Roie of the SOTE Central Library among medical libraries of Hungary

Abstract

Reports on the libraries of the Semmelweis University of Medicine, Hungary

The Central Library of the Semmelweis University of Medicine (SOTE) is the oldest and largest medical library in Hungary. Its predecessor, the library of the university's medical department was founded in 1828 as a dedicated library for professors. This library had provided interlibrary loan services since the twenties, and it had taken into account book and journal collections of other medical libraries in fts acqusitions. After 1945 the library available only for university professors became a public professional library. In accordance with laws and legal regulations of library matters, especially medical library matters, the centre of the country's medical library network has become the successor of the Documentation Centre of Medicine, while the SOTE library has become a sub-centre of the network as well as special library for biology, chemistry and medical science. According to the Governmental Act 20/1992, the earlier hier-archy and function allocatron was cancelled, and libraries could develop in their natural way. Owing to various grant funds, the advantages of information technology development, e.g. bibliographic databases, could have been utilized for advanced services and for supporting medical library matters in Hungary, even without the authorization by central regulatory prescriptions.