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May 1999
Volume 63 |
Number 5
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WHAT'S NEW IN ...
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| ... The Wood Library-Museum:
A Tradition of Service |
Donald Caton, M.D.
The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology grew from a private
collection of books and papers assembled by Paul M. Wood, M.D.
Dr. Wood served as assistant secretary and secretary of the New
York Society of Anesthetists (NYSA) from 1930 to 1944. The NYSA
became the American Society of Anesthetists in 1936 and then the
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) in 1945. Wood was
also a founding member of the American Board of Anesthesiology.
In 1945 he became the first recipient of the ASA Distinguished
Service Award. The heritage that Paul M. Wood, M.D., left each
of us is immense. Part of this heritage is the Wood Library-Museum
of Anesthesiology.
An avid bibliophile, even as a child, Paul M. Wood used his own
time and resources to assemble the books, papers and artifacts
that became the nucleus of the Wood Library-Museum. Wood and several
New York colleagues recognized the significance of the collection
for the specialty of anesthesiology and for medicine. During Wood's
life the collection moved often - from private quarters to the
basement of a New York brownstone building to donated space in
the New York Headquarters of E.R. Squibb Corporation to offices
of the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists to Wood's upstate
garage and finally to the Long Island boat house of Richard Foregger.
In 1963, within months of Wood's death, the collection was unpacked
and installed in a special two-story building attached to the
newly built ASA Headquarters in Park Ridge. In 1992, the collection,
now much expanded, moved with the ASA to its new headquarters
in Park Ridge, where the Library occupies most of the third floor.
A museum display of artifacts occupies 3,000 square feet of space
on the first floor. The Wood Library-Museum uses additional space
in the basement for storage.
From the small personal collection of Paul M. Wood, holdings
of the Wood Library-Museum have grown to 12,000 books and monographs,
almost twice the number available in 1980. We try to obtain copies
of every new publication pertinent to the practice of the specialty.
Some material we purchase; the rest comes as donations from authors
who are members of ASA, publishers or journal editors who donate
copies sent for review. The Wood Library-Museum maintains a complete
collection of all contemporary journals of anesthesiology published
throughout the world. The library also maintains an extensive
collection of rare books that deal with developments in chemistry,
physiology and pharmacology pertinent to the practice of anesthesiology.
This collection is especially rich in the literature of the ether
controversy, mesmerism and blood transfusion. No other library
in the world has such a complete collection of written material
related to the practice of our specialty. Acquisition and maintenance
of the collection occupies a substantial portion of the time of
our chief librarian.
All material in our library collection is available free of
charge to members of ASA:
- We loan books and monographs, asking ASA members only to
pay return postage.
- We conduct literature searches and send copies of papers
by fax or by mail.
- We send duplicates of slides and videotapes at cost to members
of ASA.
- We help ASA members prepare material for presentations at
meetings, for resident lectures and presentations to hospital
and community meetings.
- Each year we help prepare and verify all references cited
in the ASA self-evaluation examination.
- Each month our librarians answer 75 to 100 requests for information.
Often this requires a detailed search of existing literature,
referral to an outside authority, or retrieval of material from
one of our archival collections. In the last five years, the
number of such requests has increased fifty-fold.
Requests for library assistance come from members, officers and
executives of ASA, hospital administrators, newspaper reporters,
writers, professionals in other specialties and students who need
information for reports. Complicating this work is the geographic
distribution of our clientele, who are scattered throughout the
United States. Our librarians must do work that ordinarily would
be done by the individual requesting help. Reference services
are labor intensive and occupy virtually all of the time of our
assistant librarian. We believe that our work as a reference library
represents both a service and a public relations function
for ASA.
Archival Services
The Wood Library-Museum also serves as a repository for documents
of ASA and related organizations. We collect and maintain papers,
records, memorabilia and letters of individuals who have made
significant contributions to the development of our specialty.
One recent and important acquisition was the personal and professional
papers of Marion "Pepper" Jenkins, M.D., a past president of ASA.
Our archives also include collections of photographs, paintings,
videotapes, slides and films.
Each new acquisition must be examined, cataloged and stored.
Each collection requires special care and handling: techniques
appropriate for the preservation of photographic film differ from
those appropriate for paintings or videotapes, for example. Often
films and videotapes must be transferred to a new medium and paper
must be de-acidified for permanent storage. Improving our handling
of archival material is a major new project of the Wood Library-Museum.
To increase the range of material available to members of ASA,
we have developed a network of similar organizations. At present,
we have contacts at the University of Wisconsin, the Guedel Library,
the Crawford Long Museum and the John S. Liebeskind collection
of the Medical Library of the University of California in Los
Angeles. We also exchange material with collections in Europe,
Australia and South America. Such collaboration allows us to extend
our service and contain our costs. Archival work, like library
work, is labor intensive. It also represents both a service and
a public relations function for ASA.
The Wood Library-Museum is a creation of ASA. It exists to serve
its members and to foster the interests of our specialty. The
Trustees of the Wood Library-Museum are constantly looking for
ways to increase service. Support by ASA for the Wood Library-Museum
has been extraordinary. It has enabled us to build a modern library
that is a credit to our profession and to develop a tradition
of service to members of ASA and the public.
WLM Web site: <www.asahq.org/wlm>
Donald Caton, M.D., is Professor of Anesthesiology
and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Florida College
of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.
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