Ana D. Cleveland

Miles to go before we sleep: education, technology, and the changing paradigms in health information

PURPOSE This lecture discusses a philosophy of educating health information professionals in a rapidly changing health care and information environment. DISCUSSION Education for health information professionals must be based upon a solid foundation of the changing paradigms and trends in health care and health information, as well as technological advances, to produce a well-prepared information workforce to meet the demands of health-related environments. Educational programs should begin with the core principles of library and information sciences and expand in interdisciplinary collaborations. A model of the health care environment is presented to serve as a framework for developing educational programs for health information professionals. CONCLUSION Interdisciplinary and collaborative relationships-which merge health care, library and information sciences, and other information-related disciplines-should form the basis of education for health information professionals.

Personal branding: building your pathway to professional success.

Personal branding is an introspective process by which you define yourself professionally, and it can serve as your pathway to professional success. There are six steps to building your personal brand: (1) taking an introspective look, (2) understanding the brand that may already exist, (3) developing your personal brand mantra, (4) crafting your physical footprint, (5) creating your digital footprint, and (6) communicating your message. Your personal brand is a promise of value and performance, and it is necessary to meet the expectations of your audience. Effective brand management is a key component to maintaining a positive brand reputation.

Genomics and Translational Medicine for Information Professionals: An Innovative Course to Educate the Next Generation of Librarians*

This article discusses an innovative course to educate the next generation of librarians and meet the demands of the changing health information environment.

Quality Health Information on the Internet: Developing a Diabetes Pathfinder for the Chinese Population

A Web-based bilingual diabetes information pathfinder was created to help the Chinese population access quality health information on the Internet as part of a collaborative outreach project in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A survey was conducted to identify the demographics, Internet usage, health information needs, and preferences for training sessions of the Chinese population. Breast cancer, diabetes, and hepatitis B were the top three diseases of interest. The process of developing the pathfinder is described from start to finish, and it can serve as a model for the development of others. Pathfinder training sessions also were held.

International partnerships in developing and deploying health open educational resources

Lack of training opportunities for new and practicing health care professionals constitutes a major barrier to patient care in many developing countries. Open Educational Resources (OER) hold the potential to provide more training materials and alternative learning opportunities for health professionals. OER are teaching and learning materials made freely and openly available for students, faculty, and self learners around the world. OER is not an online distance learning program. The focus of OER is on scaling up teaching and learning capacity in partner institutions by co-creating new learning materials and converting existing materials into OER. The context for which OER content is produced is often different from the contexts in which it is used. Thus, one of the major challenges of OER is to understand how to create a sustainable OER model to ensure that OER production and use fit different learning and teaching environments. The panel will share their perspectives on the following issues: How are different types of OER created and packaged for delivery and use? What are the challenges brought about by different contexts of knowledge creation and use? How do we design new tools and leverage the existing tools (Sakai course management system, Adobe Connect and similar web conferencing systems, OpenCast and lecture capture systems) to facilitate the creation and use of knowledge? How can we produce sustainable models of OER creation and use?