I have just become the main person doing all the classification for medical
materials in the Science Technology Business collections, available for
reference at St Pancras. I wanted to let you all know that it is even more
complicated than I had realised!  And a plea from my experience on the
enquiry desk...

You can read below if you want more explanation, but what it all boils down
to is that materials may take up to 2 working days to arrive for reference
use in St Pancras. They're not all on the open shelves by any means. And if
someone is travelling some distance for particular items, it really is a
good idea for them to contact us first (phone 020 7412 7288 or email
[log in to unmask] for the Science 2 South reading room- most involved in
biomedicine).

For example, 'classmark pending' items are still being processed and are
completely unavailable, possibly for months- that's not at all obvious from
BLPC.

Basically, everything received for the reference collections goes into the
Humanities collection *unless* the person who processes it in Boston Spa
thinks it matches some short guidelines for materials to be in the Science
collection. This does include the majority of 'postgraduate level' medical
materials, but may not include what you expect. For example,  some medical
topics have been left in Humanities from the initial split up of the
collection some years ago. And virtually all consumer health materials are
there. So there's lots of health/medicine in Humanities.

The significance of this is that nearly all Humanities material is not on
open access (an exception is some of the LIS materials, by the way). Some is
stored in the basements (around 1 hour delivery), but other items are in
overflow storage which includes DSC in Yorkshire (but not available for
reference in the DSC reading room). For example, anything with a YK
shelfmark is stored in DSC. They take around 2 working days to arrive.

Older science materials are also in store off-site, but in London (delivery
in around 2 hours, last orders 3.30 Mon-Fri).

In addition, DSC stock not out on loan can be ordered for reference by
readers in Science 2 South (needs to be a photocopy rather than the journal
if a zetoc title less than 6 months old, but at our 'while you wait' rather
than LEXICON prices). This is done using a 'blue form' system. Also takes a
couple of working days.

So there is a vast amount that can be read here (reference only), but not
all is instantly available.

People who already have a readers pass can order in advance for items which
need to be ordered up from the reference collections. We need their pass
number, details of the item (including year and volume for journals),
reading room they want it delivered to, and date of visit (sent by email or
fax is easiest for us, and essential for long lists). They need to contact
us at least 2 working days in advance, and can ring before setting off on
long journeys to check the items they want have arrived.

Phew! What *am* I doing writing an email like this at 6.32pm!

By the way, the ad re the exhibitions below isnt from me- its a new addition
to our automatic footer!

Fiona McLean

Health Care Information Officer
British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB

Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 020 7412 7489
Fax: 020 7412 7954
Webpages: http://www.bl.uk/health



Coming soon to The British Library Galleries :

Trading Places : the East India Company and Asia (from 24th May)
Magic Pencil : Children's Book Illustration Today (from 1st November)
*********************************************************************
The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be
legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you
are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify
the [log in to unmask] : The contents of this e-mail must not be
disclosed or copied without the sender's consent.

The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of
the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British
Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for
the views of the author.
*********************************************************************