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Databases for Tests & Measurements
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The signs are all around the library, “Please do not reshelve books.” Why not? After all, I know where the item came from and I can still hear Mom saying, “put that back where you found it!” Why make the library staff pick it up and shelve it when I can just put it right back? We appreciate your thoughts – we really do – but we still ask everyone not to reshelve the materials you have used. The reason is simple, STATISTICS! Whenever a book, journal, videotape, or anything, is taken off of the shelf and used we count it. We don’t count who uses it, just that it is used. If we keep a good count of materials used, we can use that information to do lots of things. We can show the library administration that we need more money to purchase another copy of a popular book or that we can cut out a journal because it not used. In these days of tight budgets, we need to know what is being used and what isn’t. The library staff and administration would much rather supply you, our patrons, with books, journals, and audiovisual materials that you can and will use rather than spend money on things which will never see the world off of the shelf. We can determine, with the use of the information we gather, which items should be on reserve for everyone to use and which will circulate. Also, when it comes time to weed the collection of old and underused materials to make room for new materials, we can consult the records to determine the amount of use the item has had. If a book hasn’t been used since the 1970’s, it is more likely to be removed than something that has been used last week. So, in the future when you are using the library and the little voice in your head says to put it back, resist! Leave it where it is (or somewhere we can find it)! Bring it up to the circulation desk! Let your books be counted! --Julie Schiavo The dental library has recently acquired the High-Yield set of basic science review books published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Purchased for the library by the Office of the Dean, these 11 books provide current reviews of Pharmacology, Histology, Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology, Embryology, Gross Anatomy, Behavioral Science, Neuroanatomy, Immunology, Pathology, and Microbiology designed for studying for board exams. The books are on reserve for use in the library only. The LSUHSC libraries now provide access to two online databases with information about measurement instruments: Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY), produced by the Buros Institute, contains full-text information about and reviews of all English-language standardized tests covering educational skills, personality, vocational aptitude, psychology, and related areas as included in the printed Mental Measurements Yearbooks. Available for searching in WebSPIRS, MMY covers over 2,000 commercially-available tests and is updated every 6 months. Each entry in MMY includes descriptive information, professional reviews, and an extensive list of references to related literature. Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI) provides access to information on measurement instruments (i.e., questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, index measures, coding schemes/ manuals, rating scales, projective techniques, vignettes/scenarios, tests) in the health fields, psychosocial sciences, organizational behavior, and library and information science. HAPI also provides information about locating the instruments. One of the LSUHSC Ovid databases, HAPI coverage starts with 1985, although the database may include citations and abstracts of journal articles and book chapters as far back as 1916. The database is updated quarterly. For assistance with these databases, please call one of the dental library reference librarians at 619-8550. --Elizabeth Strother LSU
School of Dentistry Library, 1100 Florida Ave., Box 229, New Orleans, LA.
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