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As more people turn to the Internet for information about medicine and health care, and just about everything else, one might assume that a medical library would not be a viable resource in 2005.
But Michael Liddicoat, director of the Community Health Library of Los Gatos, has found that the library has not outlived its usefulness. About 2,200 people a year visit the small, one-room facility on the Community Hospital of Los Gatos medical campus, he said.
"It's very valuable," Liddicoat said. "If someone comes in with a list of questions, we can direct them to the appropriate resources. People like coming in."
Liddicoat is not the only one who believes that medical libraries will stick around. In a March 17 New England Journal of Medicine article, Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg and medical librarian Betsy L. Humphreys said research indicates that "the 'library as a place' [will] still [be] highly valued and heavily used" in 10 years.
The Community Health Library of Los Gatos, a nonprofit institution founded in 1988 and funded primarily by grants and donations, includes a collection of more than 1,000 medical textbooks and 600 consumer-oriented health titles. The medical text collection was updated last year with grant funding from The Valley Foundation and Community Hospital's parent company, Tenet Healthcare Corp. There are copies of 140 different medical journals available, of which the library subscribes to about 75.
The facility also has a collection of videos, audio cassettes and CDs, databases and access to online resources that require subscriptions.
The patrons are as varied as the topics they are researching, Liddicoat said. Non-physician hospital staff members use the facility most often, but patients, doctors and students all visit. Traditionally, medical libraries have been open only to medical staff. Current trends, he said, indicate that more and more libraries are making themselves available to the public.
San Jose resident Richard Schneider said he has made many visits to the library in recent years, finding it useful in researching a fungal sinus condition.
"Mike ordered a book in French that was 100 years old," Schneider said. "I've studied on the Internet and everything, but there's nothing like flipping through the books."
He said he also appreciated the personal attention from the library's volunteer staff members and Liddicoat, a former radiation therapist with a master's degree in medical library and information services.
"They go all out to help," Schneider said.
The Community Health Library of Los Gatos is located at 815 Pollard Road. For more information, visit www.healthlib.org or call 408.866.4044.
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