You may be interested in a new resource called the DMPTool (https://dmp.cdlib.org/).  Using the DMPTool templates and guidance, your researchers can:

• Create ready-to-use data management plans for specific funding agencies
• Meet requirements for data management plans
• Get step-by-step instructions and guidance for data management plan
• Learn about resources and services available at your institution to fulfill the data management requirements of their grants

Several universities and organizations are developing the DMPTool, led by the California Digital Library and the University of Virginia Library’s Scientific Data Consulting Group (SciDaC) (http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/brown/data/).

Mark these dates in your calendar and join us for the following workshops…

January 9th:

• Valuing Your Library: Needs Assessment, Program Development, and Program Evaluation (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Nursing on the Net: Health Care Resources You Can Use (Online: 1/9/2012 – 2/3/2012)

January 17th:  Patient Safety Resource Seminar: Librarians on the Front Lines (Online: 1/17/2012 – 2/17/2012)

January 23rd:  EBM for Librarians (Bronx, NY)

February 6th:  Beyond an Apple a Day: Providing Consumer Health Information at Your Library (Online: 2/6/2012 – 3/9/2012)

Measuring Your Impact: Using Evaluation for Library Advocacy

Library users and stakeholders will recognize and value the importance of their library’s services and of the librarian to the organization. That is the ultimate goal of this six-hour workshop. The outcome for the class is that librarians will be able to show the value of their library’s services. Participants will become familiar with an evaluation process and will use and take away methods and tools for assessment, evaluation planning, creating logic models, data collection, data analysis and reporting. The workshop will feature group exercises that move participants through the steps of an evaluation process. There will be participant discussion and exercises in addition to lectures.

6 MLA C.E. Credits

Instructors: Sue Hunter, NN/LM MAR, and Cindy Olney, NN/LM OERC

Date/Time: Thursday, October 21, 2010, 8:30am – 4:00 pm

Location: Central New York Library Resources Council (CLRC), 6493 Ridings Road,  Syracuse, New York, 13206

Please register with the Central New York Library Resources Council

In February/March 2010 the NN/LM MAR held a series of focus groups with MAR network members. The purpose of the focus groups was to learn from network members about their experiences with the current programs and services of the MAR and their future needs and interests in order to plan for the next NN/LM five-year contract.

A total of four focus groups were conducted with a total of fourteen network members. The focus groups were made of up network members from hospital, public, academic, health sciences, and resource libraries. The Appreciative Inquiry method was used in the focus group sessions to learn about the past successes of the MAR programs in order to build on those successes to implement future programs and services.

These nine themes emerged from the focus groups, funding, training, customer service, communication, NLM resources, Value of Libraries Study, advocacy, connectivity and networking, and community. These themes are fully outlined in the Focus Group: Final Report which is now available on the MAR website.

The goal of the “Value of Library and Information Services in Patient Care” initiative is to develop and implement a research study to measure the value of the health sciences library, library services, and librarian on clinical decision making and patient care outcomes.  From a discussion at a November 2006 meeting of the Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) of the Middle Atlantic Region, National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), emerged the issue of establishing the value of health sciences libraries to administrators in hospitals, academic health sciences centers and other organizations where librarians work.

In the RAC discussion the “Rochester study” [The impact of the hospital library on clinical decision making: the Rochester study. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1992 Apr; 80(2):169-78] was mentioned as an influential, highly-cited (109 times) piece of research that was now seriously out of date.  The Regional Advisory Committee recommended moving forward with planning a new study based on the original Rochester study, but updated for the present day.  [See: Measuring the value and impact of health sciences libraries: planning an update and replication of the Rochester Study. J Med Libr Assoc. 2009 Oct;97(4):308-12.]

The Value Study Planning Committee is comprised of members of NN/LM and researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).  Julia Sollenberger, (principal investigator), Karen Brewer, Susan Cavanaugh, Kathel Dunn, Sharon Easterby-Gannett, Mary Lou Klem, Lynn Kasner Morgan, and Kate Oliver comprise the NN/LM members.  We have developed a research plan in consultation with Joanne Marshall, now on the faculty of the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Information and Library Science, and one of the original authors of the Rochester study.  The other UNC members are:  Jennifer Craft Morgan, Susan Rathbun-Grubb and Cheryl Thompson.  The plan is to reproduce the original study in the current environment, and to include as many hospitals as possible in the MAR region. The survey is to be administered by a private survey company and analyzed by the research group at UNC.

A Problem

Funding for the entire study (just over $144,000) is coming from the MAR program, which is itself funded through the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM).  However, in the spring of 2009 the National Library of Medicine alerted us to a potential problem — all surveys funded by government agencies (including NLM) must be approved by the US Office of Management and Budget, (OMB), and this process could delay the study by at least 12 months.  The only time-saving solution seemed to be funding the survey itself (the programming and administration of the survey by an independent survey company) with non-NLM funds, which would alleviate the need to get OMB approval. The actual cost of conducting the survey is approximately $18,000.

Library Groups Save the Day

Through the generosity of twelve different regional and national library groups, financial support for conducting the survey was secured.  By October, 2009, the following groups had agreed to contribute to this important initiative:  the Hospital Library Section of the Medical Library Association, the NY/NJ Chapter of MLA, the Philadelphia Regional Chapter of MLA, the Upstate New York and Ontario Chapter of MLA and all eight of the New York State Reference and Research Library Resources Councils.

Where We Are Now

Due to the generous support of these groups, we are now at a point where the study will soon be implemented.  The planning committee has completed survey development and a handbook for the study participants; the research plan is going through the UNC Institutional Review Board; and the survey will soon be pretested.  We expect to implement a pilot in the spring of 2010; libraries in the MAR Region will be contacted soon as we begin to recruit pilot participants.  The actual survey will begin in late summer.  The research team is very busy, but excited to be so close to implementation. We are grateful for your show of support and look forward to sharing more progress updates.  Please stay tuned!

The NN/LM MAR has made available recordings for the following online classes. Recordings include the online class in its entirety with audio and a visual slide presentation. Simply click on the recorded session link to begin the recording for the class. MAR will continue to add recordings for future online classes, look for the link from the class descriptions on the MAR web site,
http://nnlm.gov/mar/training/classes.html .

DOCLINE SERHOLD: Searching, Updating, and Reporting
This course will focus on the SERHOLD feature of DOCLINE.  Attendees will learn how to add new titles and formats to their library’s record, search SERHOLD for other library’s holdings, and utilize the SERHOLD reporting functions to make the most of this unique tool in DOCLINE.  
The class presentation is available in PDF.
A previously recorded session is available for viewing online .

Free Productivity Tools
Library’s budgets are always pinched for one thing or another. Did you know that there are a multitude of free software packages out there that do just about everything that commercial software packages can do? In this one hour class we’ll take a look at some of these software packages, their usefulness, their limitations and things to think about if you decide to go the free software route.
Productivity tools resource page
A previously recorded session is available for viewing at anytime.

Valuing Library Services and Cost Benefit/ROI Calculators
On April 22, 2009, MAR hosted an online class to enable health sciences librarians to determine the return on investment and cost benefit of their libraries and services. The instructors discussed and demonstrated two tools to show the value a library brings to its institution:

1. The Retail Value Calculator, adapted from one originally provided by the Massachusetts Library Association, and then adapted for the web by Chelmsford Public Library, helps to determine the library’s worth to the institution, and how much would it cost to replace library services on the retail market;
2. The CBA and ROI Calculator helps to determine a library’s contribution to the institutional bottom line, and how much benefit the institution receives for every dollar spent by the library.

Guest Speakers/Instructors: Betsy Kelly, Assessment and Evaluation Liaison (NN/LM MCR) & Barb Jones, Advocacy Liaison (NN/LM MCR)
This free, online class for MAR network members was conducted using Adobe Connect. The recording provides the session in its entirety with audio and the PowerPoint presentation. The recording runs for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.
View the recorded session.
Class notes are available in PDF.

The intention of the new Evaluation webpage on the MAR web site is two-fold. The page provides information on the evaluation activities conducted by the MAR staff to benefit members (http://nnlm.gov/mar/evaluation/ ). Secondly, the Evaluation page presents tools and resources to help guide network members through the evaluation process (http://nnlm.gov/mar/evaluation/evaluationtools.html ).

If you have comments or suggestions for improvements or new additions to the Evaluation page, please let me know. Are you considering evaluating your library services? If you need assistance in developing an evaluation plan, please contact Sue Hunter: sue.hunter@med.nyu.edu .

Request for Proposals for State Action concerning Healthy People 2020

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, in collaboration with the Regional Health Administrators, is pleased to announce a request for proposals for the State Action:  Evaluating the Healthy People 2020 Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Agenda project.  Funded by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, this project is being administered by John Snow, Incorporated (JSI).

This evaluation project will fund state, territorial, and tribal governments to conduct innovative and participatory strategic planning activities, with an emphasis on multi-sector collaboration, using the Healthy People 2020 framework and population health improvement concepts (i.e., Healthy People 2020 mission and overarching goals; social, physical, and environmental determinants of health; and health equity).  Up to 12 projects, taking place between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010, will be funded at a maximum award of $37,000 each.

Eligible applicants that can apply for this funding opportunity are listed below:

• State and territorial health departments (this includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the National Government of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau).
• Federally recognized Indian tribes, tribal organizations, tribal epidemiology centers, and urban Indian organizations.

This evaluation program is intended to enhance existing or planned state, territorial, and tribal activities to develop a Healthy People plan based on the national Healthy People 2020 framework and objectives.  The project will evaluate ways these eligible entities apply the Healthy People 2020 framework to their planning activities.  Examples of possible activities include:

• Facilitated meetings for multi-sectoral decision makers to engender buy-in and support
• Technical assistance in identifying measures around social determinants of health
• Development of products and information media regarding Healthy People 2020 activities
• Web-based applications to support Healthy People 2020 plans

The application deadline is Monday, April 27, 2009.

For more details and to download the request for proposal forms please visit www.healthypeople.gov/stateaction.  For questions, please contact Ann Loeffler at JSI at 1.800.839.0934 or email her at state_action@jsi.com.

NN/LM MAR will offer two sessions of the class Measuring Your Impact: Using Evaluation for Library Advocacy this November. One session will be held in New York City at NYU’s Frederick L. Ehrman Medical Library on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.. The other session of the same class will be held in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the Penn State College of Medicine, George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library on Friday, November 21, 2008 from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m..

Class Description:

Show the value of your libraries’ services. The ultimate goal of this class is to insure that library users and stakeholders will recognize and value the importance of their library’s services and of the librarian to the organization. Participants will become familiar with an evaluation process by using methods and tools for assessment, evaluation planning, creating logic models, data collection and reporting. The workshop will feature a case-based scenario that moves participants through the steps of an evaluation process. Class discussion, lecture, and exercises will help participants take away the skills needed to show the value of their library’s services.

Upon completion class attendees will receive 6 hours MLA CE credit.

Instructors:

Maryanne Blake, Outreach/Evaluation Coordinator, NN/LM, Pacific Northwest Region, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

Sue Hunter, Planning and Evaluation Coordinator, NN/LM, Middle Atlantic Region, NYU Health Sciences Libraries, New York, NY.

Class Details:

Session 1: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location: New York University, Frederick L. Ehrman Medical Library, 550 First Ave., NY, NY.

Session 2: Friday, November 21, 2008, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Penn State College of Medicine, George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library, 500 University Dr., Hershey, PA.

Register for the class by sending an email to rml@library.med.nyu.edu. Please specify which class session you plan to attend. Registration is free. Class break refreshments and lunch are provided for attendees. The classes are limited in size. Please register by October 30, 2008. Directions and classroom locations will be provided to registrants closer to the class date.