The important role of libraries and librarians in addictions

摘要

Following the editorial by Mitchell et al. [1] on the closure of addiction libraries, staff of the National Documentation Centre on Drug Use (NDC) outline how a special alcohol and other drugs (AOD) library may provide considerable added value to those researching and working in this area. The Irish National Drugs Strategy is unusual as it includes research as one of its five pillars [2]. This recognises the need to have a thorough knowledge of the drugs situation and to respond in an evidence-based way. The NDC was created to facilitate this approach.