Republican scientific – medical library (RSML) of Kazakhstan was founded by order of USSR Public health Narcom №351 from May 29, 1939.
As a state institution it has been founded by decree of RK government №1335 from 25th of December, 1998 and also by decree of Public health, education and sport ministry order №212 of 23d April, 1999 “About Republican scientific – medical library” (RSML). RSML was joined to KazNMU named after S.D. Asfendiyarov by decree of RK government order №840 of 28.08.2010.
From the moment of founding the library more than 190 thousand of readers have attended it above 1.6 billion times.
Republican scientific – medical library, being the property and the wealth of the whole country medical community, is considered to be an important centre for informational processes. In the Republic it’s one of the largest book depositories of literature on problems of medicine and public health, a leading scientific institution, conducting library and informational – bibliographic service for specialists in the field of medical science and practical public health; scientific and organizational – methodic centre of RK branch libraries.
The basic object of the library is an opportune providing scientific – research organizations and also institutions, organizations, enterprises of public health, scientists and specialists of the branch with up-to-date information on problems of people’s health safety, rendering more effective use and introduction of scientific achievements into practice of public health.
The library fund of RSML consists of 350193 copies, in the main by 1-2 copies, including 1552 ones of scientific literature in Kazakh language. The fund has unique works of famous pre-revolutionary medical scientists.
The library renders services for 3604 readers. Every reader has attended the library 12 times, in total there were 45839 attendances for the current year. The delivery of books per year was 169437 copies of books and journals. Every reader of the library takes approximately 46 books per year.
In the library there’s functioning the Republican automatized library informational system (RALIS), that allows to include the newly received literature into electronic system. There were included 53458 titles into electronic catalogue, including 2962 books, 3952 author’s abstracts, 46544 journal articles. The library has access to universal Internet network and to electronic e-mail ([email protected]).
The structure of RSML readers’ social membership makes: scientific workers – 36.3%, including post-graduate students and interns – 18.5, general practitioners – 29.5%, teachers — 19.7%, students – 11.0%, paramedical personnel – 0.5% and others – 2.7%.
In RSML an interlibrary loan system (ILLS) has been functioning. There were arranged 72 exhibitions according to informational – mass work of the library.
67 medical libraries are functioning in the Republic, out of them 1-RSML, 14-ones of scientific centres and scientific – research institutes, 9-medical universities and academies, 23-medical colleges and 20-libraries of therapeutic – preventive organizations. The staff of all medical libraries makes 234 library employees.
Improving professional skills of medical library employees on library affairs with the follow-up attestation for giving a qualification category is carried out on the base of RSML.
Republican scientific – medical library annually compiles all over republic summary report on basic qualitative indices. The library employees have published books on the themes “Organization of medical libraries activity in Republic of Kazakhstan” for library workers of RK public health system, “Bibliography on social hygiene and public health management for 1970-2005 y.y.”.
The results of our scientific researches, together with collaborators of RK PHM institute of health care development showed, that in Republic approximately 75% of practical public health specialists insufficiently know the up-to-date home and 85% foreign achievements in the field of their activity. It’s due to the fact, that for a half of practical public health doctors the availability of scientific – medical literature is limited, besides 2/3 of doctors have limited and insufficient volume of available scientific information.
The republican scientific – medical library, having up-to-date technologies and communication researches, equally with paper carriers may satisfy the readers’ needs in access for electronic informational resources.