Academic Health Sciences Libraries Research Articles

Textbook and Board Exam Prep Resource Trends in Academic Health Sciences Libraries Serving College of Osteopathic Medicine Programs

Objective This study collected and analyzed data on the required and recommended textbooks and board exam prep resources in academic health sciences libraries that serve accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine (COM) programs in the United States. Methods The study consisted of locating, compiling, and analyzing data on the required and recommended texts and board exam prep resources through the COM libraries’ public-facing websites. Results The investigators compiled the required or recommended texts and the board exam prep resources used within the COM curricula from 38 COM libraries. Conclusion The study results provide information for medical school administrators, especially within the academic affairs department and library directors, to help identify trends across U.S. osteopathic medical schools to justify the need for additional resources and services. These results can assist medical and library leadership in COM schools in planning for their future academic health sciences libraries and COM programs. Finally, the findings could assist programs in library and information sciences in redesigning their curriculum and students who seek future careers in academic health sciences libraries.

A Building Block of Empathy: Establishing a Graphic Medicine Collection in an Academic Health Sciences Library

To help address the well-being of the campus and contribute to empathy building amongst students pursuing careers as healthcare providers, an academic health sciences library built a graphic novel collection focused on comics that discuss medical conditions and health-related topics. The collection contains the experiences of patients, providers, and caregivers. The reader-friendly format of graphic novels provides an easy entry point for discussing empathy with health professions faculty and students. The collection has been used in the classroom during library instruction sessions, with the idea of integrating it within the curriculum.

A New Normal: A Case Study on Changing Strategies in Technology Engagement at an Academic Health Sciences Library

As academic libraries shift services to meet the changing needs of patrons after the COVID-19 pandemic, educational technologies and services to support them require updating. Patrons using technology that was once associated with hands-on learning and in-person interactions are preferring flexible and hybrid iterations. In this case study, the authors describe and analyze the pivot of three technology services at the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library in the post-COVID-19 environment. Technologies discussed include a multimedia studio, virtual reality (VR), and a three-dimensional (3D) printing service. This case study utilizes available usage stats and survey data to demonstrate and provide rationale for the changing strategy in services for each technology “hub.” The multimedia studio has been dismantled in favor of the equipment being available for checkout, VR is now available in a staff-supported classroom, and a 3D printing service has been fully automated through an online submission platform. These examples, and the rationale behind changing them, can help offer ideas for other libraries to help find solutions that meet the demands of a changing learning environment.

Health Sciences Librarianship's Status as a Profession Is Unclear, According to Its Members

A Review of: Koenig, R. A., Rodriguez, V. A., & Sima, A. P. (2021). Attitudinal attributes of professionalism in health sciences librarians. Journal of Library Administration, 61(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2020.1845544 Objective – To determine health sciences librarians' attitudes toward professionalism and to examine relationships between professionalism attributes and participant characteristics as defined by the Richard H. Hall Professionalism Inventory. Design – Cross-sectional online survey using the Richard H. Hall Professionalism Inventory. Setting – Electronic mailing lists of the Medical Library Association (MLA), the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL), the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Health Sciences Interest Group, and the Canadian Health Libraries Association (CHLA). Subjects – There were 430 participants. Methods – The online survey, created in REDCap, was distributed electronically across multiple mailing lists during June and July of 2019. Quantitative analysis included descriptive statistics and ANOVA conducted in R with reliability determined by Cronbach's alpha. Main Results – Professionalism scores for health sciences librarians were lowest in public service and self-regulation, and highest in professional organization as referent, autonomy, and sense of calling. Individuals with a degree in health sciences scored lower on a sense of calling than individuals with Library and Information Science (LIS) degrees. Faculty benefits such as tenure decreased sense of calling. There were statistically significant differences according to role (e.g., archives, administration). Subject specialty librarians had lower scores in most attributes. Conclusion – Health sciences librarianship does not clearly meet the criteria of a profession. Its heterogeneity of specializations and receptiveness to diverse backgrounds and perspectives are possible threats to its ability to create a cohesive identity. Further, duties that can be considered non-library work appear to correlate with lower professionalism scores, even when they are associated with faculty status.

Trends in…The Importance of Amplifying Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academic Health Sciences Libraries

Formalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles and practices in health sciences libraries should be an organizational goal. Organizations should strive to build and sustain a culture of equity and inclusion in which diversity is integrated into their core operations. Health sciences libraries should design systems, policies, procedures, and practices that align with and support these principles in collaboration with partners and stakeholders that share these values. The authors used DEI terminology to search the websites of various health sciences libraries for DEI-related job posts, committee work, and activities as a source of information on the present level of DEI activity in health sciences libraries.

Analyzing COVID-19 Resources on Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries’ (AAHSL) Research Guides

In this study, the authors analyzed 147 AAHSL member libraries’ COVID-19 research guides to determine the volume and origin of links included. Through stratified sampling based on total enrollment of health sciences academic institutions, 51 eligible AASHL library websites were selected for inclusion in the study. Content from COVID-19 research guides was analyzed, and the origin of each link was categorized. Most AAHSL libraries have at least one COVID-19 research guide, while some have two or more. A total of 8,848 links within examined research guides were visited. Links to academic institutions including universities’ own internal links were most common while news outlets, social media, and international government were linked least. Regarding individual organizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH)were most frequently linked. The overwhelming majority of sampled health sciences libraries use research guides to share COVID-19 information with their users. It is necessary to further investigate how libraries can optimize research guides to benefit their users. These results and conclusions reveal information resource patterns in research guides at health sciences academic libraries and are consistent with those reached by researchers investigating academic libraries’ research guides in 2020.

Landscape of health sciences librarian-mediated search services.

Health librarians have traditionally provided mediated searches to support patient care, education and research. This study aims to discover the types of search result formats used by health science libraries, determine current practice among health science libraries (types of requesters served, fees, deduplication, turnaround time and citation manager use) and uncover innovative methods for providing search results. An online survey was distributed to the MEDLIB-L, ExpertSearching, MidContinental Chapter of the Medical Library Association and ICON listservs and through direct email to selected Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries reference and education librarians. Librarians affiliated with 127 institutions from 11 countries (including the USS) and 36 USS states and territories responded. One hundred and forty-two of the total 150 analysed responses provided information on full-text access, and 81 of those 142 responses (57%) indicated that the institutions' link-resolver links were included in search results provided to the requester. The survey responses provide information on literature search services regarding turnaround time, use of a citation managers, fees and deduplication. With the developing landscape of citation managers and the tools offered, these data can be used as a benchmark for librarians who are considering evaluating or modifying their search service delivery.

The Technology, Budget, and Other Challenges of Growing Health Systems on Academic Health Sciences Libraries: A Deeper Dive

The aim of this project is to survey academic health sciences librarians to learn about the challenges they face when they are part of a growing health system. Thirty-seven librarians completed a survey about the challenges they face in the current academic health sciences environment, highlighting specific concerns related to affiliated health system growth. This paper describes the results of the survey to enhance understanding among academic health sciences librarians regarding how library collections, budgets, and technology can be impacted by growth in affiliated health systems.

Health sciences librarian research and instruction services in pandemic information environments

This study examined research and instruction services provided by academic health sciences librarians in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 205 respondents (N = 205) completed an anonymous online survey about academic health sciences librarian involvement in providing research and instruction services during the global pandemic. In-depth literature searching services (86%, n = 176), curated COVID-19 research through guides (66%, n = 135), and systematic review consultations (53%, n = 109) were reported as the top three research services in demand. Librarians supported online teaching and learning at their institutions by providing online instruction for a course (92%, n = 189), facilitating access to licensed resources (73%, n = 150), and identifying open access and open educational resources (62%, n = 127). Overall, this study contributes to understanding pandemic-responsive academic library services to meet the unique needs of health sciences education and research in evolving COVID-19 pandemic information environments.

The impact of COVID-19 on reference services: a national survey of academic health sciences librarians.

Objectives:The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the scope and adaptive nature of reference services provided by academic health sciences librarians over a one-year period (between March 2020 and March 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods:In March 2021, academic health sciences librarians in the United States were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about their experiences providing reference services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was developed, pretested, and distributed to various listservs.Results:A total of 205 academic health sciences librarians and other information professionals with health sciences liaison responsibilities in the US (N=205) responded to the online survey. The scope of reference services provided during the COVID-19 pandemic included email-based reference services (97%), virtual reference (89%), telephone (80%), text-based (33%), and in-person (31%). The most common types of COVID-related reference questions included COVID-19 treatments (53%), safety precautions (46%), vaccines (41%), and prevalence (38%). Additionally, the identification of challenging reference questions and examples of misinformation were provided by respondents.Conclusions:The results of the survey characterize the evolving nature and scope of academic health sciences reference work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians reported an increase in reference questions during the pandemic and are answering them in creative ways despite barriers (e.g., limited time and reduction in resources). There is an opportunity for librarians to continue to address COVID-related misinformation. Overall, these findings provide useful insight for library practitioners and administrators planning reference services during public health crises.

Personal librarian programs in medical and academic health sciences libraries: a preliminary study.

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.

Gloria Werner, 1940–2021

Gloria Werner, successor to Louise M. Darling at the UCLA Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, university librarian emerita, and eighteenth editor of the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, died on March 5, 2021, in Los Angeles. Before assuming responsibility in 1990 for one of the largest academic research libraries in the US, she began her library career as a health sciences librarian and spent twenty years at the UCLA Biomedical Library, first as an intern in the NIH/NLM-funded Graduate Training Program in Medical Librarianship in 1962–1963, followed by successive posts in public services and administration, eventually succeeding Darling as biomedical librarian and associate university librarian from 1979 to 1983. Werner's forty-year career at UCLA, honored with the UCLA University Service Award in 2013, also included appointments as associate university librarian for Technical Services. She was president of the Association of Research Libraries in 1997, served on the boards of many organizations including the Association of Academic Health Sciences Library Directors, and consulted extensively. She retired as university librarian in 2002.

LGBTQ+ health research guides at North American health sciences libraries: a survey and content analysis

Objectives:Current literature recommends online research guides as an easy and effective tool to promote LGBTQ+ health information to both health care providers and the public. This cross-sectional study was designed to determine how extensive LGBTQ+ health guides are among hospital and academic libraries and which features are most prevalent.Methods:In order to locate LGBTQ+ health guides for content analysis, we searched for guides on the websites of libraries belonging to the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL). Additionally, we searched the Springshare interface for LibGuides with the word “health” and either “LGBT” or “transgender.” Content analysis was performed to identify major characteristics of the located guides, including target audience and the information type provided.Results:LGBTQ+ research guides were identified for 74 libraries. Of these, 5 were hospital libraries, and the rest were academic libraries. Of 158 AAHSL member libraries, 48 (30.4%) had LGBTQ+ guides on their websites. Nearly all guides (95.9%) provided general LGBTQ+ health information, and a large majority (87.8%) also had information resources for transgender health. Smaller percentages of guides contained information on HIV/AIDS (48.6%) and women's health (16.2%).Conclusions:Even though literature recommends creating LGBTQ+ health guides, most health sciences libraries are missing an opportunity by not developing and maintaining these guides. Further research may be needed to determine the usage and usefulness of existing guides and to better identify barriers preventing libraries from creating guides.

Academic Health Sciences Librarian Job Descriptions Do Not Frequently Reflect Emerging Skillsets and Changing Research Needs

Academic Health Sciences Librarian Job Descriptions Do Not Frequently Reflect Emerging Skillsets and Changing Research Needs

How American Academic Medical/Health Sciences Libraries Responded to the COVID-19 Health Crisis: An Observational Study

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused a pandemic and global health crisis. Although normal operation and services in many libraries have been greatly disrupted, academic libraries in the United States were reportedly responding to challenges by pivoting to new ways to meet the users’ needs. This observational study was designed to investigate the status, services, and resources disclosed via websites of academic medical/health sciences libraries (MHSLs) in the United States and document how they adapted and continued to provide support to help fight the health crisis and the resulting “infodemic” through various means. A complete list of members was obtained from the website of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL). The U.S.-based AAHSL member institutions were included in this study. Each American academic MHSL website and its associated webpages were browsed; web contents were categorized and analyzed based on four research questions proposed by this study. A descriptive analysis was conducted to summarize all findings. A total of 157 AAHSL member institutions were included in the study. These libraries spread all over the United States, and 90% of them announced closures of library buildings and facilities. A significant number of MHSLs quickly adapted to the evolving situation and transitioned their services and instruction to the online environment. The COVID-19 information sources adopted by MHSLs included the following ranked by frequency from high to low: The U.S. government agencies such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Library of Medicine, the World Health Organization, publishing communities, professional journals, organizations, local institutions, government agencies, and news channels. In addition, MHSLs undertook a series of actions to support academic communities and local healthcare professionals including resource curation, clinical care support, education, and outreach to the public. Through library guides, MHSLs provided comprehensive and customized search queries to help researchers locate the latest and relevant publications to COVID-19, curated multiple data resources and data exploration, and visualization tools, and selected the latest biomedical and health evidence in a wide range of topics. Other featured resources and services were associated with ethical issues (i.e., racism and prejudice), educational and entertainment information (e.g., virtual tours of parks), and personal experience documentation. This observational study is the most recent investigation and documentation on the status, services, and resources of the academic MHSLs in the United States during the initial U.S. outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the current health crisis is taking a heavy toll on libraries nationwide, MHSLs are still managing to play a vital role in supporting the academic communities, healthcare facilities, and the general public and fighting against the pandemic and the resulting information crisis.

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries' collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges, Medical Library Association, and other organizations.

The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries has made collaboration with other organizations a fundamental success strategy throughout its twenty-five year history. From the beginning its relationships with Association of American Medical Colleges and with the Medical Library Association have shaped its mission and influenced its success at promoting academic health sciences libraries' roles in their institutions. This article describes and evaluates those relationships. It also describes evolving relationships with other organizations including the National Library of Medicine and the Association of Research Libraries.

Roles for Health Sciences Librarians at College and University Libraries

ABSTRACT
 
 Objectives: To meet the changing priorities of researchers and funding agencies, U.S. college and university libraries (C&ULs) that are not Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) members may want to hire librarians capable of supporting interdisciplinary health sciences research. This study sought to identify whether such roles are emerging by examining advertised position descriptions.
 
 Methods: We collected position advertisements posted to job boards and mailing lists between September 1 2018 and March 1 2019. Positions that included one of these terms in the title, qualifications, or responsibilities were eligible for inclusion: medic*, health, life, nursing, veterinary, bio*, pharma*. We categorized postings by institution type, geographic region, and position type. We used grounded theory to identify themes within the data, and NVivo to quantify how often each theme appeared within the data.
 
 Results: 104 job postings met our inclusion criteria: 60 at AAHSL institutions and 44 at C&UL institutions. Despite some minor variations among specific roles and responsibilities, we found substantial overlap in the qualifications listed for positions at both types of institution. Qualifications more often prioritized traditional librarian competencies rather than emerging areas, such as data science, grant support, and research impact. 
 
 Conclusions: Both AAHSL and C&UL institutions show an interest in hiring librarians capable of supporting health and life sciences teaching and research. Competition for a similar pool of applicants may create challenges for hiring officials, and librarians interested in these positions will likely seek out professional development opportunities in emerging areas of practice.

Collection practices for nontraditional online resources among academic health sciences libraries.

ObjectiveIn recent years, individuals and small organizations have developed new online learning and information resources that are often marketed directly to students. In this study, these nontraditional online resources are defined as apps or other online resources that are not available through large and well-known publishers. The purposes of this study are to determine if academic health sciences libraries are licensing nontraditional online resources and to provide a snapshot of current collections practices in this area.MethodsAn online survey was designed and distributed to the email lists of the Collection Development Section of the Medical Library Association and Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries directors. Follow-up phone interviews were conducted with survey participants who volunteered to be contacted.ResultsOf the 58 survey respondents, 21 (36.2%) reported that their libraries currently licensed at least 1 nontraditional online resource, and 45 (77.6%) reported receiving requests for these types of resources. The resources listed by respondents included 50 unique titles. Of the 37 (63.8%) respondents whose library did not license nontraditional online resources, major barriers that were noted included a lack of Internet protocol (IP) authentication, licenses that charge per user, and affordable institutional pricing.ConclusionsEvaluation criteria for nontraditional online resources should be developed and refined, and these resources should be examined over time to determine their potential and actual use by students. There is a growing demand for many of these resources among students, but the lack of financial and access models that serve libraries’ needs is an obstacle to institutional licensing.

Academic health sciences libraries and affiliated hospitals: a conversation about licensing electronic resources.

ObjectiveLibraries in academic health centers may license electronic resources for their affiliated hospitals, as well as for their academic institutions. This study examined the current practices of member libraries of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) that provide affiliated hospitals with access to electronic information resources and described the challenges that the libraries experienced in providing access to the affiliated hospitals.MethodsIn September 2016, AAHSL library directors received an email with a link to an online survey.ResultsBy December 2016, representatives from 60 AAHSL libraries responded. Two-thirds of the responding libraries supplied online information resources to more than 1 hospital, and 75% of these libraries provided the hospitals with access both on site and remotely. Most (69%) libraries licensed the same resource for both the academic institution and the hospitals. Cost, license negotiation, and communication with hospital stakeholders were commonly reported challenges.ConclusionAcademic health sciences libraries with affiliated hospitals continue to grapple with licensing and cost issues.

Excel for data visualization in academic health sciences libraries: a qualitative case study.

BackgroundData visualization is a growing topic of discussion and area of educational programming in health sciences libraries. This paper synthesizes information on eight institutions’ experiences in offering Excel-focused data visualization workshops with the goal of providing an overview of the current state of educational offerings in this area.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted by phone and email with librarians at institutions that offer Excel-focused workshops, which were identified by reviewing the websites of Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries members and the 2019 Medical Library Association annual meeting program.ResultsLibrarians from six institutions were interviewed, online class materials from one institution were reviewed, and information from the author’s institution was included, resulting in a total of eight institutions. Educational offerings in Excel-focused data visualization ranged from one workshop to five workshops in a series, which typically first presented information for beginners and then progressed to more advanced data visualization skills. Regarding motivations for offering these workshops, librarians stated that they were committed to providing instruction in software programs that were already familiar to users. Workshop evaluations, when available, were generally positive.DiscussionBecause of its widespread availability and usage, Excel offers a compelling opportunity for providing hands-on data visualization instruction in health sciences libraries.