PHILSON LIBRARY / TE HERENGA HAUORA

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Philson Library / Te Herenga Hauora is a divisional library of the University of Auckland Library, located within the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences in Grafton.

When Dr Thomas Moore Philson retired as Provincial and Consulting Surgeon in 1883, the people of Auckland raised 270 sovereigns as a tribute to his outstanding service to the Province. In 1887 Dr Philson donated this money to the University College to provide books for medical students in Auckland. The sum was invested and allowed to accumulate, and from time to time its income was used to add items to the "Philson Collection" housed in the University College library. In the 1920s the College received two further gifts of medical books: the "Cathedral Collection" (in origin a gift from Mr Ormerod to Bishop Selwyn) was placed into the College's keeping by the Anglican Diocese of Auckland, and the Auckland Division of the British Medical Association (as it then was - now the New Zealand Medical Association) deposited its collection of books with the College.

In 1949 the Auckland Hospital Board consolidated its library services and at that time the University transferred its small medical collection, by this time known as the Philson Library, to the Board, with safeguards for the continuing identity of the collection. This identity was preserved when the Marion Davis Memorial Library was constituted in 1961 under the Board's administration. When the School of Medicine was established, the Philson collection was transferred back to the University for its medical library. The University's foundation Medical Librarian, Mr Harry D. Erlam, took up his duties in February 1968. At the end of 1973 the library was moved into its present quarters in the Clinical Building, comprising an area of some14,500 square feet with 160 reader places.

In November 1980 the Ernest and Marion Davis Library and the branch libraries of the Auckland Hospital Board were amalgamated with the Philson Library into the Auckland Medical Library System, and the Davis collections were transferred to the Philson Library. In 1993, following the restructuring of New Zealand health services, the Auckland Medical Library System ceased to exist and the hospital libraries were thereafter separately managed by the three Auckland Crown Health Enterprises.

Auckland Healthcare Services Ltd (now the Auckland District Health Board) signed a service level agreement with the University in June 2000, securing the provision of library and information services for five years. Initially services were delivered from the Philson Library, with the Green Lane Hospital Library supporting the local needs of Auckland District Health Board staff at the Green Lane and National Women's Hospitals. In December 2003 the Green Lane Hospital Library was closed and its collections and services were integrated into the Philson Library, following the move of the District Health Board's acute services to its new Auckland City Hospital in Grafton. Material purchased and held in the Green Lane Library prior to the agreement of June 2000 remains the property of the Auckland District Health Board, while material purchased since this date is the property of the University, regardless of which library the material was located in. In 2005 it was mutually agreed that this contract be continued for 2006, while further negotiations take place.

The Philson Library operates within a complex environment shaped by the breadth of the Faculty's programmes and activity within several sectors. In 2004, the Faculty's School of Population Health relocated to the Tamaki Campus. The Tamaki Campus Library is now the primary focus for collections in this area, with the Philson Library continuing to collect similar material where clients based at Grafton or within the Auckland District Health Board still require local access. The University Library's extensive collection of electronic resources enables library users at both campuses enjoy equivalent access to Population Health-related resources.

2. SOURCES OF FUNDING

The Medical and Health Sciences budget receives an annual allocation from the University in accordance with the formula used to distribute the subject-based allocations. The Auckland District Health Board makes an annual contribution, as part of its service level agreement with the Library. There is also usually an annual contribution from the Ernest and Marion Davis Trust, but this is currently suspended pending a review of the Trust. Each year the Library receives a small amount of interest from the Trust which commemorates Dr Thomas Moore Philson (used for desk copies). Other grants are received from time to time, e.g. from the Sir Douglas Robb memorial fund.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

The Philson Library collects in the fields of the teaching and practice of medicine, in biomedical science, and very widely within the health sciences, including nursing, pharmacy, allied health, health administration and management, and health education and promotion. The Library buys works on the history of medicine and in subjects relating to health librarianship and knowledge management. It actively acquires works relating to New Zealand and the Pacific. Since 2004, the Medical and Health Sciences budget has included a dedicated fund for the purchase of monographs for the Tamaki Campus Library, to support School of Population Health teaching, research, and clinical activities there. Interdisciplinary activity across the University of Auckland means that the Philson Library might (or might not) purchase particular works held elsewhere in the system; areas of significant overlap with other collections include psychology, child development, biology, chemistry, commerce and management, sports science, food science and nutrition, and general reference works and statistics.

The collection contains both monographs and serials published in English. Formats include print, electronic, video and microform.

3.1 MONOGRAPHS

The monograph collections are catalogued according to NLM Classification and Medical Subject Headings, supplemented by Library of Congress classification where required. The monograph collections are:

3.1.1 Lending Collection

This collection aims to provide high quality information in terms of currency, accuracy and relevance, and is weeded on this basis. It is available to be borrowed for home use. Older and infrequently used monographs are kept in Off Campus Storage.

3.1.2 Reference Collection

The reference collection includes encyclopaedias, pharmacopoeias, dictionaries, year books and directories, to be used in the Library only.

3.1.3 Short Loan Collection

The Short Loan Collection (previously known as the Desk Copy Collection) contains books which are required for courses taught locally, some current reference material which is at risk of theft, and a reference copy of some high demand books which are duplicated in the lending collection. Items are moved in and out of the Collection as required, and associated records are maintained through the Voyager system. Some material may also be held for Faculty courses taught at other campuses, where lecturers can demonstrate that their students will also be spending significant time on the Grafton campus. Most articles are now digitised and made available electronically through the Course Material Search function on Voyager. Print photocopied items are are only held if this is necessary for copyright reasons.

3.1.4 Theses Collection

For copyright reasons, theses are held in local storage, and are available from the Philson Library Lending Desk on request. The Philson Library normally holds one borrowable copy and one copy for reference only. The exception is theses on Population Health-related topics, where the borrowable copy will generally be held at the Tamaki Campus Library, while the reference-only copy will continue to be held in Philson local storage.

3.1.5 New Zealand Reference Collection

This is a closed access collection of material relating to medicine and health services in New Zealand. It includes material in scope which is published in New Zealand or which contains a significant contribution from a New Zealander. A strong focus of selection for this collection has been the retention of material which is rare, seminal or difficult to replace, and it is likely to continue to fulfil this function for all Medical and Health Sciences material, including Population Health. Items will normally be available for consultation in the Philson Library only. Applications to have an item delivered for use in the Tamaki Campus Library will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

3.1.6 Robb Collection (Philson Library)

This is a small loan collection of general monographs, based originally on some books donated by Sir Douglas Robb and maintained in his memory.

3.1.7 Historical Collection

In November 2002, the Philson Library and the Ernest and Marion Davis Trust Management Committee signed a Memorandum of Understanding, allowing the Philson Historical Collection to be housed in the Ernest and Marion Davis Library on long-term loan. This collection comprises works relating to the medical and related sciences at different periods. The volumes are of mixed provenance. Just under half of the Library's pre-1900 books belong to the Cathedral Collection, which passed into the University Library's keeping in the 1920s. At present, the Library holds 54 titles printed before 1800, about 400 19th century, and over 300 20th century titles. These include some multi-volume works and facsimile reprints. An abbreviated form of NLM is used to classify the 19th century books. Items will normally be available for consultation in the Ernest and Marion Davis Library only; applications to have an item delivered for use in the Philson Library will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

3.2 SERIALS

The Library subscribes to general and specialty medical and health sciences research and clinical serials, preferably in full-text electronic format. Electronic journals are usually accessed via Library website or Voyager. The Library also negotiates with vendors to deliver a subset of these full-text electronic journals to Auckland District Health Board staff desktops, via their own intranet. Print serials considered to be of primary importance to the School of Population Health are located at the Tamaki Campus Library.

The Philson Library's print serials are arranged in three sequences: a small display of current print issues; serials covering 1999 to present which are shelved in the middle of the Library; and volumes covering 1970-1989 which are in mobile shelving at the back of the Library. Pre-1970 volumes are held in Off Campus Storage, as are back sets of cancelled titles, and issues of journals which are also available in electronic format. Print serials are not classified and are shelved by title in alphabetical order. Population Health serials are held at the Tamaki Library.

Electronic indexes to medical and health sciences journal literature are delivered to the University desktop, and where negotiated, to Auckland District Health Board desktops. Titles available to both include Medline, CINAHL, the Cochrane databases, AMED (Allied Medicine and Complementary Health), Clinical Evidence, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts and PsycINFO.

3.2.1 New Zealand Official Publications and Statistics Collection

This collection consists of statistical publications and some other government publications (open access; reference only). Some duplicate copies may be borrowed.

3.3 AUDIOVISUAL

A small collection of audiocassettes, videocassettes and CD-ROMs is available for home use. High-demand videocassettes are available on two-hour loan as part of the Short Loan Collection.

4. USERS

In addition to the client groups served by the entire University Library, the Philson Library is used by paid employees of the Auckland District Health Board (for purposes directly related to their paid employment). Until 2006, qualified medical practitioners, dentists, and veterinarians in the Auckland region were entitled to free membership of the Philson Library in return for the Ernest and Marion Davis Trust's support of the Library. However, this scheme has been suspended, pending the review of the Trust. (It should be noted that neither of these special arrangements allow walk-in access to any other University of Auckland library).

5. SELECTION

5.1 MONOGRAPHS

Selection of monographs is made by Library staff in consultation with appropriate client groups. Material to support the School of Population Health is usually selected by the Tamaki Campus Library Manager. A portion of the Medical and Health Sciences monograph budget is set aside to fund an approval scheme where items are automatically ordered and delivered to the Library, based on a profile of likely publishers and areas of interest set up jointly by the Library and Medical Books (New Zealand) Limited.

In general, monographs should be within scope and/or fill a known gap, update the subject significantly, have been favourably reviewed and/or recommended by a person qualified in the subject, be written and/or published by an author/publisher of repute, be the most recent edition, be at an appropriate level for the intended audience, and have an immediate, known readership. Expensive volumes are carefully considered, but recommendations for purchase are rarely rejected solely on the grounds of expense.

Histories of medicine and biographies, unless they are classics or printed before 1900, are not put in the historical collection, but added to the general collection of the Library.

Missing or lost books are replaced by the same title or a new edition, or by a new title in the same subject area, unless the area is felt to be well covered.

New Zealand titles are actively sought, purchasing books in scope which are either published in New Zealand or by a New Zealand author or editor published overseas.

Recommendations from researchers must have more than one or two known readers, and long-term value. State-of-the-art titles, summing up new research, are given priority.

The stock is regularly weeded to accommodate the newer material, and the Library Manager makes the final decision on whether a book should be withdrawn, placed in storage, or remain on the open shelves. Classic and seminal books may be retained in the open collection, in the historical collection, or in storage. Withdrawn monographs are offered to other libraries or, in the case of unique holdings, to the University of Otago Medical Library. It is the responsibility of the Auckland District Health Board to dispose of weeded material it owns.

5.2 SERIALS

The Library Manager approves recommendations from the Medical and Health Information Services Manager, the Tamaki Campus Library Manager, and client groups. The following selection criteria apply when new subscriptions are being considered for purchase: the serial is within scope, is covered by an index taken by the Library, is cited frequently in online searches, ranks highly in published citation rankings, fills a known gap (identified by interloan requests, information services librarians, reader requests), is well reviewed, publishes peer reviewed articles, and is available electronically. Archiving, conditions of use, ease of use, and cost will be considered when deciding whether to purchase a title. Recommendations for new subscriptions should be supported by several potential readers, and should take into account the overall coverage of the subject area and the level of demand for material. Consideration is given to the availability of the title via document delivery services. Foreign language titles are seldom selected.

Serials may be cancelled if the following criteria apply: changes in the institution's objectives put the serial out of scope, the serial is not indexed in a major index taken by the Library, the quality of the publication has deteriorated or it has been superseded by another serial in the same subject, the major users of the serial have left the institution, the physical condition (of back runs) has deteriorated, adequate and accessible holdings of the serial exist elsewhere, or Science Citation Index shelf life ranking is low. Ephemeral publications, such as newsletters, are generally withdrawn after two years.

In order to give users "any time, any place" access to titles and to contain the true costs of journal subscriptions, the Library will generally choose to purchase a new subscription in electronic form only. Other titles traditionally taken in print may be renewed as electronic-only titles. In either case, decisions and practices will be in accordance with the University Library's criteria for migrating titles from the print to the electronic format. Electronic subscriptions are reviewed within any serials reviews, and titles may be cancelled or taken from another vendor or via another delivery system as appropriate.

Most print format serials are bound and accessioned. Exceptions include ephemeral publications and supplements which appear in a separately numbered sequence. Replacements are seldom sought for serials that are not bound. Missing parts are purchased to complete a volume for binding when possible, or as a last resort, a photocopy is obtained. If it is not possible to obtain missing parts, then journals are bound incomplete. Unwanted duplicates are offered to other libraries, then to readers. Withdrawn serials are offered to other libraries holding that title or, in the case of unique holdings, to the University of Otago Medical Library. It is the responsibility of the Auckland District Health Board to dispose of withdrawn material it owns.

5.3 FORMATS EXCLUDED

Types of works not usually collected include: newspapers, slides, films, laboratory manuals (some exceptions are made), models and specimens, clippings, museum objects, kits, pamphlets (some exceptions are made), publishers' catalogues and advertising, equipment catalogues, posters, photocopies (other than in the desk copy collection), photographs, ephemera, and archives.

Eileen Tollan
Library Manager, Medical and Health Sciences
February 2006