Suzanne F. Grefsheim

The Emerging Informationist Specialty: A Systematic Review of the Literature

PURPOSE A systematic literature review was conducted to synthesize what is known about informationists, highlight program models, and suggest areas for future research. METHODS Articles retrieved through database searching were reviewed for relevance. Informationist case reports were identified and coded according to an attributes checklist. Data from other retained publications were synthesized under broad themes. The few research studies found were reviewed for level of evidence. RESULTS Of 113 papers reviewed, the study identified 7 classic and 8 emerging informationist programs. Two major models are apparent, clinical and research, with priorities differing according to program maturity. The literature synthesis also brought together current thinking about informationist qualifications; practice roles; setting characteristics; education and training; organizational, programmatic, and service provider success factors; and challenges and barriers. Program outcomes to date are reported, and future research topics suggested. Specific findings will assist informationist program planners. CONCLUSIONS While the informationist concept remains in the early adopter stage, it appears that domain knowledge, continuous learning, and embedding (working in context) are essential to success. The need for librarians to transition to greater specialization and libraries to emphasize customized service was underscored. A research agenda focused on information management, dissemination, behaviors, and economics is proposed.

Information needs and information seeking in a biomedical research setting: a study of scientists and science administrators

OBJECTIVE An information needs study of clinical specialists and biomedical researchers was conducted at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to inform library services and contribute to a broader understanding of information use in academic and research settings. METHODS A random stratified sample by job category of 500 NIH scientists was surveyed by telephone by an independent consultant using a standardized information industry instrument, augmented with locally developed questions. Results were analyzed for statistical significance using t- tests and chi square. Findings were compared with published studies and an aggregated dataset of information users in business, government, and health care from Outsell. RESULTS The study results highlighted similarities and differences with other studies and the industry standard, providing insights into user preferences, including new technologies. NIH scientists overwhelmingly used the NIH Library (424/500), began their searches at the librarys Website rather than Google (P = or< 0.001), were likely to seek information themselves (474/500), and valued desktop resources and services. CONCLUSION While NIH staff work in a unique setting, they share some information characteristics with other researchers. The findings underscored the need to continue assessing specialized needs and seek innovative solutions. The study led to improvements or expansion of services such as developing a Website search engine, organizing gene sequence data, and assisting with manuscript preparation.

Effect of search experience on sustained MEDLINE usage by students

PURPOSE. While educators agree that medical students should learn to use MEDLINE for clinical application, there is a lack of consensus on an optimal level of exposure to this resource during training that will result in sustained usage. This study sought to identify the level of search experience (1) to increase the odds that the student searcher will continue to search MEDLINE in the absence of search assignments, and (2) to make an appreciable difference in the odds of retrieving items of relevance from the MEDLINE database. METHOD. Search frequencies of MEDLINE via the PaperChase interface by 184 fourth-year students (class of 1992) at the University of Michigan Medical School were analyzed using the log cross-product technique. The students were required to take the Comprehensive Clinical Assessment, an examination that included a search assignment, as they entered their fourth year of medical school. Their levels of MEDLINE use and their retrieval performances before the examination were compared with those achieved during the subsequent five months as fourth-year medical students. RESULTS. For those who searched an average of at least once a month during their first three years of medical school, there was a 7.38:1 chance that they would conduct three searches per month in the fourth year, compared with those who searched less frequently. The odds of retrieving at least one item of definite relevance were 8.27:1 for those who had searched at least one and one-half times per month before the search assignment. CONCLUSION. Searching once a month through the first few years of medical school provided an experience level that improved the odds that a student would continue to search MEDLINE. Data indicated that a history of a minimum of 1.5 online sessions per month increased the odds of retrieving relevant items to 8.27:1. Implications for educational strategy are clear.

Affirming our commitment to research : the Medical Library Association's research policy statement: the process and findings

PURPOSE Building on its 1995 research policy statement, the Medical Library Association (MLA) has issued a new research policy, The Research Imperative. This paper shares the background research that informed the new policy. METHODS Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifty-one key informants representing various library types, functions, geographic locations, ages, and ethnicities. The grounded theory approach was used to analyze the resulting textual database. Additionally, to gather input from the membership as a whole, two open forums were held at MLA annual meetings. RESULTS Key informant data indicated that the policy should provide roles for MLA in leadership, advocacy, collaboration, services, education, publishing, and development of a research agenda. Evidence-based library and information practice was emphasized. Six themes emerged to center the new policy: creation of a research culture, challenges, domains of research, research skills set, roles of stakeholders, and measurement of progress. CONCLUSION Reflecting the interests and beliefs of the membership, The Research Imperative challenges MLA members to build a supportive culture that values and contributes to a research base that is recognized as an essential tool for future practice.

Making a Commitment to EBLIP: The Role of Library Leadership

Purpose - The role of library management and administration is pivotal to successful adoption of evidence-based practice by library practitioners. As part of its long-standing commitment to a learning organization, the leadership team of the biomedical research library serving the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, USA planned and implemented a systematic approach to fostering EBLIP practice. Method - The library initiated a program to build an environment conducive to EBLIP that included support and release time for library research projects, formal training in EBLIP methods, and team mentoring as research projects evolved. Library staff participating in the EBLIP initiative were the library’s 32 professional librarians as well as four other staff members. Many had scientific research experience but few if any had designed a library research study. All considered training as very important to the EBLIP initiative, as well as opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and present at professional meetings. Five teams undertook research projects; highlights of these team studies are described briefly. Conclusions - By providing a supportive framework for EBLIP practice, library leadership can successfully engage staff in EBLIP thinking and small research studies. Librarians with some training in the research process and ongoing mentoring can design and conduct studies that find important practical answers to the questions that arise in daily practice.

Jocelyn Anne Rankin, PhD, FMLA, 1946–2010.

Jocelyn Rankin died on September 19, 2010, at her Florida home after an extended battle with cancer. At the time of her death, Jocelyn was chief of the Information Center at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a position she held since early 2000. While at the CDC, she oversaw the transformation of the CDC Library into a national and international public health library and information center, delivering information and services to the desktops of public health officers wherever they are located through the CDC electronic information delivery system. The creation of this system also was instrumental in the integration of several autonomous center libraries into one coherent network. Transformative leadership was not something new to Jocelyn. In 1974, she joined the faculty of the newly established Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) to create and direct its medical library. This undertaking, perhaps, was the source of her mantra “that every challenge is an opportunity.” Whatever the source, it remains a phrase forever linked to Jocelyn by those lucky enough to have worked with her at Mercer, and she proved the truth of the saying many times over. Under her leadership, in 1977, the new library became the first MUSM department to receive federal grant funding. In 1983, Jocelyn was awarded a three-year grant from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to create the Georgia Interactive Network for Medical Information (GaIN), the largest grant NLM had made up to that time. As a testament to Jocelyns foresight and planning, GaIN still exists in 2011 as the oldest statewide network of its kind in the United States. While at Mercer, Jocelyn became an active proponent of librarian involvement in problem-based medical education (PBL), the subject of her doctoral research [1]. She cofounded a Medical Library Association (MLA) special interest group devoted to PBL and taught a popular MLA continuing education course on the subject. Throughout the 1990s, she published articles on the topic, culminating in 1999 with the publication of her book, Handbook on Problem-based Learning [2]. Jocelyn had a long association with NLM, serving on the NLM Biomedical Library Review Committee when she was at Mercer and more recently as a member of NLMs “Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce” initiative, whose mission was to help the public health workforce find and use information effectively to improve and protect the publics health. She also participated in the NLM Public Health Outreach Forum. However, it was as a teacher, mentor, and MLA leader, that she will be most remembered. From her first days as a medical librarian at the Medical College of Georgia to her last as a library director at the CDC, Jocelyn was committed to professional involvement at the local, regional, and national levels. She was a member of the MLA Board of Directors from 1999 to 2002, served on numerous MLA committees, chaired the Research Section, served on the 1995 MLA Research Policy Implementation Task Force, and was a major contributor to the research policys revision in 2008. She received several prestigious awards, including the Ida and George Eliot Prize and the Thomson Reuters/Frank Bradway Rogers Information Advancement Award. In 1990, she achieved Distinguished Member status in the Academy of Health Information Professionals and was named a Fellow of MLA in 2002. Her heart was in the South, and MLAs Southern Chapter was her professional home. She served as chair of the chapter and as chair of a number of its committees, including the Southern Chapters Research Committee, which she founded. Jocelyn was always committed to research and was an early practitioner of evidence-based librarianship. Near the end of Jocelyns career, she spent a year on sabbatical at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), participating in research related to emerging roles for librarians, focusing in particular on the role of informationist, or librarian in context. Several articles came out of this experience, but the systematic review of the literature she conducted during that time stands as the most comprehensive examination of how this role has been interpreted and has evolved to date [3]. Jocelyn was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. As the daughter of a colonel in the US Army, she lived abroad, attending schools in both the United States and Europe, including the American College in Paris. She received a bachelors degree cum laude in English from Hollins College in Virginia, a masters of librarianship degree from Emory University in Atlanta, and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Georgia State University. She was a product of the South, and like many Southern women, Jocelyns warmth and grace were more obvious, but not more prevalent, than her strength of mind and character. Jocelyn leaves behind many who were privileged to know her as a friend and colleague. She is survived by her husband, William Rankin; her daughters, Stephanie Smith and Kimberly Macdonald; her son, William Rankin III; her three grandchildren; and her brother Howell Cobb.