MAC 2012 – Poster Abstracts

Poster Session, Sunday, October 14, 2012

1. Gaming to Improve Health Literacy Utilizing a Library Website and the Virtual World of Second Life

Author: Elisabeth Jacobsen Marrapodi, Library Director, Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Elizabeth, NJ

Objective: To determine if interactive e-health games using a web 2.0 hospital library website and a 3D Virtual Worlds platform (Second Life) can improve health literacy and influence consumer health behavior.

Methods: Second Life was chosen as the emerging technology 3.0 platform to perform alongside the traditional web 2.0 library website for outreach in this study.

Interactive quizzes, including video and other integrated informational resources about common medical terminology and signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke were designed and placed on the hospital library’s website and hosted at various sites within the 3D virtual reality world of Second Life.

Participants were asked questions developed by the librarian with a nursing advisory team to test their knowledge. The primary method for evaluation and feedback was through a web-based survey and traffic statistics. Participation in this IRB approved research project which was partially funded by an NLM Small Projects Grant was voluntary, anonymous and confidential.

A marketing campaign utilizing print, social media and television promoted this project to the community at large and within virtual reality.

Results: To date, nearly 1,500 people globally have tested their health literacy knowledge through interactive e-games on the library’s website and within Second Life. Survey results support using e-games as a fun, engaging way to improve health literacy and impact consumer health decision making. In addition, several demographic barrier assumptions were challenged.

Conclusions: With “serious gaming” gaining attention in the health care arena, health literacy outreach using e-learning tools in a fun, interactive format for today’s consumer shows promise. However, while these results are encouraging, consideration should be given to the multi-faceted challenges facing the development, delivery and measurement of evolving, emerging technology.

2. Zombie Pathology Lab: Using Health Information Resources During a Zombie Outbreak

Authors: Hannah F. Norton, MSIS, AHIP, Reference & Liaison Librarian; Beth Auten, MSLIS, MS, AHIP, Reference & Liaison Librarian; Linda C. Butson, MLn, MPH, AHIP, Consumer Health and Community Outreach Librarian; Matthew Daley, Information and Technology Expert; Mary E. Edwards, MLIS, EdD, AHIP, Distance Education & Liaison Librarian; Jennifer A. Lyon, MS, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Research Librarian; and Nina Stoyan-Rosensweig, Health Science Center Historian, Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Objectives:  To engage students across campus in using library resources via participation in a student-led Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ) alternate reality game.  To introduce students to the Health Science Center Library’s (HSCL) unique services and resources within the context of an existing innovative and fun event.
 
Methods:  Since 2009, the University of Florida’s Marston Science Library (MSL) has been involved in local, student-organized HvZ games. In each instance, a library mission was integrated into the overall story arc of the game, incorporating the use of information in game topics such as emergency preparedness. Given a new focus on bringing people into the library and engaging them via exhibits and events, the HSCL decided in 2012 to join with MSL in creating and implementing a library component to the spring semester’s game. The HSCL team consisted of five liaison librarians, the archivist, and an IT/graphic design specialist.
 
Results:  The HSCL component of the library mission included a forensics/pathology report, LibGuide linking to resources students could use for disease identification, and information about disease outbreak reporting. Additionally, during the month surrounding the HvZ game, the HSCL hosted a small display on zombies in history and literature, developed by the archivist. At least 75 students participated in the 2-hour HvZ library mission with over half identifying as being from the science, technology, engineering, and medical disciplines.  Anecdotal comments suggest that students enjoyed using the unique resources available at HSCL (such as VH Dissector anatomy software) and appreciated our involvement in this event.
 
Conclusions: Participating in a fun, student-led event like Humans vs. Zombies can provide libraries with a valuable means of reaching out to students, engaging them, and introducing them to library resources. The positive response to HSCL participation from colleagues in other campus libraries and from students is encouraging us to continue participation in the future.

3. IRB Approval Process: It’s a Jungle Out There

Authors: Linda Butson, MLn, MPH, AHIP, Consumer Health and Community Outreach Librarian, Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; Jennifer Lyon, MS, MLIS, AHIP, Clinical Research Librarian Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; and 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, Gainesville, FL

Objective: Although many medical librarians are well-versed in working with social and behavioral science Institutional Review Boards (IRB), as medical librarians increasingly develop and collaborate in clinical, patient-oriented research projects, they are faced with the need to obtain clinical Institutional Review Board approval to conduct human subject research. Clinical IRB submission regulations are notoriously intricate and can form a major challenge to librarians unfamiliar with the process. The purpose of this poster is to share our recent experiences with such IRB submissions and to identify strategies to successfully maneuver through the submissions and approval processes.

Methods: In 2012 the Health Science Center Libraries at the University of Florida had 3 opportunities to participate in patient research and prepare IRB submissions. We prepared and submitted IRB protocols, dealt with reviews and revisions, and finally succeeded in obtaining approval.

Results: This poster will report our experience and the ways in which we have met the challenges of submission, response to reviewers, re-submission, revisions/amendments and study closure. The process was far more difficult and time-consuming than we expected, requiring us to obtain advice from regulatory specialists and to conduct multiple protocol rewrites. One notable obstacle involved explaining librarian skills, knowledge, and ability to contribute to patient care. Others involved developing appropriate informed consent documents and dealing with HIPAA protections.

Conclusions: While the details of IRB submissions may vary somewhat from institution-to-institution, many of the challenges and issues are the same. It is our hope that the experience we have gained here at the University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries will be useful to other librarians.

4. Going Mobile: An Analysis of Reference Support for Mobile / Handheld Resources.

Author: Elaine H. Dean, MLS, Assistant Librarian, Reference and Instruction
Penn State Hershey George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library, Hershey, PA 

Background: The George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library began the mobile and handheld device support program for the Penn State Hershey community and was initially the primary support for the institution. After a transitioning to electronic collection of reference transaction data using Desk Tracker, a report on reference trends in technical support led to a partnership with IT to locate an IT Support Specialist in the library. This reduced the amount of technical support provided by library staff and allowed the expansion of the mobile program for library subscription resources. Additional analysis of Desk Tracker data will help inform the future of reference support for mobile and handheld resources.

Objective: To describe the evolving program for support of mobile/handheld devices at the George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library and determine how program changes have impacted reference transactions statistics using Desk Tracker data. 

Methodology: Reference transaction data is collected using the Desk Tracker program. Following a previous analysis of reference and technical support reference transactions the library began tracking mobile/handheld based-questions using barcoded keywords. Analysis of this subset of reference transactions is in progress to identify the volume and nature of questions to identify trends in resource interest, frequently reported issues, and other commonalities. Analysis of the IT Support Specialist transaction data will be compared to identify the impact of the new services on the library mobile/handheld reference support.

Results: Previous analysis of Desk Tracker data indicated that 36% of reference transactions included a technical component. Analysis of mobile/handheld reference transaction data is still underway.

Conclusions: Partnering with IT has allowed the library to develop a more robust program to support mobile and handheld resources. Additional conclusions will be forthcoming based on data analysis.

5. Connecting the Dots: Linking Outlying Physicians to Point-of-Care EBM Tools

Authors: Lana Brand, MLIS and Raleigh McGarity, MLIS, Northeast Georgia Health System, Gainesville, GA

Question: To what extent are family medicine practitioners in a hospital-affiliated physicians group using the evidence-based, point-of-care tools DynaMed and UpToDate offered by the hospital’s health sciences library? What are the best strategies to increase uptake of these tools and to improve library relations with off-campus providers?

Setting: The physicians group’s 30 family medicine practitioners are dispersed across a largely rural area in 16 locations spanning 8 counties. The health sciences library is located in a 450-bed hospital approximately 60 miles from the furthest family medicine provider in the physicians group. All members of the group have IP-authenticated access to library resources; however, there has been little library outreach to these providers due to physical distance and separate management of the group’s locations from the main-campus hospital.

Method: A letter of endorsement from the group’s Chief Physician Executive was addressed to the family medicine practitioners encouraging them to participate and directing them to complete a short survey about their current use of DynaMed and/or UpToDate. This survey also contained a prompt for consent to be contacted weekly by email with online instructional opportunities and by post to receive print guides and flyers. There is also an ongoing offer of face-to-face sessions to demonstrate these tools. Over the three months of concentrated outreach, usage statistics are tracked to gage whether targeted promotion and instructional outreach correlate with an overall increase in DynaMed and UpToDate sessions and searches. At the end of this period of time, physicians will be surveyed again to determine their individual usage of the tools, their satisfaction with the tools and the perceived impact of usage upon clinical practice as well as the value of library resources and services.

Main results/Conclusions: This study is in progress. Preliminary survey data, marketing efforts and usage data will be reported.

6. 50 Years! Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section (NAHRS) of MLA

Authors: Janet G. Schnall, AHIP, Information Management Librarian, Health Sciences Library, University of Washington–Seattle; Margaret (Peg) Allen, FMLA, Consultant, Health Knowledge Consultants, Stratford, WI; Lin Wu, AHIP, Associate Professor and Reference Librarian, Health Sciences Library, University of Tennessee Health Science Center–Memphis; Wanda E. Anderson, Nursing/Health Sciences Bibliographer, Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. Library, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA

Objectives: Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section (NAHRS) of MLA by highlighting our history and achievements.

Methods: Resources from the NAHRS archives at Boston College, published MLA Annual Meeting proceedings, and items from the NAHRS history scrapbook have been digitized and presented via a looped slide show and reproduced on a poster. The poster and slide show are designed for display at MLA chapter meetings during the coming year and will be permanently accessible at

Results: From 1962, when eleven librarians founded the Nursing Group of MLA at the annual MLA meeting in Chicago until today, NAHRS has grown to become the second largest section of MLA, with 411 current members. In addition to an active email discussion list, a newsletter, a redesigned website, a nursing resources wiki, social networking sites, a new Selected List of Nursing Journals, and more, NAHRS has a history of promoting continuing education (CE) and research. A CE highlight was the evidence-based nursing practice symposium at MLA in 2003 with nursing and MLA CE credit. Key research projects include the Magnet Coordinator Study and the ongoing task forces to map the literature of the nursing and allied health disciplines, resulting in several publications in the Journal of the Medical Library Association. NAHRS’s collaborations with other health professional organizations include the Interagency Council for Information Resources in Nursing (ICIRN) and International Academy of Nursing Editors (INANE).

Conclusion: NAHRS will continue to provide leadership, a united voice promoting quality health information services for nursing and allied health, and a venue to network with other librarians responsible for nursing and allied health information access. Our goal is to ensure excellence in library information services for nurses and allied health professionals.

7. Creating Connections with Scientists Utilizing Semantic MEDLINE

Authors: Susan L. Roy, MS, MLS, National Library of Medicine, and Thomas C. Rindflesch, Ph.D., National Library of Medicine and Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate ways librarians can use tools such as Semantic MEDLINE (SM) to create connections with scientists. Basic scientists are heavy users of library resources, and yet an underserved population for many libraries. Outreach to scientists by utilizing tools and technology such as SM, a program that extracts semantic relations from citations in PubMed, can have tremendous potential fostering collaborations by promoting scientific innovation.

Methods: Twenty-two scientists from academia, industry and federal institutions were recruited to learn about SM. Each scientist participated in a live, online session to learn how to use SM for literature-based discovery (LBD). During these sessions, attempts to teach about SM and LBD were presented. Following the session, connections were maintained with a follow-up survey and persistent outreach; which provided opportunities to gather thoughts about SM, discovery process and collaboration possibilities.

Results: Seventeen of the twenty-two scientists (77.27%) responded to the survey. Of those that responded, seven (41.18%) requested SM login access information; ten (58.82%) indicated they planned to request access in the near future. All of the scientists indicated that they learned about SM from the tutorial. Additionally, scientists indicated they planned to use the tool for LBD research purposes and/or for gaining knowledge about recently published information. In follow-up conversations many scientists were interested in collaborative assistance and 76% of the survey respondents indicated they would use SM for research. Currently collaborative efforts are in effect to assist a couple scientists with SM for LBD research.

Conclusions: This study utilized live online tutorial sessions for opportunities to teach basic scientists about SM and a chance to foster potential research collaborations. With the user studies and technologies described here we show how tools such as SM can be used by librarians for making connections to scientists.

8. Using Multimedia to Become a Better Teacher: The Power of Prezi

Author: Bethany S. McGowan, MLIS, Allied Health Sciences Librarian, Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library, Howard University, Washington, DC

Objective: In the evolving profession of librarianship, taking innovative approaches to instructional design is an essential component of engaging an audience. Prezi has recently emerged as a dynamic presentation software in which its users explore ideas on a zoomable, virtual canvas.

In this paper, the author will evaluate the successes and failings an academic medical librarian encountered when replacing PowerPoint presentations with Prezi presentations. She will illustrate her findings in a presentation using the dynamic Prezi software.
Methods: In this comparison study, the author critiques PowerPoint and Prezi software, evaluating usability challenges, costs, and audience reactions using the free academic version of Prezi and Microsoft PowerPoint 2010.

A small audience population was also evaluated—one set of 13 students were given a 5-question questionnaire to rate their response after a PowerPoint presentation. The same set of 13 students was given the same questionnaire following a Prezi presentation.

Results and Conclusions: Based on student response, style, cost effectiveness, ease of incorporating technologies–videos, portable document format (PDF) files, and the ability to collaborate remotely in real-time, Prezi was the emerging leader.
However, the learning curve for using Prezi is steeper than that of PowerPoint. Prezi presentations are also time-consuming. When time is of the essence, PowerPoint is a good option for presentation support.

9. Reviving RefWorks for Faculty at Southern Miss

Author: Elena S. Azadbakht, Reference Librarian for Health Sciences, University Libraries, The University of Southern Mississippi

Program Objective: Our aim was to successfully re-introduce and re-teach RefWorks to the University of Southern Mississippi community via one-shot workshops, some of which were eventually re-designed for faculty when it became apparent that they would be better served by a tailored approach to learning RefWorks.

Setting: The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries – specifically, Cook Library on the Hattiesburg Campus.

Participants: The Reference Librarian for Health Sciences taught the workshops and collaborated with the Head of Reference Services to organize and promote them.

Program: Initially, we offered four 30-minute introductory workshops on using RefWorks in the Cook Library instruction classroom. The sessions were open to all university affiliates, no registration required. Many of the attendees turned out to be faculty members who expressed a need for more of an in-depth, research-focused introduction to the software. Thus, the following month, we conducted two faculty-only RefWorks workshops. The session structure, along with marketing and promotional efforts, was re-designed accordingly.

Main Results: Our initial workshops were primarily attended by faculty, so we shifted our focus to that subset of the university community for our subsequent sessions, tailoring the subject matter to support their (summer) research needs. As a result, we got a core group of faculty interested in RefWorks, many of whom, we hope, will in turn recommend it to their students and research assistants.

Conclusion: Faculty and students have different needs and uses for citation management programs such as RefWorks. Promotion and instruction efforts need to take this into account (i.e., how to promote RefWorks to faculty and graduate students specifically). Moreover, faculty members who have a good experience using RefWorks for their own work will be more likely to spread the word, so to speak, to their students.

10. Identifying Novel Library Liaison Roles in Academic Health and Life Sciences

Authors: Karen R. McElfresh, UNC Health Sciences Library; Hunter H. Janes, UNC Health Sciences Library; K.T.L. Vaughan, MSLS, AHIP, UNC Health Sciences Library and UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy; and Barrie E. Hayes, MSLS, UNC Health Sciences Library, Chapel Hill, NC

Objective: To identify services offered by library liaisons serving academic health and life science schools and programs. Developing an understanding of available services can inform the development of current and emerging liaison roles.

Methods: Nine health sciences librarians and three life science librarians individually created lists of services which they currently provide in their liaison work, and those they would provide given additional resources and/or demonstrated constituent interest. These librarians then convened as a group to compare lists. The resulting lists were collected and service activities were grouped into conceptual clusters such as reference, outreach, and teaching activities. The responses were then analyzed for overlap among current and potential services.

Results: An impressive quantity and variety of services were provided by liaisons, spanning more than 75 services in 18 categories. The most common services were clustered in the areas of teaching, reference, consultations, scholarly communication, technology support, and committee involvement. In addition, liaisons suggested the adoption of a large quantity and variety of potential services. The most frequently mentioned potential services were clustered in outreach, professional development, grant funding, and teaching of specialized classes. Most of these potential services were already being provided by at least one liaison to their constituencies. The exceptions were in outreach, technology support, and scholarly communication. Many of the services listed go beyond the librarian as simply a service provider, instead casting the liaison in the role of research or teaching partner and faculty peer.

Implications: These results support the reimagining of the librarian’s role in academic health and life sciences environments. The next step will be to identify new roles of highest potential use to constituents in the health and life sciences. This process has already begun and data collection is ongoing.

11. Connecting with Our Students: Using Focus Groups to Enhance Library-Student and Student-Student Communication and Understanding.

Authors: Barbara Kuchan, Interim Director, and Lauri Fennell, Reference and Emerging Technologies Librarian, Temple University Health Sciences Libraries, Philadelphia, PA

Background: The Temple University Health Sciences Libraries engaged in a series of focus groups early in 2012 to better connect with the libraries’ diverse health sciences student population.

Setting: The Libraries support education, research, and patient care at the health sciences center for Temple University in Philadelphia. Schools served include: Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Podiatry, and the College of Health Professions. While feedback from students had been received through both formal and informal mechanisms, the focus groups provided a new method to connect with student constituents.

Participants: Twenty-eight participants attended the in-person focus group meetings, some who weren’t able to make the meetings relayed their comments via email, resulting in broad health sciences program representation. Student issues ranged from study space (cleanliness, food service, lighting, noise) to technology support needs to learning materials and how to access to them. Focus groups were asked about best practices for communication. Students responded: in-person lecture at the time of resource need, student-specific email, and involving student government representatives.

Results: The outcomes ranged from recommended actions to significant facility changes. A student advisory group is being formed; computer support enhanced; and at the School of Podiatric Medicine, the Dean approved converting a meeting room to a student study room, to be managed by the Library. One unexpected outcome was an increased understanding of other student experiences by the students themselves. Students shared their knowledge of campus facilities and library services to those who lacked that knowledge. In this age of social media and distant learning, the focus group project provided the opportunity to meet and connect students with library staff for real time conversations. Costs were minimal (lunch was provided) and both students and librarians felt positively about the connections created from the experience.

12. Connecting Aphordably

Author: Calvin Wang, Sciences Librarian, Manager, FS TRolL (Technology Resource Lab), Adjunct Professor, School Library Certification Program, Landman Library, Arcadia University, Glenside, PA

Objective: This informal effort has sought to generate a list of aphorisms to use in library research instruction sessions that are appropriate for audience members of all abilities and backgrounds. Aphorisms are succinct phrases of truth or opinion. They can be either established phrases that have been repurposed or novel ones that have been fabricated. The result of this effort is a collection that this instructor can employ readily and that audience members understand quickly and can remember easily. This presentation provides a strategy that recipients can individually validate and imitate.

Methods: This instructor compiled a collection incrementally over a period of 7 years. Each phrase came from a learning principle developed through presentation and repetition. The process of developing the phrases employed careful observation of audience response with subtle refinement of wording to achieve maximal succinctness with clarity of thought. Since aphorisms often need initial explanation for contextual efficacy, this instructor distributes a standard list to audience members with explanatory text.

Results: Regular and consistent use of aphorisms in instruction has generated a list that this instructor uses for audiences ranging from undergraduates in general studies to medical science professionals. Use of this list has led to the generation of newer phrases and the elimination of obsolete ones both as audience response has confirmed effectiveness and as instructional strategies have evolved. This collection has utility for all audiences with the instructor articulating specific aphorisms as appropriate for an individual session’s circumstances.

Conclusions: Although no formal assessment has validated the effectiveness of this instructor’s use of aphorisms or the specific collection, audience engagement as informally observed has provided some validation. Employment of aphorisms has streamlined library research instruction thus enhancing audience engagement. Informal polling of individuals participating in additional instruction sessions confirms their ability to recall specific aphorisms.

13. Concierge Care Customer Connection: A Winning Quad ‘C’ Combination for Library Service

Authors: Catherine Boss, MSLS, AHIP, Coordinator Library Service and Darlene Robertelli, Librarian, Booker Health Sciences Library, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune NJ

Objectives: The Concierge Care program was developed in our health system a few years ago to go beyond the exceptional clinical care delivered, focusing on delivering the best health care experience. This complimentary service, available to all patients and guests of the Medical Center, was designed to meet non-clinical needs during a hospital stay. Included in the Concierge Services were information services and business services, two services that the library also offers. The library’s reference librarian led a successful effort to connect the Concierge Care program with the Library, an effort that has proven to be a winning customer service connection.

Methods: Discussions began early in 2011 with the Manager of Guest Relations to explore the feasibility of a connection between the library and the Concierge Care Program. In March 2011, the library staff met with staff of the Concierge Care program and established a colloquial working relationship for the delivery of information and business services to patients and guests. Orientation to each other’s resources, services, and mission was the focal point in these open discussions. In April 2011, the library began providing information and business services support for Concierge Care.

Results: Over the past year, the library has provided reference service, consumer health information packets, general business services and the loan of iPad/smartphone chargers to the Concierge Care Program. The latter has proven to be an unexpected popular service with patients and guests. The library has also provided information services and consumer health packets to the Concierge Care Program on other campuses within the health system. Bedside delivery of information packets realized an increase in 2011 because of the Concierge Care Consumer Connection.

Conclusions: In focusing on providing the best health care experience, the Concierge Care Program and the Library explored and successfully developed a viable working relationship to provide information and business services to patients and guests. This connection complemented and enhanced each other’s mission within the Medical Center and within the health system. Exploring new avenues that promote a library’s expertise and services to patients and guests will become vital in the age of health care reform.

14. World Book Night: Connecting Librarians and Nurses in Patient-Centered Care

Authors: S. Layla Heimlich, MILS, and Fred King, MSLS, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC

Objective: Connect nurses and librarians by connecting patients to World Book Night’s free book distribution.

Background: Participants in World Book Night apply for 20 free books for distribution to nonreaders and readers with minimal access to books. The librarians in a large urban teaching hospital with a diverse patient population were approved to distribute books to patients.

Methods: Units with alert and oriented patients with long-term lengths of stay (medical oncology, surgical oncology, and burn units) were targeted, based on the recommendation of a nurse leader and library champion. The units’ clinical nurse managers were contacted and librarians were invited into the units. Staff nurses suggested individual patients to receive the books.

Since the selected units had a high percentage of immunosuppressed patients, librarians sanitized books and strictly adhered to infection control precautions. Connecting with the clinical nurse managers proved unexpectedly challenging. Busy clinicians did not respond to voice mail or email messages, so multiple calls were required. Once contact was made, nurse managers usually invited the librarians to the unit immediately, preferring not to schedule distribution for a later time.

Results: Nurses, patients and family members received World Book Night enthusiastically. Nurses had no trouble identifying appropriate candidates. Patients were surprised but delighted, and many promised to pass on their book to others.
The librarians intend to participate in World Book Night 2013. Nurses previously participating asked to participate again, and suggested additional target units. Future efforts will focus on better ways to make initial connect with the nurse managers, and librarians will apply lessons learned to connecting with clinical nurse managers on other collaborative efforts.

Conclusion: Participation in World Book Night helped librarians make connections with nursing staff and management by providing patients and their families with a new and valuable service.

15. Reinventing the Librarian as a Core Educator on a New Medical School Campus

Author: Julie K. Gaines, MLIS, GHSU/UGA Medical Partnership, Athens, Georgia

Objectives: As medical schools increasingly incorporate active learning methods, they create opportunities for librarians to become fully integrated in the curriculum. Here we describe how a new medical school fully integrates a librarian as a core educator and curriculum team member.

Methods: As faculty at a new four-year medical school campus that opened in August 2010, the librarian is active in an environment that fosters her integration in the curriculum. She serves as a core educator in six main ways: 1) teaching search skills and data reduction principles with Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) topics; 2) serving as an active member of the curriculum committee to help create sessions aligned with each EBM topic covered in the first year; 3) grading students’ search and informatics skills; 4) writing USMLE-style test questions; 5) serving as a small group facilitator in the Community Health component where she guides students in their community project; 6) collaborating with the Associate Dean of Curriculum to plan involvement in the next three years of the medical students’ experience.

Results: We used several data sources to assess the librarian’s impact: a survey, student performance on exam questions, observations of teaching, and evaluations of classes. The response rate on the survey was 74% (29/39) of second year medical students. Students report using their information seeking skills in a variety of settings: small groups, large groups, and clinical settings. Exam results indicate that the students are knowledgeable about information seeking and can apply their skills when needed. The librarian is perceived as an effective teacher and facilitator in her session evaluations and observations.

Conclusion: These data suggest that librarians can be fully integrated into medical school curricula, that the librarian is perceived as helpful finding information, and that she is effective as a teacher.

16. Readiness for Learning in a Paperless Environment: The Library’s Role in Curricular Support

Authors: Karen Knight, MSLS, Medical Education Librarian, and Ellen Ramsey, MEd, Knowledge Integration Manager, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Objective: The University of Virginia’s School of Medicine’s (SOM) “Next Gen” curriculum committed to operating in a paperless environment by relying heavily upon learning materials that are online such as books, course learning objectives and handouts. To make this work, the students needed reliable personal technology and support, as well as skill building in dealing with learning in an online environment – such as annotating and organizing PDFs and other file types – in a sense creating digital notebooks. The Library was committed to connecting the students to the skills and resources they needed to be successful.

Methods: This poster will outline our multi-pronged approach for preparing the students for success in this paperless learning environment:

• Orientation: what we did – virus protection, laptop checks, mobile support, ID proofing
• Student Panel: what we did – along with SOM administrative support and pizza lunch, the library facilitated a panel comprised of previous years’ students to share strategies (hardware and software options) that worked for them
• Services & Collections: what we did – invested heavily in e-books; worked with faculty to identify online resources when available and focused our selections on resources with unlimited simultaneous access to support reading assignments; recommended PDF editors
• Library Facility: what we did – installed a device-charging bar and added multiple and larger monitors at each workstation

Conclusions: The Library has been able to facilitate the students’ tech readiness to succeed in this online world through modifications to our library orientation, facility, collections, and services. With all the right connections, our students have shown that they can thrive, not just survive, in a paperless learning environment.

17. Connecting Faculty to Online Instructional Software: The Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library Experience

Author: Tom Harrod – Himmelfarb Health Science Library, George Washington University, Washington DC

Objective: This poster describes our efforts to connect with our patrons who are unable to attend our in-person instructional sessions, and the subsequent growth of our online offerings. We began exploring Elluminate Live, an online course software, for our own library instruction and after initial success, broadened our focus to include teaching faculty how to best use this tool in their own instruction.

Methods: Librarians at the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library began using the Elluminate Live online class software to offer sessions in a variety of settings – most notably in conjunction with our School of Nursing’s Distance Education program. This experience has allowed us to connect with a segment of our patron base with whom we’d had minimal contact before. Through these experiences, we have learned a lot about what this software can do and as we became more skilled with Elluminate, we received additional requests for sessions from distance education faculty members and others. We have subsequently sought to share that experience with the teaching faculty who are served by our library. This involved offering highly-interactive, live training sessions that were restricted to a small number of participants per session.

Results: Our growing proficiency with Elluminate Live has allowed us to offer a series of instructional sessions to faculty that were highly attended and resulted in a number of other instructional opportunities for specific audiences.

Conclusion: Our experience with Elluminate Live is a good example of using a new technology to connect with previously difficult to reach patrons and then using that success to build stronger connections with the faculty by sharing this new skill with them.

18. Student Preference and Satisfaction with Online Library Instruction: A Five-Year Study

Author: Lara Handler, MSLS, Health Sciences Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Objective: Since 2007, librarians have taught a yearly PubMed class to incoming medical students. The required class is offered in two formats: a traditional in-person class in the library or a real-time online session using Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate). This poster will present students’ class choices and satisfaction with the two different types of class formats. Also examined will be the ways that the instructor has tried to incorporate better online learning elements, and plans for the future to improve the online experience and the students’ satisfaction with the class sessions.

Methods: The online and in-person classes feature the same educational content. Visual learning tools such as PowerPoint are used to supplement the instructor’s voice in the in-person and online classes, and screen sharing is used in both class formats via projection in the in-person sessions and through the screen sharing feature online. A post-class survey was used to determine the users’ evaluations of the instruction and the format via which it was offered, and registration statistics were gathered for class preference.

Results: Over the past five years, the proportion of students who have chosen the online session has more than doubled. In 2007, less than 30% of students chose the online class, whereas 68% of students chose the online class in 2011. However, online students were more likely than traditional in-person students to give lower ratings to the session.

Conclusions: Future plans include conducting more research into why the in-person classes rank slightly higher, while also increasing the interactive components of online sessions, offering more active learning elements in both class formats, and continuing to survey and evaluate students’ responses and satisfaction.

19. Partnering with the Campus Research Office to Foster Developmental Grantsmanship

Authors: Patricia Bender, Research Specialist, and Ann Watkins, Life Sciences Librarian, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Rutgers-Newark, NJ

Program objectives: The partnership between the Campus Library and the Research Office was formed to help faculty, students, and staff build their skills in grant-seeking by providing support and instruction.

Setting: An urban university campus of 12,000 students and 600 faculty where 14 doctoral degrees including nursing, biological sciences, neuroscience and psychology are offered.

Participants: Faculty, students, staff and community members with information needs related to grantsmanship.

Program: The librarians and Research Office staff offered a series of instructional initiatives which included workshops, undergraduate and graduate class sessions, orientations, individual consultations and electronic research guides to provide information and hands-on experience. Participants learned about resources to find funding agencies, grant writing techniques, and how to fulfill specific sponsor requirements. Other sessions focused on the research by incorporating library search techniques to conduct a literature review and research data management.

Outcomes: The initial dialog and planning led the librarians and research specialist to realize how much they had to offer collaboratively to grant seekers. As the program gained momentum, the librarians and research specialist received more instruction requests on a wider range of topics. The workshops were well attended and the participants, in survey assessments, expressed appreciation for knowledge they could apply. The research guides have received over 850 hits in the past year. The research specialist found that interest in grants represented more campus groups (graduate students and staff as well as faculty) from a greater number of departments.

Conclusions: By connecting with a non-academic department such as the Research Office, librarians and research specialists can combine their strengths to reach a broader audience to deliver grants related resources and services – and more fully support faculty and staff efforts to secure external funding.

20. A Bibliometric Analysis Comparing International Collaboration Rates Over Two Decades: 1991-2010

Authors: Dennis W Fell, PT, MD, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Allied Health Professions; Judy F. Burnham, MLS, AHIP, Director, Biomedical Library; Eric David, SPT; Corey Irby SPT; and Amanda Schermerhorn, SPT, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Allied Health Professions, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL

Background: Publication in peer-reviewed journals is essential to physical therapy transmit knowledge-based information. International collaboration can extend that information.

Objective: The purpose of this bibliometric study was to examine changing incidence of international co-authorship among three core physical therapy journals including Physical Therapy, Physiotherapy, and Australian Journal of Physical Therapy.

Design: This study was a bibliometric analysis.

Methods: All articles published in the three core journals from 1991-2010 were analyzed. Data for each citation was downloaded from the Scopus database into a spreadsheet with each manually coded for international collaboration status. Then each internationally co-authored paper was coded for countries of origin of each author, and physical therapy content category. Data were compared between the decades 1991-2000 and 2001-2010.

Results: The increase in rate of international collaboration from 1991-2000 (2.33% of total publications) to 2001-2010 (8.4% of total publications) was statistically significant and was observed in each journal. In this sample, primary authors of internationally co-authored papers were most frequently from the United States, followed by Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The most frequent primary physical therapy content area was the category of test and measures.

Conclusions: The rate of international collaboration in these core physical therapy journals was greater in 2001-2010 as compared to 1991-2000 indicating that physical therapy researchers are increasingly involved in international collaboration.

21. Is Attendance Really Declining at Games? An Analysis of Walk-ins Versus Web Counts

Authors: Travis Clamon, Technology Services Assistant, Quillen College of Medicine; Nakia Woodward, Senior Clinical Librarian, Quillen College of Medicine Library; Rick Wallace, AHIP, Assistant Director, Quillen College of Medicine Library; East Tennessee State University–Johnson City

Objectives: The purpose is to see if there is a relationship between declining walk-in visitor counts and increased library web access. The overall objective is to evaluate library services and find better and more efficient ways to meet the needs of walk-in and virtual patrons.

Methods: Compile past five years of walk-in visitor statistics from the library. Retrieve past five years of website statistics from Google Analytics. These two sets of data will be compared and analyzed for any correlation. We hypothesize the data will show a steady decrease in walk-in visitors along with a continued increase in website visitors. We hope to find a period during the past five years where the two values intersect. If a clear relation exists, we will identify possible factors that can be attributed to these changes.

Results: The combination of online “visits” combined with walk-in visits gives an entirely different picture of the use of libraries by patrons.

Conclusion: Librarians should not be wedded to success markers of past eras. By updating measures of recording “attendance,” a more truthful picture emerges about the true popularity of libraries. This type of data is essential, since libraries are under more pressure to justify their existence.

22. OSTMED.DR: Facilitating Research and Improving Access to Literature in the Osteopathic Profession

Authors: Elaine Powers MSLS, and Jessica Muller, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine-Virginia Campus, Blacksburg VA

Objective: The goal of OSTMED.DR is to promote and facilitate research and scholarly activity in the osteopathic profession by providing ready access to the current osteopathic literature and previously hard-to-find resources, including historical documents. This poster will provide an overview of the OSTMED.DR database, including a summary of holdings, search utilities and research aids, and will provide a brief history of the database as well as directions for future growth.

Brief Description: OSTMED.DR® is a full-text, indexed, and searchable digital library containing journal articles, case reports, abstracts, and other resources pertaining specifically to osteopathic medicine. OSTMED.DR was created through a partnership between the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) and VTLS, Inc. in 2006. The digital library builds on a bibliographic index of over 30,000 citations originally developed by the Gibson D. Lewis Health Science Library of the University of North Texas Health Science Center-Fort Worth and the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine’s A.T. Still Memorial Library. New full-text titles are being added continually, and plans are underway for digitization of a large collection of rare books on osteopathic medicine. OSTMED.DR® is endorsed by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM). It is funded by VCOM through the Harvey W. Peters Foundation.

Outcome: In OSTMED.DR, the osteopathic medical community, and those with a special interest in osteopathic medical research and literature have a rich resource to support scholarly activity. Dissemination of information about this database will help promote research in the profession.

23. Botulism, Influenza, Yellow Fever Oh My! – The MMWR Cataloging Project

Author: Aundrea Pope, Librarian, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA

Question: The CDC PHLIC took on a project in the summer of 2011 to create records for the first 30 volumes of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) beginning with Volume 1, No. 1, 1952, for the CDC digital institutional depository (CPAP—CDC Public Access Project). The library wanted to see if having these issues available would be useful to CDC employees and the general public. These early issues of the publication had never been indexed, so our task was to briefly describe each issue and make electronic versions of them available to the public.

Setting: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health & Information Library Atlanta, GA

Methods: The Project team, which consisted of the author, Robert Swain, Steve Foote, and Scott Rawlings, created the MMWR records in the Voyager cataloging client and saved them as suppressed records. We would use official 650, second indicator 2, MeSH subject headings but also added 650, second indicator 7, (form heading locally assigned) as well, in order to add key words outside the scope of MeSH. We wanted clear scanning with Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The issues were then formed into a collection called, MMWR: The First Thirty Years which were then added to CDC’s digital archive of documents produced by the CDC called, “CDC Stacks,” accessed at: http://stacks.cdc.gov/about.jsp

Results: CDC Stacks is composed of curated collections tailored for public health research needs. This repository is retained indefinitely and is available for public health professionals, researchers, as well as the general public. The project will collection information on the number of times that our collection has been accessed and its usefulness.

Conclusion: Having the first thirty volumes of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report available provides a historical perspective about the CDC and public health in a free, digital archive. With greater public access, CDC can maximize the effect of public health science and improve the health of the nation.

24. Health Information Needs Assessment and Outreach to the Ronald McDonald House Dallas

Author: Jamie E. Peacock, Outreach Librarian, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD

Objectives: Identify the types of health information parents and family members residing at a Ronald McDonald House need. Uncover common barriers to accessing online health information among parents and relatives of ill children. Determine how medical libraries could best provide health information support and access onsite.

Methods: I resided at the Ronald McDonald House Dallas (RMHD) for one week in May, 2011 and in September, 2011. While there, I explored house routines, did informal interviews with residents, and staffed a nightly exhibit/information table about our library’s health information resources. Through participant observation of the RMHD culture, I was able to get a more in-depth understanding of the health information needs and barriers faced by RMHD residents.

Results: From my qualitative research findings, I formulated a plan to support ongoing health information access at the RMHD. I enlisted the help of a local medical library to provide training about our library’s resources to RMHD staff, and I assisted RMHD staff in applying for a monetary award to support a technology upgrade to their in-house library.

Conclusions: Information seeking largely determined by the child’s illness trajectory: When the child is in crisis, the family engages in little information seeking, while when the child is stable, information seeking increases to understand child’s illness and prognosis in order to make decisions about treatment options. NLM Resources needed beyond MedlinePlus include PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the Drug Information Portal. Ronald McDonald Houses across the nation could benefit from the support of their local Medical Libraries.

25. Facilitating New Connections: Establishing a Graduate Student Advisory Committee for an Academic Health Sciences Library

Authors: Emily M. Johnson, MLIS, Research & Education Librarian, and Shannon D. Jones, MLS, MIS, AHIP, Associate Director, Research & Education, Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, VCU Libraries, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Objective: This poster describes the process followed to establish a library advisory committee for health sciences graduate and professional students. The overall objective was to facilitate improved communication between students and the library.

Methods: One of our library goals is to ensure our users have excellent experiences using our physical spaces, services, and collections. To assess whether we are meeting this goal, we turned to our largest patron base: students. When feedback was needed previously, ad-hoc focus groups were created. By forming the Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC), our library has a readily accessible group to provide feedback on library policy, planning, and operation. The GAC membership includes two representatives from the five health sciences schools on campus. Members were selected by an application process.  One-hour GAC meetings are held monthly with a provided lunch from September – May. Each meeting features an invited speaker and/or discussion about a particular library policy, resource, or programming. Time is allocated for feedback or suggestions and to raise any concerns the student have. A blog was utilized to disseminate information between meetings.

Results: The GAC allowed the library to form new alliances and accountability with our student users. Through this relationship, we gained outspoken advocates for several initiatives at the library. Student members were able to directly see the library’s integral role in an academic health sciences campus. In turn, the library responded by adding resources to enhance study practices and comfort while in the library. Without this channel of communication, the library administration would not have be aware that these services were needed or changed policy to enhance the students’ experiences at the library.

Conclusion: The creation of the GAC was an effective method to reach out to students for feedback and accountability on library policy, planning, and operation.

26. Revitalizing Library Programs and Services Through Yogisms

Author: Kenny Nero, Jr., MLIS, Louis Stokes health Sciences Library, Howard University, Washington, DC

Objective: In the life of a health sciences librarian sometimes it just feels like deja vu all over again. This and other wise insights (also known as Yogisms) from Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra will be showcased on a poster that looks at the revitalization of the moribund services and programs offered at the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library.

Methods: Howard University’s Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library found itself in a decade long slump. Having to endure several structural changes such as three library directors, several adjunct deans of the medical school and five senior vice presidents for health sciences, the library was certainly ripe for substantive change. The library hired a new executive director, director of operations, a senior librarian and three liaison librarians. In regards to the liaison librarians, one of the end goals is to institute an embedded librarian program to further improve the services offered. Coupled with both a complete audit of the reference and reserve collections and increasing the amount of workshops provided, the library also began using technology to promote its services and programs by creating several LibGuides to better serve its customers.

Results: Professors and students expressed a higher level of satisfaction with the library and its services than they did 18 months ago. Reasons for patron confidence boost varied from the collection and new staff to the LibGuides and workshops. All of the professors and students view the library today more positively than they did 18 months ago.

Conclusions: Providing a wider array of services and improving upon those already offered can increase both customer satisfaction and confidence in the library.

27. Connecting with the Past While Looking to the Future: Documenting a History of Engagement with Minority Public Health

Authors: Francesca Allegri, MSLS, AHIP, and Anona C. Earls, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Health Sciences Library, UNC-CH School of Information and Library Science, Chapel Hill, NC

Program Objective: To gather, document, preserve, and share the rich history of the University’s Minority Student Caucus (MSC), including materials highlighting MSC’s annual Minority Health Conference, in the form of a digital collection.

Setting: An academic health sciences library at a major Southeastern university, serving the university hospital and the schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, and public health.

Participants: Librarians; Public Health faculty and staff; current and former MSC members and affiliates; Minority Health Conference participants; community members.

Program: The Health Sciences Library and the School of Global Public Health are collaborating to compile a selection of photographs, stories, and anecdotes in anticipation of the School’s 75th anniversary. Project organizers are conducting interviews with individuals who were instrumental in MSC’s founding as well as with those who continue to support its role in the health community today. Correspondence, speeches, and organizational records that document the history of MSC and various projects that members initiated, such as the annual Minority Health Conference, are being collected. Materials are then being digitized and uploaded to create a publicly accessible online collection via CONTENTdm.

Main Results: A publicly accessible digital collection that identifies and presents a wide variety of materials, including photos, newsletters, conference programs, manuscripts, audio recordings, videos, and transcripts of interviews with individuals who were involved in the development of MSC.

Conclusion: The project will serve as a means of preserving the history of MSC’s important involvement in minority health issues. It will be a way not only for current MSC members to connect with their organization’s history, but also for former members to reconnect with each other and with the organization today. The project will also be a valuable resource for connecting with the community, promoting further engagement and awareness of both minority public health issues and the legacy and accomplishments of MSC.

28. Connecting Staff to the Cloud

Authors: Lea Leininger, and Emily Mann, Reference and Instructional Services, University Libraries, University of North Carolina – Greensboro

Background: The library system at the University of North Carolina, a medium sized research-intensive doctoral granting institution with over 17,000 FTE, is in the process of implementing the OCLC cloud-based integrated library system. The library had already been providing OCLC World Cat Local “quick start” as a low profile alternative to a SirsiDynix Unicorn/Symphony library catalog. During summer 2012, the catalog migration began with upgrading World Cat Local and giving it greater online prominence than the old catalog. This poster describes sandbox workshops for library staff conducted during the upgrade.

Methods: The week before library homepage links were scheduled to change, public services librarians with World Cat searching experience provided sandbox sessions to library personnel. Staff engaged in hands-on exploration in a group environment. New record types, links, and library locations were still being added to the World Cat Local, so these sessions also served as a “state of a catalog” forum before the updates became obvious to the public. After a demonstration of basic World Cat features and discussion of major differences between the catalogs, participants worked through a series of “typical searches.” A LibGuide and handout were created to accommodate different learning styles. Participants were encouraged to voice questions and given the option to post online in a Poll Everywhere widget or through a private feedback link.

Results: One fourth of library personnel attended sandbox sessions, with attendance from every department. Questions focused on the migration schedule and on how to use the new catalog. Prominent questions and answers were posted on the staff LibGuide.

Conclusion: Library staff received news and guided practice at a critical juncture. Providing training on a system in rapid development was a challenge, but important support for public services personnel. At this time, there are suggestions for advanced training that will incorporate updates.

Poster Session #2, Monday, October 15, 2012

29. Making Connections: A Strategic Path to Marketing and Communication

Authors: MaShana Davis, MIM, and Douglas Joubert, MS; MLIS, NIH Library, Bethesda, MD

Purpose: Describes the planning, implementation, use, and evaluation of a library-based marketing and communication strategy.

Setting/Participants/Resources: In January 2012, an NIH Library Marketing, Communications, and Social Media (MCSM) team was formed to foster customer relationships, and to raise the awareness, appreciation, and usage of the NIH Library’s resources, services, facilities, and staff expertise. The MCSM team is comprised of seven staff at a large government biomedical research institute library including librarians, reference assistants, and senior library leadership.

Brief Description: The MCSM team developed strategic marketing and communication objectives, focused on the development and implementation of targeted marketing; the creation of effective channels to collect and act on customer feedback; and the establishment of best practices for effective internal and external communication.

Results/Outcomes: The MCSM team conducted a systematic review to provide specific and strategic recommendations for the use of marketing, communication, and social media by the NIH Library. Data used in the review was derived from three key informant interviews, feedback from a University of Michigan intern, a review of the literature, and an examination of publicly available social media policies. Recommendations from the review guided the team activities for the year.

Conclusion: This project challenged staff to develop creative solutions for engaging and communicating, ultimately building and enhancing staff competencies in marketing and communication. However, many of the goals and objectives implemented by the MCSM team involved changes in communication and more importantly, changes in culture. These changes could have been perceived as disruptive without proper training for NIH Library staff, in addition clear and consistent messaging. Therefore, the MCSM team made every effort to create a culture that valued and embraced innovation.

30. History of Osteopathic Medicine in Virginia

Author: Elaine Powers MSLS, Director of Library Services, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine-Virginia Campus, epowers@vcom.vt.edu, 540 231-3763

Brief Description: This poster gives a description of osteopathic medicine and its development in the Commonwealth of Virginia. A. T. Still, the founder of osteopathic medicine was born in Virginia. After Dr. Still, Dr. Maurice Nida is the next osteopathic physician associated with the progress and evolution of osteopathic medicine in Virginia. Creation of osteopathic residency programs and the founding of the first osteopathic colleges are 20th and 21st Century contributions.

Objective: The overall goal of the poster is to review what osteopathic medicine is and trace the major developments in Virginia.

Outcome: To provide an overview of what osteopathic medicine is and to educate those who may be unclear about the D.O. degree, one of two medical licenses issued in the United States.

31. Librarian’s Involvement with Hospital’s New Protocol for Open Heart Surgery

Authors: Geneva Bush Staggs, Assistant Director, Hospital Library Services; Judy Burnham, Director, Biomedical Library, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL

Objectives: Objectives of the project are to provide literature searches and articles to inform protocol development; to provide pre-surgery education to patients awaiting open heart surgery about the bypass or valve replacement procedure and what to expect after surgery; and to create more awareness of patient information services throughout the hospital by having the librarian seen on the floors interacting with patients. 

Methods: The librarian in an academic medical center with a consumer health information service participates as a member of the hospital’s open heart advisory team that is creating a new clinical protocol for open heart surgery based on best practices. The librarian participates on the heart surgery care team by providing information to the patient awaiting heart surgery using resources from MedlinePlus. Each patient is scheduled to view the appropriate video prior to any other pre-op education to provide a basis and help them start thinking about questions to ask their health care professionals. A handout outlining access to the video shown to the patient can be shared with their family. Advisory and care team members were surveyed regarding awareness of librarians as members of health care teams. 

Results: Viewing videos pre-surgery was considered helpful by patients and prompted patients to ask questions of their health care professionals. Advisory and care team members considered the librarian a helpful addition to the teams in both the role of information provider and the role of educator.

Conclusions: Activities of these types are appropriate ways for librarians to interact within hospital settings. Librarians who are pro-active in pursuing channels to influence patient outcomes are appreciated by health care professionals and hospital administrative personnel.

32. Librarians Connect Evidence to Practice: A Case Study at the University of Pennsylvania Health System

Authors: Anne K. Seymour, MS; Associate Director; Sherry E. Morgan, PhD, MLS, RN, Liaison Librarian to the School of Nursing; and Maylene (Kefeng) Qiu, MA, Clinical Liaison Librarian, Biomedical Library, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA

Objective: The poster will present an overview of the Biomedical Library’s partnership with the Center for Evidence-based Practice (CEP). This partnership connects medical librarians with CEP’s mission to improve the quality and safety of healthcare at the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS). The poster will describe a specific example of a national guideline update that involved the CEP team and health professionals at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention).

Methods: Two medical librarians work with the CEP team on local, UPHS-related questions on a variety of clinical, technology and economic topics submitted to CEP from the UPHS Director of Medicine or UPHS medical and nursing clinicians as well as from external sources such as the CDC. A significant example is the collaboration between the CEP team and the CDC on a national guideline update on surgical site infections. The librarian’s involvement requires the development of question-specific vocabulary and the formulation of appropriate search strategies. Several months are spent executing numerous iterations of these strategies across multiple databases to answer, for example, over 100 questions and sub-questions. To finalize the guideline process for publication, searches are updated, and the librarian’s search methodologies are documented.

Results/ Conclusions: The partnership between the Biomedical Library and CEP shows that medical librarians can play significant roles on research teams that develop evidence reports (e.g., guidelines, reviews, advisories, and special reports) to support the goal of improving the safety and quality of health care on both the local and national levels.

33. Identifying Effective Public Service Desk Staffing Through Quantifiable Data

Authors: Justin Robertson, MLIS, AHIP, and Andrea Wright, MLIS, AHIP, Baugh Biomedical Library, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL

Objectives: The objective was to gather and analyze quantifiable data to identify effective and efficient staffing methodologies for the library’s proposed reference/circulation single-service desk. Specifically the goal was to observe hourly, daily and monthly trends in current reference desk usage in order to identify distinct patterns that could provide useful data on the staffing the new service point more effectively by simultaneously maximizing the library’s public services and the best use of the reference librarians.

Methods: Reference workers (6 librarians, 2 staff) completed a detailed survey form for every transaction at the desk during their respective shifts. This data was collected for three successive semesters and then compiled into spreadsheets that identified the “who, what, when, where and why” of reference desk usage. This data was then compiled in spreadsheets broken down by semester, month and days of the week in order to identify: who was using the library, what they were looking for, when they were using the library, where they were accessing the library from and the reasoning (or why) behind how they used the library as a physical entity.

Results: The compiled results indicated definite trends regarding usage. Some of the results were unsurprising (i.e. study room usage increases dramatically toward the end of the semester), while others were less obvious (most questions asked during early afternoon hours “directional” rather than in depth reference). The quantifiable data gathered from these surveys did supply a great deal of information regarding the general use of the exiting reference desk.

Conclusions: By gathering, compiling and examining quantifiable data on the library’s current reference desk usage, patterns and trends corresponding to the hours in a day, the days of the week and the months of a given semester provide guidelines for effective staffing of the library’s proposed single public service desk. These numbers can furthermore help the scheduling supervisor to maximize the talents and aptitudes of the library faculty and staff.

34. How is a domestic digital library project impacting its community?

Author: Suhua Fan, MA, MLIS, Technical Services & System Librarian, Health Sciences Library, College of Community Health Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

Objective: This study explores what impacts a domestic digital library project would have on its community when a small local library decides to digitize their archives and donations and build a digital library to share with its community. With these impacts found, this study will conclude if the digital library project is beneficial to both the community and the librarians.

Method: This study uses the Historical Collections project in the Health Sciences Library at the University of Alabama as the research subject to conduct a case study. The case study investigates how the new digital library project from the small health sciences library with 2 librarians and 3 staff members impacts the community of the College of Community Health Sciences at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The impacts found will be evaluated as keys for the researcher to conclude if developing a local digital library project is beneficial to the community and the librarians.

Results: The local digital library project is impacting its community in the following areas:

• Educationally/Academic contribution: The library collaborates with the School of Library and Information Sciences to provide graduate students who are interested in digitizing and archiving with internship and volunteering opportunities. The students are getting hands-on experiences while using what they learn from their classes.
• Creating new digitizing technology: In order to build a digital library to display and store the digitized images, the librarians are collaborating with the office of information technology to develop software for this purpose. The software will be another open source to share with other librarians.
• Career development for librarians: The tasks of establishing a digitizing project from scratch are challenging but beneficial for the librarians in their career development. It also requires open minds and leadership to make the project possible.
• Economically worthwhile: The digitizing project will save spaces and time for the institutional archiving in the future.
• Getting connected with the community: The visitors, alumni, and community residents are excited about being able to access the historical collections through the digital library. They are willing to fund and support the project and the library more than before.

Conclusion: The study results show positive impacts of the digital library project on the community of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Although there are numerous challenging tasks for a small library to start a digitizing project from scratch, it is beneficial for the librarians and their community members to work together on digitizing their local archives and historical collections from now on.

35. What’s The Librarian Got to Do with It? Partnering with Residents for Evidence-Based Practice

Authors: Colleen Kenefick, AHIP, Medical Librarian; Susan E. Werner, AHIP, Medical Librarian; Health Sciences Library, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

Objective: Recent research suggests that teaching residents the principles of evidence-based practice in a clinically integrated and longitudinal approach may improve their life-long usage of these techniques. Collaborating closely with pediatric faculty in developing the three-year curriculum, librarians are actively involved by teaching evidence-based resource hierarchies, effective searching strategies, and evaluating the literature for critically appraised topics.

Methods: The growing importance of evidence-based practice has created a greater demand for librarians to work directly with healthcare providers in their clinical settings. A three-year evidence based practice residency curriculum was developed by the pediatrics faculty in cooperation with the librarian. A case-based small group interactive PICO class is taught for the basics of clinical question formation. As an assignment, additional clinical scenarios for PICO questions are then evaluated. Using previously discussed cases, a searching class is taught by the librarian using various resources including PubMed. Residents are given timed practice cases and assignments graded according to a predetermined checklist. In the second year, librarians team with individual pediatric residents to complete a clinically relevant critically appraised topic (CAT) for presentation. A LibGuide was created for this program that is continually updated with new evidence-based approaches to content.

36. 24-Hour Library Access for Professional Students: Successes and Challenges

Authors: Susan J. Arnold, Director; Lori A. Hostuttler, Reference Coordinator, West Virginia University Health Sciences Library

Objective: The West Virginia University (WVU) Health Sciences Library, working in conjunction with the School of Medicine, devised a plan to provide increased access to the library and learning center space for research and study.

Setting: This program was initiated at the WVU Health Sciences Library and the adjacent Learning Center computer lab.

Participants: Initial participants were students in the WVU Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center’s professional programs, including the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, and Pharmacy.

Program Description: During the 2010-11 academic year, medical students began requesting 24-hour access to the library. Possible safety issues, theft, and vandalism were initial concerns from library staff. The library administration worked with health sciences center administration to establish ground rules and to further secure all entrances to the library. Beginning in mid-September 2011, professional students were given access to the library and learning center 24 hours a day, enabled by a card swipe at the library entrance. After normal library operating hours, the library is unstaffed. Circulation, reference, and other library services are unavailable. The library stacks are closed to users due to safety/security concerns. Students may study, work on group projects, and use computers.

Results: The program was requested by students and has been well received by them. Approximately 10-20 students typically stay and swipe back in at the time the library closes each night. There have been a relatively small number of documented problems, including occasional excessive trash and propping open of the door. The number of lost books appears to have decreased since the start of the program.

Conclusions: The benefits of 24-hour library access appear to outweigh the concerns. It is anticipated that the program will be expanded to other graduate students/medical residents in the future.

37. Connecting to the Community: Health Literacy through NLM Database Use

Authors: Joe Swanson, Jr., MSLS, Library Director, and Roland B. Welmaker, Sr. PhD, MSLS; Morehouse School of Medicine Library; Archivist/Librarian, Atlanta, GA

Objective: Project health literacy through NLM database use is designed to promote the use of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) consumer health information databases among students and faculty of the Master of Public Health (MPH) of Morehouse School of Medicine, and senior citizens living in high rise apartment units near the school’s campus. Training was provided to the public librarians and staff members working in the seniors’ living and activity centers.

Methods: The Morehouse School of Medicine Library (MSML) partnered with the Master of Public Health Program and a physician who coordinates health care in the senior citizen high rise facility in order to bring awareness of health information resources to the target populations. Interactive workshops were held at living and activity centers, the MPH classroom, and the library computer laboratory.

Results: Based on the pre-test and post-test, participants demonstrated an increased ability to use the NLM Consumer health databases for class and community. A staff member employed in one of the senior living centers testified how she was able to use her training to provide information when her father had to have a heart operation.

Conclusions: Participants were eager to learn about the consumer health databases. Also, senior citizens were concerned about their health, and were very active in the seminars. We left with additional skills in how to educate the senior citizens. Staff was able to make the seminars a meaningful experience for those individuals with visual and other problems such as limited mobility and low levels of literacy.

38. A Collaborative Space: Connecting with Best Practices in Consumer Health Outreach

Authors: Terri Ottosen, MLIS, AHIP, Consumer Health Coordinator; Nancy Patterson, MLS, Community Outreach Coordinator, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Southeastern Atlantic Region, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD

Objective: This poster describes the creation of a secure regional collaborative space for sharing best practices in consumer health outreach.

Brief Description: Many libraries are active in health outreach and have received National Network of Libraries of Medicine funding for projects, exhibits and training. Informative reports on these activities are submitted to the administration, but are not shared routinely with members who could most benefit from this information for the development of future projects and outreach. From this need grew the idea of a collaborative space.

Discussion: Sharing best practices in a secure space using CampusGuides, allows for collaboration across a wide variety of institutions, including public, health sciences libraries, and community and faith organizations. Those with more experience in providing outreach can be valuable guides for others seeking to establish their own community outreach and partnerships. It is imperative that libraries and other community organizations reach beyond their walls and provide services and health information to the underserved. Collaborative sharing builds a network of leaders with expertise in outreach and connects them with others committed to building and sustaining outreach to their community. A variety of unique outreach projects and models will be shared.

Outcome: Through discussions, posting of curricula and other project details, collaboration of best practices has facilitated partnerships and networking among members of a regional medical library system. Promoting and expanding the collaborative space across the Network, as well as cross-regionally, will allow great ideas and practices around the country to be shared and improved upon in the future including the development of new partnerships and projects.

39. Connecting with Technical Services: A Collaborative Approach to Evaluating the Reference Collection

Author: Elaine Sullo, MLS, MAEd, AHIP, The George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, Washington, DC

Objective: To harness the expertise of reference librarians and technical services librarians in creating and implementing a plan to assess the reference collection for currency, completeness, coverage, quality, appropriateness, and function.

Setting: Prior to this project, the Print Collections Librarian was primarily responsible for the maintenance of the reference collection – including standing orders, replacing old versions of texts, and weeding. The collection as a whole needed to be evaluated with a variety of perspectives included.

Method: A Reference Collection Committee was appointed by Library Administration and included two Reference and Instruction Librarians, the Serials Librarian, and the Print Collections Librarian. This group created a report outlining the committee’s views on the nature of the reference collection, the governance of the collection, and the development and maintenance of the collection. The committee also devised a collection development plan strictly for the reference collection, which will be incorporated into the library’s Collection Development Policy. Subsequently, five reference librarians reviewed the reference collection, title by title, identifying items to be weeded, items to be moved to the circulating collection, and new items to be added. The reference librarians, along with the Print Collections Librarian, reviewed these lists at meetings convened by the Associate Director for Education, Information, and Technology Services; if consensus was reached for each item, then the requested action was recommended (weed, add, move).

Results: A written plan is now in place that dictates who will be involved in maintenance of the reference collection and how often the collection will be reviewed.

Conclusion: Librarians from both reference and technical services, with their specific areas of expertise, are strong collaborators in keeping the reference collection as relevant and current as possible.

40. Use of iPads to Support Productive Learning in the First 50 Weeks of a New Medical School

Authors: Debra C. Rand, AHIP, Associate Dean and Director for Health Sciences Libraries; Jennifer L. Boxen, AHIP, Education and Liaison Librarian; Nikia Lubin, Electronic Services Coordinator; Health Sciences Library, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine at Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Objective: The Health Sciences Library at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine explored the efficacy of using iPads with e-textbook, productivity, and medical applications (apps) downloaded on them to support productive learning and enhance digital technology within the School’s integrated curriculum.

Methods: A pilot project, funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region, was conducted from December 2011 – April 2012 with the purchase of 10 iPads, a set configuration of productivity and medical apps, and a total of twenty chapters from five different e-textbooks required for the curriculum. There were 27 participants, 18 students and 9 faculty. Students who had their own iPad were given access to the same set of apps. Generic accounts were created for access to preloaded app content but allowed participants to add apps of their choosing. Frequency and efficacy of use by students and faculty was assessed by survey.

Results: A majority of the students reported that the iPad provided easier access to educational resources, improved ability to take class notes and share information with other students, saved time, and helped with organization of their study. Usage was particularly high by students in self-directed learning and in preparation for their small group case sessions. Faculty reported limited usage, mainly due to time challenges.

Conclusion: The project was a great opportunity for the library staff to take the lead in exploring use of tablet technology at the School. Five of the iPads with additional textbooks downloaded, were added to the library collection for short-term circulation. Students were very appreciative and provided excellent feedback that will be helpful in making future decisions regarding School of Medicine support for tablet use.

41. The Brains of the Operation: Connecting Library Resources and Services to Patients and Clinicians in Support of Excellence in Care

Authors: Jan Haley, MLS, Library and Information Services Coordinator, St. Thomas Hospital, Nashville, TN; Kelly Lee, BSN, MLS candidate 2013; Marilyn Teolis, MLS, AHIP, Library and Information Services Coordinator, Baptist Hospital, Nashville, TN

Purpose: To demonstrate the connections formed between hospital patrons and employees and the medical library through a visual representation of a nervous system model.

Setting/Participants/Resources: Interviews across a four campus health system conducted with varied clinicians and administrative staff in the hospital setting, including medical education administration, nurse, physician, and hospital librarians.

Brief Description: Interviews are conducted and filmed with varied clinicians and administrative staff in the hospital setting to demonstrate how the medical library connects each to the information they need through services and resources offered by Saint Thomas Health Medical Libraries. The objective of the interviews is to create a video that can be used as an library orientation that will raise staff awareness of the unique services available to them that: supports innovation, research and quality improvement; enhances staff effectiveness; provides resources for teaching and learning; and increases patient and family satisfaction to ultimately improve patient care and outcomes. Results from Saint Thomas Health’s “Value of Library and Information Services in Patient Care Study, July 2011” show the perceived benefit of these resources to staff and patients. The objective of the poster is to provide a visual representation of how each person entering the hospital can be connected with the information they need through the medical library.

Results/Outcome: Video construction will continue through September 2012. The poster representation of the video will be presented at the SC/MLA poster session in October 2012. Pending administration approval, this video will be available for hospital orientation for all new employees.

42. Ask-a-Nurse: Tapping the Learning Commons to Care for the Whole Student

Authors: Stefanie Warlick; Carolyn Schubert; Sara Williams; Kathryn Whitten, RN; Becky Schaffer, RN Rose Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, WA

The James Madison University Libraries Learning Commons model allows for flexibility in the exploration of campus partnerships. Prior to the addition of Ask-a-Nurse, our campus partners were limited to somewhat more obvious pairings such as the Writing Center and the Science and Math Learning Center. Beginning in Fall 2011, the University Health Center collaborated with the JMU Libraries to implement Ask-a-Nurse, a reference style approach involving University Health Center RNs in providing confidential interactions and professional health information. With the Health Center looking to experiment with new student outreach methods, the Libraries became an ideal home for this new initiative given our reputation for collaboration and high student appreciation and usage. Leveraging the active space of our Learning Commons and effective marketing for the service, the RNs utilized library space to provide outreach to busy students. During the Spring semester, the nurses logged over 400 students interactions across the two library locations. In addition to the benefit of increased Health Center access to JMU students, the partnership of these two organizations allowed the research-focused Health Sciences Librarian to investigate the realities of outpatient practitioners and apply this to student learning and interactions, as well as introduce practitioners to the wealth of evidence available to support their practice. Future extensions of the cross-campus collaboration include the Health Sciences librarian providing professional development sessions for Student Health Center staff and creating a Student Health web portal.

43. Importance of Chapter Membership: a 20-year Statistical Analysis

Authors: Sandra L. Bandy, MS, AHIP, Chair, Content Management, and Kim Mears, MLIS, Medical Library Associate, Greenblatt Library, Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA

Objective: This project analyzes twenty years of recorded membership history from one of the fourteen chapters affiliated with the Medical Library Association (MLA). A search of the literature revealed national level program evaluations, new initiatives, and lessons learned but no Chapter-level articles specifically on membership. Outcomes will illustrate trends in membership and the possible need for stronger guidelines in retaining members.
Methods: Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association has used FileMaker for recording membership information. Information includes years of service to the organization plus year joined, contact information, committee volunteer request, AHIP level, library type, and membership to MLA. The data collected is also used for the annual printed membership directory. Several data sets will be gathered that will study the dynamics of the Chapter, longevity of members, and retention with the Chapter’s recently formed 2-year free student membership.

Results and Conclusions: Forthcoming

44. Tennessee Health Sciences Library Association: Connections and Disconnections over Time- A Content Analysis

Authors: Rick Wallace, AHIP, Assistant Director; Nakia Woodward, Senior Clinical Librarian; Katherine Wolf, Clinical Librarian; Quillen College of Medicine Library, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

Question: How have the emergent themes of a health sciences library group changed over time?

Setting: A state level health sciences library group

Participants: Membership of a state health sciences library group over a 30 year period.

Methods: A content analysis of the group archives will be conducted using NVIVO software.

Main Findings: Themes and patterns from content analysis will be used to describe changes over time.

Conclusions: Forthcoming.

45. Making the Connection between Tablet Technology and Accessing Library e-Resources

Authors: Nadine Dexter, MLS, D-AHIP; Michael Garner, MLS; Shalu Gillum, JD, MLS; and Deedra Walton, MLS, AHIP, Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library, University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL

Objective: To determine if the use of “instant-on” tablet technology increases patron usage of the Health Sciences Library e-resources at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine (UCF COM).

Methods: The Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library deployed Apple iPads to all of its 180 medical students and 45 full-time teaching faculty. UCF COM faculty and medical students answered surveys on their use of library-deployed iPads to access library e-resources. This was done using the Survey Monkey online platform. This two-year study began in spring 2011 with a survey given to the M1 and M2 medical school students and full-time (not volunteer) faculty. In the fall of 2011 and 2012 the new incoming classes of 2015 and 2016 were added to the study. The study will conclude in May 2013 with the graduation of the first UCF COM class. In addition to individual user survey results, Google Analytics was used to determine the number of iPad visits to the Health Sciences Library website.

Results and Outcomes: After Year 1 of the two-year study, 79.3% of respondents reported that the “instant on” technology of the iPad made it easier for them to access library e-resources. The library has seen an increasing number of iPad hits to its e-resources pages from Spring 2011 through Summer 2012.

Conclusion: Final conclusions will be based on the completion of our two-year study in May 2013.

46. Mobile Computing’s Connection to Nursing Student Engagement: Blended Learning through Digital Storytelling

Authors: Tierney Lyons, and Michael M. Evans, Penn State Worthington Scranton, PA

Objective: Nursing Research is a course dreaded by undergraduate students. To combat this issue, the researchers will distribute iPad tablets to the learners and implement a blended learning approach of digital storytelling to enhance active learning and engagement. The purpose of the study is to determine if pairing mobile computing with online asynchronous video, audio, and text-based discussions as an adjunctive teaching strategy leads to improves student satisfaction, engagement, and reflective thinking.

Methods: Students enrolled in an introduction to nursing research course respond to faculty-devised discussion questions to increase their understanding of evidence-based practice. The nursing instructor and reference librarian facilitate the online discussions and assessment tools with VoiceThread, a digital storytelling program. Half of the participants will be randomly assign to use tablet computers to enable continuous access to and participation in the digital stories and questionnaires. The researchers then evaluate if the ability to connect ubiquitously via mobile computing increases participation and satisfaction in the active learning strategies.

This research is a replicative study with mobile computing serving as a new variable. Our previous study’s data showed an increase in student satisfaction and critical and reflective thinking. However, the results lacked statistical significance due to low participation. The purpose is to determine if continuous, mobile access to the digital storytelling tools will increase student involvement.

Results and Conclusion: Forthcoming.

47. Instant Connections: a Review of Three Classroom Response Systems

Author: Emily M. Johnson, MLIS, Research and Education Librarian, Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, VCU Libraries, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Objective: This poster evaluates the usability of three web-based classroom response systems, Poll Everywhere, Socrative and Mentimeter, for use in the library instruction classroom.

Methods: The use of a classroom response system has been documented to make library instruction sessions more of an active learning experience for the student. But there has been no comparison done between these web-based tools. The three products for evaluation have been selected based on their ability to poll and record audience responses to prompted questions. The products will be judged on defined criteria involving simplicity and accessibility of use and features available to instructor and students. This comparison will also include technical needs as well as monetary investments associated with these products. This will allow librarians to select the appropriate tool for different classroom situations.

Results and Conclusion: Forthcoming.

48. “Big Deal” Journal Subscription Packages: Are They Worth the Cost?

Authors: Jie Li, Trey Lemley, and Robert Britton, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL

Objectives: To assess the cost effectiveness of “Big Deal” Journal Subscription Packages.

Methods: Usage reports are analyzed to calculate the cost-per-article download both for journals included in “Big Deal” subscription packages and for individual journals to which an academic health science library subscribes. Cost-per-article use for the entire “Big Deal” packages, cost-per-article use for health science journals in the “Big Deal”, cost-per-article use for individual journals in the library’s collection, the average cost for journal articles obtained from other libraries via Interlibrary Loan, and average “pay-per-view” cost for journal articles from publishers are compared for cost effectiveness for the library’s journal subscription.

Results and Conclusion: Forthcoming.

49. “Kindling” Connections with the Professional Nurses Staff Organization

Authors: Kelly Near, Hospital & Community Services Librarian; Jonathan Lord, Head of Collection Development & Management; Jeremy Bartczak, Metadata Services Librarian, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Objective: The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library (CMHSL) partnered with the Professional Nursing Staff Organization (PNSO) at the University of Virginia Health System (UVAHS) to promote increased nursing specialty certification.  As an organization, the goal is to have 10 percent of the nurses certified in any of several eligible areas.  CMHSL purchased exam preparation e-books and made them available to nurses on Kindle Fires.  Previously, only a limited number of certification resources were available.

Methods: The Hospital and Community Librarian is a member of the PNSO Professional Development Committee. Through requests from the committee, she brought back to the Collection Development Librarian requests for access to electronic copies of commonly pursued specialty certification review books. Since most review books are not available as e-books, librarians decided to try improving access to these reviews by purchasing copies that could be made available via the Library’s already circulating Kindle Fire devices. Seven nursing certification exam preparation books were identified and Kindle editions were purchased. While the Kindles increased access to vital resources for nursing certifications, they provided resource description challenges within the UVA online catalog. A metadata librarian devised a collective catalog record for the two Kindles and enhanced it with keyword access, analytical title entries, and some general subject headings to optimize search and discovery. Nurses from the Professional Development Committee will be asked to assess the usefulness of the Kindle Fires for this purpose.
 
Results and Conclusion: Forthcoming.

50. Focusing Resources in Support of our Users using the Balanced Scorecard Approach

Authors: Terrie Wheeler, Chief of Information and Education Services Branch, NIH Library; Keith Cogdill, PhD, AHIP, NIH Library Director

Objectives:     In this resource-constrained environment, performance management systems that focus resources on an organization’s strategic objectives are crucial to future success.  The NIH Library chose the balanced scorecard approach to performance management and is in its first year of implementation.  

Methods:  Supervisors and Team Leaders at the NIH Library first developed a strategy map within the balanced scorecard framework. This built on the Library’s vision and mission and identified eight strategic objectives.  These objectives targeted the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard: resources, learning and growth, internal processes and customer focus.  Progress is monitored through measures that inform whether strategic objectives are being achieved, using pre-determined thresholds and targets.   The resulting strategy map is a tool that communicates the organization’s story at any moment in time.  This presentation will discuss what the NIH Library has learned using the Balanced Scorecard, as well as its success with implementation to date.

Results and Conclusions: Forthcoming.