Books Circulation and Teaching Support: A Case Study in a Nutrition-Dietetics Department Library

摘要

The support offered to tertiary education by the general books collection for circulation of a department's library is very significant, especially at the undergraduate level. In this research, we monitored the book loans in a department of Nutrition-Dietetics, in Greece, for the year 2009. The book titles loaned for a year were classified by subjects and the data were compared with the undergraduate syllabus of the department, to conclude on the teaching support these books offered. The results indicated that most of the books circulated in the library concerned tables of food composition, dietetics handbooks, and biochemistry-physiology books. On the other hand, the number of book titles loaned to students within 2009 was limited compared with those offered for loan. Our results show the need for close cooperation between librarians and tertiary education teachers in library management as well as the need for constant monitoring of the students changing needs.