Library-On-The-Go
Utilizing Innovative Technology to Provide Educational Programming
Nandita Mani, MLIS, AHIP, CST
Medical Librarian and Coordinator for Consumer Health and Education
Sladen Library, Henry Ford Hospital
Detroit, MI
Sladen Library receives numerous requests for training on PubMed® and other electronic resources. Educating our patrons in the effective use of information resources is one of our key functions and goals. Two factors currently impede our goal of meeting the training needs of our patrons, namely: lack of training space and the time-constraints felt by many health care professionals. Training facilities throughout the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) campus are limited, and Sladen Library does not have its own computer lab, making it difficult to provide hands-on, interactive training which is crucial to adult learning. To address these issues, the Sladen Library applied for funding to create the Library-On-The-Go mobile computer lab. Library-On-The-Go is comprised of 10 laptop computers and a tablet PC, all of which are securely stored on a wheeled storage cart. All equipment is wireless-enabled and provides a great deal of flexibility from a training standpoint. Instruction sessions currently being offered cover searching PubMed, the use of evidence-based resources to which the library subscribes, and developing and delivering effective PowerPoint presentations.
To market this service, we are currently working with our Media Resources department to create a flyer and brochure regarding the service and how it can be of value to HFHS employees. Since the commencement of the Library-On-The-Go project (July 2, 2007), 4 instructional sessions have been delivered, reaching a total of 33 people. Due to the positive comments that have been relayed between various department chairs and other personnel, 4 more sessions have already been scheduled for the upcoming months–and our marketing initiative has not even started!
To determine the usefulness of the Library-On-The-Go service, a brief end-of-session questionnaire was administered to participants of the training sessions which focused on: (1) instructional effectiveness and delivery; (2) usefulness of the Library-On-The-Go service; (3) importance of having hands-on instruction available; and (4) whether they would recommend this service to colleagues. Out of a total of 33 participants, 25 responses were obtained. Responses indicate that all participants would recommend the service, found hands-on instruction to be useful and indicated that it was “very important” to have hands-on instruction available. It is through programs such as this that we can show our value to an organization, therefore I would highly recommend for other institutions to consider implementing a training service such as this. If anyone has any questions about this training service, please feel free to contact me: nmani1@sladen.hfhs.org.
This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. N01-LM-6-3503 with the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Additional funding provided by the Friends of the Sladen Library and Lam Archives Group.
