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Guardians of Medical Knowledge
Jennifer Connor
€ 166.39
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Description for Guardians of Medical Knowledge
Hardback. An exploration of the historical interest in medical books, libraries and librarianship. It provides an overview of the Medical Library Association from its conception as a resource for libraries to its role as a national, professional organization. Num Pages: 208 pages, 11 photographs, 4 tables, bibliography, index. BIC Classification: 1KBB; GLM; GTN; MB. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 236 x 158 x 17. Weight in Grams: 422.
In Guardians of Medical Knowledge: The Genesis of the Medical Library Association, Jennifer Connor explores the worldview of leaders in American medicine with respect to medical literature, history, libraries, and librarianship. Tracing the first fifty years of the Medical Library Association (MLA) from its conception as a resource for libraries to its post-World War II role as a national, professional organization, this thorough study portrays the "genesis" of the MLA through analysis of its origins, its dominant medical culture, and its intricate network of physician leaders. The MLA began in 1898 in response to an unprecedented expansion of medical literature in the nineteenth century. After North American medical leaders had invented the research medical library and redefined medical librarianship from a custodial to an organizing function, they established the society as a mechanism to improve and update medical libraries primarily through exchange of duplicate materials among member libraries. Beginning with internationally renowned Dr. William Osler, however, successive medical presidents in this circle turned the society into a national forum for historical and cultural pursuits in medicine as well. Connor demonstrates how librarians of the time, mostly women, adopted this dual focus in their occupation and how they dedicated their working lives to serving their physician employers while nudging the MLA toward professionalization of medical librarianship. Guardians of Medical Knowledge delves into the personalities that drove the MLA through its formative period in the first half of the twentieth century to understand how they viewed the society's role not only in medical research, practice, and education, but also in elevating the status of the medical profession. Connor shows how their ideas fit into trends in the professionalization of medicine, the development of academic and public libraries, and the emergence of a separate field of scholarship, the history of medicine.
Product Details
Format
Hardback
Publication date
2000
Publisher
Scarecrow Press United States
Number of pages
208
Condition
New
Number of Pages
208
Place of Publication
Lanham, MD, United States
ISBN
9780810834705
SKU
V9780810834705
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15
About Jennifer Connor
Jennifer Connor holds graduate degrees in English literature and a doctorate in library and information science. She has been research fellow in the history of medicine at both McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and the University of Toronto. In addition to having edited several scholarly journals, she publishes widely in print and library culture, medical history, and technical communication.
Reviews for Guardians of Medical Knowledge
The book should be read by anyone interested in the Medical Library Association and the forces that influenced its growth.
Journal of Hospital Librarianship
Guardians of Medical Knowledge draws on published literature, oral histories, and archival documents on conversations and personal connections to offer a colorful study of the motivations and actions of the MLA's founders and early leaders from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. [This book] will be of interest to all MLA members as a key to the past that helps us understand the present and plan for the future. It will be equally appropriate for library and information studies collections, health science libraries, and for history and sociology collections dealing with turn-of-the-century issues and the formation of early twentieth century social organizations.
The Library Quarterly
Connor, a widely published scholar on library culture and medical history, presents this history though a wealth of narrative detail and provides broader perspectives by placing it in the context of the social history of the medical profession...
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
For anyone interested in the detailed early history of the MLA...this will be a fascinating book...concise and clear in drawing out the essential themes and characterizing the major players of the early years.
Journal Of Documentation
For those who have ever wondered about the association–how it was founded, who were the people who began it, and how has its focus changed since its beginning–this book is a must read.
Medical Reference Services Quarterly
...thorough and well-researched...this work offers an interesting perspective on the medical profession, and its attitudes to its history, culture, and books...this is a useful addition to existing literature on medical librarianship and the history of medical history.
Canadian Bulletin of Medical History
Overall, the book serves as an exemplar for its use of primary source documents and the meticulous analysis. The author went to great lengths to track down and scrutinize old memoranda, letters, MLA records, interview transcripts, and forgotten journal articles. Some chapters incorporate material from well over one hundred sources, and more are listed in a useful "Bibliographic Essay." Connor explicates both major trends and their less conspicuous undercurrents. The book should be especially useful for students, instructors, and scholars in the areas of medical library history, health information services, women's studies, the sociology of professions, and the history of medicine. We are indebted to Connor for giving us a definitive history of the MLA and the North American medical library movement.
Information & Culture
...a succinct , yet detailed, history of the Medical Library Association....The book is clearly and eloquently written, and will appeal especially to those with an interest in medial libraries, the history of medicine or the library profession in general.
Biblioteca Medica Canadiana, vol. 22 no. 4 (2001)
Journal of Hospital Librarianship
Guardians of Medical Knowledge draws on published literature, oral histories, and archival documents on conversations and personal connections to offer a colorful study of the motivations and actions of the MLA's founders and early leaders from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. [This book] will be of interest to all MLA members as a key to the past that helps us understand the present and plan for the future. It will be equally appropriate for library and information studies collections, health science libraries, and for history and sociology collections dealing with turn-of-the-century issues and the formation of early twentieth century social organizations.
The Library Quarterly
Connor, a widely published scholar on library culture and medical history, presents this history though a wealth of narrative detail and provides broader perspectives by placing it in the context of the social history of the medical profession...
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association
For anyone interested in the detailed early history of the MLA...this will be a fascinating book...concise and clear in drawing out the essential themes and characterizing the major players of the early years.
Journal Of Documentation
For those who have ever wondered about the association–how it was founded, who were the people who began it, and how has its focus changed since its beginning–this book is a must read.
Medical Reference Services Quarterly
...thorough and well-researched...this work offers an interesting perspective on the medical profession, and its attitudes to its history, culture, and books...this is a useful addition to existing literature on medical librarianship and the history of medical history.
Canadian Bulletin of Medical History
Overall, the book serves as an exemplar for its use of primary source documents and the meticulous analysis. The author went to great lengths to track down and scrutinize old memoranda, letters, MLA records, interview transcripts, and forgotten journal articles. Some chapters incorporate material from well over one hundred sources, and more are listed in a useful "Bibliographic Essay." Connor explicates both major trends and their less conspicuous undercurrents. The book should be especially useful for students, instructors, and scholars in the areas of medical library history, health information services, women's studies, the sociology of professions, and the history of medicine. We are indebted to Connor for giving us a definitive history of the MLA and the North American medical library movement.
Information & Culture
...a succinct , yet detailed, history of the Medical Library Association....The book is clearly and eloquently written, and will appeal especially to those with an interest in medial libraries, the history of medicine or the library profession in general.
Biblioteca Medica Canadiana, vol. 22 no. 4 (2001)