scholarly journals Services and staffing practices in academic health sciences libraries serving college of osteopathic medicine programs: a mixed methods study

2020 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne M. Muellenbach ◽  
Wendy C. Duncan ◽  
Cheryl Vanier ◽  
Lisa A. Ennis ◽  
Anna Yang

Objective: This study describes and assesses services, staffing practices, and trends in academic health sciences libraries that serve accredited college of osteopathic medicine (COM) programs in the United States.Methods: The study was conducted in three phases. In phase one, the investigators collected data on library services and staffing through the publicly facing websites of the COM libraries. In phase two, thirty-five COM library directors were invited to complete a survey regarding their services, staffing, supported programs, and students served. In phase three, seven COM library directors participated in phone interviews regarding services that increased their visibility, their motivation to offer expanded services, adequacy of staffing, and competencies required for new librarian roles. The investigators incorporated the Medical Library Association (MLA) competencies as a framework to structure the results.Results: Phase one identified 35 COM libraries serving between 162 and 8,281 students. In phase two, 30 out of a possible 35 survey respondents indicated that the top services offered or considered by COM libraries were in the MLA competency areas of “Instruction & Instructional Design” and “Evidence-Based Practice & Research.” In addition, we discovered that COM libraries had a median of 10 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff per 1,000 students. Phase three data revealed that library directors attributed their libraries’ success to the skills and talents of their staff, the wide range of resources and services they offered, and the desirability of their physical spaces. Library directors identified skills in the same MLA competency areas as phase two, as well as in the MLA competency areas of “Information Management” and “Leadership & Management,” as being desirable for new staff.Conclusion: The study results provide information for medical school administrators and library directors to help identify trends across US osteopathic medical schools in order to justify the need for additional services and staffing. These results can assist medical and library leadership in COM schools in planning for their future academic health sciences libraries. Finally, the findings could assist programs in library and information sciences in redesigning their curriculums based on the MLA competencies for students who seek future careers in academic health sciences libraries.

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.


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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Mears, MLIS ◽  
Sandra L. Bandy, MS, AHIP

Background: The role of health sciences librarians has expanded in the scholarly communications landscape as a result of the increase in federal public access mandates and the continued expansion of publishing avenues. This has created the need to investigate whether academic health sciences libraries should have scholarly communications positions to provide education and services exclusively related to scholarly communication topics.Methods: A nine-question online survey was distributed through the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) email discussion list to gather preliminary findings from and opinions of directors of health sciences libraries on the need for scholarly communications positions.Results: The survey received a 38% response rate. The authors found that AAHSL members are currently providing scholarly communications services, and 46% of respondents expressed the need to devote a full-time position to this role.Discussion: Our survey reveals a juxtaposition occurring in AAHSL member libraries. While administrators acknowledge the need to provide scholarly communications services, they often experience budget challenges in providing a full-time position for these services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Sapto Adi ◽  
Dian Mawarni ◽  
Siti Istiqomah

Public health center X is one of the public health center with high outpatient loads in Malang City. On average, the daily amount of outpatients is 119. The high load of outpatient directly affects employee’s working load. One of the units considered susceptible to working load increase is the medical record unit at the registration department because they have to interact with all visiting patients. The study aimed to discover the need for medical record personnel at the outpatient registration department of public health center X using the Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) method. The study used a descriptive study design and a quantitative approach. The researchers utilized a total sampling technique with two medical record personnel at the outpatient registration department. The study instrument employed was the outpatient registration daily log of Public health center X. The study results show that the working load of medical record personnel at the BPJS patient registration department had an FTE index value of 2.24 > 1.28, categorized as overload. Meanwhile, medical record personnel at the non-BPJS patient registration department had an FTE index value of 0.96 < 0.99, categorized as underload. Therefore, it can be concluded that Public health center X requires two additional medical record personnel at the BPJS patient registration department, while the non-BPJS patient registration department did not require additional medical record personnel.


1977 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-24
Author(s):  
Richard Sigwalt

More and more frequently the Africanist who wins a tenure track position (hereafter termed a “real job”) is the one who offers something besides an impressive area expertise. Prestige universities are rarely hiring, and the few jobs opening up nowadays are usually at four-year colleges and two-year institutions which cannot, or firmly believe they cannot, accomodate full-time Africanists however much they may want African offerings in their programs. Faced with declining numbers of majors and insistent administrative demands for high body counts, or Full-Time-Equivalent (FTE) students, humanities and social science departments and divisions are looking for versatility in the personnel they hire. Teachers must be able to handle both general education courses attractive to underclassmen and a wide range of electives which will simultaneously challenge majors and attract non-majors looking for courses to fill out their schedules. Successful candidates to such positions have often overcome an academic Catch 22 publicized in many job advertisements—applicants seeking their first real job “must have one or two years prior full-time teaching experience”—by playing the part-time game, which has in recent years taken on many of the attributes of formal internship programs in other professions. For all the game’s drawbacks, the candidate for a real job who has played the part-time circuit well enjoys a major advantage over competitors who have not played it at all or who have played it badly, for a few very strong recommendations from superiors at places where a person has taught part-time can put that candidate in the running even for real jobs advertised as demanding prior full-time experience.


Author(s):  
Rick L. Fought ◽  
Mitsunori Misawa

Objective: The authors examined the career journeys of academic health sciences library directors to better understand their leadership development and what led them to their leadership positions in libraries.Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed due to its focus on exploring and understanding the meaning that individuals ascribe to a particular phenomenon or experience. Eleven library directors from academic health sciences libraries at public universities with very high research activity agreed to participate in the study. The research question guiding this study was: What was the library directors’ career journey that led them into library leadership?Results: A major theme that emerged from the data was “Path to Leadership.” Although each participant’s journey was unique, common elements surfaced as they chronicled their careers that were informative as to how they understood their emergence and development as library leaders. The four categories defining this theme were breadth of experience, focused preparation, mentors, and recognition and development of leadership potential.Conclusions: Previous research suggests that leadership development and preparedness are important contributors to leadership effectiveness. It was encouraging to witness and understand the amount of preparation by participants to ready themselves for their roles as library directors. This study provides a comprehensive view of the path to library leadership that furthers understanding of the value of leadership development and preparedness and provides a model for aspiring library leaders.


Author(s):  
Rick L. Fought ◽  
Mitsunori Misawa

Objective: This study sought to better understand effective leadership through the lived experiences of academic health sciences library directors.Methods: Phenomenological interviews were conducted with eight academic health sciences library directors to capture the essence of their shared leadership experiences. The research question that guided the study was: How do academic health sciences library directors understand their leadership effectiveness? The interviews were transcribed and coded, and the data were analyzed thematically.Results: Three main themes emerged from data after analysis: assessment of the environment, strategies and decisions, and critical skills. Assessment of the environment includes awareness not only of trends in libraries and technology, but also the trends in health information, higher education, and current events and politics of their institutions and states. The strategies and decisions theme is about the ability to think both in the long-term and short-term when leading the library. Finally, critical skills are those leadership skills that the research participants identified as most important to their leadership effectiveness.Conclusions: The study identified three main themes capturing the essence of the research participants’ leadership experiences. The three themes constitute a wide array of leadership skills that are important to learn, understand, and develop to increase leadership effectiveness. Effective leadership is fundamental to obtaining long-term strategic goals and is critical to the long-term future of the libraries.


2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Wilkinson ◽  
Heather McElroy ◽  
Justin Beilby ◽  
Kathy Mott ◽  
Kay Price ◽  
...  

We aimed to report on variation in levels of uptake of enhanced primary care item numbers between rural and urban Divisions of General Practice between November 1999 and October 2001.Most providers of EPC services and most services (close to 70%)are located in capital cities and other metropolitan centres. The average number of health assessments done per provider was slightly lower (8-14) in remote than urban and rural (20-30) areas. A similar pattern was observed for care plans, but rates of case conferences were similar in rural and urban areas. However, adjusted for population aged 75 years and over, in all jurisdictions except South Australia, between 30% and 144% more health assessments were done per full time equivalent general practitioner (FTE GP) in rural divisions. For rural and urban Divisions of General Practice, there is a wide range in the rate of services provided, between and within Divisions. However, overall, more services are provided per FTE GP in rural Divisions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 467-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy G. Buhler ◽  
Nita Ferree ◽  
Tara T. Cataldo ◽  
Michele R. Tennant

Very little literature exists on the nature of external reporting lines and funding structures of academic special libraries. This study focuses on academic health sciences libraries. The authors analyze information gathered from statistics published by the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) from 1977 through 2007; an anonymous online survey of AAHSL library directors; and phone conversations with a select number of directors who were willing to take part in follow-up interviews. The history of changing trends in reporting lines over the years and a view of the diverse arrangements, including strengths and weaknesses, currently existing in academic institutions are examined.


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