El Manejo de Personal como Prioridad Administrativa en la Biblioteca Universitaria del Futuro

Los directores de bibliotecas universitarias se enfrentan al problema estratégico de decidir cómo serán las bibliotecas universitarias en los próximos 10 años, y qué acciones deberán tomarse en los próximos cinco años si se quiere lograr ese futuro.Ha empezado a darse un cambio en el crecimiento rápido de la tecnología informativa, el acceso electrónico a la información, y el concepto de estación de servicio de los académicos. Es necesario que las bibliotecas universitarias desarrollen nuevos proyectos y servicios para que puedan realizar el cambio de un modo de producción de servicios a un modo de producción como facilitadores de información. Esto implica una reconceptualización del papel de la biblioteca universitaria, el papel del usuario, y el del personal bibliotecario. Se necesitarán nuevos perfiles para el personal y habrá una tarea prioritaria de reentrenamiento y desarrollo de los empleados, aspectos esenciales en la reformulación de la futura biblioteca.

Morbidity and temporary cycles for the outpatient service at Universidad Estatal a Distancia in Costa Rica

No data has apparently been published on morbidity and outpatient service of faculty and staff of a distance university.  This report presents such data from the Universidad Estatal a Distancia (Costa Rican State University for Distance Education). The participants in this study were the employees who were outpatients between January 15, 2004 and December 15, 2006.  Instead of using a sample, the entire population was studied with a total of 1,526 medical records. Procedure: During the first stage all of the medical records were read and the morbidity data was tabulated.  Subsequently, this information was statistically analyzed using Statgraphics Centurion XV. The main findings were that 50% of the patients used the outpatient service only once during the study period and that most of them were between 20 and 50 years of age.  The days with the most consultations were Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.  The number of consultations was relatively stable throughout the year, with a slight increase in June. The three main causes for visiting the service were: upper respiratory tract diseases, muscular-skeletal disorders, and irritated digestive system problems. Main conclusions: Most of the consultations were from the departments with the more faculty and staff members; however, some departments had extremely high or low consultation rates per capita, maybe due to factors such as pathologies that require periodic control, geographical proximity, and psycho-social issues of patients who create a vicious circle due to the somatization of such problems.  The hypothesis that this population’s morbidity rate would differ from the national average because of its high educational level was rejected.  Nevertheless, the hypothesis that there are weekly and yearly cycles was maintained.