key words : Intranet, hospital, knowledge management
Introduction
Sant Joan de Déu is a research and teaching hospital specializing in pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology. These specialties are well represented in its library collections, and in response to the need for easy access to bibliographic resources (electronic journals, biomedical databases) through the hospital´s computer network, the library staff was charged with the responsibility for creating a library web page. Its success led the hospital to propose the development of an Intranet designed specifically for hospital use.
Aim
The aim of this paper is to describe the process through which such an Intranet was designed and implemented in our hospital. The project was conceived and realized by the hospital librarians.
Discussion
Following an analysis of the hospital´s needs and requirements, speed and simplicity in both structural and design elements were prioritized. The Intranet is structured as a knowledge Web portal and divided into four areas: research, teaching and continuing education; in-house information; tools; and news and current events. In this way, all the categories of information are visible at a glance and accessible at one click. Inclusion of a powerful search engine allows users to browse the Web. The contents of the Intranet consist almost entirely of full-text databases. This facilitates decentralized information management and updating.
Conclusions
The Intranet is a tool designed to manage knowledge more effectively through sharing of resources and information, and to facilitate and encourage interpersonal communication. Over the past three years, our work in developing and fine-tuning this project has shown that in order for the Intranet to become a strategic organizational resource, the following requirements are indispensable:
· the administration must support the project fully
· the users must be involved in the project
· the content must be in the form of databases
· the content must meet the needs of the users
· the project must be adequately publicized and technical support made available to users
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