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8/9/2019 Library Self Study Report Summary March 2008
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University of Puerto Rico
Medical Sciences Campus
Conrado F. Asenjo Library
http://rcm-libary.rcm.upr.edu
SUMMARY
SELF-STUDY REPORT
2001-02 TO 2006-07
According to the Standards of the
Association of College and Research Libraries
Self Study Committee
Prof. Victoria Delgado Aponte
Library Director
Prof. Irma Quiones
Evaluation Project Coordinator
Prof. Nilca Parrilla
Prof. Francisca Corrada
Mrs. Evelyn Acevedo
Miss. Vernica Guevara
March 2008
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Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................... 4
Project Background .................................... 7
Self-Study Process .................................... 9
Medical Sciences Campus Library ....................... 10
ACRL Standards ........................................ 11
Planning .......................................... 11
Assessment ........................................ 21
Assessment Results ................................ 22
Services .......................................... 24
Instruction ....................................... 30
Bibliographic Resources ........................... 32
Access ............................................ 39
Human Resources ................................... 44
Physical Facilities ............................... 47
Communication and Cooperation ..................... 49
Administration .................................... 52
Budget ............................................ 55
General Recommendations ............................... 56
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Introduction
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico, established in 1903, is
the largest public institution in Puerto Rico. It has a
reputation for academic excellence. The University has
eleven autonomous campuses spread through the island with
an enrollment of 69,000 students. It is considered the most
selective and complete university in Puerto Rico. The three
mayor campuses are Mayagez, Ro Piedras and Medical
Sciences. These three campuses offer both undergraduate and
graduate education. The other campuses are: Aguadilla,
Arecibo, Bayamn, Carolina, Cayey, Humacao, Ponce and
Utuado. These campuses offer undergraduate education.
The chief executive officer of the System is the
President. Each campus is headed by a Chancellor as chief
administrator. The Board of Trustees is the governing body
of the University. Its membership consists of ten private
citizens who represent the public interest in higher
education. Two other members are faculty representative and
a student.
The University Board consists of the President of the
University, the eleven campuses chancellors, a financial
director, three additional members appointed by the
President with the approval of the Board of Trustees, one
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faculty representative from each Academic Senate and one
student representative from each unit.
Medical Sciences Campus
The name of Medical Sciences Campus was first heard of
in 1966 and its building was constructed in 1972 near the
Medical Center. It has the only specialized schools in
Puerto Rico. It is the unit of the University of Puerto
Rico charged with the responsibility of training health
professionals needed by the Puerto Rican Community. It is
composed by six schools: School of Medicine, School of
Pharmacy, School of Dentistry, Graduate School of Public
Health, School of Health Professions and School of Nursing,
which all together stand out and provide the most important
clinical and research the leadership in the Island. The
Campus has three support Deanships: Administration,
Students and Academic Affairs. It has over 2,000 full-time
employees (546 faculty members and 1,454 non-faculty
employees) and a student population of approximately 3,000.
The Campus Mission and Vision reads as follows:
Mission
The Medical Sciences Campus is the unit of the state's
university system which principal mission is to develop the
human resources that will form the interdisciplinary team
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to promote and maintain the best conditions of
puertorrican's health. Is a multidisciplinary center that
its institutional peculiarity brings the responsibility of
assume the leadership in the teaching and in the research
of the dominant health conditions in Puerto Rico. It
compound three dimensions of complementary activity:
Education, Research and Service.
(Certification #071, Academic Senate, 2003-04)
Vision
Institution and interdisciplinary center with
international renown and prestige dedicated to the superior
education on health sciences, the development of new
knowledge and models of assistance of health services in
Puerto Rico.
(Certification #24, Academic Senate, 1997-98)
The diversity of services, complexity and forefront
coverage in the health area have made the Medical Sciences
Campus responsible of superior education in every subject
it covers. This positions us as a leader in research,
service and clinical aspects and assures our mission of
teaching and better the health of the people of Puerto Rico
and presents us as forefront professionals in the world.
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Project Background
Since 1998, UNESCO has maintained that:
Quality in higher education is a multidimensional
concept that should embrace all its functions and
activities--teaching and academic programs, research and
scholarships, staffing, students, buildings, facilities,
equipment, and services in the community and the academic
environment. Internal self-assessment and external review,
conducted openly by independent specialists, if possible
with international expertise, are vital for enhancing
quality. Independent national entities should be
established and internationally recognized comparative
standards of quality should be defined.
In keeping with international trends in higher
education, the Administration of the University presents
its work agenda in the document Diez para la Dcada (Ten
for the Decade) and, as an initiative of the President of
the University of Puerto Rico, Antonio Garca Padilla, an
assessment was undertaken in 2007 by different professional
organizations, including the Library, to accredit the
academic programs. The initiative of the president and the
Board of Trustees is presented in Certifications Nos. 136
(2003) and 138 (2004), which establish that it is necessary
to promote and maintain the accreditation of the academic
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programs and services that require accreditation. The
University of Puerto Ricos Administration has made efforts
to promote collaboration between the campuses to make
better use of their resources. For the past three years,
the University has been focusing on the process of
systematic evaluation of its programs and services to
promote evaluation and assessment culture.
An evaluation process for the professional
accreditation of academic programs, including libraries,
began in 2004. It was an initiative of the President of the
University of Puerto Rico, Lic. Antonio Garca Padilla.
The document Ten for the Decade, explains the
background of this presidential initiative. This effort was
ratified by the UPRs Board of Trustees (Certifications
number 136 (2003) and 138 (2004). It established the
promotion and maintenance of accreditation for those
academic programs and services in which accreditation is
essential. The University Administration stated that all
libraries of the University of Puerto Rico System should
participate in an evaluation process.
In the summer of 2005, Dr. Julia Vlez was designated
as Evaluation Project Coordinator for the UPR System
libraries. In addition to this, a Facilitating System
Committee, as other subcommittees were constituted among
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the UPRs System libraries. The committees and
subcommittees developed evaluation guidelines and
instruments. The model used by the UPR for its libraries
evaluation includes indicators. Some of them were taken
from Spain Libraries Quality Certification, which are based
in both quantitative and qualitative outcomes.
Among the activities we participated in were
orientation and professional growth activities, the
communication flow and collaboration among the eleven units
and the UPRs Central Administration in everything related
to the libraries evaluation.
Self-Study Process
The Conrado F. Asenjo Library like all the other
libraries of the UPR System, use as its Self-Study
guidelines the standards established by The Association of
College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a professional
association of academic librarians and other interested
individuals. It is dedicated to enhancing the ability of
academic library and information professionals to serve the
information needs of the higher education community and to
improve learning, teaching, and research. ACRL is the
largest division of the American Library Association (ALA).
This professional organization provides a broad range of
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professional services and programs for a diverse
membership.
The library Director Professor Victoria Delgado
designated Professor Irma Quiones as the self study
project coordinator. She also established an evaluation
committee. The members are: Prof. Francisca Corrada, Prof.
Nilca Parrilla, Ms Evelyn Acevedo and Ms Vernica Guevara.
This Committee met regularly some of the group activities
were: answer the standards questions, conduct three
surveys, gather and collect evidence and discuss findings.
Medical Sciences Campus Library
The Conrado F. Asenjo Library of the University of
Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, is the main health
sciences information resource in the Island. It contains
one of the most complete collections of its kind in the
Caribbean. This Library offers a full range of services to
students and faculty of the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry,
Public Health, Pharmacy, Nursing, and the College of Health
Related Professions.
Its resources and services are available to the
Medical Center Hospitals personnel as well as to the
University of Puerto Ricos Hospital at Carolina. It also
serves practicing health professionals and the community at
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large. The library is committed to excellence in service
and lifelong learning.
ACRL Standards
1.PlanningIt is extremely important for Library administration
and staff to plan their services and functions. The
principal purpose of planning is to establish the mission,
vision, goals, objectives, strategies, and actions to be
taken. It is an organized and coherent effort to achieve
the Librarys goals with its resources and needs. The
emphasis on organization and planning is evident in
different documents, such as:
Policies and procedures for developing and
maintaining the Library collection Revised in
January 2008
Manual of Procedures for the Serial Publications
Section. 2006
Manual of Procedures for Special Collections
Procedures for Inter-Library Loans of the Medical
Sciences Campus
Virtual Reference Service Policy-2007
Policy for the evaluation and development of the
Reference Collection
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Mission, Goals, and Classification System of the
Historic Archives of the Conrado F. Asenjo
Library
Evacuation Plan for the Conrado F. Asenjo Library
2002
Plan of Action in case of a partial shutdown of
the air conditioning system in the Library -2006
Annual Work Plans
Strategic Library Plan
Library Assessment Plan
Librarys vision and mission statements serve as a
framework for its activities.
From 2005-2006, the teaching staff of the Library
underwent a formal revision of the Librarys mission and
vision. Both of these were discussed with the rest of the
staff.
The Library of the Medical Sciences Campus has the
following vision:
To be the heart of the Medical Sciences Campusacademic and research activities by meeting the
information needs of our users in a dynamic and
innovative way.
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Our mission reads as follows:
We are a public academic library specialized inhealth sciences dedicated to meeting the
information needs of the academic community of
the Medical Sciences Campus, the professionals
who work in public health in Puerto Rico, and the
general public. We actively participate in the
teaching, learning, and research processes,
providing health services and promoting patient
health by providing access to sources of quality
information and by educating users on how to
access and make critical use of the information.
In order to achieve our mission, we have
bibliographic, educational, and personnel resources that
facilitate and promote access to information and learning.
This mission was drafted to serve as the pivotal point in
offering our services. An analysis of the mission was
conducted. (Appendix 1.13)
After undertaking a brainstorming process, we also
drafted the values of the library. We are committed to
excellence through:
Satisfying the information needs of our users ina dynamic and innovative way.
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Educating users on how to access and makecritical use of the information.
Providing access to sources of qualityinformation that promotes health services and
health care.
Being an integral part of the teaching-learningand research processes of the Medical Sciences
Campus.
We subscribe to the Library Bill of Rights,
established by the American Library Association (ALA),
particularly with regard to:
Offering free access to information and fosteringthe development of ideas.
Providing materials and information presentingall points of view.
Not excluding anyone from our services because ofrace, color, sexual orientation, gender, birth,
age, physical or mental disability, ethnic
origin, or social conditions, or because of
political or religious ideas.
Opposing any type of censorship.The mission and goals are compatible and consistent
with those developed by the Medical Sciences Campus and in
compliance with the Universitys Administration goals and
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objectives as expressed in the Ten for the decade working
document:
Goal Objectives Library Activity
TO DEVELOP AN
ACADEMIC CULTURE
OF CURRENCY,
EXPERIMENTATION,
AND RENEWAL
To encourage, in a
sustained way ad
without undue
administrative
paperwork and
delay, alternative
forms of teaching,
among them
experiential
learning
(internships,
practice, etc.),
on-line courses,
and team-teaching.
To provide the
tools needed for
professional
development,
especially with
Librarians and
classroom
professors engage
in team teaching
activities.
Make efforts to
increase the
number of faculty
integrating
information
literacy in the
teaching/learning
process.
Develop strategies
to increase
availability of
library resources
and proficiency in
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respect to
updating the
facultys
teaching-learning
methodologies.
To foster more
efficient
connections
between library
systems and
academic systems;
in order to do
this, to develop
clear and workable
policies on
collections
development and to
formulate more
effective
protocols for
communication,
consultation, the
the use of library
resources.
Support access to
databases,
journals with full
text articles and
audiovisual
resources.
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utilization and
circulation of
information
resources,
acquisitions, and
interlibrary
loans.
COMPETITIVE
RESEARCH,
INVESTIGATION, AND
CREATIVE WORK
To encourage the
production of
researchers and
investigators in
theoretical and
applied
disciplines by
providing them
with adequate
equipment,
exposure, working
conditions, and
administrative
support.
Provide access to
databases and
information to
develop and
support research
(ISI Web of
Science and
Science Direct
(Elsevier)
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To strengthen the
university
communitys
publishing,
particularly in
juried and peer-
reviewed journals.
Provide several
services to
researchers and
support access to
information and
knowledge (peer
review journals).
STRENGTHENED
INSTITUTIONAL
IDENTITY
To create
appropriate access
to information on
the research and
investigation
taking place in
the university and
to make this
information
available to all
units within the
system, to
government offices
and agencies, to
industry, to
professional
To develop unique
digital
collections.
These collections
are located in the
Puerto Rican
Collection.
Living access to
these unique
collections will
be a contribution
to the Puerto Rico
health science
history and
voluble
information
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individuals and
organization in
and outside Puerto
Rico, and to other
institutions of
higher education
throughout the
world.
resource for the
public health in
Latin America and
the Caribbean.
Assessment of the quality and effectiveness of the
library is linked closely with the specific mission and
goals of the institution.
Formal planning procedures and methods, such as
strategic planning, are used frequently. The library is
continuously involved in a planning process and in the
revision of those plans whenever it is necessary. The
library Director and Department supervisors have
incorporated planning activities in each section. It is
also important that librarians participate in the
institutional planning process through permanent
committees.
The library also participates in the campus Strategic
Plan process as well as in the Institutional Assessment
Plan. However, we admit that librarys inclusion in both
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documents is limited because it includes only partial
aspects of the librarys purpose. It is only visualized as
a resources data base and it has not been integrated
equitably in all its functions.
As librarians who participate in these institutional
committees we have an opportunity and a challenge to see
that the library is included in all its worth as an
integral part of these plans. These processes require
dedication, effort and openness.
We concur with Chandras (1975)1 definition in which
participation is a constant discussion of the issues over
which it is necessary to decide, finally resulting in the
adoption of a course of action. It is a continuous process
in which to give and obtain information is essential and
constitutes one of the first steps to follow.
One of the greatest strengths of our planning process is
that we developed a mission and a vision that are
compatible with those of the Campus. They are published on
the Library web page. Librarians participate in the
planning process through standing committees.
(Institutional assessment, CIPE, FRC, and others).
1Chandra, R. (1975). Student participation in administration.New Delhi: Sterling Publishers.
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Nevertheless, we understand that we must make a greater
effort to disseminate our plans, including strategic areas.
2.AssessmentThe Conrado F. Asenjo Librarys assessment and
evaluation process takes into consideration the changing
rhythm of the academic year. Evaluation involves several
techniques and is an ongoing process.
The Library has begun to develop an assessment
culture. We have a tradition of compilation and analysis of
data that contributes to this culture development.
The Library has carried out diverse efforts in this field
and is continually planning and preparing themselves in
this line of work. The Librarian in charge of the
evaluations project belongs to the UPR Institutional
Assessment Committee.
Diverse quantitative and qualitative nature activities
take place in Conrado F. Asenjo Library to estimate the
effectiveness of services such as statistics compilation,
questionnaires and Workshop evaluation sheets, among
others. The Strategic Plan as well as the Operational Plan
contains indicators to evaluate its effectiveness.
However, the assessment processes had not been
systematized. Strength in the process consists in a
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designated librarian in charge of the assessment processes
of the library unit.
As part of our work plan an analysis will begin to
assess which are the necessary and essential statistics for
our assessment process.
Also, the qualitative sources we will be using will
be identified in the process. In addition, we will
reinitiate our participation in the Association of Academic
Health Sciences Libraries Survey.
3.Assessment ResultsOutcomes assessment increasingly measures and affect how
library goals and objectives are achieved. It addresses the
accountability of institutions of higher education for
student achievement and cost effectiveness. It takes into
consideration libraries greater dependence on technology,
the increasing use of online services, the growing
responsibility to provide information literacy skills, the
increasing reliance on consortial services, the
possibilities of dwindling financial resources for
collection development, and new developments in the ways in
which scholarly information is published and distributed.
The Library has been able to establish ongoing
collaboration with several professors from different
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faculties and schools in order to formally integrate the
teaching of information access skills into their courses.
As a result, workshops or talks have been integrated into
the syllabuses of different courses, placing special
attention on research courses and courses that require
intensive use of information. In many of these cases, what
is learned in the activities offered by the library staff
forms part of the evaluation requirements of the course.The
following are some of the strengths of the process:
The director of the library has ensured that
staff learns more about the librarys mission and
vision.
A librarian was put in charge of the evaluation
process of the unit.
Both the strategic and work plans (Appendices
1.10 and 1.11) contain indicators to evaluate the
librarys efficiency.
Some of the areas of development include:
The results of the assessment process have not
been systematized.
The statistics necessary and essential to
complete our assessment process have not been
identified.
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As part of our work plan, we will begin to analyze the
statistics we gather. We will also identify the sources of
qualitative information that we will continue to use.
4.ServicesThe library establishes, promotes, maintains and
evaluates a range of quality services that support the
institutions mission and goals. The library provides
competent and prompt assistance for its users. Hours of
access to the library are reasonable and convenient for its
users. Reference and other special assistance are available
at times when the institutions primary users most need
them.
Reference inquiries
2005-2006 2006-2007 %
Directional 207 264 28
Information 1,517 1865 23
Phone 300 345 15
Fax 80 104 30
e-mail 374 321 -14
Referral 41 40 -2
TOTAL 2,519 2,939 17
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There has been a 14% reduction in e-mail questions.
This can be a consequence of the virtual reference service.
As we can see Academic libraries are undergoing
organizational changes. One area that libraries are
examining in the light of changing roles and expectations
is the concept of liaison services to teaching faculty2. The
Medical Sciences Campus Library is not an exception. The
library director assigns librarians who serve as liaisons
with the different Programs. It is through their
participation that they maintain a close relationship with
the faculty and their informations needs. In fulfillment
of their responsibility they keep informed of curricular
changes, courses revisions, creation of new courses,
program accreditation self-study processes and other
curricular proposals. The liaisons activities help the
library to provide services and resources to fulfill the
faculty and curricular information needs. Liaison
librarians in coordination with the programs faculty revise
and evaluate periodically the collections, in order to keep
it current according to the curricular needs and the
requirements of the accreditation agencies.
2 Mozenter, F., Sanders, B.& Welch, J. (2000, September)Restructuring a
liaison program in academia library. College and Research Libraries.
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After this evaluation the faculty sends to the library
their recommendations for new resources acquisitions. These
are annually processed with the funds provided by the
Institution. All campus academic programs benefit from the
electronic resources available through the Electronic
Resources Consortia of the UPR Libraries. This is also
evaluated and revised annually.
Reference librarians offer workshops on the
development and management of information skills in the use
of data bases, preparation of bibliographies, use of
evidence based practices and others. The Medical Sciences
Campus Women and Health Center of Excellence also has
liaison librarian. The Bibliographic Resources collection
is located on the second floor of the Library.
Its mission is to facilitate access and diffusion of
information about issues related to women's health for
diverse audiences. The librarian offers a variety of
services: Access to a Special Collection on Women's Health
(journals, books, reports, brochures, leaflets, videos, web
page, internet access and bibliographical databases)
Bibliographical searches, Resource Lending, Reference
Services and Workshops.
Through the Librarys Web page users have access to
the Virtual Reference Librarian Service through chat or e-
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mail, from 6:30am until 2:00pm Mondays to Fridays and 8am-
4pm on Saturdays. There is also access to RefWorks a web
based bibliographic Utility. Reference services are
offered until 9:00pm in the evenings.
The library has developed several blogs. One of them
is the Reference Weblog: http://referenciarcm.wordpress.com/about.
This initiative corresponds to an effort in maintaining an
active and updated communication with our academic
community. It is a useful and valuable instruments to
satisfy their information needs as well as integrate the
present Web 2.0 tendencies and technologies to our academic
universe and be leaders in our field. Another blog is
called Alusin: llamada virtual, Allusion: Virtual
call.
This is the Library regular schedule:
Circulation and Reserve Department
Monday and Thursday 7:00 am - 11:00 pm
Friday 7:00 am - 9:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday 9:00 am - 10:00 pm
Special Collections
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Monday and Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday CLOSED
Reference Department
Monday and Friday 8:00 am - 9:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday CLOSED
Virtual Reference
Saturday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Serial Publications Interlibrary Loans Section
Monday and Friday 7:00 am - 4:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday CLOSED
Educational Resources Center
Monday and Friday 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday CLOSED
The Medical Sciences Campus provides collections in
various formats that serve to strengthen the academic
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programs. The interlibrary loan service also contributes to
increase the quantity and availability of the information
sources for academic community. 77% of the students
surveyed manifested satisfaction or high satisfaction
with the schedule. 70% of the students surveyed manifested
satisfaction or high satisfaction with the services.
Some of the librarys strengths in relation to this
standard include:
The equipment and access to databases and the
Internet make it possible to help provide excellent
services, even in areas not covered by the librarys
collection.
We have an excellent collection of databases and
complete texts, which have been continually enriched
over the years.
The service has been evaluated as excellent by
the Middle States Association and other organizations.
In general terms, users have expressed their
satisfaction with the services.
Nevertheless, we have included budgetary problems
among the areas of development, since they:
affect services by not being able to hire staff
for weekends;
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do not allow us greater access to electronic
journals; and
make it difficult to address recurring
commitments.
5.InstructionThe library provides information and bibliographic
instruction to users through a variety of reference and
user education services, such as course-related and course-
integrated instruction, hands-on active learning, librarian
mediated literature searches, training sessions on the use
of resources, orientations, tutorials and point-of-use
instruction, including the reference interview.
Some librarians participate as facilitators in Problem
Based Learning (PBL) Integration Seminars. This has been an
excellent experience that has contributed to strengthening
the bonds between the library and the faculty members and
students. PBL has also increase the use of the collection.
There is a liaison librarian for each School on Campus.
This librarian is also a member of the schools curriculum
committee. This promotes faculty participation in the
selection of information resources, maintains the faculty
informed of new services and library resources, and keeps
the library aware of new courses and trends in the school.
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The Library offers a broad and diverse activity program for
the development of the information skills. This offer is
continuously renewing. Librarians promote and evaluate the
educational activities which are integrated to some of the
curricular areas. As part of this self study we
administered a satisfaction survey
We have identified several strengths:
We have managed to integrate the informationskills teaching process to the academic course
syllabus on our campus faculties or schools.
The Library counts with new space and equipmentfor our educational workshops and activities. In
addition to this, the library staff has access
and uses the faculties computer centers for this
purpose.
Four reference librarians participate actively asworkshop leaders and other information skills
educational activities.
The library director offers guidance and lededucational activities as well as the library
staff in our other library rooms or departments.
We offer workshops both to diurnal and vespertineschedule courses.
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Nevertheless the integration for the information
skills development activities does not occur in a
systematic and progressive form throughout the academic
curricula.
The workshop evaluations and other educational
activities are not formally analyzed. The Library evaluates
only the users level of satisfaction in workshops and
other educational activities. Even though several
professors have incorporated the information skills in
their courses evaluation criteria, the feedback that is
provided to the librarians, is of informal character.
6.Bibliographic ResourcesThe library provides varied, authoritative and up-to-
date resources that support its mission and the needs of
its users. Moreover, the resources collection includes a
variety of formats, including print or hard copy, online
electronic text or images, and other media. Within budget
constraints, the library provides quality resources in the
most efficient manner possible. Collection currency and
vitality is maintained through judicious weeding.
The collection comprises 45,953 book titles and 1,145
active journal subscriptions (not including electronic
journals that are included in different databases) covering
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the fields offered by the campus academic programs.
Interdisciplinary in nature, the collection is developed
using Selected Lists of Books and Journals published in the
Health Sciences like Doodys Core Titles in the Health
Sciences, The Brandon Hill Selected Lists of Journals for
Small Medical Library and other selection aids (buying 100%
of suggestion for initial purchase and 100% the additional
suggested titles), and through the active participation of
faculty in the selection process. Non-print materials such
as slides, films, cassettes, CD-ROMs, DVDs and
videocassettes programs are available at the Audiovisual
Center that provides facilities for individual and group
viewing.
EBSCOHost
MEDLINE: Provides citations and abstracts fromover 4,600 current biomedical journals on
medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary
medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical
sciences, etc.
Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied HealthLiterature (CINAHL): Provides indexing and
abstracting for over 1,600 current nursing and
allied health journals and other publications
dating back to 1982. This database also provides
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full text for 56 journals plus legal cases,
clinical innovations, critical paths, drug
records, research instruments, clinical trials.
International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA):Includes information from over 750
pharmaceutical, medical, and health-related
journals published worldwide since 1970.
MedicLatina: Spanish language collection ofmedical research and investigative journals that
provides access to full text for nearly 125
periodicals, including over 50 peer-reviewed
medical journals.
Academic Search Premier: Multi-disciplinarydatabase containing full text for more than 3,600
scholarly publications, including more than 2,700
peer-reviewed publications.
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC):References and abstracts on over 980 educational
journals.
Professional Development Collection: Includes thecomplete text of 515 educational journals.
MasterFile Premier: Multi-disciplinary databasethat includes complete text on 1,950 general
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references including books, biographies, Images
collection (photographs, maps, flags).
ProQuest
Proquest Medical Library + MEDLINE with FullText: 0ffers more than eleven million abstracting
and indexing of scientific journal articles
compiled by the National Library of Medicine. It
integrates complete text with graphics and PDF of
200 titles of the most important publications in
medicine.
Proquest Nursing Journals Collection: A full-textcollection of more than 250 nursing and allied
health periodicals, including page images for
some articles.
ABI-INFORM Global: Includes references andcomplete text of publications related to business
and administration.
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses- Full Text: Twomillion dissertations and thesis published since
1980 until the present.
Other resources, most of them with remote access:
WilsonWeb: Set of databases providing citationsand full text articles on general and applied
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science, business, humanities, art, education,
law, social sciences, and agriculture.
MICROMEDEX: Set of databases providing full textinformation on chemical, pharmaceutical, and
biological substances related to clinical patient
care.
MDConsult: Gives electronic access to more than40 reference books, 55 clinical journals, over
600 practice guidelines, patient handouts and
drug information. Includes full text.
ISI Web of Science: Electronic version of theScience Citation Index Expanded and the Social
Sciences Citation Index.
Science Direct: Including 615 titles of Elsevierscientific publications.
OVID: Give access to more that 80 electronicjournals from Lippincott and 40 electronic books
on Medicine, Primary Care, Nursing, Public
Health, etc., also including Medline database.
ACS Publications: Peer-reviewed research journalsin the chemical and related sciences from The
American Chemical Society.
Annual Reviews: Annual Reviews Biomedical,Physical and Social Science Suites.
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The Cochrane Library: Full access to all Cochranedatabases through de Virtual Medical Library-
BIREME-PAHO
PubMed: With LinkOut to our printed andelectronic journals.
American Psychiatry Online: Includes books,journals, guidelines, produced by the American
Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
CRC Net Base: Electronic Books published by CRCPublishers
Ocenet: Medicina y Salud : Medical information inSpanish
Infotrac: Includes full text information onbiographies, history, law, literature, and other
general topics.
There are computers available throughout the Library
by which students may have access to the librarys
electronic and print resources. The library opens 206
hours a week, except on official holidays. Special
schedules are announced during academic recess. Library
personnel include twelve professional librarians and
twenty-two paraprofessional support staff.
Some of the librarys strengths related to resources
are: Liaisons work with the schools faculty that helps
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develop the different subject areas in the collections,
participation of librarians in the Academic Senate, Council
for Integration and Educational Planning (CIPE acronym in
Spanish) and other committees, participation in resources
Consortia that expands the collections development, our
Interlibrary Loans exceptional services and been recipient
of a book donation program from the National Library of
Medicine.
These are some interlibrary loans statistics:
Interlibrary Loans
2005-2006 2006-2007 %
Received
(From USA patrons)
1,383 1,116 -19%
Served
(To USA patrons)
987 832 -15%
Requests
(For UPR students )
1,583 1,704 +8%
Served
(For PR students )
1,327 1,675 +26%
Local (PR a PR) 1,271 1,273 ----
Requests to UPR libraries 56 34 -39%
Limitations in this area are related to the librarys
budget which is insufficient to cover the annual increase
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in the cost of all information resources. In order to
alleviate this situation the library has searched the
opportunity to gather additional funds for resources
through federal academic grants and through the
Institutional technological funding from the UPR
Administration. Resources sharing agreements with the
World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) have also help.
7.AccessAccess to library resources is provided in a timely
and orderly fashion. Library collections and the catalog
for accessing them are organized using national
bibliographic standards.
A central catalog of library resources provides access
for multiple concurrent users and clearly indicates all
resources. The online catalog is part of the University of
Puerto Rico Integrated Library System, but our data base is
separated from the rest of the libraries. The data base was
set up in this manner, because as it is smaller and more
manageable than the rest, it could be used to install and
test new versions of the Horizon System, which is our
actual integrated library system. After a new version was
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tested and assured to perform right then it was installed
in the rest of the UPR Library Database.
For this same reason, when the first integrated
library system for the UPR Libraries was chosen and
installed our catalog data base was used as the project
pilot. The online catalog is available on campus as well as
from other remote areas. Users have access to the online
catalog through the Librarys Web Page with any computer
with Internet access. This is an excellent tool that helps
us keep our users informed about the collections and the
availability of the resources.
There are also links to other libraries catalogs and
data bases including the UPR Libraries.(See list of
electronic resources)57.1% of the students who participated
in the library survey mentioned that they use the library
resources and facilities from remote areas as well as in
site. The survey also showed that the students combined
site with virtual library services. 26% of the students
informed that they come to search for information to the
library in person. Only 12% utilize virtual resources.
Between both information search modalities the search and
use of information at the library was predominant with
26.7% (58 students); 7 (about 3%) did not answered.
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Provision is made for interlibrary loan, consortia
borrowing agreements, access to virtual electronic
collections, and document delivery to provide access to
materials not owned by the library.
HORIZON System is used for the Library Online Catalog
and Library Electronic System. It is part of the University
Libraries System available from computers throughout the
different campuses. This online public access catalog is
available through the Internet at the Librarys web page
http://rcm-library.rcm.upr.edu. Also, there is a wide range
of databases covering every discipline, some including full
text articles. The Library provides remote access with
password and username or through the Proxy Server to access
the data bases mentioned above.
Conrado F. Asenjo Library provides community users
with intellectual and physical access to a wide variety of
health information resources. Efforts are always made to
ease the location to books, journals, audiovisual materials
and other resources of the collection. The strategic and
central location of the library at the Medical Center,
promotes the frequent use of its information resources and
services by a wide variety of health professionals.
The library has services like interlibrary loans, to
provide access to information that is not readily
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available. The Library is affiliated to the National
Network of Libraries of Medicine of the National Library of
Medicine (NLM). As part of this Network the library
participates in its document delivery program to share its
resources with other libraries. It is also member of the
Consortium of Southern Biomedical Libraries (CONBLS).
Through these programs, materials that are not available in
the collection are obtained from other health sciences
libraries using the ARIEL software for interlibrary loan
transmittal. Also, there are collaborative agreements with
the Veterans Administration Hospital Library, the Ro
Piedras Campus Natural Sciences Library, and other units of
the University of Puerto Rico Library System. FAX and
electronic transmittal of documents are available.
The personnel organize and identify all areas of the
collection. Wireless connection for Internet access is also
available. The librarys Web Page on Internet is revised
periodically. Through the Page users can have a quick
access to the librarys online catalog and a wide variety
of health information databases. Also the campus community
as well as the public is informed of news, services,
resources and all activities pertaining to the library.
Resources are organized using the National Library of
Medicine classification scheme as well as the Library of
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Congress, which facilitates organization, location and
access to resources. Among the strengths of access to the
librarys resources we can mention: the online catalog,
the Web Page, e-journals and other electronic resources,
having the largest print collection on health information
in the Caribbean and competent and committed personnel.
Other areas of importance by which the library has
improved access:
1. Through the librarys online catalog our users
have access to a wide variety of health
information resources and their status for its
proper use. Internet communications
infrastructure has been improved for a faster and
more efficient access.
2. The library acquired a Proxy Server in order to
provide campus academic community with access to
the information resources they need for teaching,
learning and research.
3. Inter library loan services is very efficient and
has been commended.
4. External funds through federal grants.
5. Because of the remodeling the librarys physical
facilities, some areas are not identified right
now, but eventually will help improve access to
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the collections in a more efficient and
comfortable way.
8.Human ResourcesThe staff meets the programmatic and service needs of
its primary users. Librarians have a graduate degree from
an ALA-accredited program. In addition, there is other
professional staff that has appropriate combinations of
training, experience, and/or degrees. All library
professionals are responsible for and participate in
professional activities.
The support staff and student assistants fulfill
assigned responsibilities appropriate to their
qualifications, training, experience, and capabilities. The
further development of professional and support staff is
promoted through an on-going commitment to continuing
education, including training on security, emergencies.
We include the Ratio of FTE library staff to student
and faculty FTE
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
FTE
students
3,215 3,015 2,940 2,938 2,849 2,860 2,808
Library
employees
28 28 28 28 28 28 28
Ratio 115 108 106 105 102 102 100
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FTE
Faculty
788 828 842 865 842 879 879
Ratio 28 29 30 31 30 31.3 31.3
Professional library staff is covered by a written
policy that clearly establishes their status, rights and
responsibilities. This policy is consistent with the ACRL
Standards for Faculty Status for College and University
Librarians (http:// ww.ala.org/acrl/guides/facstat01.html).
These standards include: Professional responsibilities,
library governance, College and university governance,
compensation, tenure, promotion, leaves and research funds
and academic freedom.
The librarys personnel excel because of its
professionalism, a commitment with the Institution,
continuing education and with a high standards job
performance. Librarians actively participate on the
different campus academic and educational processes,
research and service. Because of the work of excellence
done by its personnel, the Library has been recipient of
local and international commendations for information
services provided with high quality.
All librarians are leaders in the profession, some
have been appointed to directive positions in professional
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organizations in the island. They are also very committed
and responsible with the different institutional duties and
responsibilities they have to perform. Most of them have
developed an expertise in different medical librarianship
areas. Reference librarians stand out in the creation and
offering of information seeking skills workshops and
courses, using the Internet and other electronic systems to
fulfill user needs.
The Journal Club activity is where librarians discuss
and improve their knowledge in the new trends in medical
librarianship and information technologies. This activity
has been maintained throughout the years. Other librarians
stand out for their expertise in collection development and
evaluation, as well as in electronic bibliographic systems
maintenance and performance.
Some areas of concern are:
1.A librarian manages the library and receives abonus because the position of director does not
exist as such. Likewise, the current
administrator holds a secretarial position
because the position of administrator does not
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exist as such. It would be convenient to create
the positions of director and administrator.
2. There are two basic salary scales, one
specifically for the Medical Sciences Campus,
another one for the rest of the University
System; librarians are paid by the latest which
is lower.
9.Physical FacilitiesThe remodeling of the library included the
reorganization of both personal staff space and space for
providing user services. New technologies and computer
rooms were incorporated. As part of the remodeling process,
many meetings were held with all the staff and users and
with the architect and his staff, so that they could
identify current and foreseeable needs. They were then
presented with different models that were discussed and
analyzed.
The facilities have a complete inventory of furniture,
study space, and equipment for students. The building has
security and fire alarms. The library is also supervised by
the Campus Security Office. They provide continual
surveillance inside and outside the facilities. The library
facility are well planned; it provides secure and adequate
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space, conducive to study and research with suitable
environmental conditions for its services, personnel,
resources and collections. The library's equipment should
be adequate and functional
The librarys physical facilities are been remodeled.
The planning, the design and all phases involved in the
process have been done considering the further development
and improvement of all library services.
Among the students surveyed, 70% stated satisfaction
or high satisfaction with the facilities (See
Satisfaction Questionnaire Results). This is very
interesting since the Librarys physical facilities are
being remodeled since the last two years.
Strengths:
1. Physical facilities remodeled, enlarged and safe
2. New air conditioning system, to avoid complete
library closure
3. Collection growth spaces
4. New Technologies installations
5. Establishment of new services
6. Workstations and work areas remodeled
Limitations:
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1. Because of budget limitations, plans had to be
altered pertaining to the modern technological
equipment that was to be acquired.
2. The original plan was to remodel the whole
building at once. Actually there is guarantee
for only three floors. However, there is an
institutional agreement to complete the
remodeling of the rest of the building.
10. Communication and CooperationThe library has effective communications systems and
internal cooperation (at all levels) as well as external
cooperation with other units of the Institution. The
director of the library is constantly in contact with the
library staff, as well as with the senior management of the
Campus.
The director of the library encourages the
participation of the staff in the departments decision-
making process through periodic meetings, written
communications, telephone calls, monthly, semi-annual and
annual reports, e-mails, memoranda, bulletins, and faxes.
In this way, the staff is informed of the decisions that
affect them. Communication is essential to ensure the
smooth operation of the library.
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Communication flows from all levels of the library:
from the director to the staff and from the staff to the
director. The library has a regular mechanism to
communicate with the campus. Library staff works
collaboratively and cooperatively with other departments on
campus.
The communication generated within the Library between
the department staff members at all the levels of our
organizational structure and the one that arises from the
Library towards other offices and areas of the campus
constitute an important element in the total Library
operation.
The Library counts on librarians that serve as a
liaison between each one of the campus schools. These
librarians participate on diverse activities such as
involvement in courses (Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing
Schools) and the development of teaching and learning
processes.
The effective communication between the faculty and
our staff allows the integration of all the services with
the purpose of satisfying users information needs. The
administrative staff attitudes as well as the rest of the
personnel, promote the steady development of communication
channels at all levels.
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We have developed diverse methods and communication
strategies to keep our patrons informed about library
services and changes. Some of them are:
o Bulletin-Ciberboletnhttp://rcm-library.rcm.upr.edu/ciberboletin/
o Web page http://rcm-library.rcm.upr.eduo Virtual reference webpage
http://llamadavirtual.wordpress.com/about/
o Brochureso Blogs
http://rcmlibraryweek.wordpress.com/
http://referenciarcm.wordpress.com/
http://llamadavirtual.wordpress.com/
Our good communication with the academic departments,
offices, the faculty and the administration of the RCM and
the University in general remains in good standing.
However, our attention is directed to the active promotions
of services and resources of the Library.
For this issue, workshops and other efforts are being
planned such as mayor changes in the library website, and
the integration of the Web 2.0 technologies, applications
and tools.
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11. AdministrationLibrary administration is the responsibility of the
director, who has a masters degree in Library and
Information Sciences, accredited by the ALA. The person who
holds this trust service position is appointed by the
Chancellor (General Regulations of the University of Puerto
Rico 2002), Article 30, Section 30.1.8 Appointments to
trust service positions) and reported to the Dean of
Academic Affairs until 2005. Today, she reports to the
Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs. The administrative
offices have one administrative secretary, an
administrator, a librarian in charge of the assessment
process and two part-time student aides.
This office deals with personnel matters related and
supports all the activities carried out to meet the
information needs of the academic community. The level of
funds allocated guarantees access to quality information
and users are trained in the retrieval and critical use of
the information. The services are extended to health care
professionals and the general public.
The purpose of the services we offer is to meet our
mission by achieving the goals in the librarys Strategic
Plan. The work plans presented by the sections for each
fiscal year also describe activities that result in better
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services and more effective use of the resources. The
Strategic Plan is in line with the Strategic Plan of the
Medical Sciences Campus, which is also in line with the Ten
for the Decade, the Strategic Plan of the University of
Puerto Rico. The library director and the administrative
office staff support all library staff activities that
promote the effective use of the resources in a variety of
ways. The offices work with the allocation of funds and the
process for acquiring office materials, equipment, and
bibliographical resources and with continuing education for
the library staff and other administrative matters. The
following is a description of the activities designed to
provide the most effective use of the resources.
The Library Director is appointed by the Chancellor
and it responds to the Dean of Academic Affairs and the
Assistant Dean for Access and Integration of Technology.
The Library Director duties are described in the University
of Puerto Rico Bylaws. There is no permanent Advising
Committee for the Library. However, the library personnel
and administration manages to utilize other mechanisms to
obtain all the information necessary to fulfill user
information needs, which are further described in this
standard. The library administration and staff activities
are geared to promote the effective use of health
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information resources by the academic community throughout
the year. Activities which are described in the library
departments annual reports. The print and electronic
collection development processes, orientations and
presentations on library resources and services, documents
which describe general information on the library and its
services and information seeking skills workshops, also
promote the effective use of the library resources.
Strengths in this Standard:
1.All library services and activities are alignedto the Library Bill of Rights parameters.
2.The Library Strategic Plan and Operational orwork Plans (Appendix 1.9) serve as a guide in
order to comply with the Library Mission.
Areas for Improvement:
1.There is a need to increase librarys recurrentbudget. It should be periodically revised
according to the annual increase on information
resources costs.
2.Library budget should fulfill and match libraryplans.
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12. BudgetAs a non profit state-owned corporation of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the University obtains most of
its funds from appropriations of the Commonwealths budget.
Under act No. 2 of January 20, 1966 as amended, the
Commonwealth appropriates for the University an amount
equal to 9.6% of the average total amount of annual
revenues collected under the laws of the Commonwealth in
the two fiscal years immediately preceding the year of
assignment. Other appropriations are received under various
laws, which assign certain percentages of revenues obtained
from racetrack bets and net income from slot machine
operations. In addition, the Commonwealth has appropriated
amounts of general current obligations, capital improvement
programs, and for loans and financial assistance to
students.
Since 1995 school and campuses of the University of
Puerto Rico System have been required to base their budget
petitions on their strategic plans. Although the process
has taken place uninterrupted since that date, budget
allocations are greatly determined by the Universitys
incoming revenues. Thus changes in the external environment
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particularly in government policies, often affect the
attainment of projected goals and activities.3
The Librarys budget is assigned by the institution.
The library director administers it. Funds for resources
are not sufficient since library budget remains the same
for over ten years. It has a special account which receives
funds from photocopy and printout services. The library
also receives special money assignments coming from the
Technology fee and Title V funds.
General Recommendations
As a result of this self-study process, we have
identified various strengths which have been written and
included in this document. Some of these are:
Our participation in consortiums, which increasesthe possibilities for developing collections.
The receipt of book donations from the NationalMedical Library, which are added to the
collection.
The Proxy Server, through which we ensure thatmembers of the Campus community have access to
3 University of Puerto Rico. Medical Sciences Campus, School of Pharmacy
Self-Study Report, March 2003.
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the resources needed for teaching, learning, and
research.
Access to equipment, databases, and the Internethelps provide a service of excellence, even in
areas that are not covered by the Library
collection.
We have an excellent collection of full-text databanks which has continued to grow through the
years.
Our service has received excellent evaluations by
Middle States and other organizations. Training in
information skills has been integrated into the syllabuses
or course descriptions of the different Campus faculties
and schools.