Recommended basic list of journals in health sciences: evaluation of a collection in La Plata, Argentina

Abstract

A selected list (SL) of periodicals in health sciences is presented as a guidance for suscription policies of a cooperative information system in La Plata (Argentina), comparing it with present resources. The SL has a total of 331 titles; only 163 (49,2 %) of them are received in the city. The SL has been classified into 52 health topics, but they are partially covered: 48 % of them have Iess than 50 % of the selected titles, only 7 of them have 100 % of the titles, and 13 of them have no title in the city. There are 74 duplicated subscriptions, but although the total amount of duplications would be assigned to suscribe new titles it is not suffcient to reach the SL. Thus three priority groups are established for subscriptions, in accordance to the price/ demand relation of each title. The conclusions are as follows: 1) The SL is an adequate tool to orientate the local system subscriptions, although it should be discussed and updated by both health professionals and health librarians; 2) the number of titles in La Plata is not sufficient to provide efficient information services, so the incorporation of cooperative suscription policies is suggested as well as an effort to improve the resources.