NATIONAL REFERENCE CENTER FOR BIOETHICS LITERATURE

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Rapid advances in medical research and the revolution in treatment modes have resulted in the continuing growth of interest in bioethical issues. Concurrently, the systematic study of value questions in health care and biomedical research has burgeoned in the past two decades. The Bioethics Library at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics contains the most comprehensive collection of materials on biomedical ethics in the world. It thus serves as an indispensable resource for research and for the information needs of health professionals, government agencies, bioethics scholars, the media, law firms, and the general public. This proposal outlines a plan for establishing a National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature. Specific goals of the Center are: (1) the provision of a specialized facility which will collect, organize and make available the literature of bioethics to the various constituencies detailed in the proposal; (2) the establishment of a clearinghouse for curriculum materials in bioethics to support course development in ethics in professional schools, undergraduate and graduate programs, and high schools; and (3) the development of an archival collection of the most important materials produced by national bioethics commissions and government agencies. Several new initiatives are proposed, including the provision of a toll-free telephone number to facilitate national access to the Center; the organization of a group of experts among Kennedy Institute faculty who will respond to detailed research requests; the development of a document delivery service; the establishment of a cooperative network of bioethics libraries and collections; the development of on-line catalogs for the Center's book and journal article collections; outreach and training of search mediaries and end users of BIOETHICSLINE; and implementation of a full-day continuing education program on bioethics to be presented at major professional society meetings.