CORE--TALBOT RESEARCH LIBRARY

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Description: (Applicant's Description) The Talbot Research Library is a centralized facility whose primary mission is to support the information needs of the scientific and clinical staff of the Center. The Talbot Research Library has been an important part of our grant for almost four decades. There are no other biomedical research libraries in our vicinity; therefore, an onsite library for Fox Chase Cancer Center is critical. Electronic resources are being emphasized and will likely eventually replace a large portion of the print collection. The two media will exist side-by-side for some time, with librarians continuing to assess needs, monitor the marketplace, and negotiate favorable site licenses for the new digital resources. This Facility is used by 58 peer-review funded investigators representing all of the 13 research Programs and all three of the institution?s Divisions. 98 percent of the use is by peer-review funded investigators. Because Fox Chase is a freestanding Cancer Center, there are no large research library collections within easy reach of the staff. To fully support information needs, therefore, the library maintains its own collection of over 20,000 volumes of print books and journals, while also providing access to a broad range of electronic resources. Library staff also manage an extensive on-demand database search service, fill over 2,400 interlibrary loan requests from staff annually, and train and support investigators in searching MEDLINE, Internet resources, and other databases from their desktops. The Facility is available around-the-clock, with staffing during weekday business hours. Many of the library's electronic resources, including an online catalog, full-text journals, and a Web-linked journal holdings list, are accessible via the library's web page at: http://www.fccc.edu/library/talbot. The provision of electronic access to full-text information resources at the desktop remains a major emphasis of library activities. Training is a critical element of this effort, along with development of the library's web pages, which serve as a one-stop link for scientific staff to the major, available electronic information resources. With the proliferation of new and often costly online tools, library staff need to continually analyze user needs and match them with appropriate, affordable products. User surveys and input from Library Committee members influence these selection decisions. As options for information access increase and become more complex, library staff continue to focus on simplifying and translating the maze of available tools into useful, accessible resources that support the scientific research at the Center. With technology and the Internet becoming more pervasive in libraries, librarians have transitioned from information providers of resources within library facilities to "interface" providers and keys to information resources both inside and outside library facilities.