The Accidental Health Sciences Librarian

233 Pages·2010·1.71 MB·English

by  Lisa A. Ennis and Nicole Mitchell

Lisa A. Ennis and Nicole Mitchell
Medford, New Jersey
First Printing,2010
The Accidental Health Sciences Librarian
Copyright ©2010 by Lisa A. Ennis and Nicole Mitchell
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ennis,Lisa A.,1969-
The accidental health sciences librarian / Lisa A. Ennis and Nicole
Mitchell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-57387-395-6
1. Medical Librarianship--United States. 2. Medical Libraries--United
States. 3. Library surveys--United States. I. Mitchell,Nicole. II. Title.
Z675.M4E56 2010
026’.610973--dc22
2009051594
Printed and bound in the United States of America
President and CEO:Thomas H. Hogan,Sr.
Editor-in-Chief and Publisher:John B. Bryans
Managing Editor:Amy M. Reeve
Project Editor:Rachel Singer Gordon
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Contents
Foreword, by Jean P. Shipman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
About the Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii
Chapter 1: Health Sciences Librarianship . . . .1
Help! My Degree Is in English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Don’t All Health Sciences Librarians Work in a
Hospital or Medical School Library? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Chapter 2: Putting the Medical in Health
Sciences Librarianship . . . . . . . . . . . .27
National Library of Medicine: A Brief History . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Regional Medical Library Program and National
Network of Libraries of Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Index-Catalogueand Index Medicus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
National Library of Medicine Classification System . . . . . .34
Medical Subject Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health
Literature Headings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Medical Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Chapter 3: It’s All About the People . . . . . . . . .47
Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Consumer Health: You Need a License to
Practice Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
The People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Areas to Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Outreach and Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
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Chapter 4: Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Communicating With IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Managing Your Expectations and Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
Keeping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
The Web and Social Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Chapter 5: Databases and Resources . . . . . . .101
Article and Citation Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Point of Need Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
PDA Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Evidence-Based Medicine Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Specialized Databases and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
The Art of Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
Chapter 6: Resources and Networking . . . . .125
Associations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Blogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
RSS Feeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141
Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Credentialing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
Peers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Where To Go From Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Appendix A: The Accidental Health
Sciences Librarian
Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
Appendix B: Selected Responses to
Survey Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
Appendix C: Selected Health Sciences
Library Associations . . . . . . . . . . .163
Appendix D: Selected Health Sciences
Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Contents v
Recommended Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169
Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .193
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199

Foreword
I clearly remember the day I chose my career. During high school,
I went to a nearby college library to research careers and came
home with the idea of becoming a health sciences librarian. My
mother and sister helped guide me in this direction: My mother
loved working in an academic library, and my sister enjoyed her
career as a pharmacist. I wanted to blend the two concepts—
libraries and healthcare—and also have a career that allowed me
to learn on a daily basis. Further, I wanted a job that provided a lot
of variety and was not too specific, as I knew that I would soon
become bored without such options.
More than 30 years later, I have no regrets about my decision and
can honestly say that I have never experienced the same day twice.
I have worked in all kinds of settings (academic medical centers,
community hospitals, regional medical libraries), in different parts
of the country, and with all kinds of library users. All of this makes
for an extremely challenging, yet rewarding, career! Had I had a
book like The Accidental Health Sciences Librarian, my career
choice would have been so much easier, and I would have had a
much better clue of what I was getting into by pursuing this path.
The authors of The Accidental Health Sciences Librarian are to
be congratulated for presenting not just a terrific overview of the
field and the infrastructure that supports it (such as the National
Library of Medicine), but also for their inclusion of others’ stories
and journeys. This ensured that they not only expressed their own
voices but, through a peer survey and personal testimonies, that
they shared others’ personal experiences of what makes health sci-
ences librarianship such a valuable and fun profession.
This book encapsulates within its covers numerous personal
reflections that provide valuable guidance to those considering a
career in health sciences librarianship. With just over 4,000 health
sciences librarians in the U.S., our profession is unknown to
many—except to those lucky enough (as I was) to know someone
in the library field or to have the resources at hand to explore this
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exciting profession. This book enables a quick discovery of the
profession and is a very readable overview of a day in the life of a
health sciences librarian.
As the book indicates, health sciences libraries and librarians
are unique even within this subfield. Health sciences librarians
directly engage with the healthcare enterprise of which the library
is a part, and many librarians now, through the wonders of tech-
nology, are able to physically be located within healthcare envi-
ronments rather than library buildings. They can do rounds with
healthcare teams (clinical medical librarians), provide synthesized
information at the point of need through their additional clinical
and research subject knowledge (informationists), and train
healthcare providers in using the knowledge and evidence avail-
able through years of organizing the medical literature (see
Chapter 3). They are vital members of healthcare teams that are
examining how to embed such knowledge within electronic med-
ical and personal health records and within the clinical context.
They are supporting their institutions by helping to translate
research into clinical practice at accelerated speeds, and they are
instructors and members of educational curricular committees to
ensure that the latest information is applied to the teaching of
healthcare students.
The Accidental Health Sciences Librarian is a must-read for all
those interested in a profession that will enable them to grow and
be rewarded by serving others in the process, as it is “all about the
people.” It should be promoted by library school educators and
become part of library school students’ required reading. This
book is highly recommended for inclusion in K–12 guidance coun-
seling collections and for those who help to direct students with
their career selections.
Jean P. Shipman
Director
Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library
University of Utah
Medical Library Association President 2006–07
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank all the librarians who took time out of their
busy schedules to contribute sidebars to this book. We’d also like to
thank all the folks who took time to fill out the survey. Thanks also
go to our publisher, Information Today, Inc., and our editor, Rachel
Singer Gordon.
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