The Evolution of Medical Library Resources and Services at HML

Print dominated the first sixty years of Hawaii Medical Library and its predecessor, the Honolulu County Medical Society Library. The last thirty years saw the rapid evolution and rise of electronic resources. The days of flipping through a card catalog or scanning volumes of print indexes are over. Health care professionals now use computers as their primary avenue for information, including books, journal articles, statistics, and images.

Computers have also led to an explosion of information. Hence the continued need for librarians and information specialists to assist health care professionals find what they need in the most efficient manner.

The timeline below provides a quick overview on the variety of services and resources that Hawaii Medical Library has offered to Hawaii's health care community.

First graduates of St. Francis School of Nursing, ca. 1930's

Purchases Cumulative Index for $36.00.
Begins work on a union list of journals.
Reference aids consist of book and serials catalogs.
Library staff creates bibliographies.

1940
Officially becomes a "lending library" for all physicians in the Territory of Hawaii.

1943
Acquired the major portion of the Kalihi Receiving Station's library on extended loan.

1947
Allows in social workers, school teachers and mental hygiene workers with restricted loan privileges.

1948-49
Accepts membership from the St. Francis School of Nursing.

1950
Extends loan privileges to staff members of all organizations making annual contributions.
Allows circulation of bound medical journals for three days to physicians.

1951
Establishes group memberships.

1953
Accepts a collection from Board of Medical Examiners to be used by those preparing for examinations.
Purchases a Cardex [sic] on a revolving stand to list journal holdings.

1959
Completes the Library Manual of Policies and Procedures.

Blessing for the Hawaii Medical Library building in 1965.

1965
"Liberalizes" circulation by allowing members to borrow 4 books and 6 journals at one time.
Initiates program of sending lists of new books to be posted in the various hospitals.

1966
Begins a re-cataloging project to switch from the Boston Library classification to the National Library of Medicine classification.
Re-establishes a binding program.

1967
Starts an audio-visual section containing medical tapes and films. These materials are made available for borrowing, just like the books and periodicals.
Formulates a new manual of standard operating procedures and personnel policies.

1973
MEDLINE searching by librarians begins.

1976
Publishes first issue of the HML Newsletter.
Begins offering weekly instruction classes on conducting research.

1978
Installs Checkpoint, a book security system.
HISTLINE (HISTory of medicine on-LINE) becomes available from NLM.

1979
Health Planning and Administration Data Base (HEALTH) becomes available from NLM.
Receives "Resource Library" designation to facilitate photocopy requests from Hawaii libraries to other resource libraries in Arizona, California, and Nevada.
Assists with establishing a medical library in Ponape Hospital.
Begins the History of Medicine cataloging project to catalog rare medical books and books focusing on the history of medicine.

Sample of materials purchased by the Public Health Fund grant

1980
Purchases patient education books through a Chamber of Commerce Public Health Fund grant.
Opens the Rare Book Collection and Special Collections to patrons.

1981
POPLINE (POPulation information onLINE) becomes available from NLM.
Joins OCLC, a computerized cataloging network, to assist in cataloging library resources.
Offers videodisc training programs to be viewed in the Library.

1982
Begins offering the Personal Bibliography Services to members.
Protocol Data Query (PDQ) becomes available from National Cancer Institute.

1983
Makes an Apple II microcomputer available for members.
Begins purchasing videocassettes in Beta format for patrons.

1984
Offers introductory seminar for computer database searching.

1987
Purchases teaching aids (e.g., charts and models) through a grant from the Chamber of Commerce Public Health Fund.
Begins offering classes on online search through Grateful Med.

1988
Makes self-service CD-ROM MEDLINE searching available.
Switches videotape purchases from Beta to VHS format.
AIDSLINE database becomes available from NLM.

1989
Purchases more health education teaching aids (e.g., charts, tabletop display panels, and models) through a grant from the Chamber of Commerce Public Health Fund.
Participates in a statewide consortium to provide health information to patients and their families via fax machines.
Subscribes to the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) on CD-ROM.

Map of Mala La'au.

Mala La'au in 1994

1990
Introduces a Table of Contents service.
Begins offering copy cards for new Xerox photocopying machines.
Loansome Doc introduced by NLM. This computer program allows Grateful Med users to request photocopies of journal articles from their designated libraries.
Accepts photocopy requests by fax machine.

1991
Clinical Alert Program created by the NLM. The program asists in the rapid dissemination of information learned during clinical trails sponsored by National Institutes of Health (NIH).

1992
Automates the libarary catalog with CARL, replacing the card catalog with computer terminals.
Adds HEALTHPLAN CD-ROM database to its collection. Other CD-ROM databases available for searching are MEDLINE and CINAHL.
Installs two new computers for CD-ROM database searching.

1993
Adds CLINPsyc CD-ROM database to the collection.
Provides access to UnCover, a large periodical index database that included a rapid article delivery service.

1994
Introduces an automated circulation system.
Adds several databases to the CD-ROM network: Practice Parameters on CD-ROM, Heatlh and Psychosocial Instruments CD-ROM, Health Reference Center, and Micromedex.
Creates Mala La'au, a healing plant garden displaying plants used in traditional Hawaiian culture.
Offers first Internet classes.

1995
Mounts HML home page.
Makes CIBA Collection of Medical Illustrations available to members.

1996
Joins the Hawaii Health Information Corporation (HHIC), making it possible to relay literature search requests via computer.
Internet Grateful Med, introduced by NLM, allows free MEDLINE searching using the Internet .
HSRProj, SPACELINE, HealthSTAR, and PreMEDLINE databases made available by NLM.
Provides remote access to MEDLINE and HEALTH database searching .
Introduces two new classes on Internet searching and on web page construction.

1997
Makes it possible to submit photocopy and MEDLINE requests via the Web.
Adds The Cochrane Library to the CD-ROM network.
PubMed interface introduced by NLM for Internet MEDLINE searching.
Opens Consumer Health Information Service (CHIS).

1998
Establishes an outreach program to local schools through a grant from the HMSA foundation.

1999
Introduces HMLaccess to allow CD-ROM and database access from outside the Library.
Installs a color digital copier.
Offers two new classes: PubMed: Beyond the Basics and Show Me the Evidence.
Opens the Mamiya Medical Heritage Center (MMHC).
Launches HiPHIVE web site.

2000
Starts subscriptions to OVID & MDConsult electronic databases
Replaces CARL with Voyager.
Assists Hawaii Medical Journal with creating its own web site.
Installs Ariel electronic article delivery system.
Launches a virtual museum on the web.

2001
Offers a class on using personal digital assistants (PDAs).

2002
Makes PubMed@HML available.
Adds full text content from ScienceDirect, several EBSCOhost databases, eMedicine, and Harrison's Online to the web site.

2003
Launches Live Help virtual reference service.
Installs wireless network to provide Internet access to patrons with laptop computers.
Creates the Hawaii Health Portal.