Ada Ducas is the Head of the Health Sciences Libraries and holds the rank of Librarian in the Libraries and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba (UM). She has a wide range of experience in hospital administration, university libraries, information infrastructure and knowledge management. She has held a number of positions during her career including Director of Educational Resources at the Health Sciences Centre (1985-1990), and Head of the Science Library at the UM (1991-1995).
In 1989 she established the Manitoba Health Information Network (MHINET). The focus of MHINET was on providing knowledge-based information to northern, rural and urban nurses who do not have access to library services. In 1997, in collaboration with the Department of Community Health Sciences, she applied for and received funding to establish an Aboriginal Health Collection at the Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library. This discrete collection holds many unique resources and supports health professionals, researchers and students at the University and the Province and to be a resource for the rest of Canada.
Ms. Ducas worked with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority to implement an agreement which transferred the management of the hospital and health care libraries in the city to the Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library. These facilities include the Concordia Hospital Library, J.W. Crane Memorial Library, Riverview Health Centre Virtual Library, Bill Larson Library at the Grace Hospital, Misericordia Health Centre Library, Carolyn Sifton-Helene Fuld Library at St. Boniface Hospital, Seen Oaks General Hospital Library and the Victoria General Hospital Library. She is currently working on a plan to provide access to knowledge-based information in Manitoba to all rural health care professionals in the province.
Ms. Ducas has been active in professional associations at the provincial and national level. She was elected as Secretary/Treasurer for of the Canadian Association of College and University Libraries (CACUL). She has held many positions in the Manitoba Health Libraries Association, including President. For several years, she devoted much time to working on the Executive of the Canadian Health Libraries Association, serving as a Director for four years and also holding the position of President (1991-1992). She served as Chair of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada - Committee on Libraries (2002-2004). Ms. Ducas served on the Canadian Health Network Advisory Board (2004-2007). She is currently a member of the Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) Advisory Board and Chairs the CISTI Committee on Health Sciences Information.
