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PubMed2006

Exploring the roles of librarians and health care professionals involved with complementary and alternative medicine.

OBJECTIVES: The researcher conducted qualitative research about the role of health care professionals and librarians involved with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The goals were to identify resources these professionals use to explore the librarians' role as well as their approaches to teaching and searching with respect to CAM, to acquire information about CAM education, and to connect with other librarians in the CAM field. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were used. RESULTS: Sixteen health care and information professionals from ten different institutions in Boston, Baltimore, and Calgary were interviewed. Major themes from the interviews were: CAM funding, integration of CAM and conventional medicine, roles of librarians, "hot" CAM issues, and information access. Information about four aspects of CAM education--technology, undergraduate, graduate, and continuing--is presented. A wealth of information resources was identified. CONCLUSIONS: A CAM librarian's role is unique; many specialize in specific areas of CAM, and opportunities exist for librarians to partner with CAM groups. CAM information professionals' major roles involve information access and retrieval and education. Further study is required concerning CAM consumer health, integrative CAM and conventional medicine models, and the librarian's role in a CAM environment. CAM funding is a major concern.

Alberta↗
PubMed2003

The role of the academic medical center library in training public librarians.

PURPOSE: This project enhanced access to and awareness of health information resources on the part of public libraries in western Pennsylvania. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS/RESOURCES: The Health Sciences Library System (HSLS), University of Pittsburgh, conducted a needs assessment and offered a series of workshops to 298 public librarians. BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The National Library of Medicine-funded project "Access to Electronic Health Information" at the HSLS, University of Pittsburgh, provided Internet health information training to public libraries and librarians in sixteen counties in western Pennsylvania. Through this project, this academic medical center library identified the challenges for public librarians in providing health-related reference service, developed a training program to address those challenges, and evaluated the impact of this training on public librarians' ability to provide health information. RESULTS/OUTCOME: The HSLS experience indicates academic medical center libraries can have a positive impact on their communities by providing health information instruction to public librarians. The success of this project--demonstrated by the number of participants, positive course evaluations, increased comfort level with health-related reference questions, and increased use of MEDLINEplus and other quality information resources--has been a catalyst for continuation of this programming, not only for public librarians but also for the public in general. EVALUATION METHOD: A training needs assessment, course evaluation, and impact training survey were used in developing the curriculum and evaluating the impact of this training on public librarians' professional activities.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1988

Comparative usefulness of MEDLINE searches performed by a drug information pharmacist and by medical librarians.

The usefulness of MEDLINE searches conducted by a drug information pharmacist who had received online training was compared with the usefulness of searches conducted by medical librarians. Searches for literature pertinent to select drug information requests received at a university drug consultation service during a three-month period were conducted independently by the pharmacist and one of three reference librarians. The three librarians had received extensive online search training and were experienced in conducting MEDLINE searches; the pharmacist was trained by a fourth experienced librarian-searcher using National Library of Medicine (NLM) training materials. For each drug information request, the pharmacist and the librarian searched two MEDLINE files on the NLM service. The printouts generated by the two searchers were evaluated by two drug information pharmacists in terms of how useful each list of citations would be in enabling the drug information pharmacists to answer the related question. The majority of printouts in 48 sets of searches were judged to be useful. Of the 96 possible "best search" votes (two votes for each of the 48 sets of printouts), the pharmacist's searches received 34 votes, the librarians' searches received 28 votes, and there were 34 tie votes. The numbers of useful primary and alternate citations were found to be the best predictors of whether a given printout would receive the "best search" rating. MEDLINE searches performed by a drug information pharmacist with online training, in response to drug information requests, were judged by drug information pharmacists to be as useful as searches performed by librarians.

Drug Information Services↗
PubMed2003

Access for all? A survey of health librarians in the north-west of England on provision of information to patients.

This study examined the role that health librarians could play in helping patients to find information. A questionnaire survey was sent out to 50 health librarians in the north-west of England. It examined the following: the type of library and users, access to information for patients, librarians' attitudes to provision of information to patients and their knowledge of other sources available to their users. Ninety-seven per cent of librarians said that they could recommend quality information sources to patients, but many suggested that there were practical problems in allowing patients to use health libraries due to lack of appropriate resources, facilities and funding. Advantages of health library involvement in patient information include having a local point of contact for patients and the ability of librarians to find, evaluate and organize good-quality resources. However, health library staff may not have enough time to answer enquiries from the public and may lack training in dealing with patients. Innovation, especially in developing on-line services, could offer a way to provide a service without overloading the physical requirements of a library. Librarians could also collaborate with other staff to improve patient information.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2004

Issues surrounding the administration of a credit course for medical students: survey of US academic health sciences librarians.

OBJECTIVES: For librarians developing a credit course for medical students, the process often involves trial and error. This project identified issues surrounding the administration of a credit course, so that librarians nationally can rely more upon shared knowledge of common practices and less upon trial and error. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to the education services librarian at each medical school listed in the 2000 AAMC Data Book. A second questionnaire was sent to those librarians who did not return the first one. RESULTS: Of the 125 librarians surveyed, 82 returned the questionnaire. Of those 82, only 11 offered a credit course for medical students, though 19 more were in the process of developing one. Data were gathered on the following aspects of course administration: credit course offerings, course listing, information learned to administer the course, costs associated with the course, relationships with other departments on campus, preparation for teaching and grading, and evaluation of the course. CONCLUSIONS: Because of small number of respondents offering a credit course and institutional variations, making generalizations about issues surrounding the administration of a credit course is difficult. The article closes with a list of recommendations for librarians planning to develop a course.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2005

The librarian's roles in the systematic review process: a case study.

UNLABELLED: QUESTION/SETTING: Although the systematic review has become a research standard, little information addresses the actions of the librarian on a systematic review team. METHOD: This article is an observational case study that chronicles a librarian's required involvement, skills, and responsibilities in each stage of a real-life systematic review. MAIN RESULTS: Examining the review process reveals that the librarian's multiple roles as an expert searcher, organizer, and analyzer form an integral part of the Cochrane Collaboration's criteria for conducting systematic reviews. Moreover, the responsibilities of the expert searcher directly reflect the key skills and knowledge depicted in the "Definition of Expert Searching" section of the Medical Library Association's policy statement, "Role of Expert Searching in Health Sciences Libraries." CONCLUSION: Although the librarian's multiple roles are important in all forms of medical research, they are crucial in a systematic review. As an expert searcher, the librarian must interact with the investigators to develop the terms required for a comprehensive search strategy in multiple appropriate sources. As an organizer and analyzer, the librarian must effectively manage the articles and document the search, retrieval, and archival processes.

Humans↗
PubMed1981

A randomized trial of librarian educational participation in clinical settings.

In order to evaluate the librarian's educational role in patient care settings, an information service was provided for health professionals, patients, and families by two part-time clinical librarians. Eight clinical areas were randomly selected from a pool of settings which met predetermined entry criteria. Four of these settings were randomly allocated to the experimental maneuver (that is, the clinical librarian service), and four were control settings. Results showed that the clinical librarians were accepted by health professionals and that services to all groups were viewed as successful. Significant differences in information-seeking patterns were found between study and control groups of health professionals. In particular, the study group was more likely to use the library for direct patient care and rated the librarian and library resources more highly as sources of information. This time-limited and education-oriented model would be useful for settings in which a full-time librarian program is not feasible.

Attitude↗
PubMed1992

A clinical librarian program in the intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVES: Clinical decision-making in the intensive care setting frequently requires the physician to obtain additional resource information. Physicians typically consult with colleagues, use personal medical books or files, or use library materials. Clinical librarians may also be used. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an ongoing clinical librarian program in the intensive care setting. DESIGN/SETTING: During a 3-month period, house officers in the medical and coronary ICUs in a major teaching hospital asked the clinical librarian 66 patient-care questions. Attached to the information selected by the clinical librarian was a questionnaire asking how the information was applied. MAIN RESULTS: There was an overall response rate of 65.1%. House officers indicated that the information: a) aided in diagnosis (37.2%), b) contributed to a better understanding of the therapy (51.2%), and c) resulted in improved patient management (30.2%). In some instances, the information was multibeneficial. The clinical librarian spent an average of 47 mins/question, and accumulated an average computer charge of $3.59. Personnel and on-line charges over the 3-month study period averaged $45/question. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical librarian programs may deliver patient-specific information in a timely, cost-effective manner. This information has an impact in the intensive care setting.

Connecticut↗
PubMed2003

Case studies from morning report: librarians' role in helping residents find evidence-based clinical information.

In primary care specialties, Morning Report is a traditional vehicle for expanding medical residents' training in diagnosis and treatment. At one academic medical center, residents and faculty in the Department of Family and Community Medicine use case-based teaching, centered around planning and reviewing patient management, to review intriguing cases from patient encounters in the department's hospital service. Seeking to improve the level of evidence-based information exchanged at Morning Report, department leaders invited reference librarians from the health sciences library to attend weekly Morning Report. The librarians saw this as an opportunity not only to improve residents' information-seeking skills, but also to improve librarians' teaching skills and understanding of the needs of users in clinical settings. This paper describes the evolution of librarians' involvement in Morning Report, examples of the kinds of contributions librarians have made in this setting, and changes made in Morning Report sessions to facilitate this activity.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed2002

New measures for new roles: defining and measuring the current practices of health sciences librarians.

The roles of academic health sciences librarians are continually evolving as librarians initiate new programs and services in response to developments in computer technology and user demands. However, statistics currently collected by libraries do not accurately reflect or measure these new roles. It is essential for librarians to document, measure, and evaluate these new activities to continue to meet the needs of users and to ensure the viability of their professional role. To determine what new measures should be compiled, the authors examined current statistics, user demands, professional literature, and current activities of librarians as reported in abstracts of poster sessions at Medical Library Association annual meetings. Three new categories of services to be measured are proposed. The first, consultation, groups activities such as quality filtering and individual point-of-need instruction. The second, outreach, includes activities such as working as liaisons, participating in grand rounds or morning report, and providing continuing education. The third area, Web authoring, encompasses activities such as designing Web pages, creating online tutorials, and developing new products. Adding these three measures to those already being collected will provide a more accurate and complete depiction of the services offered by academic health sciences librarians.

Computer Communication Networks↗
PubMed2004

Evaluation of five full-text drug databases by pharmacy students, faculty, and librarians: do the groups agree?

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to assess the usefulness of five full-text drug databases as evaluated by medical librarians, pharmacy faculty, and pharmacy students at an academic health center. Study findings and recommendations are offered as guidance to librarians responsible for purchasing decisions. METHODS: Four pharmacy students, four pharmacy faculty members, and four medical librarians answered ten drug information questions using the databases AHFS Drug Information (STAT!Ref); DRUGDEX (Micromedex); eFacts (Drug Facts and Comparisons); Lexi-Drugs Online (Lexi-Comp); and the PDR Electronic Library (Micromedex). Participants noted whether each database contained answers to the questions and evaluated each database on ease of navigation, screen readability, overall satisfaction, and product recommendation. RESULTS: While each study group found that DRUGDEX provided the most direct answers to the ten questions, faculty members gave Lexi-Drugs the highest overall rating. Students favored eFacts. The faculty and students found the PDR least useful. Librarians ranked DRUGDEX the highest and AHFS the lowest. The comments of pharmacy faculty and students show that these groups preferred concise, easy-to-use sources; librarians focused on the comprehensiveness, layout, and supporting references of the databases. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the importance of consulting with primary clientele before purchasing databases. Although there are many online drug databases to consider, present findings offer strong support for eFacts, Lexi-Drugs, and DRUGDEX.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1992

Authorship outlets of academic health sciences librarians.

Journal articles are the most common publication format for U.S. academic health sciences librarians. This is consistent with the findings of other researchers. Of the total publications in this study, 68% were in journals. Watson found that 69% of the academic librarians' publications were published in some type of journal [8]. Similarly, Yerkey and Glogowski found that 67% of the publications in their study were journal articles, although their population consisted of all types of authors of library/information science materials [9]. Both the present study and Watson found that monographs were the second most common publication outlet. Watson found that 16% of the total publications were monographs; the current study identified 14.8% of the total publications as monographs [10]. Although Watson's findings are similar to the newer results, it is important to note that Watson's study was conducted in a different manner and included book reviews, which were not counted in the present study. The health sciences librarians in the present study published more than two thirds of their articles in library/information science journals and 27% in health sciences journals. Similarly, in Yerkey and Glogowski's study, the second-largest number of library/information science articles appeared in medical and health sciences journals [11]. Fang also found that 22.57% of the journal articles on health sciences librarianship or by health sciences librarians were in medical journals [12. This seems to demonstrate the desire of health sciences librarians to communicate with the health professionals. Yerkey and Glogowski that library and information science is an interdisciplinary field, "borrowing and supplying information to and from other disciplines"[13].

Authorship↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preparing librarians to meet the challenges of today's health care environment.

OBJECTIVE: Refine the understanding of the desirable skills for health sciences librarians as a basis for developing a training program model that reflects the fundamental changes in health care delivery and information technology. DESIGN: A four-step needs assessment process: focus groups developed lists of desirable skills; the research team organized candidate skills into a taxonomy; a survey of a random sample of librarians and library users assessed perception of importance of individual skills; and the research team framed, as a unifying hypothesis, a training model. SURVEY METHODS: The survey was distributed to random samples of 150 librarians, stratified by type of library, and 150 library users, stratified by type of use. A non-randomized sample was obtained by mounting the survey on a World Wide Web server. The survey instrument included 96 distinct skills organized into 13 categories. Respondents rated the importance of each skill on a Likert scale and provided a separate ranking by identifying the ten most important skills for the profession. RESULTS: Among the participants, 51% of librarians and 36% of library users responded to the survey. All categories of skills were rated above the midpoint of priority on the Likert scale. All groups rated personality characteristics and skills as most important, with an understanding of the health sciences, education, and research being rated comparably to technical skills. CONCLUSIONS: Health sciences librarians need a new educational model that provides them with broad-based tools to discover new roles and new resources for acquiring individual skills as the need arises. A unifying training model would involve trainees in developing their learning plan in a way that promotes proactive inquiry and self-directed learning, and it would rotate the trainees through projects to provide skills and an understanding of end-user work processes.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1989

Work/training programs for international health science librarians in American medical school libraries.

World understanding is more than a desirable goal today: it may be crucial to our survival. Many universities realize this and have in the past decade spent a great deal of time and money to ensure a steady flow of faculty and students between the U.S. and other countries. Librarians with faculty or academic status may benefit from promoting such relationships themselves. Job exchanges and training programs offer librarians in the United States the opportunity to become acquainted with their counterparts in other countries. Such programs enable librarians of various countries to become aware of one another's special needs and common problems, and allow them to share ideas and expertise. This paper presents an overview of international training programs for foreign librarians in the United States, focusing on programs for health sciences librarians in United States medical school libraries. Information is given on the availability and types of institutionally sponsored programs, as well as on MLA's Cunningham Fellowship Program. Some of the difficulties and the benefits of such programs are discussed.

Foreign Professional Personnel↗
PubMed1969

The role of the medical librarian in SDI systems.

Many ongoing selective dissemination systems designers assume that the librarian can be omitted from active participation in execution of the master plan. ISI's four years of experience with ASCA(R) service have shown that librarians must be an integral part of the system and engage in an active dialogue between users and the machine. Specific examples of how librarians can best serve the information needs of scientists using SDI systems are examined. It is the basic contention of this paper that the librarian should serve as an intermediary between users and the numerous new information media. In this manner the librarian can filter and translate the requirements of individual scientists to conform with the inherent limitations of all machine systems while exploiting their capabilities to the fullest.

Information Systems↗
PubMed1993

Charting a path for health sciences librarians in an integrated information environment.

Changes in the health information environment present a major challenge to health sciences librarians. To successfully meet this challenge, librarians must apply the concepts of informal, self-directed, lifelong learning to their own carers. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is creating an integrated information environment in health care organizations. The health sciences librarian brings unique knowledge and skills to this environment. The reference technique, a methodology that closely parallels other problem-solving approaches such as the physician's diagnostic technique, equips librarians with the conceptual skills to develop creative solutions to information management problems. Each health sciences librarian must assume responsibility for extending professional skills and abilities and demonstrating them in the workplace.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1993

A comparison of MEDLINE CD-ROM and librarian-mediated search service users.

Respondents performed searches primarily for themselves and for academic research. Overall, they preferred librarian-mediated searching to CD-ROM searching. Respondents who preferred the former did so because librarians are more familiar with MeSH headings and search strategies and because of time constraints. Respondents who preferred CD-ROM liked doing their own searches and the fact that there is no cost involved. While respondents preferred librarian-mediated searching over CD-ROM searching, overall they used CD-ROM more often, presumably because of other factors, such as time constraints and cost. This dichotomy could have significant implications for a library. Should the library strive to make mediated searches more attractive by providing immediate and cost-free results? Or, because CD-ROM is used more, should the library continue to purchase in this area and possibly reduce support for librarian-mediated overhead (e.g., training, search tools, etc.)? And do librarians have a responsibility to encourage patrons to use the tool that offers the higher quality of retrieval?

CD-ROM↗
PubMed2000

Knowledge management in the NHS: positioning the healthcare librarian at the knowledge intersection.

This paper defines what is meant by Knowledge Management, investigates how it interlinks with new ways of delivering health care and gives a synopsis of a study that investigated issues around implementation of Knowledge Management across a sample of healthcare librarians. Areas of investigation that are related to Knowledge Management include: HSG(97)47, evidence-based medicine, clinical governance, information and communication technologies, and the changing role of the healthcare librarian. A diagram is included in this paper which illustrates how the healthcare librarian interacts with resources, staff and practices, so contributing to the knowledge base of health care. The paper concludes that Government policy, new technologies and the push towards the practice of information age medicine are forcing changes throughout the NHS. Recognition of Knowledge Management is still in its infancy in the NHS--it calls for major change in organizational thinking and acceptance by the librarian that their service must also be subject to continuous improvement.

Humans↗