Beyond the library: IAIMS at Georgetown University

The strategic planning process and the pilot phase projects undertaken by Georgetown University for an Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) are described. Emphasis is placed on core services such as a local area network, an academic information management center in the library, and expansion of health sciences databases for improved access to biomedical information. Special applications in education and clinical care are highlighted. The library, a key to IAIMS activities, has emerged in a leadership role at Georgetown.     

IAIMS and the library at the University of Utah

The formal creation of an Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) at the University of Utah began in the fall of 1983. The keystone of the IAIMS effort is the HELP hospital information system. IAIMS at the University of Utah is a broad-based program extending across the Health Sciences Center and beyond to health professionals throughout the inter-mountain area. This paper describes the background that led to IAIMS, the IAIMS planning process, and the library's participation in this effort.     

From closet to library in the community hospital: remodeling a hospital medical library

Halifax District Hospital's Medical Library, Daytona Beach, Florida was altered from two dingy rooms to a modern, well-equipped Medical Library twice its former size by its maintenance men in six months time, with the help of the librarian's sketches and an architect student from the junior college to draw the plans.A complete renovation was done, eighteen-inch walls between rooms being demolished, plumbing, ceiling, and windows removed. These were all replaced with walnut-paneled walls, special 125 candle-power lighted ceiling, retractable shelves, more shelves for periodicals and books, wall-to-wall carpeting and fashionable decor. New furniture, tape recorders, and TWX were made possible by a Medical Library Resource Grant.The official opening was six months from the first day of renovation, with ribbon cutting, guests, hospital personnel, and a reporter from the newspaper to take pictures for an article about the most modern medical library in Volusia County.The new Medical Library is in the "core" of the Medical Education Department with space for five years growth.     

Managing a satellite communications program in a hospital library

A satellite communications service used for the continuing education of hospital staff can be successfully managed by a hospital library. Organization of the service includes managing equipment and personnel, finding programming, marketing the service, arranging for teleconferences, and establishing videotape procedures. A satellite communications program gives the library the opportunity to establish new partnerships with other departments in the hospital as well as with other segments of the community.     

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.     

Trends in hospital librarianship and hospital library services: 1989 to 2006

Objective:

The research studied the status of hospital librarians and library services to better inform the Medical Library Association''s advocacy activities.

Methods:

The Vital Pathways Survey Subcommittee of the Task Force on Vital Pathways for Hospital Librarians distributed a web-based survey to hospital librarians and academic health sciences library directors. The survey results were compared to data collected in a 1989 survey of hospital libraries by the American Hospital Association in order to identify any trends in hospital libraries, roles of librarians, and library services. A web-based hospital library report form based on the survey questions was also developed to more quickly identify changes in the status of hospital libraries on an ongoing basis.

Results:

The greatest change in library services between 1989 and 2005/06 was in the area of access to information, with 40% more of the respondents providing access to commercial online services, 100% more providing access to Internet resources, and 28% more providing training in database searching and use of information resources. Twenty-nine percent (n = 587) of the 2005/06 respondents reported a decrease in staff over the last 5 years.

Conclusions:

Survey data support reported trends of consolidation of hospitals and hospital libraries and additions of new services. These services have likely required librarians to acquire new skills. It is hoped that future surveys will be undertaken to continue to study these trends.

Highlights

• Data support reported trends in the decrease in the number of hospitals and hospital libraries.
• About 44.0% of hospitals had some level of onsite library service in 1989, compared with between 33.5% and 29.1% of hospitals in 2005/06.
• More electronic services and resources, such as Internet access and online materials, are being offered by hospital libraries, in addition to more traditional services
• Library staffing appears to be more unstable today than in 1989, with more libraries reporting a decrease in the number of staff.

Implications

• Hospital libraries continue to change in response to changes in the health care environment as health care administrators respond to financial pressures, library staff are downsized, degreed librarian positions are eliminated, and reporting structures change.
• MLA must continue to track the status of hospital librarians and libraries in light of the changing environment with surveys and other means, in partnership with others such as the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

     

Implementing PDA technology in a medical library: experiences in a hospital library and an academic medical center library

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) have grown from being a novelty in the late 1990s to an essential tool for healthcare professionals in the 2000s. This paper describes the experiences of a librarian who implemented PDA technology first in a hospital library, and then at an academic medical center library. It focuses on the role of the library in supporting PDA technology and resources. Included are programmatic issues such as training for library staff and clinicians, and technical issues such as Palm and Windows operating systems. This model could be used in either a hospital or academic health sciences library.     

Implementing RFID in a hospital library: a scoping study

This article discusses a scoping study on implementing radio frequency identification device (RFID) in a hospital library context, conducted by Joseph Norwood for his MA dissertation at the University of Brighton. The study was carried out during the summer of 2011 to support possible RFID implementation at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) Trust, and the library staff were able to use the findings to good effect to create a business plan. This article also acts as the template for the new Dissertations into Practice feature, which was introduced in the March issue (Marshall, A. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2012, 29, 72). The dissertation highlighted here is very practical in nature and had immediate and quantifiable benefits for the Trust library. Future feature articles are likely to reflect the range of health-related dissertation topics which students choose and will include studies on user information behaviour, information services related to mental health and well-being, as well as the impact of technology on health-related library or information services.AM.     

医院图书馆读者需求调查

对复旦大学附属眼耳鼻喉科医院图书馆来馆读者使用图书馆服务的情况进行了调查,结果显示医院图书馆读者人群以研究生和医生为主,且主要利用图书馆网络及电子资源,建议医院图书馆加强馆藏建设,加大电子资源的推广、培训和指导。     

GRATEFUL MED searching: a hospital library perspective.

The Health Sciences Information Center of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center implemented an end user search service utilizing NLM's GRATEFUL MED software. A librarian-taught seminar is required of all end users. The course's teaching strategies are described. A survey of users was conducted and results are shared.     

Conversion of the periodical collection in a teaching hospital library to microfilm format.

The Martland Hospital Library converted many of its periodical backfiles to 16 mm microfilm cartridges. Some details of program implementation, user reactions, costs, and problems are discussed. In a teaching hospital library microfilm in cartridge format has been well accepted by patrons, in part because the need to read from a projection screen has been minimized by granting liberal printing privileges.