Notable Veterinary Medical Librarians
Sara R. "Sally" PETERSON
- 21 years in veterinary librarianship
- Veterinary Medical Librarian, Iowa State University, 1971-1992
- VMLS Chair, 1977/1978; Secretary/Chair-Elect, 1976/1977
- VMLS Section Council Representative, 1982-1985
Major Contributions to Veterinary Librarianship:
Like some other veterinary medical librarians, Sara R. Peterson began her career as a scientist teaching and conducting research in the life sciences before turning to animal health librarianship.
Known as Sally, she attended Vassar College earning a B.A. in zoology in 1947. She then served as a teaching assistant in the botany department at the University of Illinois [1948-1950] prior to receiving an M.S. degree in botany from that same university in 1955. Her thesis was titled, “The association of knobs and centromeres of non-homologous chromosomes at meiosis in maize.” She later relocated to Ames, Iowa. With her credentials in the basic sciences, Sally was a research associate in botany at Iowa State University from 1963-1968. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Peterson decided to pursue library science at the University of Iowa where she received her M.A. in L.S. in 1971 with a School of Library Science Scholarship.
As Sally notes in her history of the Veterinary Medical Library at Iowa State University, a small reading room had existed in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Materials were purchased by the Student Chapter of the AVMA, faculty, and alumni and were cataloged by the main library. From 1943, it was known as the “Veterinary Students’ Library” until plans were made to construct a new Veterinary College Complex in the early 1970s. Sally was hired “to establish a collection and to coordinate plans for the new Veterinary Medical Library,” which would occupy some 6,800 square feet of space. It was the only branch library on campus. Her appointment as Veterinary Medical Librarian at Iowa State University began at the level of Instructor [1971-1974], then advanced to Assistant Professor [1974-1978], and ultimately to Associate Professor from 1978 until her retirement in 1992.
She further reports that “In order to help develop a biomedical collection for this new Library a grant proposal was initiated and subsequently submitted to the National Library of Medicine. In 1973 the National Institutes of Health awarded funds to the Iowa State University Library for materials for the new Veterinary Medical Library. Over a three-year period, NIH contributed $83,000 for the purchase of books and journals considered essential for a basic working collection.” This Medical Library Resource Grant contributed about 40% of the 10,000 volumes added to this special collection during the three-year period from 1973 to 1976.
In addition to selecting materials for the primary collection ranging from biology and biochemistry to veterinary and comparative medicine, Sally was involved in “identifying and interpreting needed information sources, “instructing patrons in the use of materials,” and “providing search strategy for automated retrieval service for students and faculty of the College.” When computer-assisted literature searching came on the scene about 1977, Sally was eager to have a terminal installed in the Veterinary Medical Library. As a result of participation at numerous workshops on BRS, BIOSIS, MEDLARS, CAB, laboratory animal databank, Agricola, Dialog, and other databases and systems, she developed notable skills in online literature searching and was known for her reference expertise. For example, “reference questions have ranged from requests for information on prosthetic lenses for dogs to data on the heart beat of a lion.”
In addition to her library responsibilities, Sally was active within the College community serving on its Educational Resources Committee [1972- ], Centennial Committee [1977-1979], Computer Advisory Committee [1980- ], and Committee on the History of Veterinary Medicine at ISU [1985- ] as well as many other ISU Library committee assignments.
Sally was one of the early supporters of establishing a Veterinary Medical Libraries Group within the Medical Library Association. Several years later, her colleagues elected her Secretary/Chair-Elect at the 1976 business meeting for 1976/1977. This lead to additional responsibilities as VMLG chair in 1977/1978. She also served as the Section’s MLA Section Representative from 1982 to 1985. Given her knowledge and experience, Sally was called upon to serve as a consultant to the University of Illinois in developing their new veterinary medical library in 1976.
She also participated in other MLA-related activities, including chairing the MLA International cooperation committee in 1981/1982, as well as functions of the Midwest Chapter of MLA and Health Science Library Network. Sally attended many national MLA annual meetings over the years and traveled to visit veterinary libraries in the U.S., Great Britain, and other European countries in 1972-1973. Later in 1982, she visited veterinary colleges at Alfort, France and Utrecht, The Netherlands as well as the Deutsches Institut fur Medizinsche Dokumentation und Information, in Kohn, Germany. In 1983, she traveled to various libraries with collections devoted to dogs in support of her work on a companion animal project.
When Sally Peterson completed her phased retirement from Iowa State University in August, 1992, she had successfully established a solid foundation for the ISU Veterinary Medical Library “as a significant source of biomedical information” for their College of Veterinary Medicine. Her legacy was continued by Sally Fry [1991-1994], Elizabeth “Libby” Cooley [1994-1996], William H. “Bill” Wiese [1996-2007], and Andrea Dinkelman [2007-to date].
Selected Publications:
Peterson S. Iowa State University Veterinary Medical Library. Iowa State University Veterinarian. 1979;41(1):40-42.
Peterson SR. Evolution of a veterinary medical library. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1979;67(1):36-41
Publications about Sally Peterson:
Peterson, Sara (Sally) R. Who’s Who in Library and Information Services. [Chicago: ALA]; 1982. p.383
Comments by Sally Peterson:
Concerning my shift from botany to library science, I should mention that after finishing graduate work at the University of Illinois and working on a project for the Botany Department here at Iowa State, I decided to switch direction. Instead of laboratory work, I enjoyed researching projects and writing scripts for short films on botanical subjects. So off to library school. The Iowa State veterinary college received funds for a new campus the year I graduated, and I was fortunate to become the Veterinary Librarian at the new (and only) branch library here.
Other Publications and Resources:
Peterson PA, Peterson SR. Marcus Rhoades. Theor Appl Genet 1973;43:93-96.