The San Diego Zoo Library “Began with a Roar”

Abstract

The Library of the Zoological Society of San Diego is a curious mix of unique information products, online systems and services. The Zoo Library must cope with unique and difficult-to-obtain information resources, a diverse group of users, and a skeleton staff. Because of the Society's sprawling organizational footprint, a Web-based intranet was established several years ago. Library staff is now attempting to establish a gateway to all of the information resources critical to supporting the Society's plant and animal collections as well as its conservation programs. This article includes selections from the Web portal and the results of a staff survey that attempted to identify the information resources considered most valuable to veterinarians, curators and researchersworking in zoos today.