Eccles Health Sciences Library Research Articles

Promoting Library Employee Wellness & Community Building with a Creativity Wellness Challenge

ABSTRACT During the pandemic, in an effort to improve employee wellness, the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library (EHSL) launched a series of virtual wellness challenges. Participation counts toward a university-wide wellness initiative that provides a discount on the employee health care plan. Following several successful movement, mindfulness and nutrition challenges, the Wellness Committee developed a challenge centered on creative projects and community building for a change of pace. Participants engaged in creative pursuits, periodically reflected on their progress and regularly attended Craft Club meetings to connect with colleagues and friends while working on their projects.

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.

Evidence Expert Consults: Opportunities for Clinical Librarians in the EHR and Beyond

ABSTRACT To meet the information needs of diverse groups across the health care enterprise, the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah is forging collaborations with key partners to raise awareness of librarian expertise, streamline access to our services, and foster confidence in our ability to make meaningful contributions to evidence-based clinical decision-making, patient safety incident analyses, and institution-level quality improvement initiatives. In this article, the authors: (1) Describe the context and process for developing these partnerships; (2) Discuss the development of new channels for engaging with stakeholders; and (3) Suggest opportunities for librarians beyond clinical decision support that may not have been considered previously by readers.

Open Educational Repository Produces Licensed Resources to Sustain Project

The Neuro-Ophthalmology Virtual Education library (NOVEL) is a partnership between the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library (EHSL) at the University of Utah and the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS) that resulted in a peer reviewed digital collection of educational publications, journal articles, conference proceedings, a patient portal, and an illustrated curriculum of neuro-ophthalmology resources. This unique and innovative collaboration has evolved and expanded for more than 18 years. The partnership takes advantage of the strengths of each organization and combines them to create valuable scholarly products that support education and research in neuro-ophthalmology.

An Unconventional Interviewing Process at an Academic Library

Confronted with two faculty vacancies to fill and a desire to minimize burnout among the remaining library staff throughout the search process, the Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah employed an interview method seldom utilized in academic libraries. The library's search committee arranged on-site group interviews that hosted multiple candidates simultaneously. Careful scheduling ensured that each candidate received sufficient individual attention and assessment, while also enabling the committee to evaluate the group dynamics and interpersonal skills of the applicants.

Get it? Got it. Good!: Utilizing Get It Now article delivery service at a health sciences library

ABSTRACTWith journal price increases continuing to outpace inflation and library collection funds remaining stagnant or shrinking, libraries are seeking innovative ways to control spending while continuing to provide patrons with high-quality content. The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library reports on the evaluation, implementation, and use of Copyright Clearance Center's Get It Now article delivery service as a substitute for initiating new journal subscriptions over a 3-year period, from 2012 to 2015.

Books to Bytes at the Speed of Light: A Rapid Health Sciences Collection Transformation

To meet the evolving demands of health care delivery, University of Utah Health Care is transforming at an unprecedented pace. The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library is supporting this transformation through strategic sharing of physical space and critical evaluation of the collection. Key partners have been invited to share library space. To accommodate these new partners, the library had to quickly eliminate most of its print collection. The de-accessioning of print materials afforded an opportunity to evaluate the way in which the library provides content to users and to explore creative alternatives that continue and enhance library services.

Reframing the View of Women?s Health in the United States: Ideas from a Multidisciplinary National Center of Excellence in Women?s Health Demonstration Project

Caren J Frost1*, Patricia A Murphy2, Janet M Shaw3, Kirtly P Jones4, Michael Varner4, Nicole Mihalopoulos5, Erica Lake6, Sally Patrick6, Leanne Johnston4 and Kathleen B Digre7 1College of Social Work, University of Utah, USA 2College of Nursing, University of Utah, USA 3College of Health, University of Utah, USA 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Utah, USA 5Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine, University of Utah, USA 6Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah, USA 7Department of Neurology, University of Utah, USA

Assessing clinical researchers' information needs to create responsive portals and tools: My Research Assistant (MyRA) at the University of Utah: a case study

How can health sciences librarians and biomedical informaticians offer relevant support to Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) personnel? The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and the associate vice president for information technology for the health sciences office at the University of Utah conducted a needs assessment. Faculty and staff from these two units, with the services of a consultant and other CTSA partners, employed a survey, focus groups, interviews, and committee discussions. An information portal was created to meet identified needs. A directive white paper was created. The process employed to plan a virtual and physical collaborative, collegial space for clinical researchers at the university and its three inter-institutional CTSA partners is described. The university's model can assist other librarians and informaticians with how to become part of a CTSA-focused infrastructure for clinical and translational research and serve researchers in general.

Building projects: redefining hospital libraries

Just what is a library these days? With the shift from print to electronic resources, librarians the world over have been given the opportunity to reenvision their libraries' appearances, structural needs, and purposes. As Frieda O. Weise, FMLA, stated in her Janet Doe Lecture given at the 103rd annual Medical Library Association meeting, “The physical library can and does convey its mission. Libraries are today, and have been for the last century, certainly more than storehouses; they are service organizations that embody the mission and vision of their institutions” [1]. Is this still true? The Welch Medical Library at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center was scheduled to close its physical building December 31, 2011. When students and faculty recognized this pending change, the university administration appointed a task force to further review the need for the building to remain as a place of browsing and study [2]. When the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah closed in December 2009 for nine months for a remodel of its ceiling, the School of Medicine received numerous student concerns and consequently, built a temporary study place. So while our users want desktop delivery of information, they still want “a place” to go to for reflection and to concentrate their focus on learning. The focus of this first column is hospital library projects that are illustrative of the dramatic changes that are taking place as these libraries are transformed from traditional models to dynamic environments, responding to the needs of their users and institutions. Future columns, to be published on an annual basis, will feature new libraries as well as those that have recently undergone additions or remodels of existing space and new space assignments for specific purposes in libraries. The building project columns will each have a type of library or purpose as its theme. Future columns will cover: projects in libraries of a particular type (hospital, academic, consumer health, pharmaceutical companies, associations, special, etc.) projects centered on particular improvements (energy efficiency, sustainability, fire protection, mechanical, electrical, lighting, landscaping, etc.) projects to improve special spaces (history of medicine, galleries, testing centers, classrooms, Clinical and Translational Science Award centers, cafes, compact shelving installations, study areas, new furnishings, staff areas, information commons, technology and multimedia laboratories, offices, meeting spaces, exhibits, student headquarters, etc.) To accompany these annual columns, a new website, Library Construction and Renovation is being created for sharing information about various aspects of renovations and building construction. In addition, a comprehensive survey of building projects will be conducted, updating the one published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) in 2010 [3]. A database of these projects will be created and made available via the new construction website. As Weise challenged us during her Janet Doe Lecture, “I believe it is the responsibility of librarians to guide the design of the library; we must advocate strongly the role for the library beyond the ‘storage facility’ and even the ‘access facility,’ and focus attention on the many other place-centered activities and services that the library can support” [1]. Please consider sharing your building guidance and experiences, lessons learned, plans, and achievements with your colleagues!

Priscilla Maltby Mayden, AHIP, FMLA, 1918–2011

Priscilla Maltby Mayden, AHIP, FMLA, 1918–2011

Editorial Board Thoughts: Issue Introduction to Student Essays

Editorial Board Thoughts:Issue Introduction to Student Essays

Innovative Roles for Technical Services Librarians: Extending Our Reach

ABSTRACT Traditionally, technical services librarians have made their contributions in the background. Today, the sphere of influence of the technical services librarian extends throughout and beyond the library. The objective of this article is to encourage technical services librarians to embrace new opportunities for sharing their expertise in the development and management of knowledge in order to meet the new challenges libraries face. Technical services librarians at the University of Utah Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library have used their unique knowledge and skills both inside and outside the conventional library venue to embrace new opportunities. These opportunities have included implementing creative uses of the catalog, participating in the creation and improvement of metadata standards, enhancing the development of, and access to digital collections; knowledge management collaborations with library colleagues, academic departments, and other organizations; database development and instruction; teaching and reference activities; and technology support.

Putting Wikis to Work in Libraries

ABSTRACT Wikis are part of the suite of Web 2.0 technologies enhancing collaboration and communication. This article describes the ways in which one academic health sciences library has utilized wiki software. The Eccles Health Sciences Library has found wikis to be valuable collaboration tools. Case scenarios and software selection recommendations will be outlined. Examples of collaborations using wikis include grant writing, strategic planning, departmental documentation, and committee work. Comparisons are made between externally hosted and locally hosted wiki software.

Streams of Consciousness

SUMMARY Streaming media delivery on the Web has become a ubiquitous service expected by many of today's library patrons. Libraries can offer selection, preservation, dissemination, and production of streaming media content. The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library has offered its patrons streaming media and on-demand video services since 2000. A mobile video broadcasting unit was designed and implemented to deliver live broadcasts of lectures and special events. Educational video digitization, production, and cataloging services were offered. Challenges and successes with this service are reported.

Neuro-ophthalmology Internet digital media library

Fred Bernard1 once said that one picture is worth a thousand words. If that is the case, then how many is a video worth? A collection arranged by Dr. Shirley H. Wray gives you the opportunity to contemplate this question. She has organized a unique peer-reviewed, Web-accessible database of neurologic and neuro-ophthalmologic texts, images, and videos designed to educate practitioners, students, and patients. The archives are part of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Virtual Education Library, which has been formed by a collaboration between the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society and the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah. Dr. Wray's collection reflects a unique approach to organizing the enormous number of cases she has collected over the course of her …

Providing Online Health Information in Many Languages

The need for reliable health information in multiple languages is growing. The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, in conjunction with the Utah Department of Health, developed a Web-based project to serve the unique information needs of multilingual health consumers. Features of this project include scanning over 200 health education brochures in 24 languages and making them available online. This article discusses the need for reliable health information in many languages, the project's progress to date, and the technical lessons learned while implementing such a Web-based initiative.

InfoFair

Since 1983, the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library has presented InfoFair, an annual event featuring presentations, exhibits, demonstrations, and workshops on computer and information topics of interest to health professionals and health information providers at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center and throughout Utah. The first InfoFair was held in response to an increasing number of inquiries from library users on how to search MEDLINE from their home or office computers. The focus of InfoFair has expanded and changed over the past nineteen years to reflect changes in library users' computer and information needs, concerns, and interests. While themes and programs have changed, a definite set of trends, guidelines, and procedures have developed based on the experience gained each year. The purpose of this paper is to review and evaluate the changes in InfoFair from 1983 to 2001 and to present information for use by other libraries for planning and presenting similar events.

Cyprus Medical Libraries Project: International Collaboration for Electronic Document Delivery and Full-Text Database Development

Through funding from the Middle East Cancer Consortium, ({MECC}) and a partnership with the {Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library} at the University of Utah, Cyprus medical libraries now have access to an electronic document delivery system and a full-text database of Cypriot cancer and health literature. This paper will describe the process of establishing these services. Because access to current health literature is essential for quality health care, the authors believe that international cooperation and collaboration of this type should be encouraged and expanded. The benefit to the smaller library with limited funding is dramatic and the impact on the larger library providing the service is minimal.

The vertical file enters the electronic age.

Vertical files are revered institutions in many libraries. The reference staff at the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah automated their vertical file and made the information in it accessible via the Library's Integrated Library System. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) were applied to vertical files and simple records leading to them were entered in the Library's online catalog. Electronic access to the vertical file increases the availability of concepts too new to be in medical books and permits the Library to meet the needs of lay patrons searching for basic information on popular health care topics.