Abstract
The Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library is a large reference library with materials classified according to subject matter. It is said that public libraries in Japan are weak in the sciences. In this paper the author did research on the medical collection of the science division in the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library and considered its organization. As a result the acquisition rate was found to be 34% on the average. The acquisition rate of clinical medical books is particularly low: dentistry --0%, electrocardiography, phonocardiography, electroencephalography --4%, diagnostics --6%, radiology, nuclear medicine --7%, internal medicine, pediatrics --17%. As a result of other research it was found that the number of scientific books in the medical collection is also low. Our library is increasingly expected to increase both the quantity of the collection and the quality of the reference service. The author presents outlines to examine standards for future book selection.
