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The Twin Cities biomedical consortium.

Twenty-eight health science libraries in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area formed the Twin Cities Biomedical Consortium with the intention of developing a strong network of biomedical libraries in the Twin Cities area. Toward this end, programs were designed to strengthen lines of communication and increase cooperation among local health science libraries; improve access to biomedical information at the local level; and enable the Consortium, as a group, to meet an increasing proportion of its members' needs for biomedical information. Presently, the TCBC comprises libraries in twenty-two hospitals, two county medical societies, one school of nursing, one junior college, and two private corporations.

Information Services↗

Selective use of online literature searching by a drug information service.

The use of online searching in a drug information center on a regular but selective basis is described. Of 90-100 information requests received monthly in a university-affiliated drug information center located within the health sciences library, five to eight computer searches are performed. All other questions are answered using a manual search. The computer searches are conducted by a medical librarian who works closely with the pharmacist. For each search, the library charges the drug information center for at least 12 minutes of connect time; charges cover the library's direct costs only. The drug information center is staffed by a director and assistant director; in addition, Pharm.D. students and clinical pharmacy residents work there. Factors influencing the decision to do an online rather than a manual search include budgetary constraints, how quickly an answer is needed, the success of a preliminary manual search, and the complexity of the request. Considerations for conducting online searches through a library rather than by the staff of the drug information center include requisite search skills, costs, and accessibility to computer search services. The selective use of online searches through a health sciences library is a viable means of accessing online information in a drug information center that cannot support its own online literature-retrieval system.

Budgets↗

The vital few meet the trivial many: unexpected use patterns in a monographs collection.

PURPOSE: To test three related hypotheses about monographs circulation at academic health sciences libraries: (1) Juran's "Vital Few" Principle, sometimes incorrectly referred to as the "Pareto Principle"; (2) most (> 30%) new monographs will not circulate within four years; and, (3) Trueswell's 20/80 rule concerning intensity of monographs circulation. METHODS: Retrospective circulation study conducted at a major academic health sciences library in November 1997 on monographs acquired during 1993, utilizing an online review file. RESULTS: Unexpectedly, most monographs (84%) had circulated at least once in the four years following acquisition. Combining circulation and in-house data revealed that 90.7% of the monographs acquired in 1993 had been used at least once. Small percentages of these monographs produced disproportionately high circulation levels. CONCLUSION: Monographs circulation rates confirm Juran's Vital Few principle. Most monographs circulated at least once in contrast to results reported by the Pittsburgh Study or other studies reported by Hardesty and Fenske. The results do not comply with Trueswell's 20/80 ratio rule. Further research needs to investigate the effects of low students to books ratios and problem-based learning (PBL) curricula upon monographs utilization.

Books↗

The role of the academic medical center library in training public librarians.

PURPOSE: This project enhanced access to and awareness of health information resources on the part of public libraries in western Pennsylvania. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS/RESOURCES: The Health Sciences Library System (HSLS), University of Pittsburgh, conducted a needs assessment and offered a series of workshops to 298 public librarians. BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The National Library of Medicine-funded project "Access to Electronic Health Information" at the HSLS, University of Pittsburgh, provided Internet health information training to public libraries and librarians in sixteen counties in western Pennsylvania. Through this project, this academic medical center library identified the challenges for public librarians in providing health-related reference service, developed a training program to address those challenges, and evaluated the impact of this training on public librarians' ability to provide health information. RESULTS/OUTCOME: The HSLS experience indicates academic medical center libraries can have a positive impact on their communities by providing health information instruction to public librarians. The success of this project--demonstrated by the number of participants, positive course evaluations, increased comfort level with health-related reference questions, and increased use of MEDLINEplus and other quality information resources--has been a catalyst for continuation of this programming, not only for public librarians but also for the public in general. EVALUATION METHOD: A training needs assessment, course evaluation, and impact training survey were used in developing the curriculum and evaluating the impact of this training on public librarians' professional activities.

Academic Medical Centers↗

Biotechnology awareness study, Part 1: Where scientists get their information.

A model study, funded by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and conducted by the Southeastern/Atlantic Regional Medical Library (RML) and the University of Maryland Health Sciences Library, attempted to assess the information needs of researchers in the developing field of biotechnology and to determine the resources available to meet those needs in major academic health sciences centers. Nine medical schools in RML Region 2 were selected to participate in a biotechnology awareness study. A survey was conducted of the nine medical school libraries to assess their support of biotechnology research. To identify the information needs of scientists engaged in biotechnology-related research at the schools, a written survey was sent to the deans of the nine institutions and selected scientists they had identified. This was followed by individual, in-depth interviews with both the deans and scientists surveyed. In general, scientists obtained information from three major sources: their own experiments, personal communication with other scientists, and textual material (print or electronic). For textual information, most study participants relied on personal journal subscriptions. Tangential journals were scanned in the department's library. Only a few of these scientists came to the health sciences library on a regular basis. Further, the study found that personal computers have had a major impact on how biotechnologists get and use information. Implications of these findings for libraries and librarians are discussed.

Awareness↗

A union catalog of monographs: another approach.

The rationale for and the production of the 1977 TALON Union Catalog of Monographs are described. The 158,859 records include the existing machine-readable records for six health sciences libraries plus the cataloging of six others, converted by matching other data bases and by keypunching. The method and costs of production are discussed. Use of Computer-Output-Microfiche (COM) significantly decreased the cost and time required for publication. The $.076 unit cost per entry, with both author and title access for the COM method, is almost one-half the unit cost for the previous method which offered only main-entry access. The TALON Catalog compares favorably with the Midwest Medical Union Catalog. The addition of the title index significantly increases its usefulness. However, the unique feature of the TALON Catalog may be its machine-readable form which offers the potential for quantitative analyses of health sciences library collections. Such data may be essential for rational management of limited library funds.

Books↗

Improving usage of pediatric information on the Internet: the Virtual Children's Hospital.

OBJECTIVE: Digital health sciences libraries (DHSLs) bring order to the chaos of the Internet by making authoritative medical information easily and conveniently available to patrons. The goal of this project was to perform a baseline usage analysis of the pediatric-related information in a general DHSL and to determine whether reorganization of the pediatric-related information into its own pediatric DHSL could increase the usage of the pediatric-related information. METHODS: From March through August 1997, a baseline analysis of a general DHSL (Virtual Hospital) was conducted using computer server log file analysis programs. The quantity of pediatric-related information in the general DHSL and its baseline usage were determined. In September 1997, the pediatric-related information was reorganized into its own pediatric DHSL (Virtual Children's Hospital), and server log file analyses were conducted of the pediatric DHSL from September 1997 to August 1998. Statistical analysis was performed by time series autoregression. RESULTS: During the baseline, the general DHSL and the pediatric-related information received a monthly average of 2 320 782 and 141 444 qualified hits, respectively. After the intervention, the general DHSL and the pediatric DHSL received a monthly average of 2 765 454 and 256 998 qualified hits, respectively. This is an increase of 19. 2% for the general DHSL and 81.7% for the pediatric DHSL. These changes were statistically significant at the P >.0001 level. The most requested pediatric-related content in the pediatric DHSL did not change substantively from preintervention to postintervention. DISCUSSION: On the Internet, as in real life, children's services must have their own distinct identity and must be differentiated from adult services. Therefore, pediatric-related information will receive increased usage if it is part of a pediatric DHSL rather than part of a general DHSL. Others can use this process and the lessons learned to develop and enhance their own pediatric-related information on the Internet. Internet, pediatrics, digital health sciences libraries, digital library, medical library.

Data Collection↗

Searching for answers. Using computers to find the literature you need for patient care.

The medical journal literature is extensive and contains information that can help physicians care for patients. Minnesota physicians are able to tap into a variety of resources to help them locate relevant articles. Literature searches may be run by librarians in a local hospital library, a larger health sciences library, or via various professional associations. Physicians interested in conducting their own searches are able to use local systems or dial into national ones. Innovations in computers will allow easier and faster access to the medical literature in the future.

CD-ROM↗

Hospital association libraries: an overview.

Results of a survey conducted by the Library of the American Hospital Association to gather data about library and information services provided by other hospital associations are reported. Topics covered include staffing, funding, collection size, users, and services. The interface of these libraries with other health sciences libraries and the national Biomedical Communications Network (BCN) is discussed.

American Hospital Association↗

Consumer health information: libraries as partners.

The need for consumer health information delivery is becoming more evident to librarians. The results of a user survey at a large medical center library and a metropolitan public library confirm that the general public is making demands for health information at both types of libraries. Issues facing librarians are discussed; roles are suggested for public libraries, for academic health sciences libraries, and for hospital libraries. The importance of library involvement in the delivery of consumer health information is emphasized. Librarians are urged to define a role for themselves and to work hard at identifying the library profession to all others involved in the delivery of consumer health information.

Forecasting↗