| Summary: | Despite major economic and organizational changes in the pharmaceutical industry, the Pharmaceutical Library Task Force (Arbeitskreis Pharma-Bibliotheken) has been going strong in the Medical Library Working Party (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für medizinisches Bibliothekswesen – AGMB) for the past 18 years. However, Task Force discussion topics have moved away from questions about spatial or staffing expansion or building up inventory, and toward themes such as outsourcing, training, technology scouting, and building up comprehensive copyright expertise. While actual physical stock is shrinking or has been eliminated entirely from many company libraries, the everyday working lives of company librarians are increasingly taken up with management of electronic media, in-house marketing and the associated user training, evaluation and use of new technologies, and clarification of complex copyright issues. Widespread know-how, in-depth knowledge of specialist areas (such as copyright), communication skills, networking, cost awareness, adaptability, willingness to learn new things, and demonstrating the value they add to the company are the factors that will secure the future of company librarians, whether with – or, in a pinch – without a physical library.
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