Networked information resources for medical librarians

Abstract

Networked information resources for medical librarians: an overview and some case studies in the UK. Examines some of the information resources available to medical librarians via the Internet and describes the use of these by 3 UK medical libraries: for sending and receiving electronic mail locally, nationally and internationally; for transferring documents, images and sets of records from a remote computer to a local one (file transfer protocol (ftp)); and for logging on to other computers and online services (telnetting). Other applications of the Internet for medical librarians described include: gopher; World Wide Web (WWW); the use of mailing lists for medical information; announcement of meetings and conferences; job advertisements; electronic bulletin boards; access to remote databases; and electronic periodicals. Reports on case studies involving visits to: the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR); the Wessex Medical Library; and University of Wales, College of Medicine. Concludes with a summary of contemporary Internet ini tiatives by UK medical dlibraries and related organizations.