Abstract
The Reference Department of The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Library has offered SDI service to the faculty for over three and one-half years. This study traces the development of SDI services from a manual Current Awareness Service (CAS), with the incorporation of Index Medicus photocopies, to the National Library of Medicine's SDILINE (Selective Dissemination of Information On-LINE). Over 24% of the Medical Center's faculty currently receive SDILINE service. Through questionnaires, the two systems are evaluated and compared. There was 100% return on both questionnaires. Both the manual CAS and SDILINE were favorably received by the faculty, but SDILINE was chosen unanimously as the preferred service. A subscription fee for SDILINE did not significantly affect the system's use. Conclusions reached through the questionnaires indicate that constant evaluation of subject profiles and interaction between the librarian and the user are necessary for optimum use of any SDI service.
Full text
PDFSelected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Garfield E. The role of the medical librarian in SDI systems. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1969 Oct;57(4):348–351. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Matheson N. W. User reaction to current contents: behavioral, social, and management sciences. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1971 Apr;59(2):304–321. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Miller J. K. Mechanization of library procedures in the medium-sized medical library. XI. Two methods of providing selective dissemination of information to medical scientists. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1970 Jul;58(3):378–397. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Owen V. W. Mechanization of library procedures in the medium-sized medical library. VI. Selective dissemination of information. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1968 Apr;56(2):123–131. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Yunis S. S. The implementation, evaluation, and refinement of a manual SDI service. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1973 Jan;61(1):4–14. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]