Although the use of quality as a management tool in organizations has emerged with Taylor in the first half of the twentieth century, it was only in from the 1980s that it started to be used in public administration.

Striving for quality in organizations throughout all stages of the production process and at all levels is a concern that has taken on particular importance and led to improved concepts, habits and procedures and which has stressed the importance of people in the growth and development processes of organizations. With regard to libraries, back in 1966 the American Library Association (ALA) was already pointing to the need for minimum quality standards in libraries in terms of “specialist staff, library resources, appropriate facilities, financial resources, and equipment”.

In the current competitive context and in response to challenges posed by a changing world, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon also chose preparing FMUL to implement a Quality Management System as its priority. To this end, it submitted a bid to the Human Potential Operational Programme (POPH) with a view to obtaining financing to resort to a team of external consultants with expertise in evaluation, quality management systems and continuous improvement processes designed to foster the training and the action of the team of FMUL employees who have embarked on the route to quality certification.

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Emília Calado Clamote
LIBRARY- IDC
clamote@fm.ul.pt