The value of Web-based library services at Cedars-Sinai Health System.

Cedars-Sinai Medical Library/Information Center has maintained Web-based services since 1995 on the Cedars-Sinai Health System network. In that time, the librarians have found the provision of Web-based services to be a very worthwhile endeavor. Library users value the services that they access from their desktops because the services save time. They also appreciate being able to access services at their convenience, without restriction by the library's hours of operation. The library values its Web site because it brings increased visibility within the health system, and it enables library staff to expand services when budget restrictions have forced reduced hours of operation. In creating and maintaining the information center Web site, the librarians have learned the following lessons: consider the design carefully; offer what services you can, but weigh the advantages of providing the services against the time required to maintain them; make the content as accessible as possible; promote your Web site; and make friends in other departments, especially information services.     

The Library Web Site: Collaborative Content Creation and Management

ABSTRACT

Oakland University's Kresge Library first launched its Web site in 1996. The initial design and subsequent contributions were originally managed by a single Webmaster. In 2002, the library restructured its Web content creation and management to a distributed, collaborative method with the goal of increasing the amount, accuracy, and timeliness of the information available on the library Web site. The new model was successful, resulting in a significant increase in both the amount and timeliness of the information presented on the library Web site. This article details the fundamental structural changes to how the Web site was managed and the rationale behind it.     

图书馆2.0环境下信息集成服务研究

图书馆2.0是Web2.0在图书馆信息服务中的应用,是图书馆服务范式的转变.图书馆2.0环境下信息集成服务的特征是:参与性、开放性、个性化和友好性.图书馆2.0环境下集成服务涉及的内容有:信息资源集成、技术集成、服务集成和人员集成.Web OPAC服务是目前最活跃的图书馆2.0应用.它采用插件、Ajax等2.0技术,集成了多种资源和服务,是图书馆2.0环境下信息集成服务的重要方式.     

The hospital library online--a point of service for consumers and hospital staff: a case study.

The Health Library at Stanford University is described in the context of electronic information services provided to Stanford University Medical Center, the local community, and Internet users in general. The evolution from CD-ROM-based services to Web-based services and in-library services to networked resources are described. Electronic services have expanded the mission of The Health Library to include national and international users and the provision of unique services and collections.     

HIV/AIDS Outreach: Curriculum Development and Skills Training to Health and Information Professionals

With funding from the National Library of Medicine HIV/AIDS Community Information Outreach Program (ACIOP), librarians at the University of Florida Health Sciences Libraries partnered with university and community groups to facilitate collaboration, develop new information resources, develop information-seeking skills, and raise general awareness surrounding HIV/AIDS risks, prevention, and treatment. This article describes the skills development elements of the project, including development and implementation of an HIV/AIDS information resource curriculum for health care providers, social services professionals, and public librarians within the project’s partner organizations.     

A New Paradigm for Networked Resource Sharing in the United Arab Emirates Universities

Library and Information Web Access (LIWA) is the first systematic interlibrary cooperative activity among three universities under the umbrella of the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. LIWA was born in 2007 after the shift of the partner libraries to Web-based information services. Interlibrary book lending is the current achievement of Library and Information Web Access with the aim to expand resource sharing and incorporate more e-services soon. This paper aims at gaining some insights into potential success factors for further development of the library consortium in a networked environment. Some key issues, such as metadata standards, acquisitions, licensing, access security, and governance are discussed.     

Disconnected in a connected world: knowledge and understanding of Web 2.0 tools at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center

This article outlines five Web 2.0 resources and looks at the use of these tools among medical and nursing professionals and students at the Hospital, Medical School, and Nursing School of the University of Pennsylvania. Questionnaires showed that a majority of the individuals surveyed were unfamiliar with Web 2.0 resources. Additional respondents recognized the tools but did not use them in a medical or nursing context, with a minimal number using any tools to expand their medical or nursing knowledge. A lack of time to set up and use the resources, difficulty of set-up and use, skepticism about the quality of user-generated medical content, and a lack of perceived need for Web 2.0 resources contributed substantially to non-use. The University of Pennsylvania Biomedical Library is responding by increasing the availability of basic, quick, and easy-to-use instructional materials for selected Web 2.0 resources.     

Core competencies for information professionals of Thai academic libraries in the next decade (A.D. 2010–2019)

This research aimed to develop core competencies framework for information professionals of Thai academic libraries in the next decade (2010–2019). The study consisted of two phases, Phase 1- the study of opinions about the roles of Thai academic libraries and information professionals in the next decade (Tanloet & Tuamsuk, 2011) and Phase 2- the development of core competencies framework conducted by using the Delphi technique. This paper presents Phase 2 of the study. The research conceptual framework on core competencies for information professionals was synthesized and adopted from several resources including [Gulati and Raina, 2000] , [Gorman and Corbitt, 2002] , [Abels et?al., 2003] and [Ashcroft, 2004] and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Library (2007). The subject of this small Delphi study included 21 experts from the following three groups: eight instructors of library and information science, eight administrators/practitioners of academic libraries, and five scholars who have had active roles in the library and information professionals. Data were collected in three rounds and analyzed by using the median, mode, and inter-quartile range. Results of the study were concluded and discussed on the three following core competencies for information professionals of Thai academic libraries in the next decade. 1) The Knowledge - consists of eight areas including knowledge of the foundations of information profession, information resources, information and knowledge management, information technology, library and information services, organizational management, research and user studies, and continuing education and lifelong learning. 2) The Skills – consist of 11 skills including user services, information resource management, information technology, marketing, language and communication, team working, analytical thinking, problem solving and decision making, management and planning, teaching and training, conceptual thinking, and knowledge management skills. 3) The personal attributes – consist of seven characteristics including the leadership, service mentality, morals and professional ethics, achievement motivation, accountability, self-management and adaptability.     

Name Disambiguation—Learning From More User-Friendly Models

Library catalogs do not provide catalog users with the assistance they need to easily and confidently select the person they are interested in. Examples are provided of Web services that do a better job of helping information seekers differentiate the person they are seeking from those with similar names. Some of the reasons for this failure in library catalogs are examined. This article then looks at how much information is necessary to help users disambiguate names, how that information could be captured and shared, and some ways the information could be displayed in library catalogs.     

Creating the first MedlinePlus "Go Local" service: lessons and recommendations from the evaluation of NC Health Info

NC Health Info is an online collection of North Carolina based health services Web sites that seamlessly links local health resources to topical health information on MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine's consumer health information Web site. NC Health Info was the first project to connect local resources with MedlinePlus in the "Go Local" initiative. As such, NC Health Info serves as a model for other states to follow in connecting their own local information with Medline- Plus. This paper describes the processes used and lessons learned during a year-long evaluation of NC Health Info. Evaluation results may be of interest and applicable to any existing or planned "Go Local" project.     

How the web was won … by some

HILJ readers may have encountered the phrase library 2.0 which has polarised librarians, with some sceptical whether library 2.0 offers anything new. Others are confident that the convergence of service goals and ideas with emerging Web 2.0 technologies will lead to a new generation of library services. Andrew Tattersall's article, 'How the Web was Won', belongs in the latter camp. His thesis is that Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 have opened up a whole new world for exploration by information and library professionals. Although the Web has created problems for the modern day explorer, potentially there is a bright future for information professionals if they are to succeed in deploying the resources.     

State of the art of expert searching: results of a Medical Library Association survey.

OBJECTIVES: Medical Library Association (MLA) members were surveyed to gather background about the current state of expert searching in institutions. The survey results were intended to guide the recommendations of the Task Force on Expert Searching for promoting the importance of expert searching and implementing those recommendations. METHODS: MLA members were surveyed, and data obtained from the survey were compiled and analyzed to answer three general questions: what is the perceived value of searching skills to the institution, how do health sciences librarians maintain and improve their searching skills, and how are searching services promoted and/or mandated in the institution. RESULTS: There were 256 responses to the survey. Over 95% of the respondents saw their expert-searching skills were of value to their institutions, primarily through performing mediated searches and search consultations. Over 83% of the respondents believed that their searching skills had improved over the past 10 years. Most indicated that continued training was very important in maintaining and improving their skills. Respondents promoted searching services most frequently through orientations, brochures, and the libraries' Web pages. No respondent's institution mandated expert searching. Less than 2% of respondents' institutions had best practice guidelines related to expert searching, and only about 8% had guidelines or policies that identified situations where expert searching was recommended. CONCLUSIONS: The survey supports the belief that health sciences librarians still play a valuable role in searching, particularly in answering questions about treatment options and in providing education. It also highlights the need for more expert searching courses. There has been minimal discussion about the perceived need for expert-searching guidelines in the institutions represented by survey respondents.     

图书馆学科化服务的有效延伸和嵌入——记“科研团队信息专员网络”建设

阐述了在学科服务工作中为了解决科研团队的需求、学科馆员资源短缺和学科重点资源建设不平衡的矛盾,上海交通大学图书馆推出"科研团队信息专员网络"的计划,并以具体实施的方法和取得的成效为例,阐明了在学科服务工作中培养信息专员可以提高科研团队整体信息能力,使图书馆学科化服务得以有效地延伸和深度地嵌入。     

MEDLINEplus: building and maintaining the National Library of Medicine's consumer health Web service

MEDLINEplus is a Web-based consumer health information resource, made available by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). MEDLINEplus has been designed to provide consumers with a well-organized, selective Web site facilitating access to reliable full-text health information. In addition to full-text resources, MEDLINEplus directs consumers to dictionaries, organizations, directories, libraries, and clearinghouses for answers to health questions. For each health topic, MEDLINEplus includes a preformulated MEDLINE search created by librarians. The site has been designed to match consumer language to medical terminology. NLM has used advances in database and Web technologies to build and maintain MEDLINEplus, allowing health sciences librarians to contribute remotely to the resource. This article describes the development and implementation of MEDLINEplus, its supporting technology, and plans for future development.     

Users' information-seeking behavior on a medical library Website

The Central Medical Library (CMK) at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, started to build a library Website that included a guide to library services and resources in 1997. The evaluation of Website usage plays an important role in its maintenance and development. Analyzing and exploring regularities in the visitors'' behavior can be used to enhance the quality and facilitate delivery of information services, identify visitors'' interests, and improve the server''s performance. The analysis of the CMK Website users'' navigational behavior was carried out by analyzing the Web server log files. These files contained information on all user accesses to the Website and provided a great opportunity to learn more about the behavior of visitors to the Website. The majority of the available tools for Web log file analysis provide a predefined set of reports showing the access count and the transferred bytes grouped along several dimensions. In addition to the reports mentioned above, the authors wanted to be able to perform interactive exploration and ad hoc analysis and discover trends in a user-friendly way. Because of that, we developed our own solution for exploring and analyzing the Web logs based on data warehousing and online analytical processing technologies. The analytical solution we developed proved successful, so it may find further application in the field of Web log file analysis. We will apply the findings of the analysis to restructuring the CMK Website.     

Learning from research on the information behaviour of healthcare professionals: a review of the literature 2004–2008 with a focus on emotion

Objective: A review, focusing on emotion, was conducted of reported studies on the information behaviour of healthcare professionals (2004–2008). Findings were intended to offer guidelines on information services and information literacy training, to note gaps in research and to raise research interest. Method: Databases were searched for literature published from January 2004 to December 2008 and indexed on eric , Library and Information Science Abstracts, medline , Psyc INFO, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition; Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts; Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection; Social Work Abstracts; Soc INDEX with Full Text; SPORTDiscus ; cinhal ; and the ISI Web of Knowledge databases. Key journals were manually scanned and citations followed. Literature was included if reporting on issues concerning emotion. Results: Emotion in information behaviour in healthcare contexts is scantily addressed. This review, however, offers some insight into the difficulty in identifying and expressing information needs; sense making and the need to fill knowledge gaps; uncertainty; personality and coping skills; motivation to seeking information; emotional experiences during information seeking; self‐confidence and attitude; emotional factors in the selection of information channels; and seeking information for psychological or emotional reasons. Conclusion: Suggestions following findings, address information literacy programs, information services and research gaps.     

Web-based distance continuing education: a new way of thinking for students and instructors

As people have more difficulty taking time away from work to attend conferences and workshops, the idea of offering courses via the Web has become more desirable. Addressing a need voiced by Medical Library Association membership, the authors developed a Web-based continuing-education course on the subject of the librarian's role in evidence-based medicine. The aim of the course was to provide medical librarians with a well-constructed, content-rich learning experience available to them at their convenience via the Web. This paper includes a discussion of the considerations that need to be taken into account when developing Web-based courses, the issues that arise when the information delivery changes from face-to-face to online, the changing role of the instructor, and the pros and cons of offering Web-based versus traditional courses. The results of the beta test and future plans for the course are also discussed.     

面向学科服务的大学城数字资源联合采购模式探讨

数字资源联合采购已是高校图书馆数字资源建设的主要方式。文章提出建立面向学科服务的大学城数字资源联合采购模式的设想,分析该模式的主要特点,认为该模式将资源建设与资源服务有效结合在一起,不仅有利于指导、协调成员馆的数字资源建设,发挥大学城整体资源优势,而且有利于成员馆学科服务的开展,推动区域性学科服务的发展。     

Action Research: Methods That Make Sense

Abstract

This article outlines five Web 2.0 resources and looks at the use of these tools among medical and nursing professionals and students at the Hospital, Medical School, and Nursing School of the University of Pennsylvania. Questionnaires showed that a majority of the individuals surveyed were unfamiliar with Web 2.0 resources. Additional respondents recognized the tools but did not use them in a medical or nursing context, with a minimal number using any tools to expand their medical or nursing knowledge. A lack of time to set up and use the resources, difficulty of set-up and use, skepticism about the quality of user-generated medical content, and a lack of perceived need for Web 2.0 resources contributed substantially to non-use. The University of Pennsylvania Biomedical Library is responding by increasing the availability of basic, quick, and easy-to-use instructional materials for selected Web 2.0 resources.