The interrelationship of print and electronic media in the hospital library and its relevance to the "Brandon/Hill Selected List" in 1999 are addressed in the updated list (eighteenth version) of 627 books and 145 journa...The interrelationship of print and electronic media in the hospital library and its relevance to the "Brandon/Hill Selected List" in 1999 are addressed in the updated list (eighteenth version) of 627 books and 145 journals. This list is intended as a selection guide for the small or medium-size library in a hospital or similar facility. More realistically, it can function as a core collection for a library consortium. Books and journals are categorized by subject; the book list is followed by an author/editor index, and the subject list of journals by an alphabetical title listing. Due to continuing requests from librarians, a "minimal core" book collection consisting of 82 titles has been pulled out from the 214 asterisked (*) initial-purchase books and marked with daggers ([symbol: see text]). To purchase the entire collection of books and to pay for 1999 journal subscriptions would require $114,900. The cost of only the asterisked items, books and journals, totals $49,100. The "minimal core" book collection costs $13,200.
In 1984, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) issued recommendations for the reform of medical education. One recommendation was that information sciences be incorporated into the medical curriculum. In fa...In 1984, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) issued recommendations for the reform of medical education. One recommendation was that information sciences be incorporated into the medical curriculum. In fall 1996, a survey was conducted to learn more about computer use by medical students at the Rockford regional site of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. The purpose of the survey was to gather information not only about computer skills, but also about overall comfort level in using computers and about expectations for enhancing computer skills while attending medical school. Over a two year period, 208 students representing four classes received this survey in their e-mail. Non-respondents received a follow-up print copy in their student mailboxes. Results, based on a 60% response rate, showed a majority of Rockford students entered medical school with good skills in using e-mail and word processing, but many lacked the skills necessary to search the medical literature or to use computer-assisted instructional programs. Overall, 80% of students expected to learn more about computers while attending medical school. Results contributed to an increased effort to integrate computer applications into the medical curriculum and to use computers as a means of communicating with students.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify factors that affect diffusion of usage of online end user literature searching. Fifteen factors clustered into three attribute sets (innovation attributes, organizational...OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify factors that affect diffusion of usage of online end user literature searching. Fifteen factors clustered into three attribute sets (innovation attributes, organizational attributes, and marketing attributes) were measured to study their effect on the diffusion of online searching within institutions. METHODS: A random sample of sixty-seven academic health sciences centers was selected and then 1,335 library and informatics staff members at those institutions were surveyed by mail with electronic mail follow-up. Multiple regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: The survey yielded a 41% response rate with electronic mail follow-up being particularly effective. Two dependent variables, internal diffusion (spread of diffusion) and infusion (depth of diffusion), were measured. There was little correlation between them, indicating they measured different things. Fifteen independent variables clustered into three attribute sets were measured. The innovation attributes set was significant for both internal diffusion and infusion. Significant individual variables were visibility for internal diffusion and image enhancement effects (negative relation) as well as visibility for infusion (depth of diffusion). Organizational attributes were also significant predictors for both dependent variables. No individual variables were significant for internal diffusion. Communication, management support (negative relation), rewards, and existence of champions were significant for infusion. Marketing attributes were not significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: Successful diffusion of online end user literature searching is dependent on the visibility of the systems, communication among, rewards to, and peers of possible users who promote use (champions). Personal image enhancement effects have a negative relation to infusion, possibly because the use of intermediaries is still seen as the more luxurious way to have searches done. Management support also has a negative relation to infusion, perhaps indicating that depth of diffusion can increase despite top-level management actions.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill evaluated five curricular models designed to improve education for health sciences librarianship. Three of the models enhanced existing degree and certificate programs, and...The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill evaluated five curricular models designed to improve education for health sciences librarianship. Three of the models enhanced existing degree and certificate programs, and two were new programs for working information professionals. Models were developed with input from experts and a Delphi study; the marketability of the models was tested through surveys of potential students and employers; and recommendations were made as a guide to implementation. The results demonstrated a demand for more specialized curricula and for retraining opportunities. Marketing data showed a strong interest from potential students in a specialized master's degree, and mid-career professionals indicated an interest in postmaster's programs that provided the ability to maintain employment. The study pointed to the opportunity for a center of excellence in health sciences information education to enable health sciences librarians to respond to their evolving roles.
OBJECTIVE: Experts disagree on the parameters to use to identify the "best" serials within a scientific field. The author set out to develop an extension to Dhawan's journal selection model for ranking serials in any sci...OBJECTIVE: Experts disagree on the parameters to use to identify the "best" serials within a scientific field. The author set out to develop an extension to Dhawan's journal selection model for ranking serials in any scientific field. METHODS: Comparison of three different instantiations of Dhawan's model were used to rank thirty-four biomedical informatics serials. RESULTS: The first instantiation of Dhawan's model identified seven serials and divided them into two groups. The second instantiation of Dhawan's model identified twelve serials and separated them into two groups. Using fuzzy set theory the new extended model produced a rank ordered list of the top twelve biomedical informatics serials. CONCLUSIONS: Use of fuzzy set theory to assign set membership and combine data in Dhawan's journal selection model allows one to: (1) eliminate the need to determine arbitrary cutoff points for inclusion of serials within each of Dhawan's evaluation criteria categories, (2) combine data from disparate sources, and (3) obtain a rank-ordered list of the biomedical informatics serials rather than simply identifying a set of the "top" serials. Such a ranked list provides librarians and researchers alike with the information necessary to help them make their biomedical informatics serial selection decisions based on objective, quantifiable data.
In December 1997, the authors completed an in-depth collection assessment project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Health Sciences Libraries. The purpose was to develop a framework for future collection assessment...In December 1997, the authors completed an in-depth collection assessment project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Health Sciences Libraries. The purpose was to develop a framework for future collection assessment projects by completing a multifaceted evaluation of the libraries' monograph and serial collections in the subject area of drug resistance. Evaluators adapted and synthesized several traditional collection assessment tools, including shelflist measurement, bibliography and standard list checking, and citation analysis. Throughout the project, evaluators explored strategies to overcome some of the problems inherent in the application of traditional collection assessment methods to the evaluation of biomedical collections. Their efforts resulted in the identification of standard monographs and core journals for the subject area, a measurement of the collections' strength relative to the collections of benchmark libraries, and a foundation for future collection development within the subject area. The project's primary outcome was a collection assessment methodology that has potential application to both internal and cooperative collection development in medical, pharmaceutical, and other health sciences libraries.
Giuse NB, Kafantaris SR, Huber JT
… +3 more, Lynch F, Epelbaum M, Pfeiffer J
Bull Med Libr Assoc
· 1999 Jan · PMID 9934526
Between 1995 and 1996, the Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library (EBL) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) radically revised the model of service it provides to the VUMC community. An in-depth training p...Between 1995 and 1996, the Annette and Irwin Eskind Biomedical Library (EBL) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) radically revised the model of service it provides to the VUMC community. An in-depth training program was developed for librarians, who began to migrate to clinical settings and establish clinical librarianship and information brokerage services beyond the library's walls. To ensure that excellent service would continue within the library, EBL's training program was adapted for library assistants, providing them with access to information about a wide variety of work roles and processes over a four to eight-month training period. Concurrently, customer service areas were reorganized so that any question--whether reference or circulation--could be answered at any of four service points, eliminating the practice of passing customers from person to person between the reference and circulation desks. To provide an incentive for highly trained library assistants to remain at EBL, management and library assistants worked together to redesign the career pathway based on defined stages of achievement, self-directed participation in library-wide projects, and demonstrated commitment to lifelong learning. Education and training were the fundamental principles at the center of all this activity.
Rapid journal price increases have made essential that libraries have reliable and efficient measures of the importance of individual journals to local clientele. Three key measures are in-house use, circulation, and cit...Rapid journal price increases have made essential that libraries have reliable and efficient measures of the importance of individual journals to local clientele. Three key measures are in-house use, circulation, and citation by faculty. This paper examines the correlations between these three measures at an academic health sciences library. Data were gathered from 1992 to 1994 using each of the three methods. Each set of data was compared with the other two, and for each pair of data sets both Spearman Rank Order and Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficients were calculated to examine the degree of correlation between the two sets. All of the correlation coefficients were positive and statistically significant (P < 0.0001). This information suggests that if gathering many types of use data is impractical, one method may be used with the confidence that it correlates with other types of use. Visual inspection of the data confirms this with one exception: many clinical review titles tend to have a low local citation rate but high in-house use and circulation rates, suggesting that these are being used for educational and clinical purposes but not for research.
"Virtual libraries" and "digital libraries" have become stock phrases of our times. But what do they really mean? While digital refers to a new form of document encoding and must be approached from that perspective, virt..."Virtual libraries" and "digital libraries" have become stock phrases of our times. But what do they really mean? While digital refers to a new form of document encoding and must be approached from that perspective, virtual resonates with aspects that modern philosophy treats with benign neglect at best. The word virtual harbors the notion of potential, and therein lies its hidden strength. Although strong commercial interests try to use the shift to a digital environment to redefine the political economy of knowledge, and thus virtualize libraries into a state of almost complete impotence, all hope is not lost. Librarians of virtualized libraries may well discover that they have re-empowered institutions if they place human interaction at the heart of their operations. In other words, rather than envisioning themselves as knowledge bankers sitting on treasure vaults of knowledge, they should see themselves as "hearts" dynamizing human communities. They should also see themselves as an essential part of these communities, and not as external repositories of knowledge. In this fashion, they will avoid the fate of becoming an oxymoron.
The centennial of the Medical Library Association offers an opportunity to reflect with some satisfaction on accomplishments and to consider the future. The Western Governors University is an illustration of the dynamic...The centennial of the Medical Library Association offers an opportunity to reflect with some satisfaction on accomplishments and to consider the future. The Western Governors University is an illustration of the dynamic future. Professional values constitute both distinguishing characteristics and steadfast guides for succeeding in this complex environment. Powerful collaborative technologies now make it possible to overcome challenges that are beyond the capabilities of an individual librarian or library. Providing organized access to the Internet exemplifies these challenges. The profession has a strong history of cooperation but to take full advantage of collaboration, institutional and cultural barriers must be overcome. The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) should be the facilitating agent in this process.
D'Alessandro MP, D'Alessandro DM, Galvin JR
… +1 more, Erkonen WE
Bull Med Libr Assoc
· 1998 Oct · PMID 9803306
BACKGROUND: Digital health sciences library (DHSL) evaluation involves studying the usage of the DHSL by individuals as well as populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate trends in overall usage of a DHSL as...BACKGROUND: Digital health sciences library (DHSL) evaluation involves studying the usage of the DHSL by individuals as well as populations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate trends in overall usage of a DHSL as part of a process of continuous quality improvement in order to learn how to enhance a DHSL in order to meet its users' needs better. METHODS: Web server log file analysis was performed on a prototype DHSL, the Virtual Hospital, using two log file analysis programs on data from the month of February over four consecutive years, 1995 to 1998. RESULTS: Overall DHSL usage increased between 1995 and 1997 and leveled off in 1998. Fifteen percent of usage came from countries outside the United States. A broad spectrum of medical information for health care providers and patients was accessed and centered around specialty medical information. CONCLUSIONS: To be of optimal assistance to users, DHSLs should (1) contain a broad base of information on common and uncommon medical problems, (2) accommodate the needs of the significant percentage of users that are international through content translation and mirroring, and (3) ensure they are indexed and catalogued in the major Web search engines and Web general and medical indices so they can be easily found by users.