Hospital Broadcasting Service

Suite 444
Baltic Chambers
50 Wellington Street
Glasgow
G2 6HJ

Tel No: 0141 221 4043
Email:studio@hbs.org.uk

>back to floor plan

Record Library

The 'heart' of the radio station, the library holds close to 50,000 tracks on many different types of media. When the Service began in 1970 everything was on vinyl and even now thirty four years later its very rare that we don't play something from vinyl during an evening's broadcasting.

The Record Library also acts as the 'production office' with the presenters and production staff using all the available space and facilities to research and prepare the broadcasts.

In fact, with limited space, the Record Library serves a multitude of roles as you can see below.

Vinyl still accounts for more than 75% of all the tracks available so as part of the training course potential presenters have to be taught how to use and cue vinyl.
For some of our younger members this is the first time they have ever played a vinyl record!

The old furniture which had served us well for ten years since the move to Baltic Chambers was replaced in the Autumn of 2003.

John Gilbertson takes a well earned rest with an ice cold (and reasonably priced) can of coke from the Library's most important piece of equipment - THE FRIDGE!

The following day the new desks were put in place.

More drinks - and Mince Pies - being consumed in the multi-function Record Library. This time round its hosting the annual 'Early Christmas Party' held at the end of November each year.

Yet another role, this time Rachel Reed being interviewed for the feature about HBS and hospital radio in general, that appeared in April in the Scottish edition of 'The Big Issue'.

More often the interview role is reversed as everyone who enquires about becoming a member is initially invited up for a chat to let them get a cleared picture of the work of the organisation and the realities and responsibilities of becoming a member.

Looking for Patient's Requests or other records on the database is a common task. The record library was fully computerised by the mid 90's though a few years before this we threw away the old card index and relied on paper printouts until eventually using PC's exclusively from 1995. As computers have improved so has the speed of finding tracks. A full database search and sort used to take almost 14 minutes, now its just five seconds.

Taking requests over the phone from one of our visiting teams is the normal way the team in the studio finds out what people want to hear. As the nearest hospital is two miles away from our city centre base we unfortunately can't have the presenter's themselves popping out onto the wards. It's not just our visitors who call in with requests, lots of patients and their friends are at it as well.

Editing a program for future transmission is something that these days doesn't need to tie up a full studio. The pieces of the programme are recorded in the studio and then can be digitally edited there or as all the computers are on a dedicated network, at any one of the workstations in the Record Library.

A Presenter's Meeting is something that happens every few months and is essential to making sure that the whole team knows what is happening and future plans. All members receive a quarterly newsletter to let them know what's happening and other groups also have regular meeting and update sessions such as the Supervisors who meet every two months and the Executive Committee who meet monthly, though in both their cases not in the Record Library - it's far too crowded with people doing other things!

We serve the following hospitals. Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre / Blawarthill Hospital / Drumchapel Hospital / Gartnavel General Hospital / Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital / Royal Alexandra Hospital / Western Infirmary

Charity No. SC009138

Members Area


			Suite 444 Baltic Chambers 50 Wellington Street Glasgow G2 6HJ Tel No: 0141 221 4043 Email:studio@hbs.org.uk

Library >back to floor plan Record Library The 'heart' of the radio station, the library holds close to 50,000 tracks on many different types of media. When the Service began in 1970 everything was on vinyl and even now thirty four years later its very rare that we don't play something from vinyl during an evening's broadcasting. The Record Library also acts as the 'production office' with the presenters and production staff using all the available space and facilities to research and prepare the broadcasts. In fact, with limited space, the Record Library serves a multitude of roles as you can see below.
	Vinyl still accounts for more than 75% of all the tracks available so as part of the training course potential presenters have to be taught how to use and cue vinyl. For some of our younger members this is the first time they have ever played a vinyl record!
The old furniture which had served us well for ten years since the move to Baltic Chambers was replaced in the Autumn of 2003. John Gilbertson takes a well earned rest with an ice cold (and reasonably priced) can of coke from the Library's most important piece of equipment - THE FRIDGE! The following day the new desks were put in place.
	More drinks - and Mince Pies - being consumed in the multi-function Record Library. This time round its hosting the annual 'Early Christmas Party' held at the end of November each year.
Yet another role, this time Rachel Reed being interviewed for the feature about HBS and hospital radio in general, that appeared in April in the Scottish edition of 'The Big Issue'. More often the interview role is reversed as everyone who enquires about becoming a member is initially invited up for a chat to let them get a cleared picture of the work of the organisation and the realities and responsibilities of becoming a member.
	Looking for Patient's Requests or other records on the database is a common task. The record library was fully computerised by the mid 90's though a few years before this we threw away the old card index and relied on paper printouts until eventually using PC's exclusively from 1995. As computers have improved so has the speed of finding tracks. A full database search and sort used to take almost 14 minutes, now its just five seconds.
Taking requests over the phone from one of our visiting teams is the normal way the team in the studio finds out what people want to hear. As the nearest hospital is two miles away from our city centre base we unfortunately can't have the presenter's themselves popping out onto the wards. It's not just our visitors who call in with requests, lots of patients and their friends are at it as well.
	Editing a program for future transmission is something that these days doesn't need to tie up a full studio. The pieces of the programme are recorded in the studio and then can be digitally edited there or as all the computers are on a dedicated network, at any one of the workstations in the Record Library.
A Presenter's Meeting is something that happens every few months and is essential to making sure that the whole team knows what is happening and future plans. All members receive a quarterly newsletter to let them know what's happening and other groups also have regular meeting and update sessions such as the Supervisors who meet every two months and the Executive Committee who meet monthly, though in both their cases not in the Record Library - it's far too crowded with people doing other things!
We serve the following hospitals. Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre / Blawarthill Hospital / Drumchapel Hospital / Gartnavel General Hospital / Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital / Royal Alexandra Hospital / Western Infirmary
Charity No. SC009138		Members Area