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Guidelines for Medicine

1. Purpose
2. General Collection Guidelines
    A. Language
    B. Chronology
    C. Geography
    D. Publication Date
    E. Treatment of Subject
    F. Types of Materials and Formats
3. Area Resources
4. Subjects and Collecting Levels
5. Methodology

1. Purpose.

The collection in medicine supports the various specialties taught by the School of Medicine leading to the M.D. degree. These include general surgery, vascular surgery, thoracic surgery, transplantation surgery, cardiac surgery, surgical, medical, and gynecological oncology, urology, allergy and immunology, anesthesiology, dermatology, family practice, internal medicine, neurosurgery, neurology, child neurology, obstetrics/gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, pathology, forensic pathology, hematology (pathology), neuropathology, pediatrics, pediatric cardiology, pediatric allergy and immunology, pediatric hematology and oncology, pediatric neurology, nuclear medicine, neonatal and perinatal medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, plastic surgery, psychiatry, diagnostic radiology (nuclear), therapeutic radiology, oral surgery, public health, and preventive medicine.

Students in other areas such as Nursing, Pharmacy, Allied Health, and Basic Health Sciences also use the resources in medicine, as do hospital staff. The collection also functions as an important secondary source for physicians and health professionals in Region 2 of the National Library of Medicine's Regional Medical Library System.

Research interests of the School of Medicine include: biochemical and clinical applications of enzyme and protein immobilization, clinical enzymology, techniques in clinical chemistry, membranes in the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophy, mechanism of complement activation, platelet aggregation studies, drug metabolism, mast cells, immune effector systems, cancer-induced DNA damage and repair, cancer induced by chemical and physical agents, pathobiology of neoplasms, oral carcinogenesis, mycoplasma-bacterial interactions, bacterial L-forms, immunohematology, immunotherapy of cancer, cerebral microcirculation, blood substitutes, leukemia, sickle cell disease, trace metal metabolism in tumors, drug distribution, diagnostic immunoassays, inflammation, fever, neurochemistry and ultrastructure of brain, infectious diseases, paleopathology, and diagnostic virology.

2. General Collection Guidelines.

A. Language.
English is the primary language of the collection. Selected foreign or multi-language monographic and serial titles are collected, particularly research works of international importance or value. Facsimile or reprint editions of classic works in foreign languages are also selectively acquired.

B. Chronology.
Titles in the history of medicine currently published are acquired for the general collection. The Special Collections Department remains the repository, however, for historically significant retrospective materials.

C. Geography.
In the field of health care practice and organization, primary emphasis is on the United States. Materials on the health care services of other countries are acquired selectively. Publications of medical research are acquired regardless of national origin, with primary emphasis on those studies relevent to medical and health problems in the United States.

D. Publication Date.
Emphasis is on current imprints, particularly the latest editions of core texts and treatises.

E. Treatment of Subject.
Comprehensive medical texts and treatises are collected extensively. The primary focus of the collection is materials reporting current research. Materials in the area of patient education are purchased selectively.

F. Types of Materials and Formats.
Materials include monographs, serials, handbooks, anatomical atlases, encyclopedias, directories, abstracts, indexes, bibliographies, dictionaries, and conference proceedings. Primary emphasis is in serials reporting medical research. Acquisition of serials takes precedence over that of monographs. Programmed texts, laboratory manuals, study guides, and dissertations generally are not acquired. Media in all formats are purchased selectively. Audio-visual materials, principally videotapes, slides, and slide-audio tapes, are also collected and housed in the Learning Resource Centers.

3. Area Resources.

As a resource library within the NLM network, VCU has the responsibility to function as a primary resource for health science professionals in the region.

4. Subjects and Collecting Levels.

Subject	Call Number Range	Present	Desired
General Medicine	R1-894	B	B
Medical Physics, Medical Radiology, Nuclear Medicine	R895-920	B	B
Public Aspects of Medicine	RA1-1171	B	B
Toxicology	RA1190-1270	B	B
Pathology	RB1-214	B	B
Internal Medicine	RC1-1245	B	B
Surgery	RD1-811	B	B
Opthalmology	RE1-994	B	B
Otorhinolaryngology	RF1-547	B	B
Gynecology and Obstetrics	RG85-991	B	B
Pediatrics	RJ1-570	B	B
Dermatology	RL1-803	B	B
Botanic, Thomsonian, Eclectic Medicine	RV1-431	C1	C1
Homeopathy	RX1-681	D	D
Other Systems of Medicine	RZ201-999	C1	C1

5. Methodology.

Primary sources for assessment:

Books for College Libraries.

Haselbauer, Kathleen. A Research Guide to the Health Sciences. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.