Explore the vast range of titles available.

Librarianship is both an art and a science. Librarians study the science of information and how to work with clients to help them find solutions to their information needs. They also learn quickly that there is an art to working with people, to finding the answers to tough questions using the resources available and knowing which information resources to use to find the information being sought in short order. But, what technical skills do librarians need to be successful in the future? How can library managers best develop their staffs for success? Developing Librarian Competencies for the Digital Age explores questions such as: What is the composition of a modern library collection? Will that collection look different in the future? What are the information sources and how do we manage those? What are the technical skills needed for a 21st century librarian? How will reference services change and adapt to embrace new ways to interact with library patrons or clients? What kinds of library skills are needed for the librarian of today to grow and thrive, now and into the future? How will service models change to existing clients and how will the model change going into the future of librarianship?What kinds of budgeting challenges are there for libraries and the administrators who oversee these libraries?What do the library professional organizations see as the core skills needed for new graduates and those practicing in the profession going into the future? In answering those questions, the book identifies specific digital skills needed for success, ways of developing those skills, and ways of assessing them.

Background: To compare the library’s health information service usage area and customer topics with the hospital’s reasons for hospitalizations to examine commonalities and explore potential growth opportunities within the community. Case Presentation: Researchers partnered with the hospital for this project. IRB approval was received. Researchers gathered the health information service’s 2022 data, which was de-identified. Data analyzed included zip code and customer topics, which were coded according to the hospital’s business line, which was defined as why a patient was hospitalized or used the ED.  The health information service’s business lines were compared with the hospital’s business lines. Lastly, researchers also reviewed the hospital’s targeted zip codes to see if those overlapped with the top zip codes that utilize the health information service. The top zip codes that used the library’s health information service were 37920, 37918, 37917, 37919, and 37876. Usage of the health information service varied across zip codes and topics. The most requested topics for the health information service and reasons for hospitalizations/ED visits were General Medicine in three of the five zip codes. Based on the data’s results, librarians performed outreach to organizations in the targeted zip codes to increase visibility of the library’s services. Conclusion: The reasons people requested health information from the library aligned with hospitalizations and ED visits in most of the zip codes. Providing further outreach to the hospital’s targeted zip codes will benefit both the hospital and the library by increasing usage of the health information service.

Background: Health sciences libraries in medical schools, academic health centers, health care networks, and hospitals have established institutional repositories (IRs) to showcase their research achievements, increase visibility, expand the reach of institutional scholarship, and disseminate unique content. Newer roles for IRs include publishing open access journals, tracking researcher productivity, and serving as repositories for data sharing. Many repository managers oversee their IR with limited assistance from others at their institution. Therefore, IR practitioners find it valuable to network and learn from colleagues at other institutions. Case Presentation: This case report describes the genesis and implementation of a new initiative specifically designed for a health sciences audience: the Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries (MIRL) Symposium. Six medical librarians from hospitals and academic institutions in the U.S. organized the inaugural symposium held virtually in November 2021. The goal was to fill a perceived gap in conference programming for IR practitioners in health settings. Themes of the 2021 and subsequent 2022 symposium included IR management, increasing readership and engagement, and platform migration. Post-symposium surveys were completed by 73/238 attendees (31%) in 2021 and by 62/180 (34%) in 2022. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Discussion: Participant responses in post-symposium surveys rated MIRL highly. The MIRL planning group intends to continue the symposium and hopes MIRL will steadily evolve, build community among IR practitioners in the health sciences, and expand the conversation around best practices for digital archiving of institutional content. The implementation design of MIRL serves as a blueprint for collaboratively bringing together a professional community of practice.

Objective: What roles do librarians and information professionals play in conducting systematic reviews? Librarians are increasingly called upon to be involved in systematic reviews, but no study has considered all the roles that librarians can perform. This inventory of existing and emerging roles aids in defining librarians’ systematic reviews services.Methods: For this scoping review, the authors conducted controlled vocabulary and text-word searches in the PubMed; Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts; and CINAHL databases. We separately searched for articles published in the Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries, Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, the Journal of the Canadian Heath Libraries Association, and Hypothesis. We also text-word searched Medical Library Association annual meeting poster and paper abstracts.Results: We identified 18 different roles filled by librarians and other information professionals in conducting systematic reviews from 310 different articles, book chapters, and presented papers and posters. Some roles were well known such as searching, source selection, and teaching. Other less documented roles included planning, question formulation, and peer review. We summarize these different roles and provide an accompanying bibliography of references for in-depth descriptions of these roles.Conclusion: Librarians play central roles in systematic review teams, including roles that go beyond searching. This scoping review should encourage librarians who are fulfilling roles that are not captured here to document their roles in journal articles and poster and paper presentations. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.

Amy Blevins served as the Medical Library Association president from 2023-2024. In this presidential biography, authors outline a history of Blevins' recruitment to the career, career development, and impact on the association and the profession.

At the Medical Library Association (MLA) 2024 Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon, the Janet Doe Lectureship Series plenary session featured a panel of past Doe lecturers from the last decade. Reflecting on their lectures they were challenged to imagine how the Association’s Core Values could guide and inform decision making in response to current and emerging challenges to the profession and in the environment. Panelists’ reflections included themes of inclusivity, collaboration, leadership, technology, space planning, and the role of medical librarians in addressing issues of mis- and disinformation, bias, equity, and open access, today and in the future. Common themes included the centrality of collaboration as a necessary component of health sciences librarianship, and the ongoing criticality of the profession’s commitment to ethical practices. The panelists shared insights on how MLA's Core Values can guide the profession and association through the challenges and opportunities of the evolving healthcare and information landscape, including the rise and the rapid evolution of advanced technologies.

In preparation of the 125th anniversary of the Medical Library Association, between 2021 and 2022 the Board of Directors established four different task forces to document the story of MLA's past, present, and future as part of the strategic goal of Building a Better Future. The Vision 2048 Task Force sought to bring together members from across the association to chart the future of health sciences librarianship. In 2021, the task force was assembled with members from across the association with varying backgrounds and experience. Early on, the task force focused their work on encouraging conversations within the membership via a series of open forums centered around the overall future of health sciences librarianship including emerging issues critical to effective professional practice, how to prepare the next generation of health sciences librarians, and suggestions of how can MLA adapt to move the profession forward. In an effort to have conversations which were inclusive across as many communities as possible, these open forums were hosted both in-person as well as in a virtual environment. This article documents challenges and opportunities discussed by members during the open forum conversations. As the MLA membership looks toward the future, themes identified within these discussions can help to guide a path forward as health sciences librarianship continues to adapt to meet the needs of the communities we serve.

The twenty-first century library at a newly opened medical school often differs from those at traditional medical schools. One obvious difference is that the new medical school library tends to be a born-digital library, meaning that the library collection is almost exclusively digital. However, the unique issues related to building a library at a new medical school are not limited to online collections. A unique start-up culture is prevalent, of which newly appointed directors and other library and medical school leaders need to be aware. This special paper provides an overview of best practices experienced in building new medical school libraries from the ground up. The focus is on the key areas faced in a start-up environment, such as budgeting for online collections, space planning, staffing, medical informatics instruction, and library-specific accreditation issues for both allopathic and osteopathic institutions.

Objective: Academic health science library catalogs were analyzed to determine the presence and frequency of graphic medicine titles in print format in the collections. The secondary objectives were to gauge if students could access graphic medicine titles, through other libraries within the same system or as eBooks, and to examine if libraries highlighted graphic medicine collections and their uses on their websites. Methods: A convenience sample of health science libraries was created from the Association of Academic Health Science Libraries member list. A title list was developed from collection resources and award lists for graphic medicine and graphic novels. Data was collected from public-facing library catalogs. Results: Fifty-six percent of the libraries analyzed had at least one title from the list in their collections available as print. An additional thirty percent had at least one title available as an eBook, leaving only fourteen percent with no graphic medicine titles. Conclusions: This study provides a starting point in describing the prevalence and breadth of graphic medicine collections in academic health science libraries. Although their presence may be small, our findings suggest that graphic medicine is being collected by academic health science libraries. Academic librarians can support the growing interest in the comic art format by incorporating graphic medicine into their collections and educating their patrons on this important genre.

Objective: This study assesses the prevalence, usage, and impact of remote/hybrid work in academic health science libraries in 2022 and 2023. Due to differences in survey distribution, we focus primarily on the results of the second survey. Methods: Researchers surveyed administrators at Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) member libraries in the United States in March 2022 and library staff at academic health sciences libraries in March 2023. Results: The first survey received 71 responses that met inclusion criteria. Ninety-five percent of respondents indicated that remote/hybrid work was allowed in their libraries. Majorities indicated that remote/hybrid work had a positive impact on morale (86%), recruitment (53%) and retention (67%). The second survey received 383 responses that met inclusion criteria. 78% of respondents indicated they were allowed to work remotely, and majorities indicated remote/hybrid work positively impacted work/life balance (75%), morale/job satisfaction (69%), likelihood of staying at their current institution (64%), and productivity/overall effectiveness (58%). Respondents were less likely to accept a fully onsite (45% unlikely) or fully remote (20% unlikely) position than a hybrid one (1% unlikely). In a list of 9 factors associated with recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction, only salary and benefits ranked higher than remote/hybrid work. Conclusions: Remote/hybrid work is common in academic health science libraries and highly valued by employees. While not without challenges, remote/hybrid work appears to be a valuable tool to support recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction of workers in academic health sciences libraries. The findings of this study can inform library decision makers about future use of remote/hybrid work.