The following is an oral history interview conducted by Charles (Chuck) G. Roland with Beatrix H. Robinow on July 12, 1982.Founding Health Sciences Librarian Beatrix H. Robinow traces her career from South Africa to Canada and reflects on the creation of the McMaster University Health Sciences Library. Drawing on her experiences establishing medical libraries at the University of Natal and Toronto General Hospital, Robinow describes joining McMaster in 1966 when the Faculty of Health Sciences existed only in its planning stages. She recounts the development of library collections, services, staffing, and facilities, the design of the library within the Health Sciences Centre, and the adaptation of library resources to McMaster's innovative, self-directed medical curriculum. The interview also explores the introduction of audiovisual learning resources, early library automation and information retrieval systems, regional hospital library networks, and the growth of historical medical collections.
Robinow's oral history documents the establishment of the Health Sciences Library and offers a first-hand account of the development of health sciences librarianship at McMaster during the institution's formative years.
Read a transcript created by Charles (Chuck) G. Roland
using this link.