scholarly journals Report from the Medical Library Association’s InSight Initiative Summit 3: Bridge Building: What Bridges to Build and How

2020 ◽  
Vol 108 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine G. Akers
Keyword(s):  
Publishing Industry ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Group Problem Solving ◽  
Medical Library ◽  
Product Pricing ◽  
Building Activities ◽  
Bridge Building ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Information Providers

At the Medical Library Association’s Insight Initiative Summit 3, held June 12–13, 2019, academic and hospital librarians joined with publishing industry partners to identify vexing problems in publishing and accessing health sciences information. Through a mixture of panel discussions with health sciences faculty, librarians, and information providers; small-group problem-solving exercises; and large-group consensus-building activities, the summit program invited participants to appreciate each other’s viewpoints and propose a collaborative project leading to tangible outcomes that could ultimately benefit end users. Several vexing problems were identified, including poor communication and mistrust between librarians and publishers, complexities in product pricing structures and licenses, and users’ difficulties in accessing and using vetted information resources. However, librarians and publishers agreed that building a better shared understanding of users’ needs and behavior would be the most useful bridge toward regaining trust, establishing more effective partnerships, and designing and delivering quality information resources that are easily accessible and maximally useful to health sciences researchers, educators, clinicians, and students.

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
Keyword(s):  
Health Sciences ◽  
Reading Program ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Library Directors ◽  
Electronic Resources ◽  
Academic Health ◽  
Medical Library ◽  
Electronic Information Resources

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.

scholarly journals Report from the Medical Library Association’s InSight Initiative Summit 1: Engaging Users in a Disruptive Era

2018 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine G. Akers
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Collaboration ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Publishing Industry ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Group Problem ◽  
Group Problem Solving ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
Medical Library ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Insight Into

At the Medical Library Association’s Insight Initiative Summit 1, held March 6–7, 2018, academic and hospital librarians and publishing industry partners came together to discuss their shared role in engaging users of health sciences information in an era in which “disruptors” such as pirate websites, scientific collaboration networks, and preprint servers pose threats to traditional means of access to scholarly content. Through a mixture of keynote talks, themed panel discussions, and small-group problem-solving exercises, the summit program raised important questions, sparked conversation, and provided insight into the need for both libraries and publishing organizations to improve their user experience, lower their barriers to access, and offer value to users that cannot be provided by competitors, including helping authors and students become informed, responsible advocates for and consumers of scholarly publications. The key takeaways from the summit are expected to impact libraries’ and publishers’ strategies and stimulate the cocreation of enduring materials to enhance user engagement in disseminating and discovering scientific and medical information.

scholarly journals Report from the Medical Library Association’s InSight Initiative Summit 2: Meeting the Evolving Information Needs of Library Stakeholders

2019 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine G. Akers
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Publishing Industry ◽  
Panel Discussion ◽  
Information Discovery ◽  
Group Problem Solving ◽  
Medical Library ◽  
Barriers To Access

At the Medical Library Association’s InSight Initiative Summit 2, held September 27–28, 2018, academic and hospital librarians joined with publishing industry partners to develop a deeper shared understanding of technology- and social interaction–driven changes in how health sciences researchers and clinicians discover and consume information in their fields. Through a mixture of keynote talks, a panel discussion with health care professionals, and small-group problem-solving exercises, the summit program invited participants to collaboratively develop strategies for helping users recognize the value of curated or peer-reviewed content obtained through institutional access channels. Themes of the summit included the existence of different user modes of information discovery and access, user reliance on professional societies and Twitter as information sources, the extent to which smartphones are used to find medical information, the importance of inducing disorienting dilemmas in library users that cause them to recognize librarians as true partners in information seeking and research, the dangers of depending on non-curated information, and the need for publishers and librarians to work together to ease barriers to access and enrich the user experience.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document