The periodicals collections of Hospital libraries in Spain

Abstract

Journals are the basic element in a hospital library because they are the best way for health professionals lo keep up with advances in medical knowledge. In the last years the number of medical journals has increased enormously, and at the same time, growing cost of publications and increased use of sophisticated technology have raised the potential cost for even the smallest hospital library. As a result, many hospital libraries have to develop acquisition strategies to maintain the quality of service and to face the increasing costs. This paper analyzes the situation of the journal collections of the hospital libraries in Spain. Results obtained describe size of collections, budgets for acquisition of publications, geographic and institutional distribution of hospital libraries and development of journal collections in the last years.