Thoughts on cooperation among biomedical libraries in Genoa, Italy.

The rapid pace of scientific progress and the growing number of medical and scientific publications have made information retrieval and the dissemination of research results crucial aspects of any recognized scientific activity. Indeed, researchers are faced with the never-ending task of keeping abreast of developments in order to update their personal knowledge and understanding in a specific field [1-2]. As part of the effort to contain costs and speed progress, it should be common practice for today's scientific and health sciences librarians to consult international databases to retrieve bibliographic references. The next step in the online procedure, retrieval of the articles via networks, also should be standard [3-8]. These practices are not universal, however. An examination of Italian libraries reveals various problems stemming from both the lack of a policy aimed at the optimization of national resources and the inattention of authorities potentially able to endorse the establishment of systems that would enable exchange of information among libraries. This paper describes an evaluation of a union catalog of biomedical journals edited by the IST-National Cancer Research Institute of Genoa and the Clinical and Experimental Oncology Institute, University of Genoa. The catalog (updated in 1992) contains the holdings of thirty-one participating libraries in Genoa and its surroundings. The two institutes are research facilities specializing in oncology. Established in 1978, they have evolved and grown steadily and currently comprise sixteen experimental laboratories, twenty clinical departments, and nine satellite laboratories. Scientific support services, such as the library and the Scientific Information and Documentation Service, are also available. OBJECTIVES