Best Librarian Possible

General Principles

The Hospital Librarian has a job that is constantly evolving in order to meet the needs of a fast changing health care environment. Because of the dynamic environment that librarians work in, the skills they possess much evolve and be enhanced. In order to do this librarians must constantly be looking to the future and being strategic about their choices when it comes to continuing education opportunities.

General Skills

  • Expert Searcher
    • Take advantage of the PubMed tutorials and online classes
    • Take advantage of vendor trainings
    • Learn Evidence Based Practice
    • Learn Comparative Effectiveness Research
  • Collection Development
    • Design a Collection Development Policy
    • Consider hard copy v digital
  • Teacher/Coach/Education
    • Know what is special about adult learners
    • Take Train the Trainer Training (National Library of Medicine)
    • Know how to listen
    • Know how to take advantage of "teachable moments"
    • Be prepared to teach one-on-one, small group or larger group.
  • Finances
    • Must understand budgeting.
    • Get a basic understanding of healthcare financing
  • Management
  • Web Design
    • Learn to build the website
    • Be creative with content and find correct person in the Hospital to help with the technical tasks
  • Text and Chatting
    • Learn proper etiquette
    • Understand the tools that can be utilized

Books / Book Chapters / Reports

Guidelines/Standards:

Bandy, M., Doyle, J. D., Fladger, A., Frumento, K. S., Girouard, L., Hayes, S., & Rourke, D. (2008). Standards for hospital libraries 2007: Hospital Libraries Section Standards Committee. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 96(2), 162-169.

Hospital Library Standards are tools for establishing the ground work for justification, service and place in institutions that support libraries. The Standards give hospital librarians a compass and sense of unity to build a local service with national implications.

IFLA: Guidelines for Libraries Serving Hospital Patients and the Elderly and Disabled in Long-Term Care Facilities

Books:

Brettle A, Urquhart C, editors. (2011) Changing roles and contexts for health library and information professionals. Facet Publishing, London. ISBN 9781856047401.

Ennis, L. A., & Mitchell, N. (2010). The accidental health sciences librarian. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc.

Jankowski, T. A., & Medical Library Association. (2008). The Medical Library Association essential guide to becoming an expert searcher: Proven techniques, strategies, and tips for finding health information. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.

Hersh, W. (2008). Information Retrieval: A Health and Biomedical Perspective: A Health and Biomedical Perspective. Springer Science & Business Media.

Resume / Curriculum Vitae

Giuse, N. B., Huber, J. T., Kafantaris, S. R., Giuse, D. A., Miller, M. D., Giles, D. E., ... & Stead, W. W. (1997). Preparing librarians to meet the challenges of today's health care environment. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 4(1), 57-67.

A hospital librarian must develop an understanding of his/her position in the organization that supports the library. How the library supports the institution is also part of this understanding. Embracing worth and value is essential.

Journal Articles

Davidoff, F., & Florance, V. (2000). The informationist: a new health profession?. Annals of internal medicine, 132(12), 996-998.

Davies, K. (2007). The information‐seeking behaviour of doctors: a review of the evidence. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 24(2), 78-94.

Winning, M. A., & Beverley, C. A. (2003). Clinical librarianship: a systematic review of the literature. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 20(s1), 10-21.

Florance, V., Giuse, N. B., & Ketchell, D. S. (2002). Information in context: integrating information specialists into practice settings. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 90(1), 49.

Joseph, C. B., & Epstein, H. A. B. (2014). Proving your worth/adding to your value. Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 14(1), 69-79.

A hospital librarian must develop an understanding of his/her position in the organization that supports the library. How the library supports the institution is also part of this understanding. Embracing worth and value is essential.

Epstein, H. A. B. (2014). Demonstrating Your Value in a Systematic Way.Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 14(4), 384-390.

Web Sites and Listservs

Held every Thursday night at 9pm Eastern. It is a good time to network and exchange ideas on various topics. In the blog you can see what topics have been discussed and what is upcoming.

Collection Developement

Teaching

Text/Chat/Email

Marketing

Sites for Skill Building

Team Members

  • Sheila Hayes (Captain)
  • Claire Joseph
  • Heather Martin
  • Louise McLaughlin
  • Linda Paulls
  • Priscilla Stephenson
      • WebDesign