Documentation Services and the Documentalist's Job in Italy in the Nineties

Abstract

Documentation centers arrived in Italy in the eighties. The Italian Group of Documentalists in the Pharmaceutical Industry and Biomedical Research Institutes (GIDIF-RMB) has set up a study group to examine the professional profile of the documentalist in Italy, and to analyze the history and structure of the parent organizations where they work, the documentation unit's equipment and organization, staff, users, economy and resources, technology, and products and services. Those working in scientific documentation services and libraries in the pharmaceutical industry and biomedical research institutes were found to be highly specialized. They assume a managerial attitude to their positions, and contribute to the development of the final product of the organization they work for.