News Report / Profile
The Main Library of FMUL
The history of the Library-IDC of FMUL unfolds over nearly two centuries, crisscrossing with the history of medical education in Portugal. Its distinguished students and professors figure prominently, and they contributed significantly to the patrimonial and intellectual enrichment of this library, trusting their personal libraries to its care so that they could be preserved, looked after and made available to students. Examples include the legacies of Simão José Fernandes and Sousa Martins, among others.
Its origins date back to 1814 with the creation of the Surgical Library at the Royal and National São José Hospital at the request of assistants and learners enrolled in anatomy and surgery classes. Among the major events that mark its history, the inauguration in 1906 of the building in Campo Santana for teaching theoretical subjects stands out. This is where the Library was moved to. Other big event was the inauguration of the building of Santa Maria Teaching Hospital, where the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon (founded in 1911) and its library were transferred to, and where they have been since 1954.
Currently, the Library and Information area have two sectors: the Library/Historical Archive sector and the Information Dissemination/Digital Library sector. Its scientific coordination is managed by the Librarian, Professor António Vaz Carneiro, while the technical coordination is the responsibility of Librarian Susana Henriques. The adopted management model involves all the members of the team, without whom the established levels of quality and excellence would never be attained.
The Library-IDC aims to help increasing the quality and competitiveness of teaching/learning and research, aligning its business strategy with the aims set for FMUL, in accordance with the levels of excellence and quality endorsed by ULisboa.
Its vision is to attain excellence as a resource centre for learning and research in Medicine and Health Sciences. Accordingly, the action of Library-IDC is based on the following values:
- Competence in meeting the needs of users;
- Innovation in the pursuit of knowledge using ICT;
- Quality of products and services provided to users/customers and,
- Institutional commitment interacting and cooperating with other services of the CAML.
The current challenges, marked by the need for renewal and containment, require inevitable adaptation to the services we offer, and an economy based on the integration and sharing of resources.
In this context, there is the need to plan for a new model of university library, which is an active element essential for the provision of services to support activities related to the academic environment.
Part of the technological world in which globalization is a digital reality, the Library-IDC’s core strategy is to focus on providing electronic resources. In this context, the paper collection has gradually and steadily given way to a largely electronic collection.
In addition to the physical space of the library, this option allows access to available resources from the homepage, enabling it to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, anywhere in the world via VPN – virtual private network, based on the motto: “The Library is wherever you are.”
The investment in online resources has, on the one hand, fostered users’ preference for digital formats and, on the other, has increased training needs, especially with regard to the use of databases.
Thus, alongside the investment made in technological resources, it is paramount to invest in the training of users to confer them greater capacity and autonomy in retrieving information and acquiring knowledge.
The result of this investment in resources and training is showcased in the skills acquired by the young and dynamic Library-IDC team, whose motto is: “always work to support users’ needs and interests, having the responsibility to constantly develop individual professional and interpersonal skills, showing interest for the development of information technologies, researching new health information sources, so as to establish with users a complicity leading to the excellence of the services provided”. This was advocated by Dr Emília Clamote, who was responsible for the Library-IDC until December 2012.
Thus, the Library-IDC has made the training of users its priority area and invested heavily in it, acknowledging the educational role that the Bologna process has conferred to University Libraries.
This results from the commitment and strategic focus of the reference service and of the marketing and information dissemination service. They are two distinct areas that complement each other and maintain strong links in promoting the training and autonomy of users to ensure the proper use of available resources and documentary sources.
In addition to the assisted research service, the Library-IDC offers a training programme in accordance with available resources and the specific needs of several groups of users – undergraduate and postgraduate students, physicians and researchers.
The training programme aims to introduce and disseminate the services and resources available, and also advance them by providing users with tools for searching, data retrieval, analysis and information management, thus promoting the acquisition of information collecting and usage skills.
The training offered by the Library-IDC is not included in the academic syllabus but is part of the programme of the subject Evidence Based Medicine. It is also used in the Doctoral Programme of the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre.
The Training Projects aims to ensure that, from an early stage, all users acknowledge not only the resources available but also the importance of skills acquisition in information retrieval and management. It focuses mostly on students in the first year of the IMD so that they optimize their learning process and academic development.
Thus, the Library has been carrying out activities that encourage a proximal relationship with users, drawing their attention to the importance of mastering information research, retrieval, analysis and management, and addressing their needs when writing their work. Of the activities in this area, we highlight the following: User Registration and the dissemination of services during Enrolment Week, the participation in the Introduction Week, and the training projects: “Do you have an assignment to write? The Library Can Help You” and “Fridays at the Library”
The establishment of partnerships with other similar libraries and our collaboration with national and international networks specialized in processing and disseminating health information is paramount to ensure the constant updating and quality of the services provided. Of these, the following stand out: collaboration with APDIS – Associação Portuguesa de Documentação e Informação em Saúde (Portuguese Association for Health Documentation and Information), whose secretariat is based at the Library-IDC, and with EAHIL – European Association for Health Information and Libraries, of which we are members of the International Council.
There are many challenges ahead, but the Library-IDC will continue to focus on the quality of the services provided, the optimization of resources, and on the constant updating and development of skills so that we can continue to be a library of reference nationally and internationally, a role model in terms of the methodologies used, constantly updating, and focusing on the customers – the users of documentation and information.
Main Library (Biblioteca-CDI)
susanahenriques@fm.ul.pt
Its origins date back to 1814 with the creation of the Surgical Library at the Royal and National São José Hospital at the request of assistants and learners enrolled in anatomy and surgery classes. Among the major events that mark its history, the inauguration in 1906 of the building in Campo Santana for teaching theoretical subjects stands out. This is where the Library was moved to. Other big event was the inauguration of the building of Santa Maria Teaching Hospital, where the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon (founded in 1911) and its library were transferred to, and where they have been since 1954.
Currently, the Library and Information area have two sectors: the Library/Historical Archive sector and the Information Dissemination/Digital Library sector. Its scientific coordination is managed by the Librarian, Professor António Vaz Carneiro, while the technical coordination is the responsibility of Librarian Susana Henriques. The adopted management model involves all the members of the team, without whom the established levels of quality and excellence would never be attained.
The Library-IDC aims to help increasing the quality and competitiveness of teaching/learning and research, aligning its business strategy with the aims set for FMUL, in accordance with the levels of excellence and quality endorsed by ULisboa.
Its vision is to attain excellence as a resource centre for learning and research in Medicine and Health Sciences. Accordingly, the action of Library-IDC is based on the following values:
- Competence in meeting the needs of users;
- Innovation in the pursuit of knowledge using ICT;
- Quality of products and services provided to users/customers and,
- Institutional commitment interacting and cooperating with other services of the CAML.
The current challenges, marked by the need for renewal and containment, require inevitable adaptation to the services we offer, and an economy based on the integration and sharing of resources.
In this context, there is the need to plan for a new model of university library, which is an active element essential for the provision of services to support activities related to the academic environment.
Part of the technological world in which globalization is a digital reality, the Library-IDC’s core strategy is to focus on providing electronic resources. In this context, the paper collection has gradually and steadily given way to a largely electronic collection.
In addition to the physical space of the library, this option allows access to available resources from the homepage, enabling it to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, anywhere in the world via VPN – virtual private network, based on the motto: “The Library is wherever you are.”
The investment in online resources has, on the one hand, fostered users’ preference for digital formats and, on the other, has increased training needs, especially with regard to the use of databases.
Thus, alongside the investment made in technological resources, it is paramount to invest in the training of users to confer them greater capacity and autonomy in retrieving information and acquiring knowledge.
The result of this investment in resources and training is showcased in the skills acquired by the young and dynamic Library-IDC team, whose motto is: “always work to support users’ needs and interests, having the responsibility to constantly develop individual professional and interpersonal skills, showing interest for the development of information technologies, researching new health information sources, so as to establish with users a complicity leading to the excellence of the services provided”. This was advocated by Dr Emília Clamote, who was responsible for the Library-IDC until December 2012.
Thus, the Library-IDC has made the training of users its priority area and invested heavily in it, acknowledging the educational role that the Bologna process has conferred to University Libraries.
This results from the commitment and strategic focus of the reference service and of the marketing and information dissemination service. They are two distinct areas that complement each other and maintain strong links in promoting the training and autonomy of users to ensure the proper use of available resources and documentary sources.
In addition to the assisted research service, the Library-IDC offers a training programme in accordance with available resources and the specific needs of several groups of users – undergraduate and postgraduate students, physicians and researchers.
The training programme aims to introduce and disseminate the services and resources available, and also advance them by providing users with tools for searching, data retrieval, analysis and information management, thus promoting the acquisition of information collecting and usage skills.
The training offered by the Library-IDC is not included in the academic syllabus but is part of the programme of the subject Evidence Based Medicine. It is also used in the Doctoral Programme of the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre.
The Training Projects aims to ensure that, from an early stage, all users acknowledge not only the resources available but also the importance of skills acquisition in information retrieval and management. It focuses mostly on students in the first year of the IMD so that they optimize their learning process and academic development.
Thus, the Library has been carrying out activities that encourage a proximal relationship with users, drawing their attention to the importance of mastering information research, retrieval, analysis and management, and addressing their needs when writing their work. Of the activities in this area, we highlight the following: User Registration and the dissemination of services during Enrolment Week, the participation in the Introduction Week, and the training projects: “Do you have an assignment to write? The Library Can Help You” and “Fridays at the Library”
The establishment of partnerships with other similar libraries and our collaboration with national and international networks specialized in processing and disseminating health information is paramount to ensure the constant updating and quality of the services provided. Of these, the following stand out: collaboration with APDIS – Associação Portuguesa de Documentação e Informação em Saúde (Portuguese Association for Health Documentation and Information), whose secretariat is based at the Library-IDC, and with EAHIL – European Association for Health Information and Libraries, of which we are members of the International Council.
There are many challenges ahead, but the Library-IDC will continue to focus on the quality of the services provided, the optimization of resources, and on the constant updating and development of skills so that we can continue to be a library of reference nationally and internationally, a role model in terms of the methodologies used, constantly updating, and focusing on the customers – the users of documentation and information.
Main Library (Biblioteca-CDI)
susanahenriques@fm.ul.pt