Editorial

The challenge of Medical Libraries facing the Covid-19 pandemic

0000-0002-5724-9718Letissia Giance Paz^{1  *}  , 0000-0002-0534-8263Leonor de las Mercedes Hernández González¹ 

¹Clínica Estomatológica Docente “Dr. Luis Páez Alfonso”, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba.

Medical libraries play an essential role in the reliable provision of scientific information according to the needs of each user; currently in the world with the existing epidemiological situation, professionals in the field need this immediate, timely and truthful information to reuse it in teaching, assistance and research.

Since the declaration by the WHO of the pandemic on March 11, 2020, ¹ the world has implemented reorganization actions in the teaching process, these are adapted taking into account the context and needs; in Cuba, Resolution 82/20 of the Minister of Public Health is put into practice, dated March 23, 2020, in which the state of "health emergency" was established, and which in its RESOLVED ELEVENTH states: "Reorganize the undergraduate and postgraduate academic course in all health sciences careers at medical science universities and use the distance modality to continue the acquisition of knowledge planned for this stage; ² for this reason, at "Dr. Luis Páez Alfonso" Teaching Stomatology Clinic in Ciego de Ávila, the teaching activity of the 2019-2020 academic year was reorganized in a different but necessary and appropriate way to give continuity to the learning of 35 students from stomatology, 14 of Higher Technical Training, 9 of Technical Training and 11 residents of the different dental specialties, due to the physical and social isolation imposed by Covid-19. So, it was decided on the same date, by the teaching direction of the Stomatology career at the Ciego de Ávila University of Medical Sciences, to reorient the educational teaching process, for this the characteristics of the students and the teaching scenario were taken into account.

The library of the teaching clinic specialized in Stomatology, is the space where teachers, students, residents and researchers manage information and knowledge, where the exchange of knowledge is concentrated and must be apprehended and systematized by the student in an independent manner in order to provide feedback and reuse this knowledge.

Strategies were implemented at "Dr. Luis Páez Alfonso" Teaching Clinic Library in Ciego de Ávila to meet the teaching and information needs of its users, as well as providing answers to the reorganization of the educational teaching process; this library provides information services to all its potential users, provides access to Infomed network; it also increased the Selective Information Dissemination Service in the last semester to guarantee the management of information and knowledge.

At present it is a challenge for information managers to bring these services at a distance, that is why mailing lists were created for teachers, students, residents and managers, WhatsApp groups, so that everyone receives immediately the relevant and necessary information, and achieve the exchange of information.

Information management in current libraries is an important process in which it is necessary to contribute to raising the abilities, aptitudes and skills in the management of virtual environments from the resources themselves, such as: smartphones, tablets, emails, management systems of learning, repositories of educational resources, social networks, among others that allow the exchange of knowledge. ³

Medical Libraries have transformed the traditional teacher-student relationship into a new dimension in which each of them is positioned in front of the other surrounded by their own permanent “surrounding information cloud”, which may allow the change of some axes of the teaching-learning process. ⁴

It becomes a habit and at the same time necessary when closing the statistics of each quarter at “Dr. Luis Páez Alfonso” teaching Clinic Library to interview 80 % of its real users to self-evaluate the work that information managers undertake and thus improve the quality of services by making timely decisions; in this case, all the real users feel satisfied and show appreciation not only for the services provided by the library, but also for advising users and referees of journals on research papers.

For all the above reasons, it can be stated that Medical Libraries assume a great challenge, and through a process of changes planned and organized, it can be provided a service that favors the teaching, care and research process.

REFERENCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS

1.  Adhanom Ghebreyesus T. Alocución de apertura del Director General de la OMS en la rueda de prensa sobre la COVID-19 [Internet]. Ginebra: OMS; 2020. [citado 1 Ago. 2020] Disponible en: Disponible en: https://www.who.int/es/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020 1.

2.  Gaceta Oficial de la República de Cuba. Resolución 82/20 del Ministro de Salud Pública [Internet]. La Habana: MINSAP; 2020. [citado 1 Ago. 2020] Disponible en: Disponible en: https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/es/resolucion-82 -de-2020-de-ministerio-de-salud-publica 2.

3.  González-Ramos M, Alcaide-Guardado Y, Quintero-Reyes Y. Papel de la biblioteca médica en el Proceso Docente Educativo durante la COVID-19. Medisur [Internet]. 2020 [citado 1 Ago. 2020]; 18(5):[aprox. 4 p.]. Disponible en: Disponible en: http://medisur.sld.cu/index.php/medisur/article/view/4709 3.

4.  González-Ramos M, Alcaide-Guardado Y. Bibliotecas médicas: continuidad e importancia en la Atención Primaria de Salud. Medisur [Internet]. 2018 [citado 1 Ago. 2020];16(5):[aprox. 2p]. Disponible en: Disponible en: http://medisur.sld.cu/index.php/medisur/article/vi ew/4068 4.

Received: September 29, 2020; Accepted: October 01, 2020

^*Autor para la correspondencia. Correo electrónico: [e-mail]

Los autores declaran no tener conflicto de interés en esta investigación.