Medical Libraries

MEDICAL LIBRARIES. The following types of medical libraries are distinguished: 1) independent scientific medical libraries, 2) libraries at medical faculties and higher educational institutions, 3) libraries at research and treatment institutions, 4) medical departments of public libraries, 5) libraries of health education literature. Work in medical libraries generally follows standard library rules; only certain specific features deserve separate description: 1. In the overwhelming majority of specialized medical libraries, the decimal classification system is not used; instead, one of the proposed special classifications of medical knowledge is employed. 2. Special attention must be paid to the proper cataloging of articles published in journals, proceedings, collections, etc., which are often of extremely great interest—greater than in many other fields of knowledge. Without a subject catalog of articles, it is almost impossible to serve a reader with a good selection of literature on a specific "topic." 3. Special attention must be paid to subscribing to and assembling complete series of specialized journals over a number of years. In medical libraries, subscription priorities should be given to various abstracting journals, which often replace a whole series of basic publications (referring to various "Zentralblatt," "Berichte," "Abstracts," etc.). In general, it must be remembered that periodical literature is of greater significance in medical libraries than books. 4. Significant difficulties are presented by the accounting, selection, and systematization of literature by the so-called "corporate author," i.e., various reports of therapeutic and prophylactic institutions, sanitary reports, medical and sanitary chronicles, collections of legislation, proceedings of congresses and societies, etc. Here it is most convenient to use the geographical system, under which all material is distributed relatively easily by countries and then within each country, if necessary, by regions, gubernias, cities, etc. (For details, see Derman G., Ivanov G., Trofimov N., Rukovodstvo po katalogizatsii [Cataloging Guide], Moscow, 1927.) 5. The storage and systematization of individual offprints and dissertations also present certain features. Here it is most convenient to store the material itself in special box-cases, arranged alphabetically and filed according to Cutter (duplicates can be bound by topic). The catalog should be compiled as a subject catalog, which is especially advisable for this literature. Given the colossal abundance of medical literature, medical libraries, even more so than libraries in other specialties, must come to the aid of readers by selecting literature even on the narrowest topics. Therefore, in any more or less large medical library, the responsible person should be a universally trained physician who has at hand a richly selected collection of bibliographic guides and aids. It is useful to point out that a well-selected collection of dissertations is an indispensable bibliographic aid, since dissertations usually provide very complete lists of literature. The bibliographic guides of the Great Medical Encyclopedia can serve the same purpose. Independent scientific medical libraries are very few. The majority of medical libraries in all countries form part of university or large public libraries in which "medicine" is not separated into distinct groups. In view of this, the information given below regarding university and public libraries pertains to them as a whole and not exclusively to their medical departments. The largest independent medical library in the world is considered to be the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office in Washington; it was founded in 1864 and currently contains 801,887 library units (1925); the library has published a catalog that is unparalleled in completeness (see Medical Bibliography). Among American medical libraries, the Boston Medical Library also deserves special attention; it has developed its own classification of medical books, coordinated with the Library of Congress of the United States, and willingly responds to inquiries regarding classification, shelving, etc. The Boston Library was formed in 1875 by the merger of a number of libraries of scientific societies in Boston; it currently holds about 200,000 library units. In addition, the following must be named in America: 1) the Army Medical Museum and Library, founded in 1864 (472,000 volumes); 2) the Library of the New York Academy of Medicine, founded in 1847 (215,000 volumes); and 3) the Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1788 (about 280,000 volumes). Excellent libraries also exist in the United States at numerous higher medical educational institutions. - In Germany, the best collection of medical writings is held by the Preussische Staatsbibliothek in Berlin; it also houses a union catalog of all German scientific libraries, where one can obtain information both about the libraries themselves and about the books collected in them (Gesamtkatalog der Preussischen wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken, Berlin NW 7, Unter den Linden, 38). The Prussian State Library was founded in 1661 and has 1,984,000 volumes. Very rich collections of medical books exist at all German universities. The Department of Health (Reichsgesundheitsamt) has a library of 245,000 library units (formerly the library of the Kaiser Wilhelm Akademie). - In France, the largest collection of medical books is at La Bibliothèque Nationale (the largest national library in the world); founded in the 14th century, it holds over 4 million volumes; there is a valuable printed catalog brought up to the letter "L". Among specialized medical libraries, the Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Médecine (Paris), containing 400,000 volumes, and the Bibliothèque de l'Académie de Médecine (Paris), containing 250,000 volumes, should be noted. In addition, rich collections exist in the remaining university libraries. - In Great Britain, the largest collection of medical books is in the Library of the British Museum; founded in 1753; the book stock is about 3 million volumes; there is a printed systematic catalog. In addition, there is the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature in London (London NW, Lyndhurst Rd., 5), where detailed bibliographic inquiries on all scientific questions can be obtained. Large libraries exist at universities and colleges, especially in Cambridge, Oxford, Dublin, and Edinburgh. - In Italy, the largest collection is the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, founded in 1864; it contains 689,975 volumes. In Austria, the best collection of medical books is in the Nationalbibliothek in Vienna (founded in the 16th century, book stock 1,200,000 volumes; it includes an information bureau that provides inquiries on which Austrian library holds a required book), as well as in the university library. In Belgium, the International Institute of Bibliography (Centre international - Institut international de bibliographie) should be noted, which has gathered 12.25 million cards across all branches of knowledge. Medical libraries in the USSR. The Library of the Military Medical Academy in Leningrad is the most extensive and complete collection of medical literature in the USSR. The history of this library, closely intertwined with the history of the Academy itself, is of considerable interest, as it characterizes in many respects the state of Russian medicine during various periods. The library of the Military Medical Academy was based on the Library of the Medical College, founded by Kondoidi in the middle of the 18th century. In 1794, its first catalog was compiled, and in 1798 it was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Academy. At that time, the library had 4,786 "volumes." In the very first years after the transfer, the library began to grow rapidly. In general, by 1806 the library already had 23,000 volumes. This very solid collection for those times was put in order by Dr. Dzhunkovsky, who left behind the first systematic catalog of the Academy's book riches. Over the subsequent two decades, the enrichment of the library proceeded very slowly. Funds were hardly allocated, and, for example, by 1822 the library had only 35,473 volumes. It is curious that during this period the library received something like a mandatory copy of medical publications, since the Academy was the censor of the medical press, and all publishers delivered corresponding publications to the library. Beginning already from this time, the Academy's library became a center from which medical books were distributed throughout Russia. Duplicates from the Academy formed, for example, the basis of the library of the Medical Academy established in Moscow, etc. The period of the 1840s and 1850s is characterized by the rapid growth of the library. By 1855, the library was already subscribing to about 50 journals and numbered 47,606 volumes. In 1869, work began on compiling the first systematic card catalog. It was completed in 1870 and comprised 69,000 cards for books and 96,000 cards for journal articles; the catalog was divided into 58 sections. In 1880, the library already possessed significant wealth. In total, it numbered 121,500 volumes and subscribed to 453 periodicals. In 1882, the library's premises were significantly expanded, reading rooms were arranged, etc. In 1876–1878, a complete systematic catalog of the library was printed, which to this day remains a most valuable bibliographic reference book. Now the library numbers about 350,000 library units. The Central Medical Library of the People's Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR is currently one of the premier medical libraries of the USSR in terms of book quantity and the first in the selection of the latest medical literature (Russian and foreign). It was created during the revolutionary period (founded in 1919).

The composition of the original core (35,000 printed items) consisted of 4 departmental libraries evacuated from Petrograd with the government: the Medical Council, the Directorate of the Medical Inspector, the Military-Scientific Committee, and the editorial office of the Military-Medical Journal. Subsequently, the library was replenished with public and private medical libraries, the largest of which were: the Zemsky Union, the League to Fight Tuberculosis, the Physico-Medical Society, the Pirogov Society, the Moscow Therapeutic Society, part of the library of the Society of Russian Physicians, the Physiotherapeutic Society, the Pharmaceutical Sub-Department of the People's Commissariat of Health, the Dentistry Section of the People's Commissariat of Health, the Health Resort Section of the People's Commissariat of Health, the Military Feldsher School, etc. The most important replenishment of the library was made in 1920 by purchasing the latest foreign (mainly German) journals abroad for the entire period of the war interruption. Subsequently, the Central Medical Library was continuously replenished with the latest foreign literature (both journals and books). The core collections of Russian scientific and public medical literature are replenished with new editions through purchase and receipt of a partial (for medicine) legal deposit copy from the State Central Book Chamber of the RSFSR, as well as by the provision of publications of the People's Commissariat of Health. By 1928, the library had 316,929 printed items; it includes books, journals, reprints, and dissertations on medicine and related fields of knowledge (biology, biological chemistry and physics, sanitary engineering, etc.); extensive bibliographic work is carried out. The Central Medical Library provides bibliographic information for inquiries related to scientific work.

Large medical departments, naturally, also exist in our major public libraries. Of these, it is necessary to mention: The V. I. Lenin Public Library of the USSR in Moscow. It possesses a colossal, not yet fully accounted book fund, which has grown especially after the revolution (reaching 3 million library items). It holds the majority of Russian medical publications (72,000 volumes). Foreign books number 16,000. At present (1928), 80 titles of foreign journals are subscribed to. - The State Public Library in Leningrad, founded in 1795; it holds 4.5 million library items. Medical literature is kept in the Department of Natural Sciences. Russian books and journals are represented with exhaustive completeness. Foreign literature is also present in significant numbers: about 100,000 monographs and about 700 journal titles in 16,000 volumes. In 1928, 128 foreign journals were subscribed to. - The All-People's Library of Ukraine in Kiev, founded in 1918 through the merger of a number of libraries, of which the library of Kiev University deserves special mention: it holds 1,285,000 library items. In addition, there is another special medical library in Kiev containing up to 100,000 copies. - The Belorussian State Library in Minsk, founded in 1921; it contains 350,000 volumes, of which about 15,000 are in the medical department. Special attention has been paid to the replenishment of the medical department: half of all journals subscribed to from abroad are allocated to the medical department. The library also serves as the university library. - The Central Scientific Library in Odessa, founded in 1920 by merging a number of libraries, predominantly of higher educational institutions. The library lists 1,174,000 library items, of which 126,632 are classified under the medical department. - The Central Scientific Library in Kharkov (formerly the fundamental university library) - about 250,000 volumes.

Mention must also be made of the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, founded in 1725 and possessing a book fund of 3.5 million library items, which includes a richest collection of biological literature. In addition, the libraries of our higher educational institutions should be specifically listed: The Library of the 1st Moscow State University, about 500,000 volumes, among which is a very rich collection of medical literature. The Library of Leningrad University, about 1 million volumes, which retained the library of the former medical faculty. The Library of the State Institute of Medical Knowledge in Leningrad, containing up to 76,000 volumes. The library is composed of the library of the former Psychoneurological Institute and several smaller libraries. - The Library of the 1st Ukrainian Sanitary-Bacteriological Institute, existing since 1861 (the library of the former Kharkov Medical Society). - The Library of the North Caucasian State University, founded in 1916, contains 404,886 volumes. Upon its formation, it received large medical collections from capital book repositories. - The Library of the Voronezh State University, founded in 1918, contains 167,891 volumes. The selection of these books is random and does not boast high value. Systematic replenishment of the library, and in particular the medical department, has not been established. - The Library of the Saratov State University, founded in 1909, contains 334,294 volumes. The medical department is very extensive. A large number of medical journals are subscribed to. - The Library of Tomsk University, contains about 370,000 volumes. It began to be formed in 1891 as the library of the medical faculty and is therefore very rich in medical publications. Tomsk University Library is known as one of the largest medical libraries in the USSR. - The Library of Irkutsk University, founded in 1918. The medical department has been separated into an independent library and contains about 25,000 volumes. - The Library of the Omsk Medical Institute, founded in 1920. In 1924, the library burned down, but is recovering rapidly and currently contains 56,783 volumes of medical literature. - The Library of Tiflis State University, founded in 1918, contains about 200,000 volumes. Of these, about 20,000 items are medicine. There are 317 titles of medical literature in the Georgian language. - The Library of the Kuban State Medical Institute, founded in 1922, contains 12,874 volumes: a relatively small, but well-selected and systematized library. (For health-educational libraries see Health Education).