Open AccessBeyond traditional library spaces: the practicalities of closing hospital libraries and opening a virtual library
Author(s) -
Carol Cooke
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the journal of the canadian health libraries association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.159
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1708-6892
DOI - 10.29173/jchla29434
Subject(s) - closing (real estate) , library science , service (business) , health care , medicine , political science , business , computer science , marketing , law
The formation of the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Libraries (UMHSL) was the result of signing consecutive agreements over a period of 24 years between the University of Manitoba (UM) and Winnipeg area hospitals, now collectively known as the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA). In 2017, the UMHSL included the UM's Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library (NJMHSL) and eight hospital and health centre libraries located in the city of Winnipeg. In 2018, all the hospital and health centre libraries closed and the UML opened the rebranded WRHA Virtual Library. This article describes the complications and lessons learned while closing the hospital libraries and opening a virtual library service to a distributed health care system with diverse clinical and educational needs.