The Health Information Working Party met recently to discuss how to take this work forward.   We hope to work on new Core Collections on different topics and to look at new ways of making this resource available.

First published in 1992, the Core Collection has established itself as a reliable acquisition guide for the small to medium sized library in a hospital or comparable medical institute. It concentrates on materials of interest to UK health libraries and as such complements the US Brandon/Hill list which appears in the Journal of the Medical Library Association.  

The Core Collection does not claim to be a definitive list of titles but a recommended selection of the material. The methodology used to compile the Core Collection was revised for this new edition. Basic selection criteria include: the book has to be in print; clinical books have to be more recent
than 2000 and non-clinical books have to be more current than 1995; and books should cover established and not transient topics. Specific selection
criteria included: currency; production standards; evidence for critical base; reputation, and user demand. We anticipate that libraries will use it as a
selection resource and choose from it according to the scope of their collections. In the UK it has become an established selection tool as well as
a means of supporting bids for additional funding.
 
Best wishes


Richard Jones

Chair, Health Information Working Party