The Library as a center promoting information, updating, training and research in a scientific institute. An experience in Rome.

Antonella Bozzano, Alessandra Tardiola, Cristina Groppi, Patrizia Gradito
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana
V. Appia Nuova, 1411 - 00178 Roma (Italy)
Fabozzano@rm.izs.it

The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana (IZS-LT) is a veterinary public board which performs laboratory trials, scientific research and specialised advisory acitivities in the following fields: animal health protection, food hygiene quality control, hygiene in animal breeding and productions.

The situation of the library and of the training and information activities in 1997 was as follows: the library had been hardly managed for ten years, moreover a training department had not yet been established. 

In 1997, the dramatic need of the trainining and scientific updating of the personnel as necessary instruments to accomplish the mission and the objectives of the Institute was bound to develop. Such aptitude has been part of a more general program at national level: in order to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the public boards, the Government has fostered the adoption of the management system of private organisation. To reach this target, the Institute top management took up several actions, thus establishing the Department of Training, Documentation and Library (DTDL) in 1997.

At present, 4 people are employed in this Department: one is specialised in biblioteconomy and coordinates the library activities; two are specialised in training, and another one works in both fields. The number of our library's users accounts for about 150, which is made up mainly by veterinarians, biologists and chemists. The library owns 4.000 books, 130 periodicals in subscription, 5 databanks (CABI, ASFA, ANABS, ScienceDirect, Deagiuridica) and 100 audiovisual aids (CD-ROMS, slides, videotapes, etc.)
 

Methods

The Department has contributed to the change of the policy of the Institute according to the following method:

Acquisition of the resources of the Department (rooms, tools and instruments), and the training of the staff.

Strategies 

- to motivate the personnel to consider updating and information as vital instruments in a much more competitive market 
- to supply reliability and authoritativeness to the Department.

Documentation: 

- selective circulation of documents, rules and laws, training courses brochures etc. both in print as in electronic form;
- establishment of informative boards in every territorial department.

Library: 

- acquisition and organisation of the premises;
- reorganisation of the possessed documents;
- reactivation and extension of the traditional services; 
- increase in subscription to both print and electronic international periodicals and in the purchase of books, with particular attention to the subjects supporting the developping change of the Institute, such as quality, safety, management, training science, information technology and so forth;
- the issue of a bibliographic bullettin containing the TOC of the active periodicals;
- activation of the service of document delivery and interlibrary loan;
- acquisition of electronic resources (databanks) and specialisation of the inquire and reference service;
- training courses for the library users to the use of electronic resources;
- constant relationship with other Italian libraries;
- cooperation to research projects on electronic resources in the library.

Training:

- Specific training of the staff belonging to the department;
- Organisation of courses for the personnel of the Institute about several subjects (quality, safety at work, management, communication, information technologies, etc.) noteworthy for the change processes; 
- Organisation of workshops and meetings open to the public about themes ranging from veterinary public health, quality, etc.;
- Organisation of courses for external personnel in the agricultural, food and husbandry field as well as for veterinarians about technical subjects.

All the training activities carried out by the Department were organised by means of a four step methodology: analysis of the personnel's training and information requirements; course planning, fulfilment and evaluation.

Scientific research activities:

Support to the top management of the Institute as to the research activities of the I.Z.S.L.T.: organisation, research project revise, linguistic support, research publication archive-keeping. 
 

Results and Conclusions

The Department activities can be showed by means of some performance indicators so as to give evidence of a continuous improvement from 1997 to 2000: the number of user accesses to the library/year (fig.n.1); the number of documents provided /year (scientific papers, booklets, leaflets, brochures, slides, videotapes, bibliographic inquiry, articles etc.); the number of research project developped by the personnel of the Institute/year (fig. n. 2); the number of scientific publications made by Institute personnel/year; the number of training events organised by the Department (fig. n.3). Indeed, the library budject increased in the same period, from roughly 40 million Liras in 1997 to one hundred million Liras in 2000.

Every year the user satisfaction has been evaluated by means of anonimous questionnaires focusing on several aspects of the services supplied (study facilities, availability of documents, inquiry and reference service, user training, attitudes of library staff, and others.). An increase in the number of questionnaires filled by the personnel has been recorded from 1997 to 2001. In the same period, the user satisfaction has progressively improved, too. 

On the whole, the IZSLT has adopted some of the managerial methods peculiar of private companies and, at the same time, the personnel has started to change its habit of mind and modus operandi, thus improving the efficiency and the efficacy of the services supplied. Furthermore, the above-mentioned development has involved the application of the Quality System with the subsequent ackwnowledegement of the certification in conformity with the rules UNI EN 45001.

The Department of Training, Documentation and Library (DTDL) has significantly contributed to this change. The continuous and stringent integration between training, documentation and library, jointed in a unique structure, has dramatically aided the action of the department as a support to this change.
 

References

1. Dracos, L., and Cognetti, G. (1995) La letteratura scientifica: indicatori bibliometrici e bibliografici quali criteri integrativi per la valutazione obiettiva di una attività di ricerca. Annali Istituto Superiore di Sanità 31, 381-390.
2. Guilbert, J.J. (1990) Guide Pedagogique. OMS, Geneve.
3. Vannucci, L. (2000) La formazione continua del personale nei sistemi bibliotecari. BollettinoA.I.B. (Associazione Italiana Biblioteche) 40, 61-75.
4. ISO 11620 (1998) Information and documentation - Library performance indicators. ISO (International of Standardisation), Geneve.