One small community hospital library's successful outsourcing of document delivery: an ongoing study

When DOCLINE was implemented in 1985, community hospital librarians were beginning to feel the economic pressures of the changing health care arena. However, staff and resources were often sufficient or plentiful. Now, fifteen years after the creation of DOCLINE, many existing small hospitals either no longer have a librarian, an assistant is managing the library, the librarian is managing one or more libraries of an integrated system, or the number of librarians has been reduced. A system that is heavily staff dependent is no longer feasible. In addition, as the role of the community hospital librarian evolves into one of instructor and patient education liaison, a system that does not permit the librarian to expand such services will be detrimental to the entire library program. Following is a discussion of one small community hospital's decision to outsource document delivery services as a result of staffing changes and the expansion of additional library programs.     

The health sciences librarian in medical education: a vital pathways project task force

Objectives:

The Medical Education Task Force of the Task Force on Vital Pathways for Hospital Librarians reviewed current and future roles of health sciences librarians in medical education at the graduate and undergraduate levels and worked with national organizations to integrate library services, education, and staff into the requirements for training medical students and residents.

Methods:

Standards for medical education accreditation programs were studied, and a literature search was conducted on the topic of the role of the health sciences librarian in medical education.

Results:

Expectations for library and information services in current standards were documented, and a draft standard prepared. A comprehensive bibliography on the role of the health sciences librarian in medical education was completed, and an analysis of the services provided by health sciences librarians was created.

Conclusion:

An essential role and responsibility of the health sciences librarian will be to provide the health care professional with the skills needed to access, manage, and use library and information resources effectively. Validation and recognition of the health sciences librarian''s contributions to medical education by accrediting agencies will be critical. The opportunity lies in health sciences librarians embracing the diverse roles that can be served in this vital activity, regardless of accrediting agency mandates.In response to reported closings of and staff reductions at hospital libraries, the Medical Library Association (MLA) and the Hospital Libraries Section of MLA agreed to study the state of hospital libraries and librarians under the auspices of the Task Force on Vital Pathways for Hospital Librarians. The task force''s Health Sciences Librarian in Medical Education Task Force (METF)^* was charged with reviewing the accreditation standards regarding libraries for residency programs and with working with national organizations to integrate library services, education, and staff into the requirements for training medical students and residents.     

Health Literacy's Influence on Consumer Libraries

Health literacy has been redefined in recent years to move beyond an individual’s own communication skills to include the skills of persons working within health care organizations, including librarians. Provision of consumer health services and resources, while a long-standing practice in hospital libraries, has also been redefined. As definitions of health literacy have evolved, so too have hospital librarian services as they embrace their role within health literacy. Many hospital medical and consumer health librarians have developed programs, services, and collaborations to further health literacy awareness, education, and initiatives for consumers, health care professionals, and their parent organizations.     

GaIN (Georgia Interactive Network for Medical Information) study on health professionals' search requests and continuing education needs

Health sciences librarians are being called upon to be more proactive in their institutions' continuing education efforts. In an effort to identify whether search requests indicated CE needs, a study was conducted by a group of members of GaIN (Georgia Interactive Network for Medical Information). MEDLINE requests from health care professionals for subject specific clinical topics were collected during a six-month period via a standard search request form created for the study. Copies of all completed requests were collected and broad ICD-9 codes assigned to the search topics. Institutional reports were generated for each participating library to share with hospital CE coordinators. They were also compiled for the group as a whole, and reflected the "hottest" topics requested during the study period for physicians and for non-physicians (nurses, allied health, administrators). A survey to hospital librarians and CE educators showed some value in the reports, but greater potential for further collaboration between librarians and CE coordinators.     

Consumer health information services in the hospital setting

Before planning for provision of Consumer Health Information Services, the librarian and administration must anticipate the problems encountered in sharing funds, personnel, space, and materials with an existing medical or patient education library. Establishing new space within or outside the hospital, or participating in community projects which meet consumer health information needs, are important considerations for planners. This article sets forth the place of some CHI services in the hospital setting, and how they relate to other library services. Differences between hospital library support for Patient Education and for Consumer Health Information services are discussed.     

Joy Is Bustin' Out All Over

When the American Library Association's Reference and Adult Services Division adopted "Information Services for Information Consumers: Guidelines for Providers" in June of 1990, it set the positive tone that reference work can and should have throughout the decade and beyond. Efforts by corporations to promote end-user online services, consumer-oriented CD-ROMs, and the like constitute an attempt to recreate the library. These attempts are, however, inherently flawed in that, unlike the library, they do not marshal the wide variety of information resources - print, online, CD-ROM, audio-visual, etc. - that libraries routinely make available. "Information Services or Information Consumers: Guidelines for Providers" challenges information providers (i.e., libraries and reference librarians) to take full advantage of new information and communications technology to make not only the services marketed to end users useful to library patrons, but to realize more fully the potential of the rich resources already concentrated in libraries. The guidelines offer reference librarians and library administrators and governing boards a vision of a comprehensive information service centered in and delivered by the library to the members of the community it is intended to serve. They also challenge reference librarians, library administrators, and governing boards to make that vision a reality. This will require creativity, entail some risks, and depend for its success upon the quality of the resources allocated to the task. The most important variable will be the quality of the front-line reference librarians and their commitment to that vision and the spirit of the guidelines.     

AHEC library services: from circuit rider to virtual librarian. Area Health Education Centers

The North Carolina Area Health Education Centers Library and Information Services (NC AHEC LIS) Network provides library outreach services to rural health care providers in all nine AHEC regions of North Carolina. Over the last twenty-five years, the AHEC and university-based librarians have collaborated to create a model program for support of community-based clinical education and information access for rural health care providers. Through several collaborative projects, they have supported Internet access for rural health clinics. The NC AHEC Digital Library--under development by NC AHEC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, East Carolina University, and Wake Forest University--will further extend access to electronic biomedical information and resources to health professionals in a statewide digital library.     

Retooling Library Services for Online Students in Tough Economic Times

ABSTRACT

At a time in our economy when library budgets are strained and staffing is under the microscope, librarians need to reassess and retool their library services for online students to provide quality, depth, and community without causing meltdown. The authors analyze some of the retooling undergone at their library to meet the shifting demographics of students who in 10 years have grown from 1,000 online students to 14,500 and increased to 65% of the students now taking online classes. To meet this challenge, the library centralized library services by closing the regional Library Information Centers and established a Multimedia Department focused on developing tutorials and online training materials, established an outreach librarian position, and worked with reference and instruction librarians to expand their roles as liaisons to the various academic programs. The library is learning to work smarter, not necessarily harder, and much leaner.     

The Library's role and challenges in implementing an e-learning strategy: a case study from northern Australia

Background: The Northern Territory Department of Health and Families’ (DHF) Library supports education programs for all staff. DHF is implementing an elearning strategy, which may be viewed as a vehicle for coordinating the education function throughout the organisation. Objective: The objective of this study is to explore the concept of elearning in relation to the Library’s role in implementing an organisation‐wide elearning strategy. Methods: The main findings of a literature search about the effectiveness of elearning in health professionals’ education, and the responsibility and roles of health librarians in elearning are described. A case study approach is used to outline the current role and future opportunities and challenges for the Library. Discussion: The case study presents the organisation’s strategic planning context. Four areas of operational activity which build on the Library’s current educational activities are suggested: the integration of library resources ‘learning objects’ within a Learning Management System; developing online health information literacy training programs; establishing a physical and virtual ‘elearningLibrary/Centre’; developing collaborative partnerships, taking on new responsibilities in elearning development, and creating a new elearning librarian role. Conclusion: The study shows that the Library’s role is fundamental to developing the organisation’s elearning capacity and implementing an organisation‐wide elearning strategy.     

Health information for patients: The hospital library's role

Libraries today, including most hospital-based patients' libraries, are involved only peripherally in providing patient health science information. Hospital libraries should collaborate with health professionals in getting health information to patients--along with the library's more traditional roles of providing recreational reading for patients and serving the informational needs of the physician and medical staff. The library should act as the center for educational materials and programs within the hospital. Many health agencies, health educators, physicians, and librarians have been discussing the need for patient health education, but there are few effectively organized or established education centers. This paper discusses an overview of patient health education and intellectural freedom, proposes a new role for the existing hospital library in patient health education, and suggests guidelines for establishing a patient education center.     

健康教育资源图书馆——高质免费的健康卫生教育指南

作为美国国家科学数字图书馆（NSDL）的项目之一,健康教育资源图书馆（Health Education Assets Library,HEAL）是一个专门为健康教育工作者提供集图片、视频、音频、功画等多媒体资源为一体的高质量的、免费的数字图书馆。文章从整体上对HEAL进行了介绍和评析,包括概述、数字资源及组织、技术特征、服务特点以及作者的评价和建议。     

Marketing the hospital library

Many librarians do not see themselves as marketers, but marketing is an essential role for hospital librarians. Library work involves education, and there are parallels between marketing and education as described in this article. It is incumbent upon hospital librarians actively to pursue ways of reminding their customers about library services. This article reinforces the idea that marketing is an element in many of the things that librarians already do, and includes a list of suggested marketing strategies intended to remind administrators, physicians, and other customers that they have libraries in their organizations.     

AHEC library services: from circuit rider to virtual librarian

The North Carolina Area Health Education Centers Library and Information Services (NC AHEC LIS) Network provides library outreach services to rural health care providers in all nine AHEC regions of North Carolina. Over the last twenty-five years, the AHEC and university-based librarians have collaborated to create a model program for support of community-based clinical education and information access for rural health care providers. Through several collaborative projects, they have supported Internet access for rural health clinics. The NC AHEC Digital Library—under development by NC AHEC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, East Carolina University, and Wake Forest University—will further extend access to electronic biomedical information and resources to health professionals in a statewide digital library.     

CHID: a unique health information and education database

The public's growing interest in health information and the health professions' increasing need to locate health education materials can be answered in part by the new Combined Health Information Database (CHID). This unique database focuses on materials and programs in professional and patient education, general health education, and community risk reduction. Accessible through BRS, CHID suggests sources for procuring brochures, pamphlets, articles, and films on community services, programs at HMOs and hospitals, aspects of coping, and more. CHID is a joint project of six federally funded agencies in the Public Health Service. CHID provides citations with abstracts to major health journals, books, reports, pamphlets, hard-to-find information resources, and to health education programs under way in state and local health departments and other locations.     

Raising the bar: the importance of hospital library standards in the continuing medical education accreditation process

The Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) reviews and accredits the continuing medical education (CME) programs offered by Connecticut's hospitals. As part of the survey process, the CSMS assesses the quality of the hospitals' libraries. In 1987, the CSMS adopted the Medical Library Association's (MLA's) "Minimum Standards for Health Sciences Libraries in Hospitals." In 1990, professional librarians were added to the survey team and, later, to the CSMS CME Committee. Librarians participating in this effort are recruited from the membership of the Connecticut Association of Health Sciences Librarians (CAHSL). The positive results of having a qualified librarian on the survey team and the invaluable impact of adherence to the MLA standards are outlined. As a direct result of this process, hospitals throughout the state have added staffing, increased space, and added funding for resources during an era of cutbacks. Some hospital libraries have been able to maintain a healthy status quo, while others have had proposed cuts reconsidered by administrators for fear of losing valuable CME accreditation status. Creating a relationship with an accrediting agency is one method by which hospital librarians elsewhere may strengthen their efforts to ensure adequate library resources in an era of downsizing. In addition, this collaboration has provided a new and important role for librarians to play on an accreditation team.     

美国高校图书馆中的学科馆员

学科馆员在美国高校图书馆的各项服务活动中起着十分重要的作用,其职责范围包括帮助馆藏建设,担任图书馆某一服务性部门的工作,担任图书馆与全校各系、各专业教员与科研人员之间的联络员,开设信息检索专业课,介绍各种文献及数据的查找方法,对现有服务项目和馆藏定期进行评估并向图书馆决策部门建议新的服务项目。最后以美国一所高校图书馆为例对学科馆员的聘用、培训、职责及服务进行介绍。     

Training at the postgraduate level for medical librarians: a review.

Postgraduate education for medical librarians is approachable from several perspectives, including internships, certificate programs, and continuing education programs. The diverse population of medical library personnel calls for a varied yet coordinated system of postgraduate education involving the Medical Library Association, regional medical libraries, library schools, and the National Library of Medical, in addition to active participation by all librarians in the health sciences field. Basic philosophies for each of the major types of programs are discussed and recommendations for future training of health sciences librarians are provided.     

The Enhanced and Changing Role of the Specialist Librarian

Summary

Much like the role of other academic librarians, the education librarian's responsibilities are in a constant state of transition. Major factors contributing to these changes are demands being placed on teacher training programs in colleges of education, demands placed on teachers and administrators in the nation's schools, demographic shifts, globalization, declining accessibility of resources along with the digital divide, and, most of all, greater demands for accountability of student achievement at all levels of education.

The work of the education librarian has become more integrated in the creation and access of knowledge both in the library profession, and education itself. Education librarians not only have close ties to school curriculum being taught but also with the preparation of preservice teachers, students enrolled in advanced graduate studies, and the education researcher. This article will review the literature on the role of the education subject specialist in librarianship, and how that role has been changed due to a variety of reasons. Findings will be discussed from an informal survey on how education librarians perceive their roles in their institutions.     

The Changing Instructional Paradigm and Emerging Technologies: New Opportunities for Reference Librarians and Educators

As the next millennium approaches, libraries must change and evolve in the very near future in order to survive. Reference services can no longer stay behind a desk or wihtin a building's walls. Instead, reference librarians must examine their clientele, determine their unique information needs, and develop and market appropriate collections and services. The changing instructional paradigm in America's classrooms provides an opportunity for reference librarians to modify and expand their efforts to encourage information use and literacy for education faculty, student teachers, classroom teachers and administrators. This paper briefly discusses present day information seeking and library use by educators and then suggests new overtures to this library patron community.