What do our members think of our service? How do they find it useful? Here are some comments from some of the professional bodies already signed up to CAMLIS.
Jane Gray, President, National Institute of Medical Herbalists:
“The National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) is the oldest professional association of herbalists in the world. It was established in 1864 and has been gifted with archive library material and donations from members libraries of printed books and professional journals some of which goes back to the nineteenth century.
We have sought to provide a suitable home that would allow our membership access to this library for many years now and encountered numerous difficulties, not least of which was the very disparate nature of our membership. Our UK members are spread from the far north of Scotland to Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. Additionally we have International members across the globe. Obviously one central physical location was never going to be the answer to our problem. Another major problem was being able to provide a professional library service with research facilities – an increasingly important aspect to professional healthcare these days.
When we were informed of the CAMLIS initiative NIMH immediately made arrangements to visit the library and within a very short while had agreed to sign up as the very first stakeholder group.
We have been delighted with the service that CAMLIS has provided our members. CAMLIS staff have given presentations at our annual conference for the past two years and this has really helped members to see how the library can help them to develop as healthcare professionals.”
Peter Conway, President, College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy:
” The CPP is committed to critically engaging with the evidence-base for herbal medicine, that is one of our core principles. CAMLIS is invaluable in helping our members to access the literature that they need in order to be informed and up-to-date practitioners. It is one of the most important resources enabling CAM practitioners to rise to the many challenges and opportunities that we now face.”