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This paper puts forward some suggestions for the development and reform of health informatics
education in LIS schools in China, for instance, establishing major or concentration area in health
informatics, integrating multidisciplinary and institutions resource, setting definite goals of
talents training and normative curriculum system according to international standards and taking
full advantage of information science. Only twelve LIS schools in North America have been
selected for research in this paper. It is necessary to expand the scope of the quantity of the data
to make sure sufficient demonstration. In China, there are several teachers who are engaged in the
research of health information, and some courses on health information behavior are held in the
LIS schools, and now health information is getting more and more attention. The problems and
development of health information education in China need further analysis.

The silent guardian of Chinese librarianship: Analysis on Miss Mary
Elizabeth Wood’s will
〇a*
PENG Minhui〇
Miss Mary Elizabeth Wood is the founder of Boone Library and Boone Library School. Her will is
one of the most important documents in the history of Library Science in China, which is yet to be
uncovered and discussed adequately.
This article provides the translation of the full text of the will which has not been revealed to the
public yet, including four terms with respect to the Boone Library and Boone Library School, the
Mary Elizabeth Wood Foundation, the Woodfern Cottage and certain other funds. According to the
textual research of the source of the will, the people involved and the historical background, this
document has been proved to be credible.
Based on the relevant historical materials collected from multiple sources, this paper makes
a thorough analysis of the main demands of the will. The core concerns of Miss Wood’s will
focused on two points: ① Boone Library would not be controlled by Central China College, and
② the Boone Library School would develop independently. In her will, Miss Wood emphasized
repeatedly the nature of Boone Library of serving the public and stipulated that Boone Library
would remain an independent public library instead of reverting to a college library. The reason for
this was that Central China College claimed that Boone Library should become under exclusive
use of Central China College, and Central China College further exerted the force of public
opinion on Boone Library, attempting to fulfill its purpose. Such action not only threatened the
fundamental nature of Boone Library as a public library but also caused negative effects on the
Boone Library School’s independency on account of the close connection between the Library
and the School, which aroused Miss Wood’s strong opposition. The reason for the second point

* Correspondence should be addressed to PENG Minhui, Email: pengmh@whu.edu.cn, ORCID: 0000-0003-2573-5735