Believers Church Medical College

Believers Church Medical College and Hospital, serving as the healthcare division of Believers Church, actively engages in a variety of nation-building endeavors, encompassing social and educational projects, healthcare initiatives, charitable activities, community development programs, rehabilitation projects, and relief efforts. Moran Mor Samuel Theophilus Metropolitan serves as the hospital's patron, with Dr. George Chandy as the Director and Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Joseph as the Principal. The institution swiftly attained full accreditation from NABH, the premier national recognition in the healthcare industry, underscoring its exceptional quality standards achieved within a remarkably brief period.

CENTRAL LIBRARY

The Central Library, located within the Knowledge Centre of the College, occupies two floors and can cater to more than 450 people at once. Operating with state-of-the-art computerized and automated systems, the library ensures efficient services. With a focus on meeting the diverse informational requirements of its users, the library houses an extensive collection of over 10,000 resources. This collection encompasses subscriptions to various E-journal databases such as JGate and UP-TO-DATE, along with a wide array of periodicals, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and newspaper clipping files.

The central library at Believers Church Medical College was founded in 2015, spanning an area of 1739.0039 square meters. It houses a comprehensive collection of books, E-books, journals, E-journal databases, and various teaching and learning materials. Patrons have access to both internal and external reading rooms. Additionally, the library offers specialized facilities including a staff reading room for doctors, an executive lounge for senior doctors, a PG reading room, two periodicals rooms (one for current journals and another for back volumes), an audio-visual room, and an E-library.

AUTOMATION OF THE LIBRARY

The library has undergone full automation through the implementation of GRANDHASOFT software and barcode technology. This technological integration has significantly streamlined and enhanced library operations. The introduction of an Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) further facilitates an effortless search process for users, allowing them to efficiently locate and access desired resources. Additionally, a dedicated terminal is provided to ensure convenient access to the library's automated systems, contributing to an overall user-friendly and modernized library experience. The adoption of automation technology reflects our commitment to staying at the forefront of library management practices, providing an efficient and accessible knowledge hub for our community.

Organizational Structure: [ A guided tour of the library ]

Property Counter

Visitors to the library are encouraged to utilize the property counter for storing their personal belongings such as bags, umbrellas, overcoats, books, and printed materials, including photocopies. Additionally, they are requested to provide necessary details in the Visitors' Register located at the nearby security desk.

External Reading Room

Students who want to bring in their personal copies of textbooks are welcome to do so by-passing the Property Counter (books only, and no other belongings), record the details in the register kept on the circulation counter and take to the general reading room. They shall be subjected for inspection while taken out of the library back. Personal books can freely be taken for study at the external reading room on the third floor without any restriction whatsoever.

Internal Reading Room

The primary reading room of the main library is designed to comfortably accommodate library users and is spacious with ample seating. Initially, it offers 150 seats for students and 30 seats for staff members. Additionally, there is an executive lounge specifically designated for senior doctors, providing them with access to library resources in a conducive environment.

OPAC: The Library Catalogue

The library's entire inventory is completely digitized, eliminating the need for traditional card catalog cabinets. Instead, an Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) is available on a dedicated computer terminal near the stack room entrance, simplifying the search process for users. The system is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. Library staff members are readily available to provide assistance with navigating the OPAC when needed.

The Central Counter

Once a visitor enters the library, he is in front of a large multi-purpose or multi- functional counter. This is an Enquiry Counter or Help Desk. As the name indicates, derive the services of the staff at the counter for answers relating to any query on library or reference related matters.

This is the Circulation Counter. Any member eligible to draw a book on loan has to get the books issued here and the one to be returned has also to be brought to this very counter.

Need any guidance to the various units in the library – Periodicals, photocopying, internet, stack room, reading rooms etc? Staff at the counter would be pleased to assist you.

For any library services such as reference, documentation, bibliography and the like, just ask the staff member on duty here. Well trained professionals will always be ready at your service.

Staff Reading

To help faculty members and staff focus on their work without distractions, a quiet staff reading room has been set up. It has 30 seats where staff members can bring books from the stack room and study in peace. Moreover, there is E Library with 25 node adjacent to this staff reading area with internet access and online databases. Users can also print documents online from these terminals.

PG Reading

There is a room with 30 seats for the exclusive use of PG and Super Specialty students.

Stack Room

This is the main book storage area where the entire collections of books are arranged on open double-faced book racks in classified sequence following the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme [DDC ED 23RD]. Each book has a unique Call Number (given on the tag of the spine of the book) comprising a Class Number (the number denoting the subject, Eg: 611 – Human Anatomy) and a Book Number (giving the first three letters of the author’s name, Eg: GRA – Henry GRAY). This book number when necessary is further amplified by extra digits to individualise each book and make the number really unique.

There is a collection of the reference books, text books – dictionaries, encyclopaedias - and guide books for various entrance exams - PG, USMLE, PLAB and so on. The stack room is just adjacent to the students’ reading room location.

New arrivals of books

New arrivals of books are displayed in cupboards near the entrance to the Internal reading hall. Moreover, and above all, the library staff would always be there and ever ready to provide any assistance.

Periodicals Area

There is a spacious area for periodicals for display and reading of current periodicals and the back volumes numbers of journals are shelved. While current issues of all journals will be on display, their back issues of the volume/year would be available in their respective pigeon holes.

E-Library

1. Number of Computers: The E-Library boasts a total of 25 computers, providing ample digital workstations for users to access online resources.

2. E-Book Management Software: The library utilizes CALIBRA, an advanced E-Book Management Software, to efficiently organize and manage its extensive digital book collection.

3. Online Resource Subscriptions:

• J-Gate Plus: Subscribed to enhance access to a comprehensive database of scholarly journals, J-Gate Plus contributes to the research and academic needs of our community.
• Up To Date: Access to the latest medical information is facilitated through the Up To Date subscription, offering valuable resources for healthcare professionals and researchers.
• Dr. Najeeb’s Lecture Series: A lifetime subscription to Dr. Najeeb’s Lecture Series enriches the academic experience, providing enduring access to high- quality educational content.
• Access Information: To utilize these online resources, users can visit the ASH homepage ( www.hematology.org ) and log in using the provided username and password. This streamlined process ensures convenient and secure access to the wealth of digital resources available in the E-Library.

Digital Library

DSpace Digital Library software has been implemented to enhance our digital repository capabilities. This user-friendly platform allows efficient organization and retrieval of a wide range of digital resources, promoting accessibility and visibility of scholarly works and research publications. The versatile software supports diverse file formats, fostering a collaborative and research-oriented environment within our institution.

Information resources

There is at present a collection of over 9000 books during the course of the past years and they include the latest and the best books covering all branches of Medicine including subjects of super speciality. The old inherited collection is also preserved and this forms part of a special collection on ‘History of Medicine’ expected to be a valuable source of reference. A classified sequence of arrangement using DDC Ed.23 rd supported by a computerized data base, an Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) for resource search, and an open access to the shelves are provided as basic facilities.

The library is subscribing standard Medical periodicals comprising well established foreign and Indian journals.

E-Library

Twenty-five computers are made available in the library for internet browsing. There is a fair collection of CD-ROMs/DVDs and these are being made accessible, other than in the terminals in the library, to all the departments through a digital library server linked by LAN. The library subscribes to JGATE.plusthe online journals & books resource providing access to 1470 journals and their back volumes and it is made available to one and all in the campus through the static IP of the BCMCH network. This, together with other online resources would enable information search and retrieval more simple, exhaustive and expeditious.

Building up a conventional hard copy collection of back volumes of journals is done on a regular in the central library.

Other facilities include extended hours of working of the library up to 17.00 hrs (Mondays - Saturday) and reprographic (copying and online printing) services.

Reprographic services

Photocopying facilities are available in the library, subject to copy right restrictions, at a nominal cost between 8.00 and 17.00 hrs on all working days of the library.