The Pharmaceutical Documentation Center of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society, opened on September 25, 2012, in Coimbra, is located in the building next to the Regional Chamber of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society and is open to the public.
The Center aims to bring together a variety of representative documentation of the history of pharmacy and the pharmaceutical profession. It is a dynamic project, continuously increasing, and is based in the historical documentary collection of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society with more than 180 years of existence.
Bibliographic and Documental Collection
The Documentation Center incorporates documentation produced by several pharmacists associations, including, most importantly, the Lusitanian Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmacists National Union, in addition to several other associations predecessors of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society.
Beside the pharmaceutical associations, the documental collection of the Documentation Center also incorporates sections on education, profession and pharmaceutical legislation history, as well as collections of photos, engravings and advertising brochures.
The Documentation Center holds several documents, such as minutes, correspondence records, lists of members, pharmacists and pharmacies, enrollment registration books, members registration forms, professional cards, diplomas and photos, which provide a better understanding of the pharmacists associations role and its concerns and activities.
In addition to these documents, there are many others donated and transferred by members, pharmacists, pharmaceutical laboratories and pharmacies within the campaign "Let's Make History", where you can find different documents, such as prescription copiers, brochures, prescriptions, labels, stickers, medicine packaging, laboratory equipment, purchase orders, narcotic drugs movement records, photos, magazines and newspapers, among others.
From the bibliographic point of view, in addition to a collection of antique Pharmacopoeias, the Documentation Center has a collection of periodical publications and works related to the History of Pharmacy and pharmacists. Also, it has a Digital Newspaper Library with newspapers and magazines published by the Portuguese pharmaceutical associations.