Abstract
Objective:This preliminary study examined how personal librarian programs are implemented within medical and academic health sciences libraries. Increasing awareness of these programs and how they are implemented could create a larger and more accessible knowledge base for establishing best practices that similar libraries can look to when creating their own programs.Methods:To characterize existing programs, a twenty-two-item survey was sent to MEDLIB-L, AAHSL-ALL, ARCL-HSIG, and PSS-Lists email listservs in October 2018 to reach a broad audience of medical and academic health sciences librarians. Survey responses were analyzed using Qualtrics and Excel.Results:Of the 2,882 potential email recipients, 49 survey sessions were recorded, and a total of 38 survey sessions were completed (1.3% response rate). Of the 38 completed responses, representatives of 12 libraries (31.5%) reported that a personal librarian program had been implemented at their institution. For implementation, eight libraries involved 1–5 librarians, and four involved 6–10. Librarians were assigned 50–100 (n=6), 101–150 (n=1), or 151 or more (n=1) students each. The identified programs served medical students (n=11), nursing students (n=7), health professions students (n=7), dental students (n=2), and students in other fields (n=4). Services provided and communication methods were also identified.Conclusions:The personal librarian programs identified by the survey were uniquely structured to best meet the needs of their users, though similarities in implementation existed across institutions. Medical and academic health sciences libraries can look to these libraries as practical examples when starting their own personal library programs.
Highlights
From a customer service perspective, libraries are in a unique position to build lasting relationships with their users due to the intimate nature of providing just the right information at just the right time
Using Gutek’s concepts as a guide to define what an encounterbased service might look like in a library setting, Lillard offers the example of students constantly needing to redescribe their research projects to the reference librarian on duty each time they physically visit the library for assistance [2]
Of the 38 completed responses, representatives of 12 libraries (31.5%) reported that a personal librarian program had been implemented at their institution (Table 1)
Summary
From a customer service perspective, libraries are in a unique position to build lasting relationships with their users due to the intimate nature of providing just the right information at just the right time. Gutek finds that more traditional “encounter-based” transactions and services are typically fleeting and can involve multiple service providers and argues that “relationship-based” transactions build upon each other due to repeated contact with the same providers [1] In their discussion on the benefits of providing personalized library instruction and services to distance learners, Lillard notes that personalized approaches to providing library services can allow for the development of deeper relationships jmla.mlanet.org. It would be better for students to work with one librarian throughout “the entire life of a research project or a course” [2], which would allow for a working relationship to form between the student and that one librarian When this discussion is applied to methods for library outreach, this idea of relationship-building can be reflected by the concept of providing services through a Journal of the Medical Library Association
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