Lothar Spang

Healthcare information delivery in public libraries: implications for academic reference librarians

Changes in the US healthcare system in the past 20 years have meant increasing pressure on consumers to find their own healthcare information. Their search, amid an ever‐widening array of information resources, has profound implications for library reference services. A recent study of 350 public librarians in Michigan is, to date, the only investigation of librarian practices in health information provision in a large region of the USA. Examines services, queries, problems, librarian training and health collection resources. The findings have special meaning for academic librarians as they delineate their unique role in the health information system and, with public librarians, seek to devise effective means for responsive library service in today’s competitive health information resources environment.

Building a Foundation for Collaboration: K-20 Partnerships in Information Literacy.

ABSTRACT The authors have developed collaborative partnerships with K-12 educators and school library/media specialist students to promote information literacy. This article traces the history beginning with on-site workshops collaboratively developed by K-12 and university library staff; a continuing education course in information literacy for teachers and school librarians; an in-service workshop prepared collaboratively by a high school staff and university librarians; and a graduate-level library science course in information literacy for school library/media specialist students. Suggestions are provided for promoting information literacy partnerships between K-12 schools and universities, known as K-20 information literacy.

Reconciling rising serials costs, the serials budget, and reference needs in a medical library serials retrenchment program: a methodology.

Devising a coherent serials retrenchment plan while maintaining quality reference service is a dilemma faced by increasing numbers of medical librarians. In 1991, the staff of the Shiffman Medical Library, Wayne State University, began to address increasing serials budget reductions that by 1994 amounted to a projected 20% maximum cut. The resulting retrenchment plan combined an ongoing serials use study, faculty and librarian reviews of cancellation lists, and systematic refinements in interlibrary cooperation and document delivery service. The Shiffman plan provides a constructive framework that can be adapted to other medical libraries facing immediate, major serials retrenchment.

Incorporating a Comprehensive Media Services Unit into an Existing University Library Facility: The Wayne State University Libraries' Experience After 10 Years

Abstract University libraries traditionally have not offered comprehensive media services. Ten years ago Wayne State University (WSU) libraries assimilated the universitys media services unit. Today, as an analysis of its facilities, services, collections, and cost-recovery elements demonstrates, the full-service WSU media center is a cost-effective, integral part of WSU library service.