EMTS Centennial Exhibit: Memories: Surveys

Surveys: Susan Crawford

Memories
I don't recall being particularly involved in the founding of EMTS. I have always had an educational media center in the two libraries I have directed -- American Medical Association and Washington University. We have also been at the forefront of library technology.
[Editor's Note: Susan Crawford's name appears on the petition sent to MLA in 1973, "List of Petitioner's in Support of the Proposed Health Sciences Audiovisual Group". It is very courteous of her (and much appreciated) to again, at our 25th Anniversary, send this note as a gesture of support for EMTS.]

Technologies
Educational media. Early audiovisual centers or film libraries were restricted to mostly to slides and films and were often administered separately from the main library. It was really during the computer age that they became media centers. My earliest recollection of the transition was a demonstration by Scott Adams at the National Library of Medicine during the 1970s. NLM had set up a demonstration center that was not more than 4'x10'and included 1-2 pieces of equipment. Fast forward to the 1990s. When I built the new library at Washington University, we conceptualized a media center with about 20 computer workstations as well as a teaching collection with the whole range of educational media. I delegated the functions of program development and administration to the director of the center.

Advances
Dr. Estelle Brodman at Washington University made important contributions to what she called "machine methods" for managing library functions in the 1970s and 1980s. She optimized what was then available, using punched cards at first, then access to large central computers for such functions as journal check-in and production of card catalogs. I succeeded her in the 1980s and with Naomi Broering, developed the first integrated library systems in health sciences libraries. This is well documented in the literature.

Future
I hope this brief history is helpful. I am no longer active in libraries and information centers and projections are better made by others.

Memories	I don't recall being particularly involved in the founding of EMTS. I have always had an educational media center in the two libraries I have directed -- American Medical Association and Washington University. We have also been at the forefront of library technology. [Editor's Note: Susan Crawford's name appears on the petition sent to MLA in 1973, "List of Petitioner's in Support of the Proposed Health Sciences Audiovisual Group". It is very courteous of her (and much appreciated) to again, at our 25th Anniversary, send this note as a gesture of support for EMTS.]
Technologies	Educational media. Early audiovisual centers or film libraries were restricted to mostly to slides and films and were often administered separately from the main library. It was really during the computer age that they became media centers. My earliest recollection of the transition was a demonstration by Scott Adams at the National Library of Medicine during the 1970s. NLM had set up a demonstration center that was not more than 4'x10'and included 1-2 pieces of equipment. Fast forward to the 1990s. When I built the new library at Washington University, we conceptualized a media center with about 20 computer workstations as well as a teaching collection with the whole range of educational media. I delegated the functions of program development and administration to the director of the center.
Advances	Dr. Estelle Brodman at Washington University made important contributions to what she called "machine methods" for managing library functions in the 1970s and 1980s. She optimized what was then available, using punched cards at first, then access to large central computers for such functions as journal check-in and production of card catalogs. I succeeded her in the 1980s and with Naomi Broering, developed the first integrated library systems in health sciences libraries. This is well documented in the literature.
Future	I hope this brief history is helpful. I am no longer active in libraries and information centers and projections are better made by others.