Libraries In Spain Research Articles

La situación de las bibliotecas en España. El reto de la biblioteca real y la biblioteca digital

The situation of the libraries in Spain is a subject already very treated from all the points of view and all the sectors related to this problematic one. We will center the debate in the interest points that delimit the present function and daily activity of our Libraries.

Las bibliotecas de los hospitales públicos en España. Un análisis económico

The continuous increase in scientific knowledge in the health field, the development of new technologies and the rising cost of publications means that libraries are essential for patient care, medical education and research. In Spain some deficiencies have been seen in hospital libraries, and their cost is unknown. To analyze the cost of public hospital libraries in Spain and to estimate the cost of adapting them to international standards. Cross-sectional survey of public hospitals larger than 100 beds, or smaller public hospitals with teaching accreditation. Information on the variables of interest was collected by questionnaire mailed to the libraries and followed up by telephone. Data collection was completed in 1996. The information on costs is for 1994. A sensitivity analysis was done to examine the effects of imprecise estimates and assumptions. Of the 314 hospitals identified, 211 (67.2%) had libraries. The 1994 cost of the of the 211 libraries was 3,060 million pesetas (mean cost: 14.5 million pesetas). Personnel costs were the most important item (38% of the total), followed by the cost of subscriptions (29%). The cost of hospital libraries represented 0.08% of national public expenditures on health. The cost of correcting inadequacies in accordance with international standards would increase spending by about 400 million pesetas the first year (0.01% of public spending on health). The cost of hospital libraries represents only a small fraction of public spending on health. Correction of the observed deficiencies and the importance of libraries in the health system would require increasing spending to about 0.1% of public spending on health.

Las bibliotecas de ciencias de la salud en España: una primera aproximación descriptiva

Libraries are of fundamental importance in health care, training and research due to continuing advances in knowledge and its diffusion in a wide variety of publications. Spain lacks an organized library system and deficiencies are perceived. This article presents a descriptive study of the health sciences libraries in Spain. We performed a cross sectional study by survey of the following public centers: hospitals with more than 100 beds or smaller hospitals with teaching accreditation: centers of health management and administration; research centers: schools of public health; schools of medicine and dentistry; and schools of nursing and physical therapy. A self-administered questionnaire was mailed to centers with libraries, and follow-up was made by telephone. 400 of the 716 centers identified have their own libraries (55.9%). and 82 have shared libraries (11.5%). Over half of the libraries (52.8%) are in hospitals. AII research centers, schools of medicine and dentistry, schools of public health and hospital complexes have their own or shared libraries, as do 42.6% of administrative centers, 84.6% of schools of nursing and physical therapy, 79% of all hospitals, 72.4% of individual hospitals, 92.5% of teaching hospitals, and 50.5% of non-teaching hospitals. Only two-thirds of the centers have access to a library. The proportion of hospitals with library access can be considered low, especially in non-teaching hospitals, those with a small number of beds, or those not belonging to a hospital complex. Over half of the libraries are in hospitals, thus they will be of primary importance in designing future documentation systems.

Las colecciones de publicaciones periódicas en las bibliotecas de hospital en España

Journals are the basic element in a hospital library because they are the best way for health professionals lo keep up with advances in medical knowledge. In the last years the number of medical journals has increased enormously, and at the same time, growing cost of publications and increased use of sophisticated technology have raised the potential cost for even the smallest hospital library. As a result, many hospital libraries have to develop acquisition strategies to maintain the quality of service and to face the increasing costs. This paper analyzes the situation of the journal collections of the hospital libraries in Spain. Results obtained describe size of collections, budgets for acquisition of publications, geographic and institutional distribution of hospital libraries and development of journal collections in the last years.

Viewing the Cultural Treasures of Spain

Abstract New information and instructional technologies are allowing for the transport of resources from archives and rare book depositories to the classroom and the home, on demand, through reproduction, facsimiles, video-productions, and digitization and analog transfers. One such project of monumental porportions is die Video-book of manuscripts and codices from Spain's research libraries and archives. This project is reviewed, with the notice that one may not have to travel to the archives and libraries of Spain and Portugal to discover their treasures.

Public Libraries in Spain

With the restructuring of the Spanish governement following the end of the dictatorship and the constitution of 1978, the juridiction for public libraries was passed to regional or local control. At the same time, new libraries were established. While benefitting some, a new division is developping between the wealthier and poorer regions. This article describes the historical context, the current situation and the outlook for the future

La preocupación por la lectura pública en España: las bibliotecas «populares». De las Cortes de Cádiz al plan de bibliotecas de María Moliner.

We describe the origin of public libraries in Spain, from middle 19th century until the end of the 2nd Republic and the Spanish Civil War.

North African Conferences on Islamic Themes

This past spring has seen two important conferences on Islamic topicswhich merit observation.In mid March CEROMDI, or the Study and Research Centre on Ottomanand Morisco Documentation and Information (Centre d'Etudes et deRecherches Ottomanes, Morisques, de Documentation et d'Information) heldthe Fourth International Symposium on Morisco Studies in Zaghwan,approximately 80 km south of Tunis, and in the capital of Tunis itself, inthe Hotel du Lac. This meeting lasted from March 15-19, 1989.The conference was made possible largely due to the enthusiasm ofProfessor Abdeljalil Temimi, of Morisco descent himself, and was inauguratedin the CEROMDI library which Prof. Temimi has built with his own fundsin the Morisco city of Zaghwan. The ceremony was attended by membersof the government and diplomatic corps as well as professors from all overthe Western Mediterranean area. The topics of the symposium covered theart and handicrafts of the Moriscos who were exiled from Spain in 1610,their religious life and the rich legacy they have left in Morocco, Algeriaand Tunisia, as well as in several libraries in Spain itself and elsewhere,such as Paris and Cambridge.Participants came from France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt,Saudi Arabia, the Unjted States and Puerto Rico. Their papers covered manyfields, such as interpretation of their documents and description of theirheritage. The Spanish delegation was led by the dean of Morisco studiesin that country, Professor Alvaro Oalmes de Fuentes, formerly of the Universityof Oviedo in Asturias and now from the Central University in Madrid: andMikel de Epalza from Alicante. Others were Professor Consuelo LopezMorillasfrom Indiana University, and Maria Teresa Narvaez from theUniversity of Puerto Rico in Ro Piedras. The latter spoke on Mancebo deArevalo, an important yet somewhat mysterious intellectual leader of thepersecuted Muslims of Castile in central Spain in the 1520s and 1530s, almostthe same time as the picaro Lazarillo de Tonnes. Communications were inFrench, Arabic, English and Spanish ...