National Network Of Libraries Of Medicine Research Articles

Partnering to promote service continuity in the event of an emergency: a successful collaboration between two interlibrary loan departments

Much of traditional library disaster planning focuses on recovery of facilities and collections, while relatively little planning focuses on preparing libraries to continue to offer selected services to their patrons throughout a disaster [1]. This article reports about a service continuity plan developed by two academic health sciences libraries' interlibrary loan (ILL) departments, who have established an effective partnership for continuing selected services when normal functioning is compromised. Corporations have long prepared for disasters by implementing what is referred to as business continuity planning (BCP), and libraries can benefit by taking a lesson from the corporate sector in this area. While corporate BCP is driven by basic cost-benefit principles (e.g., the longer a company is shut down, the less revenue is generated), a service continuity plan among libraries can ensure that core services remain available to patrons during times of emergency or disaster, perhaps when they are needed most. In an academic health sciences library environment, ILL services can be essential. Whether the patron is a health care professional in a hospital, medical school, or private practice, the need for information can be urgent, especially during a disaster when normal health care staffing routines are disrupted. Yet ILL services are more vulnerable to disruption than some other library services. Two factors that contribute to this vulnerability are a lack of depth of coverage in many ILL departments and the high level of expertise required to effectively access and transmit information across the various platforms used in ILL procedures. Recently, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) developed its National Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan to address preparedness and response, specifically service continuity, among its members. The NN/LM plan strongly encouraged its network members to seek out and establish partnerships, or “back-up” relationships, with other members: “Network members are encouraged to partner with a back-up library and to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), specifying services that would be provided by the back-up library to the affected Network member in the event of a disaster” [2]. In the spirit of the NN/LM plan, the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library at the University of Virginia (CMHSL at UVA) and the Health Sciences Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (HSL at UNC-CH) have collaborated to establish procedures for continuing each others' essential ILL services in the event of some type of service disruption. For the purposes of this initial phase of a possibly ongoing project, the two libraries have defined “essential ILL services” as requests for materials not owned by the borrowing library for its patrons from another library. The scenario of an influenza pandemic was one of the driving forces behind developing the partnership between the two ILL departments. The prospect of an avian influenza pandemic has been looming for the past several years and is being monitored closely by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Three influenza pandemics occurred in the last century (1918, 1957, and 1968), and public health experts generally agree that another is likely in the near future. Although no one can predict when the next pandemic might happen, some experts believe we are already living on borrowed time [3]. A pandemic is likely to occur during a typical flu season, fall through early spring, and the likely scenario for a pandemic presents some special problems for service continuity. To reduce the spread of the pandemic, public health officials might request that universities, businesses, and other institutions take social distancing measures, such as suspending classes and closing areas that are open to the public, to reduce the spread of disease. Social distancing strategies may cause classes to be suspended for seven to ten weeks and would likely close libraries, which offer space to students, employees, and the public. During this time, health sciences libraries would strive to continue to provide services to their patrons, whether the physical building is open or closed. Localized emergencies—such as wildfires, storms, or flooding—might also cause library buildings to be closed or staff to be evacuated to other locations. Contingency plans that have been developed in advance can lead to a seamless transition in providing services from off-site.

Transforming Diabetes Self-Management or Not

Funding from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) in the fall of 2004 assisted in the establishment of the Health-e Learning Project by the librarians of Meridian Health, a health system in southeastern New Jersey. Health-e Learning's project goal was to establish a self-sustaining educational initiative to steer older adults toward the reputable medical Web site MedlinePlus and to train them to navigate this site to self-manage a chronic condition. The Health-e Learning Project was not successful in transforming diabetes self-management as originally planned, with only a handful of older adults trained, too small a number to be statistically significant.

From Paper to Electronic Document Delivery

Providing quality document delivery services to hospital library users has undergone a tremendous change. To change from paper to electronic document delivery is challenging. Hospital libraries often lack both sufficient funds and sufficient technology support. The Electronic Document Delivery (EDD) Awards, sponsored by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) enables the purchase of software and hardware for Internet or Web-based transmission of documents, scanners or other document imaging equipment. This article shows how one small hospital library was able to streamline and improve its interlibrary loan process through an NN/LM electronic document delivery award.

Implementing Electronic Document Delivery in Small Hospital Libraries

In July 2003, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Southeastern/Atlantic (SE/A) Regional Medical Library (RML) offered select member hospital libraries the opportunity to participate in a pilot electronic document delivery project. Awards of up to $2,000 were available for NN/LM SE/A DOCLINE-active hospital libraries. Funding supported the purchase of software and scanner imaging equipment. The smallest of libraries, and those without collections, needed receiving software only. After several rounds of Electronic Document Delivery (EDD) funding, statistics collected indicated a pattern of increased electronic borrowing and lending and shortened turn-around times for requested material. A by-product of the project was the development of an electronic-only, free sharing group in the Region, named ESEA (Electronic Southeastern/Atlantic Region), and adoption of clearly delineated electronic document delivery etiquette. Electronic document delivery rejuvenation in small medical libraries contributed to marked improvement in users' perceptions of hospital libraries as places of rapid, electronic information service, and of the librarians who provide these services.

Wiring Seniors to Quality Health Information

ABSTRACT A Web site was developed to support a project funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) and the Southeastern Atlantic Regional (SE/A) Medical Library at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. WordPress, a free content management system, was used to develop the site. The Web site aims to support the project's training curriculum, to provide seniors in the Memphis area with access to online consumer health information, and to examine criteria used to evaluate quality health information on the Internet.

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine and Consumer Health Outreach

This article includes a brief history of the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) involvement in providing consumer health information. It also describes current efforts to reach health consumers through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) and selected intermediaries, in particular public libraries. Training curriculum and a Web resource have been developed to support outreach to public libraries as agents of health information for the general public. Public libraries are encouraged to partner with community health agencies to provide health information in their local areas. Early results of outreach efforts are discussed.

Evaluation in health information outreach programs

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) includes eight Regional Medical Libraries and their Network members who are vital to the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) outreach efforts to health professionals and consumers. Evaluation is a key component of effective outreach projects. Recognizing the need for guidance about evaluation, an exploratory study was conducted by the Pacific Northwest Regional Medical Library in collaboration with NLM to identify and document evaluation best practices. There were several major outcomes from this study. One is a field manual for librarians, providing a step‐by‐step framework for integrating evaluation within a program. Another outcome is the Outreach Evaluation Resource Center at the Pacific Northwest Regional Medical Library, funded by the NLM to enhance and facilitate skilled and effective use of evaluation in health information outreach. Describes the evolution of these outcomes and lessons learned along the way.

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Powerful connections for public health: the National Library of Medicine and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.

As incorporated in Healthy People 2010 objectives, data and information systems and a skilled workforce are 2 of the critical components of the public health infrastructure. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) are important resources for improving Internet access and providing related training to the public health workforce and to those in training for public health careers. The NLM and the NN/LM have joined forces with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the Public Health Foundation. The goal of this collaboration is to improve electronic resources useful in public health practice and increase awareness of them, to train public health professionals to use electronic information services, and to help public health agencies obtain the equipment and Internet connections needed to use these services effectively. The databases, outreach programs, and connection grants available to public health professionals from the NLM, and the training and ongoing support available from the NN/LM for accessing these programs and services, are described.

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"Bridging the information gap" for Virginia public health nurses.

This project was designed to increase the public health nurse's knowledge and use of health science information resources available from the National Library of Medicine's databases through the use of the Grateful Med software program. In 1994, the Tompkins-McCaw Library located on the Medical College of Virginia Campus (MCV) of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) was awarded a Nursing Information Access Grant from the Southeastern/Atlantic Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM). This project was a collaboration of the Tompkins McCaw Library, the VCU School of Nursing, and The Virginia Department of Health. Sixty public health nurses received Grateful Med training. Session evaluations were conducted and indicate that although public health nurses received training and had access to health science information resources through Grateful Med, subsequent use of the resources was very limited. Similar to reports on information-seeking behaviors of physicians, public health nurses seek information from colleagues, personal collections, and other resources locally available. Reasons for the project's limited success in changing the health science information seeking and utilization practices of public health nurses are discussed, and potential solutions are proposed.