I agree with Dr Dunne in deploring the closing of the College Library.[1] It has been an excellent and efficient service for the physicians of the province.

It is not surprising that library use has declined over the years, given the easy access to information via the Internet. However, such information is often biased, and access to original articles is limited. For those of us who wish to research our information, the Internet is generally inadequate. For the College to close the Library based on declining use suggests that the College feels the ability of its members to find adequate and accurate information is not important. This reflects poorly on the College board.

While I do not disagree with Dr Ian Gillespie’s proposal that Doctors of BC take over the library,[2 [10]] I have another suggestion. The University of British Columbia has an excellent library, with easy online access to full-text articles. Why not come to an arrangement with UBC, so that Doctors of BC members are able to access the UBC Library? This would likely be less costly than running our own library and would give the UBC Library more funds to operate with.

Whatever is done, ’twere best done quickly.
—Barry Koehler, MD, FRCPC
Vancouver

This letter was submitted in response to “The CPSBC closed our medical library” [11] and “Closure of the College Library: A proposal.” [12]

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License [13].

References

1.     Dunne C. The CPSBC closed our medical library. BCMJ 2024;66:104-105.

2.     Gillespie IA. Closure of the College Library: A proposal. BCMJ 2024;66:106.