The Library’s Mission

The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library provides information management expertise and institutional leadership to connect students, researchers, clinicians, and staff with the biomedical information they need to advance the education, research, patient care, and public service programs of the University of Virginia Health System. The Library equips users with the skills and knowledge to organize and manage information effectively throughout their careers. The Library’s services and systems are linked with institutional networks. The Library also serves as a biomedical information resource for the University at large, the local community, and the Commonwealth through proactive outreach services, and the nation through cooperative programs with other libraries and agencies.

The complexity of the health care environment, the huge volume of information that must be assimilated, and the immediacy of impact that the appropriate information can have in the treatment of a patient or in scientific discovery dictate that all services and collections revolve around providing information when and where it is needed. The information must be delivered in multiple formats, and at an affordable cost to the individual and the institution.

Values

The Library is guided by the following values in carrying out its mission:

• We understand health care, biomedical research, professional education for the health sciences, technology, information sciences, and the environment in which we work.
• We believe the Library is a core resource for the strategic management of information and a key partner in ensuring informed health care decisions and the development of useful knowledge.
• We maintain personal relationships with users despite the dehumanizing potential of technology by achieving balance between high tech and high touch.
• We strengthen our reputation for quality service, and help users solve problems.
• We value public service and outreach, and plan for and take advantage of opportunities to expand our role within the Health System, the University, and the Community.
• We support innovation, while respecting the traditions that underpin health care delivery, education, research, the institutions we serve, and our profession.
• We are cost-conscious and strive to ensure that all our services result in added value to the Health System and the Community.
• We respect and nurture the contributions of all Library faculty and staff and support their personal and professional development to strengthen service to users.
• We believe in and adhere to the Health System’s core values of Respect, Integrity, Stewardship, and Excellence.