor is that the sound carries down to the first floor every easily. She said there are plans to remake the second floor into a drug information center. ����������� The library serves the staff at the Carolinas Medical Center, AHEC, and college for nurses so they have a lot of people to serve and many different areas. They have a staff of around 10 with 6 librarians. All librarians work the reference desk. They teach how to do literature searches and how to use various software applications. They said that they do not have a budget problem. They buy about 75 books a week and spend around a half million dollars on journals. They also get a lot of donated books. They did 11,600 interlibrary loans last year. They said some of the benefits of working in a library like that are getting to know your clients well. Their clients are their best source of collection development. They will always buy something if a staff member has written part of it. They run the AHEC digital library which is known for its online resources. It allows anyone access to the sources they need anywhere. They said that originally many in the state didn�t want to have a wireless library but they took advantage and it has really been helpful. All of the hospitals in the Carolinas Medical Center system give money to help pay for the wireless library so that it is not covered by they library�s budget. Their biggest problem is that they have so many people to serve and not enough staff. ����������� The thing that surprised me most was the diversity of people who come into the library. They have doctors and nurses, I saw an EMS man on a computer, and sometimes they have people looking for information for a family member. Also students looking for things for class and doctors who need information in order to help a person are very different groups which have two different needs. I don�t know how they handle everything with the number of people they have.