Kidding!
Though I did hear a couple of librarians planning a night
geocaching expedition. And yours truly engaged in a bit of sedate party-hardying - evening dine around at
Sine, brief walk downtown to smooth out the adrenaline before presenting, and
food spotting at a friendly cafe with a great salmon sandwich.
MAC-MLA 2011 officially ran from Sunday evening 10/9 to Wednesday afternoon 10/12, but I did it on the cheap. Drove up early on Tuesday so that I could attend the first full day of the conference then present the next morning before driving home.
Here are a few of the presentations and posters that caught my eye. No slur intended to all of the other cool projects highlighted at the conference!
NLM (National Library of Medicine) Update - Always one of my faves!!
Referencepoint blog for librarians - great entries, very useful
NLM Technical Bulletin - specialized, not sure whether all of the non-health sci library folks around here would be into it, but nice for me to keep in mind :)
NLM APIs - some of these look very cool. from what I can tell :P
PubMed Health - Resources for clinical effectiveness based on sources such as AHRQ and Cochrane. Systematic reviews and clinical guidelines, with consumer summaries and clinical summaries. Sounds great but didn't do well on three clinical questions that I worked on recently (then again, they were stumpers that each sucked down several hours-hard to say "time to stop" when you know patient care will be affected by the info that you find). Definitely worth keeping an eye on.
MedPrint - NN/LM and NLM print serials preservation program
Kids Enviro Health - "Connecting middle school students to environmental health information" (interesting potential for TED 495-01, instructional methods for middle grade sciences)
Health Data Tools and Statistics - has been updated. and thank goodness this awesome group has shorted their name to PH Partners. FYI, this link came from the blog not directly from the NLM Update. So double cheers for the blog :)
Contributed paper documenting a year and a half long project.
Seems to have been very labor intensive, but the starting familiarity was low (14/44 never had a mobile device at work) and there was a good range of introductory topics:
· Mobile computing 101
· Twitter
· Dropbox and file sharing
· Cloud computer and Google
· Social bookmarks
· Spatial literacy and mapping
· Crowd-sourcing
· Etc.
Nice approach–
1. Pre-survey to measure employee interest and experience
· Interdepartmental team (ETT) responded to supervisor requests for mapping mobile competencies to employee goals/work plans
2. ETT provided
· Orientation
· brown bags on mobile technology apps and marketplace
· monthly mobile “show and tells” (device specific)
· set up device-specific user groups
· RA TECH challenge - 4 month training program for paraprofessional staff based on 23 things and mapped to employee work plans
3. Evaluation
· Difficult to develop outcome measures
· Survey responses required in order to keep the mobile device assigned to each participant
Abstracts for some of the poster projects that caught my eye (sorry so long and messy, from this point it's mostly copy/paste)...
Capitalizing on Our Strengths to Improve the Public’s Understanding of Health Information through the Radio – A team of health science librarians support YOUR HEALTH radio show and blog (hosted by UNC Family Medicine department). Librarians help develop and populate a companion blog with authoritative health info. Nice!!
http://yourhealthradio.org/
Lara Handler, Health Sciences Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill
Barbara Rochen Renner, Health Sciences Library, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
Christie Silbajoris, Health Sciences Library,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jean Blackwell, Health Sciences
Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Karen Crowell, Health
Sciences Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Robert Ladd,
Health Sciences Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Purpose: Health Sciences librarians work with producers of a weekly
health-oriented radio show to improve consumer health information on the show’s
website/blog. Previously, librarians helped develop the show’s interactive
website/blog and worked with the show’s hosts and producer to improve website
usability.
Setting/Participants/Resources: Health Sciences librarians at a
major Southeastern university partner with producers of an interactive
website/blog and local radio show hosted by clinicians in the university’s
Family Medicine Department.
Methodology: Supplementing weekly show topics,
librarians provide consumer health links to reputable websites, supplying
additional information and health education to readers of the radio show’s
website/blog. Librarians also provide hosts with resources about communicating
health information at a literacy level appropriate for the public. Challenges
included communication about topics, division of labor, determining show
segments to support, and appropriate number of links per topic.
Results/Outcome: The library is listed as a sponsor on the show’s website
and is acknowledged on-air weekly, during the main interview segment. Hosts
mention librarian assistance when directing listeners to the website for more
information. Website statistics reveal that the library sponsorship link on the
website/blog sidebar is among the most frequently visited links from the show’s
site. It is hoped the partnership will increase radio show listeners’ access to
quality health information on the Internet, along with positive interactions
with the blog. Feedback from the show’s producer and hosts has been favorable
and the partnership continues. The show is in the process of syndicating and
expanding across the state.
Discussion/Conclusion: This is a unique
partnership allowing a health sciences library to collaborate with a radio show
to reach the public. The librarians have made valuable contributions in areas
including social media, design, knowledge and provision of consumer health
resources, and health information literacy.
Capitalize on Collaboration: Development of a Health Curriculum for Adult Education Students - Very cool grant-based community education project
Kelly Near, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia Health
System
Leslie A. Furlong, Adult Learning Center of Charlottesville, Virginia
Cindy Westley, University of Virginia Health System
Objective: An
eight-unit multi-level health curriculum was developed for the Adult Learning
Center of Charlottesville, Virginia, in the spring of 2010 with funding from an
EL Civics Grant from the State of Virginia. It is a curriculum intended for
English as a Second Language (ESL) and General Educational Development (GED)
Students. Goals of the curriculum are:
1. To help students better navigate
the US health care system.
2. To help students understand their rights and
responsibilities within the US health care system.
3. To enable students to
become advocates for their own health and promoters of healthy living.
4. To
promote mutual information sharing among health care providers and adult
students.
Methods: The outreach librarian collaborated with center educators
to develop the health curriculum which was taught during the spring 2010 and
2011 semesters. A field trip to a hospital was included as part of an
educational unit. During the field trip, students were shadowed by volunteers
who accompanied them on a “scavenger hunt” where students were asked to find
various destinations within the hospital. The field trip was designed to help
students learn to navigate within the facility and to inform healthcare
administrators about potential barriers to access.
Results: Teachers and
students were enthusiastic about the health curriculum and it will become a
permanent part of the center’s offerings. Students provided significant feedback
to library and hospital personnel about their experience navigating through the
hospital and an online database of information collected during the field trips
was developed and will be maintained by the library. This information will be
shared with administrative personnel to help enhance future signage development
and communication efforts for hospital patients and families.
Conclusions:
Collaborations with adult educators to develop a health curriculum can be part
of effective community outreach activities for librarians and hospital
personnel.
Strengthening e-Professionalism: Discussing Social Media Dos and Don’ts with Students and Faculty – Interesting topic for library instruction, nice approach, seems to have been well received.
Gisela Butera, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, the George Washington
University Medical Center
Tom Harrod, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library,
the George Washington University Medical Center
Alexandra W. Gomes,
Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, the George Washington University Medical
Center
Anne Linton, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, the George
Washington University Medical Center
Objectives: To describe our
instructional initiatives in e-professionalism designed to encourage appropriate
use of social media among students within the George Washington University
Medical Center (GWUMC).
Methods: In Fall 2010, Himmelfarb Library created a
library drop-in workshop on Delving into Digital Dirt: Social Networking for
Individuals in Health Care, discussing social media best practices and how to
avoid posting content that could be detrimental to a health professional’s
career. The workshop included an interactive session reviewing examples of
blogs, twitter and Facebook sites using audience response system (clicker)
questions to evaluate content posted by medical professionals. It concluded with
recommendations on specific actions health care professionals can take to
improve their online social networking presence.
Results: The workshop
generated a lot of interest from students and faculty. Based on this feedback,
we developed a sample lesson plan for a more interactive session that included a
panel of experts. Faculty in the School of Medicine, Physician Assistant, and
School of Nursing programs expressed interest in working with the library to
integrate this material within their formal orientation or curricular plans. In
May 2011, the library conducted a session on e-professionalism for the Physician
Assistant Program and invited a GW faculty guest speaker who has written on the
topic to lead the discussion. We created an e-Professionalism: Social Media
LibGuide and included a reflection exercise to gather feedback on lessons
learned. Future plans include adapting this session for other GWUMC programs.
This poster will describe the evolution of the instruction from library workshop
to integrated curricular material, including details on the e-professionalism
content, lessons learned, and future plans.
Hosting a Library Resource Fair: Lessons Learned – Interesting outreach event in which vendors were invited to market and educate patrons about their tools. Important lessons that I recall from convo – start planning many months in advance, make sure to provide Internet access and power, and offer food to help attendance.
Tracie Frederick, Scientific Library, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, MD
Robin Meckley, Scientific Library, National Cancer Institute at Frederick,
MD
Objective: The intent of this event was to promote electronic resources
provided by the National Cancer Institute-Frederick’s Scientific Library, as
well as some freely available resources.
Methods: On March 8, 2011, the
Scientific Library hosted a five-hour Library Resource Fair, which featured
eleven vendors. Each resource representative was provided with a table to
distribute materials about their products and to answer questions from
attendees. Vendors were also given the opportunity to present a twenty minute
overview of their resources in a separate meeting room. As this was the first
time this type of event was offered by the Library, surveys were conducted of
attendees and the vendors involved to obtain feedback to enhance future events
like this.
Results and Conclusion: Overall, attendees and vendors were both
satisfied with the event; however, vendors would have liked to see more people
in attendance. Logistical and marketing lessons were learned by Library staff
that will help with planning future events. These lessons will be shared within
our poster.
Capturing and Sharing What Users Love About Their Library to Capitalize on Our Strengths – “Appreciative Inquiry” sounds interesting. Marketing, assessment, celebration, and more. Apparently this blog celebrating the Health Sciences Library is unmoderated. They haven’t had to deal with any rants or demands for $10,000 subscriptions, but it sounds like getting content has taken a lot of work.
http://ilovemyhsl.org/Barbara Rochen Renner, Health Sciences Library, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
Matt Marvin, Health Sciences Library, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
Robert Ladd, Health Sciences Library, University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jake Wiltshire, Health Sciences Library,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Program Objective: To
discover and share elements of the library that users value as important to
their success, via blog and an Appreciative Inquiry approach. With storytelling
recognized as one of the best ways for an organization to illustrate its value,
the objective was to create an ongoing vehicle for users to submit and share
stories of appreciation.
Setting: Health Sciences Library of a major
Southeastern university
Participants: librarians, library staff, and library
users
Program: Project creators developed and promoted a blog, integrated
into the library’s web presence, to capture and share stories of appreciation
and success in users’ own words. We called it, “I Love My HSL,” creating a fun,
social media environment to encourage user participation and launched on
Valentine’s Day.
Main Results: After 3 months, this approach has already
gathered more significant examples of what users value and appreciate than other
methods previously used. Library liaisons and others use submissions to assess
the value of their roles and of specific resources and services. Stories
gathered are part of an integrated marketing/communication effort. As the
library engages in high-level conversations/negotiations at the institutional
level, information gathered will be used to support the library’s value.
A
major challenge is building on the momentum, encouraging users to submit stories
at a rate that keeps the blog alive. We are focusing on creating more in-depth
stories, following up on submissions using multimedia, including audio and
video. Work has begun to analyze blog statistics and to work toward integration
with the library’s other social media, including Facebook and Twitter.
Conclusion: Blog submissions and analytics have provided the library with
rich data already used in a variety of ways. Analytics and anecdotal evidence
have convinced library leadership that the blog is a success, and we plan to
continue to analyze, grow and enhance the blog.
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