Page 150 - Training for librarianship; library work as a career
P. 150
CHAPTER XII
Medical and Institutional Libraries
The famous physician, Sir William Osier,
"
has said To study medicine without books is
to sail on an uncharted sea, while to study
without seeing patients is not to go to sea at
all." In few fields of science is the need of
constant reference to printed sources so
great. The modern physician finds it neces-
sary in his practice to have a working Hbrary
of the best textbooks and journals. Fre-
quently, too, he will join his local medical
society so as to have access to the library
which such societies generally maintain. The
true doctor is ever an earnest student. In his
work he continually encounters new cases and
new problems ; thus he is forced to consult the
experience of others. Opportunity for con-
sultation with colleagues of superior training
not being always available, his next best re-
course is reference to books and journals.
The physician's education is in a real sense
136