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Descriptions highlighting the design and range of services of modern American libraries are given. Five medical school libraries and the National Library of Medicine are discussed.
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This paper presents the results of a study to document and analyze a sample of interlibrary loan requests received from library patrons of an academic medical library for items that are actually held in the collection of the library. This category is referred to as cancelled requests. The purpose of the study was to attempt to measure the degree to which library patrons are not making the best possible use of the collection and understand why this was taking place. Suggestions are presented for steps to lower the cancellation rate.
The introduction of a manual selective dissemination of information system with a computer-based personal index service into a Medical School Library is described. An account is given of the selection of participants, the development and maintenance of search profiles, the daily procedures, the forms and outputs of the system, and the computer index maintenance system. The costs of both the manual citation selection system and the computer index maintenance system are reported.
The MEDLINE searchhes of sixteen nonlibrarian searchers at the School of Medicine Library, Washington University, were examined to determine the amount of utilization of the interactive capabilities of the system. The searchers made an average of 5.7 search statement modifications of their original searc statements and it was concluded that they did indeed use the interactive capabilities of MEDLINE.
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This final report compares career characteristics of former trainees employed in medical libraries in 1971 with those of another group of professional medical librarians who did not enter medical librarianship from special training programs. Career characteristics include career advancement (position level, number of people supervised, salary level), professional utilization (tasks performed), and professional activity (association memberships and offices, number of journals read, continuing education activity). The comparison of characteristics for the two groups showed many similarities. A major difference appeared in the career advancement comparison. For the former trainees, economic advancement seems less dependent on upward movement in line positions. This suggests the possibility of two career tracks available to them.
Priorities are given for five major categories of regional medical library activities, with further ordering of some fifty specific activities, as determined through discussion with, and a questionnaire survey of, the advisory committee of the Midcontinental Regional Medical Library. These activity priorities are considered a working tool for formulation of objectives and development of plans, and do not include a consideration of methodologies for implementation. User and librarian responses are noted and some interpretive comments are made.
While females are still underrepresented as directors overall, the results of our survey indicate that in the past ten years female library directors have been hired in numbers nearly matching their overall percentage of the medical library profession. When the personal characteristics of medical library directors are compared by gender, male directors are more likely to be married, have children, and be somewhat younger upon attaining their first directorship. When the professional characteristics are compared, the only notable difference is that a greater portion of males hold a second master's degree. Despite the changing numbers of female library directors in the past ten years, these differences all held constant before and after 1977. Only the number of internal successions to directorship changed over time. The succession patterns of medical library directors now match more closely those of other academic library directors.
OBJECTIVE: This article presents some limited results from the Medical Library Association (MLA) Benchmarking Network survey conducted in 2002. Other uses of the data are also presented. METHODS: After several years of development and testing, a Web-based survey opened for data input in December 2001. Three hundred eighty-five MLA members entered data on the size of their institutions and the activities of their libraries. The data from 344 hospital libraries were edited and selected for reporting in aggregate tables and on an interactive site in the Members-Only area of MLANET. The data represent a 16% to 23% return rate and have a 95% confidence level. RESULTS: Specific questions can be answered using the reports. The data can be used to review internal processes, perform outcomes benchmarking, retest a hypothesis, refute a previous survey findings, or develop library standards. The data can be used to compare to current surveys or look for trends by comparing the data to past surveys. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of this project on MLA will reach into areas of research and advocacy. The data will be useful in the everyday working of small health sciences libraries as well as provide concrete data on the current practices of health sciences libraries.
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OBJECTIVE: The main objective was to determine to what extent the Medical Library Association (MLA) mentoring initiative was implemented in the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association (SCC/ MLA) and to identify the needs, improvements, and adjustments in mentoring services for the future to improve the practice of librarianship. METHODS: The data were collected by administering an anonymous structured survey designed by the authors. The survey was mailed to all 335 chapter members. The authors elicited responses to determine the chapter members' mentoring needs, awareness of available resources, satisfaction with existing services and resources, needs for the future, and suggestions to meet those needs. DISCUSSION: Of the 335 delivered surveys, 184 were returned, yielding a return rate of 55%. Eighty percent had a mentor or mentors in their careers, and 74% were either very satisfied or satisfied with the relationship. The majority considered having a mentor a critical part of the professional experience. The mentoring activity chosen by respondents as the most important was improvement of job performance through skills development. Over 50% were aware of SCC/MLA's mentoring activities, and less than 50% were aware of MLA's mentoring Website. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of response and the wealth of comments provided by respondents document the high level of interest in mentoring by medical librarians in the region. The following mentoring services were equally important to SCC/MLA members and were recommended for improvement or development at the regional level: a formalized mentoring program in the region, Web-based mentoring resources on the SCC/MLA Website, and a continuing education course for mentors. Members are aware of mentoring activities in the region; however, participation levels need to be increased in activities that SCC/MLA and MLA provide. Mentoring continues to evolve as a service in the profession.
This paper reports the results of a survey assessing the interest of Medical Library Association (MLA) members in acquiring or improving research skills through continuing education (CE). It describes respondents' educational preparation for research and selected research activities, reviews MLA's experiences with offering CE courses on research topics, and discusses MLA's role in providing education to prepare members for research. The paper includes recommendations for improving research skills through CE and other professional activities. Topics of greatest interest to MLA members were survey development, problem identification, evaluation and cost studies, survey methodology, and methods of data collection. Many respondents preferred local courses. Academic health sciences librarians, as a group, were found to be more productive publishers than hospital librarians. Many respondents reported the availability of free or subsidized research-support services, but more than half did not. More than 90% of respondents indicated that MLA should actively encourage, require, or offer research education. A comprehensive plan for obtaining research skills through CE, along with individual self-assessment and counseling, is recommended.
Chat reference services offer the opportunity to provide immediate access to quality information to meet the medical information needs of students, faculty, staff, physicians, nurses, and allied health care professionals. Part 1 of this two-part article on chat reference service in medical libraries is an introduction to the management of chat reference services and to features available for chat reference. The management of chat reference services raises issues of planning, staffing, selecting, and marketing. Planning issues focus on the identification of the users, the users' medical information needs, and the users' information-seeking behavior. Staffing issues relate to the selection of chat hours, the location of the chat service, and participation in collaborative agreements. Selecting chat software weighs the sophistication of the chat features against the related cost. Marketing uses techniques similar to traditional reference services and often begins slowly as chat expertise develops. Part 2 of the article discusses trends in chat reference services in medical libraries.