Ofelia Sepúlveda and the library as an extension of our minds

By Abel Laerte Packer

Image: rishi via Unsplash.

The announcement of the passing of librarian Ofelia Sepúlveda saddened me. She passed away in her apartment in Santiago, Chile, on Monday, November 17, at the age of 95. I received the news the following day in São Paulo, while participating in the XXIII National Seminar on University Libraries, which takes place every two years. The seminar agenda, with over a thousand participants, once again highlighted the challenge that librarians and information professionals face in performing the classic functions of organizing and mediating sources of scientific and technical information and knowledge to better meet information needs in an increasingly dynamic and complex information universe.

With a sense of eternal return, I realized that Ofelia had experienced the same thing in another era, between the late 1960s and early 1990s, in different conceptual paradigms and best practices in library science. Beyond the personal feelings that overwhelm us when we lose a friend and someone we greatly respect, I feel the need, indeed a duty, to remember, recognize, and celebrate Ofelia’s experiences and contributions to library science and scientific information in Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C).

Born in Chile, Ofelia Antonia Sepúlveda Contreras became Brazilian during her 25 years living in Brazil as an international employee of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional office of the World Health Organization, working at the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information (BIREME). Ofelia was a librarian at the University of Chile’s Faculty of Sciences Library when she was selected in 1968 by PAHO for the position of librarian at BIREME. Upon joining BIREME, she served for more than two decades as coordinator of the Network of Libraries and Documentation Centers in Health Sciences and, later, of the Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information System, one of the Center’s key functions.

PAHO/WHO created the Center in 1967 through an agreement with the Brazilian government and Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). The newly constructed EPM building housed the Center. The entire process of creating and establishing BIREME, led by PAHO, was supported by the Pan American Federation of Medical Schools (FEPAFEM) and the expert advice of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM). For exactly 24 years, Ofelia experienced professionally and personally this pioneering work, which would become, from the perspective of health sciences, probably the most important contribution and influence on the development of library science and information systems in Latin America.
When Ofelia arrived, BIREME was establishing itself as an institution. It was a time when scientific information—research results—was recorded on paper, mainly in scientific journals, in increasing volumes, as is the case today. At the time of Ofelia’s academic training, library science dealt exclusively with scientific literature on paper. Thus, until electronic mail (e-mail) became common in LA&C in the mid-1990s, Ofelia’s communication with her peers in the network was by paper correspondence and, in some cases, by telex. However, initially using NLM as a reference, BIREME incorporated digital media into its operations very early on with the successive use of the IBM mainframe computer at the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN), located at the University of São Paulo (USP), through pre-reserved time slots (block times) and batch processing , minicomputers (PDP-11 from Digital Equipment Corp and HP3000 and HP9000 from Hewlett Packard) and microcomputers, initially as isolated equipment, then in a local network and later connected to the Internet through the São Paulo Academic Network (ANSP) with Web operation starting in 1993.

A global benchmark in health scientific literature management, NLM was then, and for a long time remained, the most important medical library in the world in terms of collection and services, operated from its building in Bethesda, Maryland. PAHO headquarters, whose management established BIREME as one of its specialized centers, is located in nearby Washington, D.C.

The NLM performed bibliographic control and indexing of articles published in selected journals in its collection. This control, initially manual and progressively computerized, recorded the elements that make up bibliographic references (now metadata) and assigned keywords from the controlled vocabulary that became a global standard: Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Indexing was initially organized in a series of monthly printed volumes, with articles classified by subject area, author, and journal. These volumes were known as Index Medicus. Later, the function began to be operated with the support of the MEDLINE digital database, which remains the most important and reliable source of health scientific literature to this day.
In order to expand the reach of its collection and meet the decentralized demands to information access for research, education, and health care, the NLM developed a network of medical libraries in various regions of the United States. The network decentralized mediation between users and collections in order to expand the coverage and information dissemination. These libraries were called regional libraries.

Thus, the model that structured the initial design and operation of BIREME was that of the NLM and its network of regional libraries in the United States. In adopting this model, BIREME was conceived as the regional library for LA&C to develop the region’s capabilities and infrastructure for accessing relevant and up-to-date health scientific literature. This function of an international organization to promote regional, national, and local development is known as technical cooperation, which involves training human resources through courses, exchange of information and knowledge, adoption of methodologies and technologies, products and services, and, ultimately, development of infrastructure according to local conditions. In this mission, PAHO/WHO, through BIREME, complemented the technical cooperation programs in scientific information in LA&C of other United Nations agencies, notably ECLAC (population, planning, economy, and development) and the regional offices of UNESCO (education and culture), FAO (agriculture), and IAEA (atomic energy).
Thus, BIREME’s technical cooperation was shaped by an international context of growing appreciation for access to scientific and technical information as a social determinant of cultural, social, and economic development. In the case of PAHO/WHO, the focus was on the development of health systems and services. The model adopted for technical cooperation was that of the NLM’s network of regional libraries. In fact, BIREME is the Portuguese acronym for its original name: Biblioteca Regional de Medicina (Regional Medical Library).

The adoption of this model centered on the contemporary NLM library between 1967 and 1976 constituted the first of three periods in the evolution of BIREME’s scientific information policies and management, which I would say were embodied by Ofelia. During this period, BIREME was directed by the renowned Chilean parasitologist Amador Neghme, who had been Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Chile and later president of the Pan American Federation of Medical Schools (FEPAFEM). Under the direct supervision of the director and as deputy director of BIREME, her role as coordinator of the fledgling network of health sciences faculty libraries was to promote the NLM service model. Ofelia then specialized in NLM methodologies, technologies, practices, and services, providing bibliographic search services and photocopies of articles, centralized in BIREME’s building.

Soon, the second period began. It was characterized by a significant change in BIREME’s policy and technical cooperation program, with priority directed to scientific information for national health systems and services, complementing the medical literature prioritized by NLM’s MEDLINE database. Thus, the nature of BIREME and its technical cooperation in scientific health literature expanded: from a library to a documentation center aimed at broadening the democratization of information for the training and practice of health service professionals. It was this new policy that prompted the change of name from library to information center. However, the acronym BIREME remained, either because it was attractive as an identifier and for communication purposes, or because of the consolidation of the center’s meaning as a library. The most notable advance during this period was the strengthening of bibliographic control and dissemination of LA&C health sciences literature, with its indexing and the launch, in 1979, of the publication Index Medicus Latino-Americano as the regional version of Index Medicus. During this period, Ofelia worked under the direction and as deputy director of Dr. Abraam Sonis, an Argentine physician and renowned Doctor of Public Health, who was director of BIREME between 1977 and 1982.

The third period was marked by another significant development in BIREME’s technical cooperation, characterized by the decentralization of bibliographic control and indexing functions. This represented a radicalization of the concept and operation of the network. Largely as a result of the previous periods, the libraries and documentation centers in the countries already had the human resources and infrastructure necessary to fully perform the functions of indexing and providing access to literature and original documents. The historic milestone was the launch of the Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information Database (LILACS). Correspondingly, the network coordinated by Ofelia was named the Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information System. BIREME developed an advanced scientific literature management platform that could be transferred to countries, feeding the LILACS database and using the MeSH vocabulary translated into Portuguese and Spanish under the name DeCS (Health Sciences Descriptors), the Health Sciences Serials Catalog (SeCS), and the Cooperative Document Access Service (SCAD) for sharing library collections. This was a very rich period in Ofelia’s coordination functions, with emphasis on training programs for library and documentation center teams to perform locally the functions that BIREME performed centrally. During this period, Ofelia worked under the direction and as deputy director of Dr. Fernando Rodrigues Alonso, a Spanish physician and librarian who was director of BIREME between 1982 and 1990.

It is remarkable and noteworthy for all areas of knowledge in Latin America that BIREME’s technical cooperation has always been characterized by networking and the growing use of information technologies. In this context, permeated by diversity and asymmetries, Ofelia performed the function of coordinating BIREME’s regional network with dedication, zeal, efficiency, and, especially, solidarity. In fact, her training as a librarian—whose main characteristic is mediation between sources of information and knowledge and their users—combined with her personality marked by determination and transparency, made Ofelia a professional recognized by all who knew her. She left her mark on the network’s functioning with her professional and personal style, both in its regular operation and in the often painful adaptations and transitions required by the evolution of BIREME’s technical cooperation strategies.

Besides coordinating the network and later the regional system, Ofelia contributed decisively to the sustainable and harmonious operation of BIREME in her role as deputy director. The periods that marked the evolution of the design and practice of BIREME’s technical cooperation were promoted by the new directors selected and appointed by PAHO’s senior management. Each of them has a historical milestone to be remembered and celebrated in the evolution of BIREME. The changes in the three periods experienced by Ofelia as an information process manager were always met with a high degree of resistance and doubt, typical of innovation processes. However, her vision of change as a PAHO employee and deputy director was always met with optimism about the gains of progress. Ofelia’s efforts to understand and overcome resistance from colleagues at BIREME and peers in the regional network were characterized by her strength of mediation and harmony.
When Ofelia left BIREME in 1992, the Center’s technical cooperation continued to evolve through the Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information System. In fact, after a transition and reassessment, the new model emerged from the VI Meeting of the system, held in San José, Costa Rica in 1998. The fourth period began with a scientific information management model centered on the properties of the Web environment defined as the Virtual Health Library (VHL), which reaffirmed BIREME’s leadership in scientific information management as a public good. Today, the advancement of the Open Science modus operandi combined with Artificial Intelligence technologies will certainly give rise to a new model and period of technical cooperation for BIREME.

After her retirement, Ofelia lived for another 30 years, and I believe, based on my personal experience and reports I have received, that her previous relationship of more than two decades with Chilean librarian colleagues, BIREME colleagues, and peers in the network distilled into a dominant feeling of affection.

This feeling and regret were expressed in the VHL WhatsApp group of librarians and information professionals who participate in the Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information System.

Norma León, a Chilean librarian who was director of the University of Chile library system, and Mónica Aldea, a Chilean librarian who worked in BIREME’s network and is an indexing specialist, were unanimous in recognizing that Ofelia was a great support in welcoming, sharing her experience, guiding, and teaching new generations in internships, courses, and workshops, both at the University of Chile and at BIREME, leaving a mark on many librarians from Chile and from the countries participating in the Latin American and Caribbean network, who will certainly remember her as the reference she was at the time.

In fact, each one of us who participated in the first 25 years of the history of scientific health information in Latin America and the Caribbean led by BIREME has a special affection for Ofelia. Regina Figueiredo Castro, a Brazilian librarian at PAHO with a master’s and doctorate in Public Health Information Sciences, was the coordinator of the Brazilian Health Sciences Information Network and always made a point of acknowledging that her professional history was linked to Ofelia. In composing this tribute, Regina said: “I always referred to her as my professional godmother. We shared years of work, friendship, courses, and trips together. I learned a lot about my personal and professional life from Ofelia, and the friendship we developed lasted even after our retirements. I had the privilege of visiting her last year in Santiago, and the afternoon we spent together will forever remain in my mind as a cherished memory of my mentor, colleague and friend.”

It was Ofelia who arranged for me to go to BIREME. After ten years in Chile, most of them as an international employee of the United Nations in the roles of systems analyst and developer for the processing of population surveys and censuses and systems analyst for the pioneering scientific information system Documentation on Population for Latin America and the Caribbean (DOCPAL), I returned to Brazil in 1982 with a job at the State Data Analysis System Foundation (SEADE) to perform similar duties and implement DOCPOP, the Brazilian version of the regional system.

That same year, when Ofelia traveled to Santiago on vacation, the then director of BIREME asked her to consult with her colleagues about a professional to manage BIREME’s systems and data processing area. Her friends recommended me based on their knowledge of my activities in the field. Upon returning to São Paulo, Ofelia called me for an interview with the director of BIREME, which marked the beginning of my career in health scientific information and communication, with active participation in the establishment of the Latin American Health Sciences System and, later, the Virtual Health Library.

We talked and laughed about the circumstances of my move into BIREME and many other topics in early October when I visited her at her apartment in Santiago to invite her to participate in the presentation of the Medalla Honoraria al Mérito Editorial Latinoamericano (Latin American Honorary Medal for Editorial Merit) that the Latin American Association of Scientific Publishing awarded to Prof. Rogerio Meneghini and myself for the creation of SciELO and to Anna Maria Prat, a librarian and close friend of Ofelia’s, who led the implementation of the SciELO Chile collection. For health reasons, she was unable to attend, but this event was recorded as part of Ofelia’s professional experience.

Thank you, Ofelia, on behalf of myself and dozens of scientific information professionals, for ennobling librarianship. In a world where the universal library increasingly emerges as an extension of our minds, your legacy remains alive in the eternal cycle of innovation, challenges, and reinvention that characterizes our profession.

References

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About Abel L Packer

Abel L. Packer is co-founder and director of the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) Program and project coordinator at the Foundation of the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil, since June 2010. Previously, he was director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences (BIREME) of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization for 11 years. Packer has a bachelor’s degree in business management and a Master of Library Science with extensive experience in information science, librarianship, information technology, and information management.

Translated from the original in Portuguese by Lilian Nassi-Calò.