For anyone who has ever taken a doctor’s prescription to the chemists, the chances are that the name Wellcome is likely to be a familiar one. Less familiar is the Wellcome Trust’s art deco building in London’s Euston Road, which houses a unique treasury of resources. This, its information officers claim, is the “first port of call” for A-level biology students and teachers “of all levels” in London and the Home Counties.
Last month the trust set up in-service training courses for primary teachers struggling with national curriculum science, and now it is planning PGCE workshops.
The library and information service is loosely divided into four “areas”: popular science; research ethics; public understanding of science; and science policy, the first two particularly well suited to students and teachers. Closely linked to Wellcome’s renowned permanent Science for Life exhibition, it has a permanent reference collection of books, journals, teacher and activity packs, databases and international teaching resources, including a smattering from Australia and the United States. The library, which is “open access”, would be of most benefit to A-level students and teachers.
Information held on CD-Rom includes Medline, an American program which provides abstracts from medical journals, and Bioethicsline, a research ethics database. Bodyworks 3.0 provides labelled anatomical diagrams and relevant text, giving further information when requested.
Senior information officer Lesley Cox says a health reference centre indexes articles from medical and consumer journals and provides the full texts of many which would be of use at A-level.
The service also has a role as an “inspection centre” where teachers can review different books, journals and software packages before investing funds. Lesley Cox says: “We spend hours reviewing articles and catalogues, going through books and journals saving teachers time. We do all the research to find resources; they then can inspect them.”
It also has a collection of videos from different educational producers and a licence to copy any television programme with a bio-medical or biological bent. A video club aimed at GCSE and A-level students is planned for schools in London and the Home Counties. A pilot version of the club began last term.
The Science for Life exhibition, which focuses on human biology and modern medical science, includes a walk-through model of the human cell. Activity sheets for the exhibition have been targeted at key stage 4 and A-level students. A sixth-form monthly lecture programme has included Dr Robin Lovell-Badge from the National Institute for Medical Research discussing sex determination and “How thin is your skin?” given by Dr Sharon Hotchkiss of St Mary’s Hospital Medical School.
Other plans include the development of Science-Net, a scientific information “support system”. Science-Net, available since last September to any primary or secondary school belonging to the Campus 2000 network, complements the Science Line telephone service funded by the Wellcome Trust with the Royal Society and the Office for Science and Technology.
Students can ask Science-Net questions via their computers on-line, or look through the archive of previously-asked questions and answers. All subjects are covered and answers should be back “within a few days”.
The Wellcome Centre at 183 Euston Road, London NW1, is open 9.45am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Students and teachers can go at any time in those hours, but need to make appointments if they want to use a database or watch a video in the information service.
The exhibition Science for Life is also open on Saturday mornings. Sue Hordijenko, the centre’s visitor services co-ordinator, can be contacted on 071-611 8298. The information centre’s information line is 071-611 8722. Information officers are happy to answer specific questions by telephone. Tel:071-677 8722. Fax: 071-611 8276.
