books. Instead, it was filled with electronic materials that were constantly being
updated. That was the beauty of it.
But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And if the beholder is looking for a
traditional library, disappointment is inevitable.
Here’s how Barbara Shearer, founding director of our Charlotte Edwards
Maguire Medical Library, recalled one of her conversations with an LCME
representative.
“During the early days of the college, we heard a range of opinions about creating
an all-digital library – from ‘Where are the journals?” to “No one will ever
read a book on a computer.’
“One LCME reviewer told me that though librarians currently had the luxury
of thinking outside of the box, one day we would be ‘in’ the box.
“However, since we created a new kind of library instead of improving on the
old print-based library, we didn’t experience being in a box. Instead, while other
libraries were catching up by replacing print book and journal stacks with new
technologies, bringing staff up to speed and renovating library spaces, we were
moving ahead into even newer areas:
• We incorporated mobile devices into the curriculum.
• We worked with evidence-based medicine publishers to make their products
affordable and user-friendly.
• We developed our skills in scholarly communications to be prepared for
a new era of open-access publishing.
“Today, the Charlotte Edwards Maguire Medical Library is publishing an
open-access, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal on diabetes. The idea of
a library without books, rows of bound journals, and people standing in line
at copier machines was radical in 2001, but it is unimaginable in 2020.” Then
Barbara concluded: “The FSU College of Medicine library was never in the box,
and this has made all the difference.”
How sad that an LCME reviewer could have been so blind to the advantages
of an online library. As a woman who came of age in the Pleistocene Era, I had
to deal with a brick-and-mortar library at the University of Tennessee Health
Science Center in Memphis. Here in 2020, many of you probably can’t appreciate
the things that make an online library so wonderful.
No. 1 is safety. Most of the med centers in the United States are located
near charity hospitals in high-crime sections of big cities, as it was in Memphis.
I couldn’t go to the library after dark. In fact, one night, just a few steps from
the back door of the building where I worked, a young nurse made the mistake
of leaving the charity hospital after dark and alone. There were security guards
and there were lights, but someone abducted her – and killed her. It was literally
about 12 steps from the back of my building, where I parked my car and went
out every night to go home. I couldn’t go to the library at night if I wanted to
research something or prepare for my seminar. I had to go during the light of
day. The safety issue is a big one. And the online library takes away that concern.
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