Information technology and changing role models in German libraries: The example of OPEN‐CAM

Abstract

Germany has a long tradition of health libraries. From their origin in monasteries, they became centres of knowledge and education. In modern times, this tradition has been continued by the Central Library of Medicine. In addition, as a specialty in Germany, special collection areas and special libraries that focus on one topic were established. Those services were transformed to specialized information services and portals as part of the digital transformation process. One of such projects is OPEN‐CAM, which provides literature on integrative medicine in a specialist library and hosts the literature database CAMbase. Based on this example, we show how digital transformation has influenced the library landscape and its structures in Germany.

Transforming health science libraries around the globe: The impact of technology

“…Six of the articles describe ways in which technology is making it possible to provide new and enhanced services to their users (Ekstrand & Strandberg, 2023; Lacey Bryant et al, 2022; Raak et al, 2023; Siemensma & McDonald, 2023; Wheeler et al, 2022; Zhang et al, 2023). One article identifies problems in leveraging technology to improve library services (Rahman & Al Mamun, 2024).…”

“…Library services in Germany have been transformed to specialized information services and portals as part of the digital transformation process (Raak et al, 2023). One such project is OPEN‐CAM, which provides literature on integrative medicine in a specialist library.…”

“…This article looks at the seven articles which have been published so far in this series on the impact of technology on the provision of health information. These articles come from: Australia (Siemensma & McDonald, 2023) Bangladesh (Rahman & Al Mamun, 2024) China (Zhang et al, 2023) England (Lacey Bryant et al, 2022) Germany (Raak et al, 2023) Sweden (Ekstrand & Strandberg, 2023) The United States (Wheeler et al, 2022) …”