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

2020 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy E. Allison ◽  
Bonita Bryan ◽  
Sandra G. Franklin ◽  
Leslie C. Schick

Objective: Libraries 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.Methods: In September 2016, AAHSL library directors received an email with a link to an online survey.Results: By 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.Conclusion: Academic health sciences libraries with affiliated hospitals continue to grapple with licensing and cost issues. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.

Author(s):  
Krystal Bullers ◽  
Allison M. Howard ◽  
Ardis Hanson ◽  
William D. Kearns ◽  
John J. Orriola ◽  
...  

Introduction: The authors examined the time that medical librarians spent on specific tasks for systematic reviews (SRs): interview process, search strategy development, search strategy translation, documentation, deliverables, search methodology writing, and instruction. We also investigated relationships among the time spent on SR tasks, years of experience, and number of completed SRs to gain a better understanding of the time spent on SR tasks from time, staffing, and project management perspectives.Methods: A confidential survey and study description were sent to medical library directors who were members of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries as well as librarians serving members of the Association of American Medical Colleges or American Osteopathic Association.Results: Of the 185 participants, 143 (77%) had worked on an SR within the last 5 years. The number of SRs conducted by participants during their careers ranged from 1 to 500, with a median of 5. The major component of time spent was on search strategy development and translation. Average aggregated time for standard tasks was 26.9 hours, with a median of 18.5 hours. Task time was unrelated to the number of SRs but was positively correlated with years of SR experience.Conclusion: The time required to conduct the librarian’s discrete tasks in an SR varies substantially, and there are no standard time frames. Librarians with more SR experience spent more time on instruction and interviews; time spent on all other tasks varied widely. Librarians also can expect to spend a significant amount of their time on search strategy development, translation, and writing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Kipnis ◽  
Lisa A. Palmer ◽  
Ramune K. Kubilius

Objective: This study uses survey research methods to gain a deeper understanding of the institutional repository (IR) landscape in medical schools and academic health centers.Methods: Members of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) were surveyed about their IRs. The authors used a mixed-methods approach of a survey and qualitative content analysis to identify common themes.Results: Survey results indicate that a large majority of responding medical schools and academic health centers have or are implementing an IR (35 out of 50, 70%). Of these, 60% (21 institutions) participate in an institution-wide IR rather than administer their own repositories. Much of the archived content is grey literature that has not already been published, but the percentage of original content varies greatly among institutions. The majority (57.1%) of respondent institutions are not considering an open access policy or mandate. Most institutions (71.4%) reported that repository staff are depositing materials on behalf of users. dSPACE and bepress Digital Commons are the most popular repository platforms in this community. The planned enhancements that were most frequently reported were implementing a discovery layer and ORCID integration. The majority of respondents (54.3%) do not plan to migrate to a different platform in the foreseeable future. Analysis of respondent comments identified the following themes: integration, redundancy, and reporting; alternatives and exploration; uniqueness; participation; and funding and operations.Conclusions: The study results capture a view of the IR landscape in medical schools and academic health centers and help readers understand what services their peers have in place as well as their plans for future developments. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
R. Govindarajan ◽  
S. Dhanavandan

The Ophthalmologists – Eye Doctors continuously seek and use information for their evidence-based practice, career advancements and quality patient care. The study aims to examine and explore the ophthalmologists’ preference towards print vs. electronic information resources. The study design is cross-sectional and convenience sampling method is adopted. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. SPSS 18 PASW Statistical package was used for statistical analysis. Frequencies, percentages, Chi-square and Fishers’ exact test were used in the study. Around 633 ophthalmologists, working in 47 academic eye hospitals from 16 states of India were included in the study. The ophthalmologists prefer electronic resources more than the printed resources as a venue for access and publish. They consider both printed & electronic resources as more authenticated resources than electronic resources. They recognize electronic resources as easy to manage, use, economical, time savvy. They prefer electronic resources more than printed resources to improve their professional competency. The Ophthalmologists’ preference on resource choice doesn’t have any association with gender, age group, designation, experience, institution type. The study results revealed the ophthalmologists’ preferences on print and electronic resources. This will help the ophthalmic librarians to understand the resource choices of the ophthalmologists and manage information resources in libraries effectively. The study results will help the ophthalmic institutions and information providers for future planning


Author(s):  
Lolade Funmi Osinulu

The study examined awareness and use of electronic Information Resources (EIR) among students in College of Health Sciences, Sagamu, Nigeria. The objectives were to establish types of resources available, determine level of awareness, extent of the use of e-resources and problems faced. Descriptive survey design with real-time observation method was used to collect data using a structured questionnaire. The population comprised 2000 students in the College while purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of 200 registered library users for the 2019/2020 academic session. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that majority of the students were not aware of available EIR. It also revealed low frequent usage. The finding indicated that few respondents used EIR for academic purposes. However, inadequate computers, irregular power supply and slow internet speed were identified as major constraints using EIR. Upgrade of infrastructure, adoption of appropriate social media tools to promote awareness and collaborative effort by librarians and faculty members to train students the use of specialized databases were recommended. Keywords:  Electronic information resources, awareness, use, Undergraduates, students, health sciences


2021 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Bunting ◽  
J. Michael Homan

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.


Author(s):  
Sunil Tyagi

This chapter defines metadata, their types, creation, and some of the important functions. It enumerates an overview of the basic elements of the Dublin Core Metadata standard, and other metadata standards are also mentioned. The problem has been studied based on the information available in the open literature. As electronic information resources are rising and digital library initiatives are gaining wide acceptance, knowledge of metadata formats will help our library professionals in adapting their skills in cataloguing, classification, subject heading, key wording, and indexing for better inventory and exhaustive usage of electronic information. Metadata serves three general purposes. It supports resource discovery and locates the actual digital resource by inclusion of a digital identifier. As the number of electronic resources grows, metadata is used to create aggregate sites, bringing similar resources together and distinguishing dissimilar resources. The World Wide Web has created a revolution in the accessibility of digital information resources. Metadata is key to ensuring that resources will survive and continue to be accessible into the future. It can be embedded in a digital object or it can be stored separately like library catalogues. The Dublin Core (DC) is the most popular and widely accepted standard proposed to describe almost all categories of networked electronic resources.


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