COMMUNITY SERVICES
The Library
The Complutense University Library (BUC) is a support service for learning, teaching, research and all other activities related to the institutional objectives of the University. It is made up of bibliographic and documentary collections regardless of their media, the location where materials are stored, the cost of obtaining them or the way in which they were acquired.
The BUC is an associate member of the Spanish University Library Network (REBIUN), and is a member of the “Consorcio Madroño”, formed by all the libraries of the public universities in the Community of Madrid and the UNED. It takes part in other national and international associations, in projects such as Google Book Search, and has agreements with institutions all over the world, especially in Latin America.
It is structured as a single library decentralised into Centre libraries and co-ordinated through the Library Management.
The Complutense Library holds several important historic collections, including the outstanding “Los libros del saber de Astronomía” by Alfonso X el Sabio, the “Biblia Políglota Complutense” and its valuable collection of engravings as well as its modern and electronic collections, a map collection and audio and video libraries. Its services include consultation using the CISNE catalogue (the Complutense Library’s own catalogue), reading rooms, lending service, the digital library, etc. Access to electronic resources is facilitated on site at the library and from home for a large number of library members. The Complutense Library also has its own comprehensive web site.
The "Marqués de Valdecilla" Historical Collection Library
This library conserves and presents the UCM’s pre-19th century bibliographic treasures. It contains manuscripts, incunabula and thousands of rare and old books and is the second oldest repository of antique books in Madrid, after the National Library.
Collection
The Historic collection
3,000 manuscripts covering every era
190,000 books printed between the 16th and 19th centuries
728 incunabula
The modern collection
2,600,000 volumes
40,948 periodicals and journals
40,046 maps
13,536 CD-ROMs
17,396 DVDs
8,363 videos
9,317 music CDs
7,366 microforms
Electronic collections
36,724 electronic reviews
201 databases
4,373 theses
30,000 digitalised antique books and a selection including several thousand resources on the Internet for use in research and teaching.
The Student House
The Student House is part of the Complutense University’s commitment to students. The House is a permanent centre for students and their associations, for different aspects of their academic, professional and personal lives.
The House offers a wide range of monthly activities, initiatives and events designed to enrich the cultural and social life of UCM students.
In the Student House you can find:
• Participation and association: a meeting point between students and associations, assistance in registration and legalization of associations, support and launching of projects, proposals, etc.
• Exchange and communication with students: The Virtual House (web, distribution list, email, suggestion box, etc.).
• Social assistance: student reception and attention, contact meetings and intercultural activities.
• Non-academic activities: cultural and social activities, workshops and short courses, collaboration with other Complutense University bodies.
• Campaigns: environmental, social and health, campaigns, time bank and language exchange campaign.
Centre for Employment Orientation and Information
The principal aim of the Centre for Employment Orientation and Information (COIE) is to assist the University’s students and graduates to find posts in the labour market. To this end, the COIE offers a variety of resources and advisory services to help them in their search for employment.
From the very beginning of students’ university studies, the COIE offers guidance regarding the relationship between the labour market and academic qualifications (professional opportunities and business demands), as well as giving advice on how to establish professional goals and how to prepare a structured curriculum vitae in order to achieve these.
Once you have achieved 50% of your credits you can register in the COIE for internships in companies. In the final years of study the COIE also offers specific preparation for job hunting and once studies are finished you can register with the university job board and attend job hunting, specific skills or selection process workshops and get advice on self-employment.
The COIE also has an Information Room, open to all, with resources for independent enquiries as well as specialist staff assistance. This room provides many books, newspapers, magazines, informative materials and Internet access, as well as specific databases with resources for job-seekers and up-to-date information about all the positions available in both the private and public sector.
Centre for Modern Languages
Through the Centre for Modern Languages (CSIM), the Complutense University of Madrid provides its students with an effective tool to help them master modern languages within the University itself.
Students can choose from 31 different languages: Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Modern Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Rumanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Spanish Sign Language , Swahili, Swedish, Turkish and Yiddish, which are taught in different faculties and halls of residence associated with the UCM, in the form of low-cost annual, four-monthly or intensive summer courses. This academic year has seen the creation of an on-line course in Rumanian.
The CSIM courses meet the European Council guidelines on language levels and testing in the European Reference Framework. This ensures that the certification offered by the CSIM is officially recognised throughout Europe.
The CSIM also holds exams for UCM students applying to the Erasmus Programme, in agreement with the Vice-Chancellor’s Office for International Relations.
The CSIM’s Linguistic Office (Gabinete Lingüístico) offers the following services to the whole university community: translation of abstracts for international publications, translation of texts for general use, proofreading of academic articles and advice on the delivery of oral presentations and/or speeches as a service designed for teachers, researchers and professionals who may need expert advice when preparing a presentation in a foreign language.
Department of Studies and Corporate Identity
The Department of Studies and Corporate Identity (DEIC) is the technical unit in charge of creating, providing and distributing quantitative institutional information about the Complutense University for both internal UCM use and for external agencies.
This unit is responsible for the artistic design of the UCM corporate identity and it selects, organizes and distributes institutional information in different media and in numerous publications and brochures created by the UCM and its Foundation, it has been in charge of the editing, design and layout as well as supervising the work of the printers or duplication services in multimedia formats. It also provides advice and guidance to the university community on artistic design and editing guides related to university communication.
It is also specialized in the selection of information relating to university education and required for institutional projects.
The Department of Studies and Corporate Identity is organized into five work areas: Documentation, Analysis, Publications, Design and Audiovisuals, and New Technologies.
Communications Directorate
The UCM’s Communications Directorate is responsible for press relations and for scientific communications policy, publicity management and communication synergies (including the Complutense Forum, Summer School).
The main functions of the Communications Directorate include :
Internal Communications: Editing and producing the “Tribuna Complutense”, a fortnightly publication with a circulation of 25,000 copies which is the UCM’s main internal information resource, keeping the university community in touch with the different on-campus activities programmed at the Moncloa and Somosaguas sites; the internal communications staff provides advice and guidance to university members on all matters involving contact with the news media: interviews, cooperative efforts, appearing on radio and television programmes, press conferences, and media relations in general. The office also prepares and distributes on a daily basis the “Revista de Prensa”, a compilation of the most important news appearing in print, radio and television media concerning the Complutense University, other universities, university affairs and research. A digital version is available on the University website. Finally, Internal Communications updates and maintains the home page of the University website, designs and prepares leaflets and materials for a variety of activities, and keeps photographic and documentary records of official ceremonies celebrating the academic endeavour of the UCM.
External communications: Relations with the different media, sending of press releases to announce events held in the UCM or management decisions which affect the university community; managing the communications of the General Foundation of the Complutense University (Complutense Forum, Summer School, “Esteban S. Barcia” Prize, etc); coordination of audiovisual programmes (TV) scientific communications policy; organization of press conferences; preparation of photographic and written materials to ensure the best external image for the Complutense University; planning and communications strategy for specific events; management and coordination of media relations within the Foundation and the Social Council; coordinating communications for the El Escorial Summer Courses and the Summer School; organisation of events; planning of activities and projects.
Complutense Press
The Complutense Press establishes relationships and co-publishes with the centres and research institutes of the Complutense University and with its forums for academic discussion and debate, with other institutions, foundations and similar publishers to collaborate in intellectual projects of mutual interest. All the published titles have been evaluated by specialists or recommended by directing editors of collections or by editorial committees.
The Complutense Press has a wide ranging list of titles on different subjects and to date has produced 38 collections .
With a view to extending the readership for academic works of interest to the international scientific community , a series of e-books has been introduced. A policy designed to make new books more accessible to Latin-American readers is also proving successful. This is a dynamic, creative and rigorous response by the Complutense Press to the challenges of today’s world.
Office for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities
The Office for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (OIPD) attends directly to the whole university community (students, teachers, administrative and service personnel), providing a space where doubts and needs are addressed and suggestions on how to deliver quality services are welcome.
Its primary functions are: to provide attention, information, and guidance in personal, professional and social spheres; to give information on grants and financial assistance; to assist, in conjunction with the Centre for Employment Guidance and Information (COIE), in planning internship programmes and in offering career advice to those students who ask for it; and, finally, to carry out awareness-raising activities within the University to ensure that everyone who is a part of the UCM community receives equal treatment.
Office for Gender Equality
The overall aim of the Office for Gender Equality (OIG) is to ensure the development of gender awareness and equal opportunities for men and women throughout the university community and in all areas of activity within the scope of the University.
Its main aims are to promote gender awareness and equality as a fundamental social value and its activities include collecting gender-differentiated statistics on different groups within the UCM and advising on how this data should be collected and used; examining the situation of men and women in the UCM, so as to provide information on existing inequalities; encouraging teaching and research in gender studies and putting forward proposals for undergraduate and graduate curriculum content and for specific research; promoting knowledge-building through training action proposals for University staff on the scope and significance of the principle of gender equality; ensuring compliance with gender-equality legislation and in general with the effective application of the principles of gender equality in all areas of administrative, educational and operational activity.
Publications Service
The UCM Publications Service manages the production, marketing and distribution of 54 Scientific Journals (72 editions per year), edited by different centres within the University. It also publishes 9 monographic series linked to these Journals and some 300 doctoral theses per year in electronic form.
Journals
The UCM scientific journals provide a platform for the academic communication of researchers in different areas. The main aim of the editorial policy is to achieve excellence in these scientific publications, and to ensure insertion in the specialized discussion forums in their respective fields. As well as publishing a paper-based edition of these journals, the complete texts and the entire collection of each title are available on-line via the UCM webpage.
Doctoral theses
The Publications Service publishes the doctoral theses which have been awarded distinction cum laude where this has been authorized by the doctors. As from 2008, doctoral theses will be published exclusively online and in PDF format.
The Publications Service works in coordination with the University Library on the publication of doctoral theses, available on the UCM webpage.
