The hospital library: a study of central Portugal

Authors

Keywords:

hospital libraries, library services, public health.

Abstract

The hospital library is still an unknown model in Portugal, despite its importance for the functioning of health institutions and for research in Health Sciences. It is an area so far little studied in the country and known mainly by health professionals, linked to teaching and research. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to characterize and analyze the performance of these libraries, to deepen knowledge and to try to understand the reasons why they are unknown within the institutions themselves. A descriptive study was carried out, based on the application of a questionnaire in 41 public and private health institutions with the aim of knowing the state of hospital libraries in central Portugal and, by publishing the results, to contribute to their dissemination and promotion. The results showed that only 11 public health institutions have libraries, which, despite belonging to centers with hundreds of employees, are small and lack resources. As such, it is likely that a supervisory intervention in policy design is needed to increase and improve library services in hospitals, namely: i) strengthening qualified human resources; ii) supporting the practice of evidence-based medicine; iii) working with secure networks to obtain validated information; and iv) removing technical barriers to obtain answers to questions whose research has already been conducted by researchers themselves, but without success.

Author Biographies

Rosa Saraiva, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Cova da Beira, Covilhã

Doutorada em Formación en la Sociedad del Conocimiento, pela  Universidade de Salamanca- Espanha.

Presidente da APDIS – Associação Portuguesa de Documentação e Informação de Saúde desde 2018 até ao momento.

Diretora de Serviço de Documentação e Biblioteca do Centro Hospitalar Universitário Cova da Beira - Covilhã, Portugal, desde 2015 até ao momento.

Coordenadora Executiva do Centro de Coordenação de Investigação Clínica das Beiras, desde 2018 até ao momento.

Coordenadora do Gabinete de Investigação e Inovação do Centro de Investigação Clínica da CHUCB desde 2015 até ao momento.

Coordenadora do Serviço de Documentação e Biblioteca do CHUCB de 2004 a 2014.

Membro da Comissão de Investigação do Centro Académico Clínico das Beiras, desde 2018 até ao momento.

 Assistente Convidada da Universidade da Beira Interior - Covilhã de 2006 a 2014.

Ministra cursos na área da indexação, pesquisa bibliográfica e metodologias da investigação. 

Artigos publicados em revistas científicas com revisão por pares.

Revisora da Revista Cubana de Información en Ciencias de la Salud.


Julio Alonso-Arévalo, Universidad de Salamancahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4458-0380

Bibliotecario de la Facultad de Traducción y Doc. de la USAL. Ex-Miembro del Grupo de Investigación E-LECTRA. Premio Nacional de Investigación por la UNE Premio mejor Profesional Social Media INFOAWARDS 2019. Creador y editor del repositorio E-LIS. Más de 80 artículos científicos publicados - Ver en E-LIS -en revistas científicas. El profesional de la información, Library Hi-Tech, Electronic Library. Investigación Bibliotecológica, Anales de Documentación... 12 libros publicados: Nueva fuentes de información en el contexto de la web 2.0 (Pirámide), Gutemberg 2.0 (TREA). Social Reading (Elsevier), eBooks en bibliotecas universitarias (TREA), El ecosistema del libro electrónico universitario (UNE), Un viaje a la cultura open (Amazon), GRATIS Zotero (Creative Spaces), Leyendo entre Pantallas (Trea), GRATIS Literaçia da infomrçao (ISPA) GRATIS Espistemologia y acceso abierto (UCE) GRATIS Makerspaces y bibliotecas. Barcelona: El Profesional de la Información EPI-UOC, 2018. Makerspaces. Espacios creativos en bibliotecas: creación, planificación y programación de actividades. Salamanca: Ediciones del Universo, 2019. Los libros, la lectura y los lectores a través de la literatura y las artes. Buenos Aires : Alfagrama Ediciones, 2019 Más de 2000 citas en Google Schoolar Creador y gestor del blog Universo abierto Director del programa de Radio Planeta Biblioteca Más de 250.000 seguidores en los grupos profesionales de Facebook.

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Published

2022-10-31

How to Cite

1.
Saraiva R, Alonso-Arévalo J. The hospital library: a study of central Portugal. Rev. cuba. inf. cienc. salud [Internet]. 2022 Oct. 31 [cited 2025 Feb. 7];33. Available from: https://acimed.sld.cu/index.php/acimed/article/view/2039

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