Medical libraries-Menzel
Gabriele Menzel, Charité - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Medical Library
My name is Gabriele Menzel. I was born on May 7th 1952 in Dresden, Germany.
From 1970 to 1977 I studied biology, specialization biochemistry at Humboldt University Berlin and completed with a diploma in biochemistry 1975 and a doctoral degree in 1978.
From 1977 to 1983 I was working as research assistant at Central Institute for Cardiovascular Research in Berlin.
Subjects of my laboratory work were model membranes respectively the relationship between hypertension and nutrition.
Thereafter, from 1983 to 1990 I was scientific assistant at Institute for Scientific Information in Medicine in Berlin, where I was searching for literature in Medline and other databases via Medical Information Center (MIC) Stockholm.
During this time I completed postgraduate studies of scientific information in medicine.
Since 1991 I have been working as scientific employee at the Medical Library of the Charité – Universitaetsmedizin Berlin in the Information Retrieval Department of the library.
I am responsible for database researches on demand, counselling staff and students to perform systematic researches in databases and teaching students, staff and external users in the use of databases.
I am married and have adult children.
Abstract
Information retrieval - database researches and teaching staff and students at the Charité
The Medical Library of the Charité – Universitaetsmedizin Berlin is responsible for the supply of scientific literature and information for about 4000 staff and 7000 students.
27 employees are working at the 3 sites of the library. Main administrative units are the Central Acquisitions and Cataloging Department, the Interlibrary Loan Unit, the Circulation Department and the unit for Information Retrieval and Teaching of Information Literacy.
Electronic media – e-jounals, e-books and databases - are accessible via campus licenses and VPN for all staff and students.
Main tasks of the Information Retrieval Unit are
- database researches on demand
- advising staff and students to perform systematic researches in databases
- teaching students and other user groups in the use of databases to conduct efficient information searches on their own
We use different biomedical databases like Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library, the Web of Science, Cinahl or PsycInfo for information retrieval and educational purposes.
The number of complete database searches on demand has decreased over the last years. But the requests for counselling have risen especially those for systematic reviews or guidelines.
We offer regular courses for students, staff and external users during the semester. Furthermore we provide courses for different degree courses at Charité and for external groups from hospitals, schools for allied health personnel or universities of applied sciences.
Main topics of the courses are
- introduction to the databases at Charité
- how to develop search strategies
- online training in different databases.