Contributed Papers

Sunday, October 14th, 2012 | Monday, October 15th, 2012

11:00am – 12:30pm

Session 1 – Composite Room, 3rd Floor
Moderator: Joe Swanson, MSLS, Interim Director, Morehouse School of Medicine Library

11:05am – 11:20am

Comparison of Impact of a Consumer and Patient Health Information Service on User Satisfaction, Attitudes, and Patient-Health Care Professional Interactions Over a Ten-Year Period

Authors: Martha Earl, MSLS, AHIP, Assistant Director; Sandy Oelschlegel, MLIS, AHIP, Director; Alisa Breece, MSIS, Preston Medical Library, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine.

Objective: To evaluate and compare over a 10-year period the use, satisfaction with and impact of the materials received from the library’s consumer and patient health information service (CAPHIS) on participants’ attitudes, health care decision making, and health care professional/patient communication patterns.

Methods: The same survey was distributed a decade apart to CAPHIS users. Survey results for both the 1998 and 2009 surveys were input into Survey Monkey and compared for demographic characteristics, satisfaction, the impact on stress, attitude toward health, and communication with health care professionals.

Results: There were 108 who responded in 1998, and 271 in 2009. Women and the baby boomer age group continued to outnumber men and other age groups. Consistently, over 50% of referrals were from family and friends or public libraries. Almost all users were satisfied. The 2009 respondents reported greater understanding of the material received and a major increase in the number sharing the information with their health professionals. The majority in both surveys responded that the information had helped them to communicate better, reduce stress for themselves or their families, and change their treatment, diagnosis, lifestyle, or attitude. Consumers ranked the CAPHIS information as more precise and current than previous sources and in 2009 better than that received from health professionals or other sources, including the Internet.

Conclusion: The CAPHIS continues to be valued by participants, despite widespread Internet access, and to impact attitudes, communications, and diagnosis, treatment, and lifestyle choices.


11:05am – 11:20am

Librarians with Tablets Connecting Patient and Family-Centered Pediatric Rounding Teams with Information

Authors: Beth Auten, MSLIS, MA, AHIP, Reference & Liaison Librarian; Mary E. Edwards, MLIS, EdD, AHIP, Distance Education & Liaison Librarian; Linda C. Butson, MLn, AHIP, Consumer Health & Community Outreach Librarian; Michele R. Tennant, PhD, MLIS, AHIP, Assistant Director, University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries and Bioinformatics Librarian, UF Genetics Institute, University of Florida.

Research Question: This paper describes initial evaluation of a clinical rounding information service for general pediatrics. The introduction of tablet computers provides the opportunity to assess the efficiency of point-of-care services, and the impact of tablets on the rounding service, from both the clinician and the librarian perspective.

Setting: Interdisciplinary rounding teams in pediatrics at an 852-bed hospital are comprised of a variety of health care professionals including attending physicians, medical residents, medical students, nurses, and others. Rounds are based on the patient and family-centered care model. Two librarians rounded once per week for approximately eight weeks with one of two teams so that both general teams benefited from information services.

Methods: The two librarians involved in the project utilized two tablet platforms, iPad and Motorola XOOM, to provide information services to rounding teams. During the data collection phase, the librarians alternated use of the two different tablet devices so each librarian used both devices.

Results: Data collection for this study is ongoing; this presentation reports preliminary results from a survey distributed to clinicians who rounded with the librarians from July through September 2012, as well as initial librarian experiences with the different tablets.

Next Steps: Evaluation of the project uses a multi-pronged approach to collect a variety of data about the use of tablets to support point-of-care services. Evaluation instruments include a survey (distributed to physicians on the rounding teams), librarian-entered search metrics, and a rubric to assess how the tablets performed. Additionally librarians are recording their perceptions of how the tablets perform as a source of qualitative data. Further evaluation of the rounding service will assess the usefulness of tablets in answering real-time questions and the effectiveness of librarian participation in patient and family-centered rounding.


11:39am – 11:54am

Connecting Patients and Physicians: A Librarian’s Role in Encouraging Communication

Authors: Linda Butson, MLn, MPH, AHIP, Consumer Health and Community Outreach Librarian; Jennifer Lyon, MS, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Research Librarian, Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida; Michele R. Tennant, PhD, MLIS, Assistant Director, Biomedical and Health Information Services, Health Science Center Libraries and Bioinformatics Librarian, UF Genetics Institute, University of Florida; Cecilia Botero, Associate Dean, George A. Smathers Libraries and Director of the Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida; Neal Singh, Student, University of Florida; Rebecca R. Pauly, MD, FACP, Associate Vice President for Health Affairs, Equity and Diversity, Professor of Medicine, University of Florida.

Objective: This pilot project embedded a medical librarian into an outpatient clinic to capture the ‘teachable moment’ with an underserved patient population. We hypothesized that patients provided with quality consumer health information at an appropriate literacy level and assisted with preparing questions before their doctor’s appointment would have better interactions with their health care providers. The lessons learned from our experience, both challenges and opportunities, will be presented.

Methods: A librarian provided authoritative consumer health information and pre-physician-encounter coaching for patients at weekly 4-hour clinic sessions in the University of Florida’s Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties (IMMS) clinic. Study participants were: 1) health care providers (residents and attending physicians) and 2) the patients who participated in the study by consulting the librarian prior to their doctor visit. Both groups were asked to assess how the intervention impacted their patient–doctor visits.

Results: The librarian attended 9 clinic sessions over an 11 week period. Seven physicians and twelve patients enrolled in the study. Patients asked 25 questions relating to drugs, symptoms, disease and treatment. Resources used to assist patients included MedlinePlus, pharmacy formularies, PubMed and association websites. Responses to the intervention are being evaluated. Of note, we found that while patients have access to computers, their internet access is more limited.

Conclusions: Patient-physician communication is important to continuing care and improving health outcomes. Librarians partnering with health care providers and patients in the health clinics can encourage such communication while simultaneously improving health education. Active outreach is essential; both patients and providers were unsure of librarian capabilities. Multiple sources and formats of health information are needed to meet multiple learning styles. Although our study population was small, this project provides useful data and experience to improve this project as it continues and expands over the next year.


11:56am – 12:11pm

When the Available Patient Information Won’t Do: How to Craft Customized Patient Education Materials to Meet Specialized In-House Needs

Authors: Lita Anglin, MSIS, Family Health Librarian, NYU Clinical Cancer Center Patient Library; Mindy Schanback, MLS; Sallie Willcox, MSEd, Consumer Health Librarian, Patient & Family Resource Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, Health Sciences Libraries; Joy Simon, MEd, Manager, Patient & Family Education Department, New York University Langone Medical Center.

Objectives: To create educational materials that meet the information needs of patients who are having tests, procedures or other treatments when this information is specific to NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC) and/or not available from outside sources. To connect patients, families, loved ones and caregivers to culturally sensitive, Joint Commission-compliant educational materials, contributing to patient compliance, safety, satisfaction and retention.

Location: NYULMC is a metropolitan academic medical center that serves a diverse patient population in multiple facilities. Located in New York City, it provides approximately 40,000 inpatient and 600,000 ambulatory visits annually.

Methods: Gaps in patient education resources are identified. Appropriate subject matter experts, often nurses, pen customized patient education materials. To ensure that these materials are educationally meaningful, health literacy standards require that they be clear, complete, understandable and in plain language. Producing documents to these standards while maintaining technical/clinical integrity is a collaborative process that requires proper sourcing of information and review by a health professional or subject matter specialist and a health literacy/plain language expert. Sentence structure, reading level and design techniques are crafted for optimal patient understanding. Consumer health librarians play numerous roles in these efforts: collaborating with the manager of Patient & Family Education, patient education councils and/or clinicians; content generation and editorial support; and sourcing information.

Results and Conclusion: These handouts connect patients with Joint Commission-compliant patient information throughout the continuum of care. Designed to be read and reviewed with clinical staff to ensure understanding, these print materials can be saved for later reference, thus increasing patient safety and compliance. A questionnaire evaluating patient satisfaction of these customized patient handouts at the NYULMC Clinical Cancer Center has been created and is pending approval for dissemination. The results will be analyzed and the benefits of creating original resources versus using purchased content will be discussed.


12:13pm – 12:28pm

Addressing Health Disparities using Health Literacy Awareness

Authors: Paula G. Raimondo, MLS, AHIP, Health Sciences and Human Services Library, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Program Objective: In an effort to address issues of health disparities, an academic health sciences librarian has developed a workshop introducing healthcare providers to tools designed to help them communicate with patients.

Setting: The University Library serves the professional schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, and dentistry on the campus.

Participants: The workshop, first offered in 2005, is open to faculty, staff and students of the campus, and to other healthcare providers in the state.

Program: A growing body of evidence has established that a patient’s understanding of a condition, its treatment and follow-up care, or appropriate self-care in the case of chronic illness, contributes to a positive health status. This evidence is used to motivate healthcare providers to incorporate principles of clear health communication in their contacts with patients and families in a workshop called “Communicating with Patients.” The session emphasizes the use of the principles of clear health communication as a tool in reducing the incidence of health disparities.

Main Results: The library’s expertise in clear health communication is acknowledged and sought after. The workshop is offered several times a year and is well attended. We also present the workshop to individual departments on campus, as requested, and have given a version of the workshop to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) panels. We are included in health-literacy-related grant applications and research projects and, as a service to researchers submitting protocols to the IRB, we review consent forms for reading level and ease of understanding before they are submitted.

Conclusion: The planning process, evolution of the workshop, and challenges connected with teaching it will be addressed, should hospital or academic librarians be interested in offering a similar workshop.


Session 2 – Ionic Room, 3rd Floor

Moderator: Stephanie Ferretti, MLS, Associate Director, Library and Educational Information Systems, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

11:05am – 11:20am

Informatics Junction – A Librarian’s Function

Author: Carolyn Schubert, MLIS, Health Sciences & Nursing Librarian, James Madison University Rose Library

Objective: Revive an introductory health informatics course, as the larger campus returns to the conversation regarding health informatics education.

Methods: The course was offered through the health research center affiliated with the campus instead of through a single academic department, making it available for any allied health, nursing, pre-professional health, or other students to enroll. Outreach to former and current health informatics instructors, as well as faculty members in areas such as Health Services Administration, Economics, and Nursing contributed to infusing the course with the latest interdisciplinary content and revitalizing the larger informatics education conversation across the campus.

Results: Teaching challenges for the course included the students’ varying knowledge or exposure to health care system structures and health care economics. Without this knowledge, students had difficulties understanding the applicability of the readings to the overall course or the hesitance over EHR adoption. A mid-semester evaluation led to a restructuring of the course to take advantage of students’ tech friendliness and willingness to apply concepts, including the use of web and mobile apps and practice EHR systems.

In addition to learning more about the various health programs and student experiences, a plethora of other opportunities needing a information technology leader arose, including investigating academic electronic health record systems with other academic unit heads, networking with various faculty for guest lecturers in my course, and developing health informatics units for other courses.

Conclusions: The course served as an opportunity for the librarian to teach a specific health informatics course and to become a nexus for the parallel conversations occurring across the campus related to health informatics education.


11:22am – 11:37am

Building Connections for Physicians and Health Consumers with Mobile Apps: the Preston Medical Library Experience

Authors: Martha Earl, MSLS, AHIP, Assistant Director; J. Michael Lindsay, MSIS, AHIP, Preston Medical Library, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine

Setting: An academic medical library serving a large university teaching hospital and the surrounding community.

Participants: Librarians, affiliated physician faculty and residents, and area consumer groups.

Program: Librarians offered sessions on medical apps, tailored to health care professionals and consumers. These sessions built on the library’s expertise in providing consumer and professional-level information and provided an opportunity to promote our services. We created websites and LibGuides, worked with liaison departments, surveyed incoming residents, presented to consumer groups, and gathered consumer group feedback to increase involvement and library support in use and choice of mobile apps for patrons.

Main Results: Including health care professionals and members of the general public, over 200 participants to date have attended these sessions. MedCalc and Lexicomp were among the apps most reported by physicians, and MyFitnessPal the most popular with consumer health participants. LibGuides were created to improve access to apps for major subscription databases, and to provide discipline specific resources for consumers and professionals. These results were preliminary, as many consumers were just beginning to use health apps.

Conclusion: Dramatic increases in the growth rate of mobile Internet use, as well as explosive growth in the number of health-oriented smartphone apps, have created opportunities for health sciences libraries to aid users in selecting the best available information sources. To increase involvement of the library in the use of mobile apps by physicians and health consumers, librarians must do user assessment, plan and implement outreach and marketing initiatives, and continue to follow-up.


11:39am – 11:54am

Show Them the Money: Connecting With Researchers via a Supplemental Grant Opportunity

Authors: Neil Rambo, MLibr, Director; Jeff Williams, MLIS, AHIP, Associate Director, Research & Education Services, New York University Health Sciences Libraries; Neil Romanosky, MCIS, MSLIS, Assistant Director for Administration; Kathleen Oliver, MSLS, MPH, Assistant Director for Research Planning (former); Fritz Dement, MS, Assistant Director, Access Services, New York University Health Sciences Libraries, Langone Medical Center.

Objective: The NYU Health Sciences Libraries used a newly announced NLM Administrative Supplement opportunity to arrange in-depth discussions with basic science researchers about their information needs. This supplemental funding supports adding a librarian, an informationist, to a grant-funded research team. The objective was to identify opportunities for collaboration in pursuit of the supplement, and learn about the information needs of basic sciences researchers – a user community that librarians often struggle to serve effectively.

Methods: Using the NIH RePORTER database, 44 researchers with 53 eligible grants were identified. Individualized emails were sent referencing the administrative supplement opportunity, and informing the researchers that they were eligible. The email provided a list of possible ways that a librarian could provide assistance in support of their grants, and invited them to respond if they were interested in discussing this opportunity for collaboration further.

Results: Nine researchers responded to the email. Based on iterative, follow-up discussions, six were determined to warrant in-person or phone discussions. During these discussions, it was evident that many of the information needs the researchers described were within standard areas of librarian expertise (bibliographic management, sophisticated literature searching) or emerging areas that librarians are building skills in supporting (bioinformatics resource searching, data management). At the conclusion of this process, two researchers submitted applications for supplemental funding, and both of these applications were successful.

Conclusions: These discussions reinforced assumptions that researchers would benefit from the skills and knowledge of health sciences librarians, but they are largely unaware of how librarians can help them. The librarians are gratified the applications were funded, and feel that the knowledge gained about researcher information needs will help guide future activities.


11:56am – 12:11pm

Education and Training for Library-based Bioinformatics Support Services: Perspectives of Service Providers and Library Directors

Authors: Michele R. Tennant, PhD, MLIS, AHIP, Assistant Director, Biomedical and Health Information Services, Health Science Center Libraries and Bioinformatics Librarian, UF Genetics Institute, University of Florida; Mary E. Edwards, MLIS, EdD, AHIP, Distance Education & Liaison Librarian; Rolando Garcia-Milian, MLS, AHIP, Basic Biomedical Sciences Librarian; Hannah F. Norton, MSIS, AHIP, Reference & Liaison Librarian, Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida.

Objectives: Library-based bioinformatics support is increasingly commonplace in biomedical libraries. The skills and education of those providing library-based bioinformatics support vary widely – from librarians with little science background to PhDs in science as do the levels of service provided. This study aims to understand which educational opportunities and professional organizations are valued by the library-based bioinformatics support community.

Methods: Surveys were conducted in the spring of 2008 and again in 2012. They were sent to major biomedical library distribution lists. Survey participants included library directors, designated library-based bioinformatics support specialists, and librarians. The formal and informal education and training of those providing library-based bioinformatics support were explored. Data were analyzed, and major and minor themes identified and compared among these groups and over time.

Results: Survey data suggest bioinformatics support specialists and the library directors who employ them have similar perceptions regarding the educational requirements needed for successful library-based bioinformatics support, and suggest that a graduate science degree and/or experience performing bench science are required. Librarians and directors without such specialists place a greater emphasis on the need for an MLIS or equivalent. There is also disagreement among groups as to whether librarians without a significant background in science can provide sufficient levels of bioinformatics support. The usefulness of various training opportunities and professional library associations were explored. Courses such as the former NCBI Advanced Workshop for Bioinformatics Support Specialists were deemed essential, even by those library-based bioinformatics support specialists who have a formal science degree.

Conclusions: Library directors, bioinformatics support specialists, and librarians have clear ideas as to the training and educational background required for a useful level of bioinformatics support; the appropriate professional organization is less clear. In order to provide sufficient training, it will be important for the biomedical library community to partner with organizations that can provide such training opportunities.


12:13pm – 12:28pm

Building and Evaluating an Informatics Tool to Facilitate Analysis of a Biomedical Literature Search Service in an Academic Medical Center Library

Authors: Elizabeth Hinton, MSIS, Library Intern; Sandy Oelschlegel, MLIS, AHIP, Library Director, Associate Professor; Martha Earl, MSLS, AHIP, Assistant Director, Associate Professor; Cynthia Vaughn, MLIS, AHIP, Associate Professor; J. Michael Lindsay, MSIS, AHIP, Assistant Professor, Preston Medical Library, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine.

Objectives: To design a tool to analyze literature search requests including range and frequency of topics and use by both clinical departments and user categories. To utilize output to discover opportunities for liaison librarians to provide targeted services and resources.

Background: UT Graduate School of Medicine’s Preston Medical Library provides approximately 800 biomedical literature searches annually for clinical personnel at UT Medical Center and Knoxville-area clinicians. An earlier prototype version of a tool to analyze the use of the service was constructed in 2010. While it helped to establish criteria and usefulness of such a tool, the alpha version had limitations and was not considered a viable solution.

Methods: Preliminary work included analysis of the prototype database and a literature review pertaining to use of informatics tools to analyze library services. Interviews with Preston’s librarians were conducted focusing on benefits of such a tool, specific expectations for performance, and visual layout preferences. Both MeSH and UMLS vocabularies were considered as sources of standard indexing vocabularies. After compiling the results of this preliminary work, an outline was presented to the in-house developer.

Results: The resulting database utilizes MySQL and .Net 2.0 technologies, which allow for use of a web interface. Tables for customers, librarians, “natural language” keywords and MeSH terms are included. The NLM MeSH database and entry terms associated with each heading were downloaded resulting in functionality similar to searching MeSH database through PubMed. The data input interface displays the entry term and a list of associated MeSH terms allowing selection of MeSH during data entry of each biomedical literature search data. “Natural language” keywords are linked to the assigned MeSH term for later comparison of how users phrase their information needs.

Conclusion: The database has the potential to be a valuable tool for the liaison program development and for creating a deeper understanding of the clinical and academic information needs. Future analysis will enable targeted services and collection development.


Session 3 – Tuscan Room, 3rd Floor
Moderator: Cynthia McClellan, MLS, Library Director, Lancaster (PA) General College of Nursing and Health Sciences

11:05am – 11:20am

Connecting with Systematic Reviewers

Author: Joey Nicholson, MLIS, MPH, Education and Curriculum Librarian, New York University Health Sciences Libraries, Langone Medical Center.

Objective: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are increasingly important for busy clinicians who are trying to sort through the volumes of published data on a topic. To support the increasing number of researchers who wish to conduct and publish an effective systematic review or meta-analysis, the NYUHSL has partnered with other NYU faculty to teach a seminar course on proper practices. Through participation in this required course, the library hopes to both increase awareness of the importance of librarians in conducting systematic reviews and increase utilization of library faculty as key team members in systematic reviews conducted at our institution.

Method: A pilot seminar course, “Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses” is being offered as part of a Master’s of Science in Clinical Investigation program for junior physicians and medical students wanting to pursue a career in population-based or translational research. The course is directed by a research faculty member and includes both a course statistician and a course librarian. The goal of the course is to walk physicians and medical students through the entire process, from question creation and searching through data analysis and publication. It was the job of course faculty to help the students refine their topics, find the literature, sort through and evaluate the literature, analyze the data, and prepare a manuscript for submission. The course librarian spent significant one-on-one time with each of the students, helping them refine their questions, come up with comprehensive searches in multiple databases, and track their results.

Results: Co-teaching as part of a systematic review and meta-analysis course raised faculty awareness of the necessary skills that librarians have to help complete this type of work. As a result of the course, more requests for help in formulating and reviewing systematic review searches have been coming to the library.


11:22am – 11:37am

New Beginnings for Clinical Librarians: Getting the Program off the Ground

Authors: Lindsay Blake, MLIS, AHIP, Assistant Professor, Clinical Librarian; Julie K. Gaines, MLIS, Associate Professor and Head, GHSU/UGA Medical Partnership Campus Library, Georgia Health Sciences University.

Question: How to integrate librarians into existing clinical structures.

Setting: Children’s and regional hospitals and clinics in Georgia where Georgia Health Sciences students and faculty are affiliated.

Participants: Two librarians at Georgia Health Sciences University located in two cities working with various hospital departments and faculty.

Methods: Librarians work with departments in the hospitals and area clinics to integrate EBM and PFCC into the medical student and resident education. Both of the librarians are starting clinical librarian services in two different cities, but with different factors and stages in the medical education. One librarian started in an established position working with residents in Family Medicine and Pediatrics, but had to rebuild after a few years of vacancy. For the other librarian, the clerkship program is new, so she is working directly with the clerkship directors to find ways to get involved with the students as they begin their clinical rotations.

Main Finding: Librarians found various ways to assimilate themselves into the existing clinical structure. The methods they used varied by campus, hospital and/or department. Librarians were incorporated into a number of activities including: morning report, rounding, journal club, academic half days and scholarly projects.

Conclusions: The librarians found that various methods needed to be employed to incorporate their assistance in the hospital and clinical departments. The importance of communication and getting to know the clinical department environment and key players helps the librarians to integrate into the structure.


11:39am – 11:54 am

Making Meaningful Connections: The Embedded Librarian Pilot Project

Authors: Lin Wu, MLIS, AHIP, Reference Librarian, Health Sciences Library, Virginia T. Betts, MSN, JD, RN, FAAN, Professor, College of Nursing, Susan R. Jacob, PhD, RN, Professor, College of Nursing, Richard Nollan, PhD, Associate Professor & Coordinator for Reference & Outreach Services, Health Sciences Library, University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Objectives: The presentation describes the integration of a librarian into a 7-week online course called “Professional Issues,” the first writing-intensive course in the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) curriculum. The effectiveness and value of the pilot project were evaluated.

Methodology: More than 70 nursing students took the online course. The assessment of the project included course evaluations, pre- and post- surveys, a content analysis of emailed questions to the librarian, and analysis of students’ paper scores for those who used embedded librarian services. A course related research guide was created using LibGuides, and a usage statistics report was generated to examine how the guide was being used.

Results: Feedback from the students and faculty were generally positive. Survey results showed the students were more confident using library resources for research and more comfortable in writing research papers. Students also gained a deeper understanding on how to apply the APA style to their research papers. The research guide’s usage statistics revealed that the writing guide and the FAQ page were frequently used by the students.

Conclusions: Bringing a librarian’s expertise into an online course provided significant support to the professors and students. The embedded librarian established meaningful connections between the library and the students by providing targeted research assistance at the point of need. The experience of the embedded librarian was intensive at times and required a considerable time commitment. The course instructor and students were extremely appreciative of the customized resources and the librarian’s readiness for assistance. Instructors liked the added value that the librarian provided both to their work as well as to that of the students.


11:56am – 12:11pm

Connecting to the Outside World: Integrating Library Research Skills into an Online, Graduate Nursing Curriculum

Authors: Jennifer S. Walker, MLS, AHIP, Research Assistant Professor, Liaison to the College of Nursing, Laupus Library; Linda A. Mayne, RN, PhD, Associate Professor, College of Nursing; Roger G. Russell, Jr., MLS, AHIP, Assistant Director for User Services, Laupus Library, East Carolina University.

Objective: Distance education programming connects students and teachers on a universal level, regardless of location. Online learning not only promotes flexibility, but it also allows students the opportunity to engage in online research. However, access to technology and librarians’ expertise can present barriers towards finding and using best available research evidence and achieving overall lifelong learning. This paper aims to: identify the current level of research skills among graduate nursing students in a distance education program; and to develop an intervention to address aspects of research skills with emphasis on findings from a needs assessment survey and evidence-based literature search assignment.

Methods: This collaborative effort between the nursing professor and nursing library liaison designed an assignment to evaluate research skills of students from an online, graduate level course. Students are asked to locate relevant research evidence to support material from a selected research article. In addition, an online survey is administered to record database or search engine preferences for seeking evidence-based information, along with basic socio-demographic information. An analysis of the assignment and survey will assess the students’ ability to locate evidence-based references, and for the researchers to identify and connect any significant associations between use and accessibility of electronic resources based on students’ geographic location and available technology.

Results & Conclusions: The results for this study are currently being analyzed; however, based upon the results of the survey and assignment, the authors hope to illustrate correlations between demographics, assignment performance and survey results. By identifying patterns in the data, the authors hope to develop targeted instruction strategies to best teach information literacy skills and connect students to information that is evidence-based and academically appropriate.


12:13pm – 12:28pm

Digital Storytelling: Connecting Nursing Students and Evidence-Based Practice Instructors

Authors: Tierney Lyons, MLIS, Reference Librarian; Michael M. Evans, MSN, RN, CNS, CMSRN, CNE, Nursing Instructor, Pennsylvania State University – Worthington Scranton.

Objective: Teaching an introduction to nursing research class to undergraduate students in an accelerated, seven-week course challenges instructors to convene all relevant nursing theory and impart research skills in less than two months of the two- or four-year programs. This paper describes a model developed to facilitate class discussion using interdisciplinary teaching to facilitate a blended learning strategy: digital storytelling.

Methods: For years, nursing instructors invited the reference librarian to conduct 50-minute library instruction sessions, but they saw the need for more research assistance and a greater understanding of evidence-based practice. To address this issue, the nursing faculty and reference librarian incorporated online discussions as a supplement to the classroom experience. The librarian and the instructor facilitated the web-based interactions and measured the students’ experience. Students utilized VoiceThread, a digital storytelling program, to help them understand research topics related to the course objectives. Benefits of participating included the opportunity to learn from the researchers and their peers and to increase reflective thinking abilities.

Adding video, audio, or text comments to the interactive, online threads, the students, librarian, and instructor wove a story from their clinical, educational, and life experiences to address six discussion forums about search strategies and nursing research. In weekly self-reflection questionnaires, students stated their reactions to online activities and explored postings that were helpful, confusing, and surprising. An evaluation survey collecting quantitative data was conducted at the course’s completion to gain feedback on the teaching method and student satisfaction.

Results: Results will be presented at this meeting.


Session 4 – Veterans Room, 3rd Floor
Moderator: Emilie Ludeman, MSLIS, School of Nursing Liaison & Outreach Services Librarian, University of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library

11:05am – 11:20am

Connections for Cultural Competency: Librarian Exploring Faculty Roles

Author: Kathy J. Davies, MLS, Chair, Education & Information Services, Georgia Health Sciences University, Greenblatt Library

Objective: Librarians should be essential team members in developing institutional initiatives for improving interdisciplinary health care education. A librarian provided background research for the university Quality Enhancement project (QEP) on cultural competency. The initial request evolved into full participation in developing best practices for cultural competency education.

Methods: The university completed the regional accreditation process which required a Quality Enhancement Project (QEP) and institutional self-assessment. Cultural competency was selected as the QEP topic with a focus on interdisciplinary instruction. A librarian was selected to serve on the QEP Development Committee. The librarian identified key strategies for interdisciplinary instruction utilized by peer institutions. Assessment tools to determine cultural competency skills were analyzed by the librarian, university faculty members, and an assessment consultant. The librarian assisted in creating educational rubrics for the interdisciplinary evaluation plan.

Results: The librarian was appointed to positions on two subcommittees as well as the original QEP Development Committee. The librarian provided key data and analysis in planning the cultural competency curriculum structure. Library faculty skills in searching and evaluating health education information across disciplines were documented in the assessment section of the QEP proposal. The librarian met with the SACS accreditation site visit team and responded to questions regarding assessment instruments. The librarian chaired the search for QEP Director and is currently a member of the Healthy Perspectives Advisory Council.

Conclusions: Librarians can make valuable contributions to improving health care education utilizing multidisciplinary approach. A basic request for search assistance can lead to librarian collaboration in an education initiative for cultural competency. Committee service is an opportunity to gain recognition as a key member of institutional teams.


11:22am – 11:37am

Fostering Institutional Connections by Tracking Faculty Publications: the Faculty Bibliography
Project at the NYU School of Medicine

Authors: Stuart Spore, MS, ML, Associate Director for Systems & Resources; Dorice Vieira, MA, MLS, MPH, Associate Curator; Coordinator of Information and Access Services, New York University Health Sciences Libraries.

Since 2000 the Health Sciences Libraries’ Faculty Bibliography Project has systemically tracked publications of NYU School of Medicine’s faculty. The project has grown from a small, spotty, and underused resource into a significant institutional service making prominent contributions to the School of Medicine’s public web presence and to advanced faculty productivity metrics. At present the Faculty Bibliography tracks over 160,000 publications of well over 10,000 faculty, including faculty publications of the NYU Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing.

The paper will describe the current system, its evolution and challenges, including both technical and social engineering aspects of its success. The project’s role in strengthening professional contact between the Library and clinical and research faculty and School administration will be stressed as will near horizon changes (ORCID) that promise to make similar projects more easily attainable in the future.


11:39am – 11:54am

Twitter, Scholarly Communication, and Evidence-based Health Information Access: How Major Medical Journals Have Been Using Social Media for Information Dissemination

Author: Feili Tu-Keefner, PhD, MLIS, Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Science, The University of South Carolina.

Objective: This study investigates how Twitter has been used by four major medical journals (i.e., BMJ, The Lancet, JAMA, and NEJM) to disseminate information regarding various kinds of publications on the Internet. The research goal is to 1) examine the frequencies of tweets and types of publications included in the daily Twitter announcements; 2) determine whether Twitter has become a tool to promote these publications; 3) investigate the impact of Twitter on scholarly communication in medical journals; 4) identify the implications of Twitter on evidence-based health information access and services provided by health sciences librarians.

Design: The research methodology is content analysis. The tweets of these four medical journals’ accounts are recorded will be recorded daily for four months. The results of the analysis will show the frequency of announcements and the types of new publications released weekly in the announcements. The methodology entails several quantitative approaches of data collection and analysis. The ultimate goal is to identify possible new approaches for scholarly communication in professional medical journal publishing and the implications for information services provided by health sciences libraries and librarians.

Results: Results will be presented at this meeting.

Conclusion: This investigation will reveal whether social media, such as Twitter, have been used in facilitating evidence-based health information access and how traditional selective dissemination of information (SDI) services have been used by journal publishers to promote their publications. In addition, the implications of the study will help health sciences librarians determine how to design innovative models to provide information services.


11:56am – 12:11pm

Crowdsourcing as a Tool for Rapid Library Data Cleanup

Authors: Fritz Dement, MS, Assistant Director, Access Services; Karen Hanson, MLIS, Knowledge Systems Librarian; Raymond Fung, BS, Solutions Developer; Theodora Bakker, MSLIS, Terminology Manager, Division of Knowledge Informatics, New York University Langone Medical Center, Health Sciences Libraries.

Objective: The NYU Health Sciences Libraries, after dramatically reducing their print collections, were not fulfilling their commitment to “keep serials holdings up-to-date” in the NLM’s SERHOLD system. Because SERHOLD does not allow batch updating, we decided to utilize the spare time of library staff, enabling them to accurately update SERHOLD and monitor their progress. In addition to fulfilling our commitment to the NLM and peer-libraries, this project should decrease the number of ILL requests we reject and increase our level of lending to other institutions.

Methods: Using MySQL and PHP we created a multi-framed web page displaying the library’s current holdings for an individual title, the SERHOLD update screen for that title and a brief form allowing the staff member to record the action they took. After training staff on the basics of SERHOLD and the updating system, we asked each person to update at least 20 titles per day.

Results: For phase 1 of the project we updated the 5,167 existing titles in SERHOLD. With 22 individual contributors, we averaged 529 titles updated per day and finished 92% of the titles in 9 business days. The additional 8% (including the most complicated titles and requiring intervention by more qualified staff) were completed in another 4 business days.

Conclusions: The first phase of this project was a success, surpassing our expectations in terms of speed and breadth of engagement from the staff. A second phase will be completed soon with a goal of adding considerably to our SERHOLD listings. We plan to build on this proof-of-concept to leverage our staff and improve our data.


12:13pm – 12:28pm

Breaking Inertia: An Attempt to Increase Access to Resources during a Period of Declining Budgets (One Year Later)

Authors: Rick L. Fought, MLIS, Head of Electronic and Collection Services Department; Mary Williams, MLS, Serials Librarian, Health Sciences Library, University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Question: Are there alternatives to the traditional journal subscription model that will allow us flexibility in providing expanded access with limited funds? Can we add access to resources without adding cost to our budget?

Setting: Academic health science center library serving about 2500 students, clinicians, and researchers.

Methodology: We reviewed three years of journal usage for our institution, reviewed the literature, made inquiries to relevant listservs, discussed with librarians at other institutions, and attended presentations at several conferences. We also have kept detailed statistics during our nine-month pilot of our pay-per-view service.

Findings: Our statistical evidence and research in hand, we decided to cancel our subscriptions to a select group of journals and put that money into a pay-per-view service with the publisher of the journals we canceled, thereby expanding our access from 25 journals (by subscription) to nearly 700 journals (through pay-per-view). Early indications point to the major success of our project; the usage of the pay-per-view service has been even greater than we anticipated. Faculty and student response has been overwhelming as they greatly enjoying having access to articles they’ve never had access to before.

Conclusion: The pay-per-view service did not produce the budget savings we had hoped for, but we have expanded access from 25 journals to which we used to subscribe, to nearly 700 in-scope journals that are available through the pay-per-view service, and we made our patrons very happy. An added benefit to the service is we can see which titles we should consider for subscriptions due to their heavy use through pay-per-view. This is real patron-driven acquisitions in action! A pay-per-view service is not without its risks, as the potential for abuse is a real possibility, however, as library budgets are unable to maintain pace with journal and database inflation, and as journals continue to be canceled to balance our budgets, we need to take some risks, explore other models for providing access, and break this trend of declining access and resources.

Monday, October 15th, 2012
11:00am – 12:15pm

Session 1 – Composite Room, 3rd Floor
Moderator: Leila Ledbetter, MLIS, Research and Education Services Librarian, Duke University Medical Center Library

11:05am – 11:20am

InfoButtons – They’re Not Just for the Electronic Medical Record!

Authors: Connie Schardt, MLS, AHIP, FMLA, Associate Director for Research & Education; Megan von Isenburg, MSLS, AHIP, Associate Director for Research & Education; Emily Mazure, MSI, Biomedical Research Librarian; Beverly Murphy, MLS, AHIP, Assistant Director, Communications and Web Content Development, Medical Center Library, Duke University.

Objectives: "Infobuttons" are context-specific links from one information system (usually a clinical information system such as an electronic health record) to some other resource (usually Library resources) that provides information. The purpose of this project is to test the search functionality of the InfoButton as a first step into integrating it into the electronic health record (EHR)
Methods: After hearing a presentation about the InfoButton, library staff decided to investigate the feasibility of implementing the technology into the EHR. We worked with a physician on faculty at the University of Utah to configure selected resources using application program interface (API) and the Altova Authentic® program. As a first step, we used the InfoButton to create a federated search engine for our key clinical resources that could run from our library website. This provided us with a platform to be able to demonstrate the InfoButton to the medical staff and information technology (IT) staff, as well as provide our medical students with a "federated" search engine to help identify the best clinical resources to answer their background questions. This paper will explain the InfoButton project: the configuration process, the search function, and next steps.


11:22am – 11:37am

Librarians Connecting EHR Data

Author: Margaret Henderson, MLIS, AHIP, Assistant Professor (Adjunct), Research & Education Librarian, Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Program Objective: Teach medical school students and hospital residents how to use basic searching of de-identified patient data from electronic health records to learn about their patient population and their own work load.

Setting: Academic medical center library and the affiliated hospital, school of medicine, and translational research center core that administers databases.

Participants: Medical students, hospital residents, and other interested hospital personnel.

Program: The wealth of data that is being collected through hospital EHR systems is being used by hospital administrators and academic researchers for quality and comparative effectiveness research. But new programs can make it easy for residents to conduct self-evaluation and medical students to learn about patient demographics and common problems using basic analytics. Searching these new data stores is easy for librarians to learn because of similarities to literature database search techniques. And because librarians already excel at one-shot classes to introduce resources such as PubMed, we are ideally situated to teach students and residents how to use these new databases. This paper will describe the basics of i2b2 database searching, the multiple uses of this type of search, and some ideas for teaching different groups about the potential for quality improvement.


11:39am – 11:54am

QR Codes: Connecting Users to Library Information through Technology

Authors: Megan Besaw, MLIS, Information Services Librarian; Christine Andresen, MLS, Liaison to the College of Allied Health Sciences, William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Objective: QR or "quick response" codes are two dimensional barcodes encoded with virtually any kind of data, that can be automatically retrieved using a barcode scanner on a mobile device. With the rapid dissemination of smartphones these codes have become increasingly more popular, but how can they be best utilized in a medical library environment? Our health sciences library set out to determine what library information is best utilized with QR codes and to discover how library patrons would actually utilize these codes.

Methods: Instruction will be provided on how to best implement QR codes in your library to encourage library patrons to discover library resources and services. There will be discussion on the strategic placement and maintenance of QR codes at our medical library. We will also illustrate the best practices involved in the promotion of QR codes and demonstrate how librarians can analyze the utilization of QR codes by library users.

Conclusions: QR codes are being used at a rapidly increasing rate and do have a place in the medical library environment. By experimenting with this innovative technology, medical libraries can easily connect their users to library resources and services.


11:56am – 12:11pm

An Organic Approach to Build a Digital Library

Author: Suhua Fan, MA, MLIS, Technical Services & Systems Librarian, University of Alabama Health Sciences Library.

Objective: Literature indicates that there are increasing needs for libraries to digitize their historical materials and archives. This study explores the approach to build a digital library from blueprinting to developing the digitizing software comprehensively and economically. The approach aims at meeting the need of librarians in digitization with handy and open sources.

Methods: The new Historical Collections at the Health Sciences Library at the University of Alabama was developed for the study. We used Participatory Action Research Approach and Locality Development Approach in

  • Blueprinting procedures for organizing/processing materials;
  • Collaborating with computer technicians on campus to develop software for digitizing with a comprehensive schema; and
  • Testing the software, evaluating the website of digital collections.

Results: A list of instructions and procedures for processing the historical collections was developed. The materials/archives were scanned and organized with specific filenames within a metadata schema. A type of software consisting of a package of programs with xml concept was created to store data and to show collections online. The software is designed to be user friendly for librarians or other library staff to enter the metadata and files when creating the collections. The software is tested and evaluated to meet the criteria of being economical and easy to understand and implement as an open source.

Conclusion: The digitizing software and the procedures for how to process the materials in formats and file names compatible for the software will provide an economical and simple way to digitize materials. I welcome other librarians to test the software we created. Further evaluation regarding how useful the software is for libraries of different sizes is needed.


Session 2 – Ionic Room, 3rd Floor
Moderator: Emma Cryer, MA, MSLS, Electronic Resources and Serials Manager, Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives

11:05am – 11:20am

Connecting Libraries and Communities: Consolidation of Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University

Authors: Brenda Seago, MLS, MA, PhD, Professor and Director of Libraries; Kathy Davies, MLS, Associate Professor & Chair, Research and Education Services, Greenblatt Library, Georgia Health Sciences University; Camilla Reid, MSLS, Associate Professor and Director, Reese Library; Jeff Heck, MSLIS, Associate Professor and Associate Director, Reese Library; Fay Verburg, MSLIS, Assistant Professor and Reference Coordinator, Reese Library, Augusta State University; Marianne Brown, Administrative and Business Services Manager, Greenblatt Library, Georgia Health Sciences University; Ginny Loveless, MPA, Business Manager, Reese Library, Augusta State University.

Purpose: This paper examines the consolidation process of an academic health center and a regional access university, as it relates to the health sciences and academic libraries.
Setting/Participants: The Georgia Board of Regents mandated the consolidation of Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University.

Brief Description: A Library Work Team (LWT) was established to consolidate missions, catalogs, collections, policies, vendor/publisher contracts, patron issues, costs, budgets, and staff and to make recommendations to the Consolidation Action Team (CAT). The LWT initially developed a situation analysis to determine key services, required technology support, potential risks, and opportunities. Some of the LWT products were a consolidated organization chart, a Substantive Change Prospectus for Library and Learning Resources for SACS accreditation and joint goals for the coming year. The challenges include consolidation of libraries with two completely different missions, keeping in mind the need for continued access to unique resources for the primary clientele of each campus. Library instruction and policies were reviewed to integrate as appropriate while maintaining unique services and instruction necessary for each campus. Other challenges include management of staff anxiety due to leadership change and new responsibilities, analyzing overlapping collections, and the effect of an institutional name change.

Results/Outcome: Library Work Groups with similar responsibilities including Archives, Circulation, Cataloging, Systems, and Education, provided in-depth knowledge of operations for incorporation into Library Planning Document. LWT Leaders developed a strategy to centralize business services and InterLibrary Loan. Job descriptions and personnel roles were redesigned in anticipation of future research university status. Communication methods included regular staff meetings and weekly updates from the director.

Evaluation Method: Multiple assessment tools will be utilized including analysis of joint goals, feedback on new library website, library collections committee, and library surveys.


11:22am – 11:37am

Critical Connection: A Hybrid Position Fills the Needs of Two Departments

Authors: Sarah Harper MA, MLIS Web Services Librarian; Ruth Riley MLIS, AHIP Assistant Dean for Executive Affairs and Director of Library Services, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Library.

Question or Objective: This paper will describe the experiences in a newly created position (Web Services Librarian) that is collaboration between the library and the medical school’s ultrasound group.

Setting: A small medical school and relatively small medical library. The school is the first in the country to integrate ultrasound into all four years of medical education.

Design: The Library had a vacant position it wanted to fill; the Ultrasound Institute needed more dedicated web design assistance than it had at present. Both of these groups had limited funds available. A hybrid position was created funded jointly by the Library and the Dean’s office. Library responsibilities included: maintaining the library website, reference, assistance with library instruction classes and tutorials, and service on SOM and University committees as it is a tenure track position. Ultrasound responsibilities included: redesign and maintenance of the Society of Ultrasound in Medical Education (SUSME) website, redesign and maintenance of the Ultrasound Institute website, development of a new website for the First World Congress on Ultrasound in Medical Education, assistance with World Congress planning, and attendance at weekly ultrasound group planning meetings.

Findings: The position has evolved a bit from its original description. The ultrasound group has been very enthusiastic about having ‘its own’ librarian. In addition to the previously outlined web design duties, the web services librarian has also begun to assist them with reference questions and literature searches and has also developed an ultrasound wiki of reference materials and articles to assist them in their research. It has evolved into an embedded librarian position that is beneficial to both parties.

Conclusion: The joint position has thus far worked well for all involved. It is a new way for the library to connect with users it may not have otherwise reached, and it is an innovative way to adapt to a difficult budget environment.


11:39am – 11:54am

Global Connections: A University of Maryland and University of Nairobi Collaboration

Author: Alexa Mayo, MLS, AHIP, Associate Director for Services, Health Sciences and Human Services Library, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Question: This paper describes a partnership between the University of Nairobi, College of Health Sciences (UoN-CHS) and the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to improve the quality of medical education in Kenya.

Setting: UMB’s Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HS/HSL) serves the schools of medicine, social work, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy. UoN–CHS Library provides services to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students as well as faculty and staff at the University.

Methods: The Partnership for Innovative Medical Education in Kenya, a U.S. National Institutes of Health funded international collaboration, is building an innovative program in medical education centered on HIV prevention, treatment and care. One of its aims is to improve the quality of medical education in Kenya. Development of new practices, services and skills at the UoN-CHS Library are critical to the program’s success.

The HS/HSL is assisting UoN-CHS Library as it develops tools, resources, practices and expertise to meet changing information needs in a digital world. The project has several components: a review of the needs of the UoN-CHS Library; an HS/HSL-hosted learning visit for UoN-CHS librarians and IT professionals; post-visit support for UoN-CHS librarians; and evaluation of the program’s effectiveness.

Main Results: In July 2012, three UoN-CHS Library/IT staff visited the HS/HSL for seven days of instruction, discussion and demonstration in the areas digital collection management, innovative service design, communication strategies, IT requirements and more. Response to the learning visit was positive.

Conclusion: This paper reports on the collaboration’s outcomes, the benefits to both institutions in this partnership and the program’s successes and challenges. As UoN trains more than half of all Kenyan doctors, a successful program to improve the quality of medical education is likely to have a major impact on health outcomes in Kenya.


11:56am – 12:11pm

Regional Medical Campus Libraries: A Survey of Southeastern Regional Medical Campus Libraries

Authors: Sandy Oelschlegel, MLIS, AHIP, Director, Preston Medical Library; Katy Justiss, MSIS, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Library/Knowledge Management Intern; Eddie Moore, MD, Associate Dean; James Neutens, PhD, FASHA, Dean, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine.

Objectives: To determine the medical library services available to students of regional medical center locations in eight southeastern states.

Background: The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accreditation requires that on a Regional Medical Campus (RMC), the curriculum, methods of evaluation and student services must be equivalent to the main campus. As of March 30, 2012 there were 85 GRMC locations in 33 states, located at 49 institutions. Of those, 20 were located in 8 southeastern states, with 10 institutions listed as the home LCME-accredited medical school. This paper will review survey results from RMC locations in eight Southeastern states.

Methods: A telephone survey of 20 southeastern state locations was conducted in April 2012. All libraries responded in varying degrees to the survey. Further analysis was done by surveying the websites for each of the locations to determine resources available.

Results: Of the 20 libraries in the survey area, 15 had a library at the GRMC location, 13 of those had librarians with a professional degree from an ALA-accredited school. In 9 of those locations the professional librarians were faculty. Staffing and number of hours varied widely from 0 (zero) to 98 hours per week. Staffed evening hours were available in 11 locations, and weekend staffed hours were available in 7 locations. Student access to online resources was available on and off campus at all locations. In locations without physical library space, online resources were available from another library location.

Conclusion: This survey illustrates that the status of library services and resources varies among southeast Regional Medical Campuses. While all students have access to online resources at all locations, not all locations have physical library space. The staffing credentials and models, and hours of operation vary widely. The requirement by LCME to ensure medical library services are equivalent to the home institution is interpreted differently by institutions.


Session 3 – Tuscan Room, 3rd Floor
Moderator: Steven Douglas, MA, MLS, AHIP, Head, Collection Management, University of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library

11:05am – 11:20am

Discovering Connections: Using the Critical Incident Technique to Uncover How Our Users Connect to Informationist Services

Authors: Lori Rosman, MLS, Public Health Informationist; Jaime Blanck, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Informationist; Changxin (Jack) Chen, Senior Systems Engineer; Victoria Goode, MLIS, Clinical Informationist; Stella Seal, MLS, Associate Director, Welch Services Center; Sue Woodson, MLIS, PhD, Associate Director, Digital Collections Services; Nancy Roderer, MLS, AHIP, ACMI, Director, Welch Medical Library, Johns Hopkins University.

Objective: To report on the development and results of a survey instrument that incorporated the Critical Incident Technique to measure the impact of Informationist services on clinician behavior.

Methods: The Assessment Committee compiled examples of previous library assessment tools from the literature and used these to design a new survey tool. This tool incorporated the critical incident technique to focus survey takers on their most recent experience with a library resource or service and related behavioral outcomes. The survey consisted of 22 questions broken down into the following areas: information need and resources used, use of informationist service and perceived benefits of this service, perceived behavioral outcomes and benefits to work as a result of the information received, and confidence in adequacy of literature searches. Respondents were also asked to rate 12 library services on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being of greatest value. The survey was distributed to faculty, fellows, and housestaff/residents in the schools of medicine, public health, and nursing via email distribution lists and departmental intranet sites.

Results: The survey results yielded data about the impact of library services on such patient care areas as avoidance of ordering additional tests or procedures, diagnostic and treatment decisions, and prevention of medication errors. The survey data also provided information about the services most valued by these user groups.

Conclusions: The survey design successfully captured data about user interactions with library services and the impact of these services on subsequent behavior. The incorporation of survey items used in previously published studies allowed for identification of benchmarking data that the Library Director could share with University administrators to highlight the library’s strengths while having a comparison to other peer institutions. The survey design can be readily adapted by medical libraries to assess their services and benchmark their results.


11:22am – 11:37am

Building Connections for Physicians and Health Consumers with Mobile Apps: the Preston Medical Library Experience

Authors: Martha Earl, MSLS, AHIP, Assistant Director; J. Michael Lindsay, MSIS, AHIP, Preston Medical Library, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine

Program Objective: The objectives of librarians at Preston Medical Library were to research health-related mobile app use by consumers, affiliated faculty and residents; and to determine how training lectures, liaison programs, and outreach programs impacted the use of mobile apps by physicians and consumer groups.

Setting: An academic medical library serving a large university teaching hospital and the surrounding community.

Participants: Librarians, affiliated physician faculty and residents, and area consumer groups.

Main Results: Including health care professionals and members of the general public, over 200 participants to date have attended these sessions. MedCalc and Lexicomp were among the apps most reported by physicians, and MyFitnessPal the most popular with consumer health participants. LibGuides were created to improve access to apps for major subscription databases, and to provide discipline specific resources for consumers and professionals. These results were preliminary, as many consumers were just beginning to use health apps.

Conclusion: Dramatic increases in the growth rate of mobile Internet use, as well as explosive growth in the number of health-oriented smartphone apps, have created opportunities for health sciences libraries to aid users in selecting the best available information sources. To increase involvement of the library in the use of mobile apps by physicians and health consumers, librarians must do user assessment, plan and implement outreach and marketing initiatives, and continue to follow-up.


11:39am – 11:54am

Lessons Learned Creating a Mobile Site: Educating Ourselves So We Can Educate Others

Authors: Jenny Pierce, MLS, Public Services Librarian, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Health Science Library – Stratford; Yingting Zhang, MLS, AHIP, Information & Education Librarian, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey – Robert Wood Johnson Library of the Health Sciences – New Brunswick.

Objective: The goal of this project was to help library staff learn to be comfortable with mobile technology as part of creating a unified plan for mobile resources and devices for a multi campus university libraries system.

Methods: A Working Group (WG) was formed with the following charges: create a plan to educate all library staff around mobile technology; review the state of current mobile technology; review the recommendations of library professionals, library societies and other university libraries for mobile resources and policies; and make recommendations to the Management Committee for university-wide library mobile resources and access.

WG members were identified by campus library directors. Group members identified a possible source of funding for the purchases of mobile devices for library staff learning. With mobile devices in hand, group members developed a learning plan for librarians and purchased recommended apps. After research showed no consistent standard for app evaluation Groups members also developed a unique review tool.


11:56am – 12:11pm

Connecting with Health Science Students and Faculty to Facilitate the Design of a Mobile Library Website

Authors: Adelia Grabowsky, MLIS, Health Sciences Liaison/Reference Librarian, Auburn University; Melissa Wright, MLIS, PhD, Reference/Instructional Librarian, The University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Objective: To explore student and faculty expectations of a proposed academic health sciences library’s mobile website, including the information and resources they consider essential to include and the format they prefer for the site itself.

Methods: Four focus groups with a total of 24 participants were held. The groups, composed of faculty and students from the schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Graduate Studies, were prompted with a series of questions to elicit information about specific information and resources they considered essential to include on the proposed mobile website. In addition, three sample mobile websites were explored to evaluate participants’ format preference.

Results: Participants indicated they would be more likely to use mobile devices to access the library’s web page if a mobile site were available. There was a unanimous desire for the mobile site to have access to e-journals, PubMed, the library’s catalog, hours and holiday information, and a link to the full library website. There was significant interest in e-books and library help services. There was no interest in having library maps or “quick” links to specific journals or databases (other than PubMed and UpToDate) on the mobile site. All students expressed a desire to search for articles from a mobile site, although only medical students indicated that they would, in certain circumstances, be reading those articles on their mobile device. With one exception, students and faculty members preferred the sample format which consisted of a simple, scrollable list of text links.

Conclusion: There is significant interest in and desire for a mobile library web site among health science students and faculty interviewed but a simple, easy to use site is essential and only certain library resources should be included.


Session 4 – Veterans Room, 3rd Floor
Moderator: Adrianne Leonardelli, MLIS, Research & Education Librarian, Liaison to the School of Nursing, Duke University Medical Center Library & Archives

11:05am – 11:20am

Making Connections through Outreach: Lessons Learned and Future Directions

Authors: Prudence Dalrymple, PhD, AHIP; Lisl Zach, PhD; Michelle Rogers, PhD, College of Information Science and Technology, Drexel University; Mary Green, RN, MSN, College of Nursing and Health Professions, Drexel University; Kathleen Turner, MSLS, Hahnemann Health Sciences Library, Drexel University.

Background: Health information is one of the most frequent topics searched on the Internet, yet patients in medically underserved communities appear to look for health information less frequently than does the general population.

Objectives: An interdisciplinary team of librarians, health professionals, and LIS faculty collaborated to encourage health information seeking by patients at an urban Federally Qualified Health Center serving primarily African-American patients. The research objectives were to 1) determine the feasibility of delivering text messages enhanced with links to trustworthy websites and tailored to the topics discussed in prenatal classes 2) explore whether such a system would encourage health information seeking and 3) examine the nature of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Methods: Based on earlier work that examined patterns of Internet connectivity and use by this population, we expected that the enhanced text messages would increase their engagement with authoritative health resources, especially when delivered in the context of a “teachable moment,” such as pregnancy. With support from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, we successfully demonstrated the system’s ability to provide an “on-ramp” to health information seeking by the target population. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for data collection and evaluation.

Results: Field observation plus monthly and end-of-project surveys indicated that recipients found the messages and the linked websites useful, interesting, and relevant to their situations. Through their continued interaction during the project, the collaborative partners gained insight into the community’s information-seeking behaviors.

Conclusions: There are many challenges associated with interdisciplinary outreach projects, particularly those to under-served populations. These include frequent changes in cell phone providers and numbers, different motivations for outreach projects vs. research projects, and constraints associated with working in clinical environments. Health sciences librarians can benefit from understanding these challenges when undertaking future collaborative activities so as to increase their chance of success.


11:22am – 11:37am

Connecting with a Regional Public Health Workforce

Author: Sheila Snow-Croft, MA, MLIS, Public Health Coordinator, NN/LM, Southeastern Atlantic Region, Health Sciences and Human Services Library, University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Objective: Develop and assess a comprehensive outreach program for the public health workforce and librarians who support them with the goal of increasing usage of quality resources, improving understanding of health literacy, and strengthening the practice of evidence based public health.

Methods:

  • Create classes with a public health focus. Includes reaching public health workers with many disparate tasks, introducing free resources from the National Library of Medicine and other quality organizations, furthering health literacy and the practice of evidence based public health.
  • Develop asynchronous distance education opportunities, helping public health workers understand the importance of research and the availability of resources.
  • Explore options for providing Continuing Education Contact Hours (CECH) for Health Education Specialists to be either Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES).
  • Attend and exhibit at relevant public health conferences, networking and introducing attendees and presenters to available resources.
  • Increase funding opportunities for public health focused projects, increasing awareness and usage of quality resources and furthering both health literacy and evidence based public health.

Results: It is anticipated that both in-person and online classes will be well received and attended, and that conference exhibiting will provide ample networking opportunities for furthering our goals. Providing continuing education credits for different audiences may prove complicated but is worthy of effort because it will assist in filling class seats and promoting our mission. Increasing funding opportunities will in part depend on factors over which we have no control, but rephrasing current award descriptions and providing examples of projects with a public health focus should assist in improving the number of award applications from this audience.

Conclusions: It is hoped this comprehensive program will be successful and the public health workforce and librarians who support them will gain knowledge and understanding regarding quality resources, health literacy, and evidence based public health.


11:39am – 11:54am

Supporting an Evidence-Based Culture for Public Health: Commitment to Stronger, Transparent Science

Authors: Karen H. Dahlen, Project Consultant; Elaine Martin, Director, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Lamar Soutter Library & Director, NN/LM, New England Region.

Introduction: Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, e-books, reports, and the grey literature support integrated knowledge: a critical step in moving research into routine practice. Public health departments (PHDs) have largely remained disconnected to licensed, full-text information. A pilot study, involving 8 PHDs, has been extended to 14 states throughout the U.S. Objectives include: placement of trusted resources (journals, books, and databases) accessible through a "digital library website;" training emphasizing content relevant to program areas; an alternative “article delivery service” provided by library partners; monitoring data and PHD activities to document process change; and evaluation processes tied to a logic model.

Methods: Onsite meetings support buy-in for the project and encourage questions and discussion; PHD teams are identified to lead digital library activities, including the installation of the template on intranets. Data collection and outcome measures are used to identify content gaps to retain quality and balance. Teams provide input to the selection of resources that reside on the digital library; and the process is enhanced using a benchmarking process. Introductory training is complemented by onsite teams and through library partnerships. Online surveys are used to collect and compare information related to Objectives.

Significance & Results: Public Health Departments (PHDS) require rapid access to evidence-based information for urgent decision making related to interventions, to generalize lab results, interpret legal decisions, enforce regulatory statutes, and conduct policy review. A “digital library website” resides on 11 PHD intranets accessible to anyone with a valid ID through IP authentication. Digital libraries are customized and maintained locally. The project also provides a subsidized “article delivery” service, provided by hospital and academic libraries: a strategy which empowers both libraries and PHDs to improve the quality and effectiveness of health care. Use and costs are examined regularly to optimize resource use and reporting.

Conclusion: Tangible successes of this project include renewed funding and strengthened PHD and library partnerships. Evaluations and metrics indicate high interest in trusted resources. Need was expressed for ongoing training to continue to learn how to use the digital library in daily work. Core resources continue to be identified.


11:56am – 12:11pm

Disconnect from Embarrassment: Older Adults and Incontinence, an Education Intervention

Authors: Kay Hogan Smith, MLS, MPH; Brian F. Geiger, EdD, FAAHE; Laura L. Forbes, PhD, MCHES; Marcia R. O’Neal, PhD; David Coombs, PhD, MPH; Sebrina Harris, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Mary Alice Gillispie, MD, HealthyRoadsMedia.org.

Study Questions: What is the effectiveness of a series of audiovisual educational modules promoting a discussion among older adults and their healthcare providers about urinary incontinence? How can a medical topic such as urinary incontinence be covered thoroughly while simultaneously respecting any health literacy obstacles in the intended audience?

Design: Surveys of older adults in targeted venues; qualitative feedback from other groups (i.e., subject experts, Spanish speakers).

Setting: Health fairs, senior centers, assisted living facilities, churches, and multicultural organizations.

Participants: Older adults (60+) of various ethnicities, healthcare providers, social services organization members, Spanish-speaking adults.

Intervention: The multidisciplinary team (including health education faculty, public health faculty, Spanish language specialists, a physician and a medical librarian), began by surveying older adults about their concerns regarding incontinence. A broad range of experts on the subject were recruited for an advisory group to help guide the content formation and refinement. The brief (less than 5 minutes) modules were drafted and posted on HealthyRoadsMedia.org web site and were available for download as audio-only narrated tutorials and as smartphone apps. Transcripts and related handouts reinforced content. The team pre-tested the modules with audiences of older adults at senior centers and other community-based facilities. Spanish language translations were pilot-tested with groups of older adults at local intercultural alliance organizations. Content was edited accordingly.

Main Outcome Measure: Evaluation forms created by study team.

Main Results: Pretesting in progress, preliminary results will be presented at this meeting.