Contract Summary and Objectives, 2009-2010
The mission of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) is to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by providing all health care providers in the United States with equal access to biomedical information and improving the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health. The University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Lamar Soutter Library, as the Regional Medical Library for the New England Region (NER) and a member of the NN/LM develops and coordinates comprehensive programs that address this network mission. The following objectives for 2009-2010 build upon the progress made in the previous years in Network and Outreach program areas.
Basic Network Programs Objectives 2009-2010
Network Structure refers to the physical infrastructure needed to deliver biomedical information services to libraries and health care providers throughout the region. The following objectives for 2009-2010 build upon the progress made in the previous years and suggest the future direction for the five-year contract.
Network Structure
Network Structure refers to the physical infrastructure needed to deliver biomedical information services to libraries and health care providers throughout the region. It also refers to the network of libraries that have been identified to help deliver biomedical information services.
Creating a strong network of multi-type libraries to ensure access to basic information services to affiliated and unaffiliated health care providers is achieved. NER will continue to promote network membership, particularly in urban and rural areas of the region, so that basic library services are readily available to all health care providers in the region. Six new members from the region will be added to the Network.
Resource Sharing is a core function for all Full Network Members. NER will continue to offer direct support to members needing assistance with the National Library of Medicine’s DOCLINE system including troubleshooting, telephone and onsite assistance, and instructional training. Likewise NLM’s LinkOut utility is a key tool for members’ management and integration of online serials and their institution’s integration with PubMed. Six instructional sessions on using DOCLINE and/or LinkOut will be given.
Continuous promotion of ongoing maintenance of serial holdings data will be conducted. EFTS or the Electronic Fund Transfer System will also be promoted as a primary payment option for interlibrary lending transactions with annual updates at resource sharing related venues. NER will also continue to facilitate testing, feedback and communications for new versions of DOCLINE and related systems.
Communication
Constituent groups will be actively engaged through relational meetings, communiqués, and mutual participation in events and planning meetings. NER will continue attending health sciences library association meetings throughout the state and chapter associations to provide updates and present instructional programs as requested: Thirteen health sciences library association meetings will be attended. Meetings at health and human services, public health , and other library related agencies will be attended in order to foster greater awareness of the National Library of Medicine, the National Network, and NER: Ten meetings or site visits with related groups, key organizations, and public health agencies will be attended.
Faster modes of communication continue to be employed to alert members to timely updates, funding announcements, and system changes via network distribution lists and the NER blog. NER also provides the infrastructure and maintenance for distribution lists and websites of the health science library associations throughout the region.
Fact sheets, learning guides, manuals, and other printed aids will be produced for instructional sessions, exhibiting, and other promotions. As appropriate, learning aids produced by NER will be submitted to the NTCC website.
NER will continue providing updates on user feedback, and informing the National Library of Medicine on ongoing trends and issues affection the Network. NER staff will attend the RML Directors’ meetings as scheduled and provide written updates via quarterly reports and other electronic communications.
Strategic Planning, Assessment, Evaluation
The NER needs assessment strategy will employ a variety of approaches and is ongoing throughout the entire contract period. Evaluations of instructional sessions will be collected. Feedback on Network and NER services will be gathered from health care professionals. The Regional Advisory Committee will be a primary means for gathering feedback and conducting assessments from network members. RAC members will also play a key role in specific areas of program development and assessment. The Regional Advisory Committee will represent member libraries and diverse interests in both libraries and health care. Continuous evaluation ensures that all NER activities have a direct relationship to the mission and goals of the NN/LM: NER will convene the following groups during Year 4: Outreach Subcontractors, Consumer Health Advisory, Education & Training, Resource Sharing and Emergency Preparednes. Groups will be convened using distance-based tools. Resource Library Directors, Hospital Library, will be convened in-person.
Other NLM Projects
NER will provide assistance to the NLM and the NNO in the development, implementation, promotion and evaluation of other NLM programs and services.
Emergency Preparedness Plan: NER will continue to assist in the implementation of the National Emergency Preparedness Plan by serving as the backup RML for NN/LM MCR in the event of an emergency. NER will work with MCR to implement and test backup services. NER continues to work with the RAC Emergency Preparedness Task Force in promoting emergency preparedness and offering the online class Developing You Library’s Emergency Preparedness Planning: Ten Steps to Continuity Planning.
Historical Collections: NER will continue soliciting inclusion of records to NLM’s Directory of History of Medicine Collections database.
Promotion of NLM Grants and Awards: NER will continue promoting the availability of NLM and other applicable NIH grants and awards programs throughout the region’s member libraries.
Outreach Programs Objectives 2009-2010
Outreach to Health Professionals
A major emphasis for the NER during the 2006-2011 RML Contract is to identify public health professionals and public health training programs for targeted outreach. Public health constituents are identified by attending and exhibiting at conferences at the state and regional level. Following up with contacts made at events will allow for expanding opportunities for training and NER services: Three site visits to public health offices will be conducted.
Existing relationships with network members and faculty will facilitate arrangements to conduct training on public health information resources at higher education programs in public health and library sciences: Two sessions will be conducted at schools of public health and library science programs.
The NN/LM NER will continue to identify special populations, and organizations to provide health information outreach to community health workers and unaffiliated health professionals at community health centers and community based organizations that serve NLM’s targeted special populations. Network members will also provide opportunities to train health care providers at their institutions.
NN/LM NER will promote funding opportunities with member organizations that serve special populations and their health care providers through the competitive NER Health Information Outreach subcontracts. Funded Outreach projects will be selected based on their targeted population, geographic location, and the overall quality of the project being proposed.
Consumer Health Information Services
The NN/LM NER will continue to promote PubMed, MedlinePlus, and MedlinePlus Go Local in public libraries. The consumer health information coordinator will continue to train network members through classes geared toward the use of NLM consumer health resources. MedlinePlus classes will be taught to health professionals, allied health care workers, health science librarians, public librarians, community based organizations, school librarians, teachers, and nurses, and to the general public. The consumer health information coordinator will work with the state and regional library system offices to coordinate training sessions through the six-state region. Sessions are open to public and academic librarians as well as librarians at member libraries. Ten consumer health related training sessions will be offered throughout the region.
NN/LM NER will foster members’ integration of consumer health services and health literacy as part of existing services through updates, blog postings, and member profiles that highlight best practices in consumer health services.
NN/LM NER will promote funding opportunities with member organizations that serve special populations with consumer health information services through the competitive NER Health Information Outreach subcontracts as well as Express Outreach awards. Funded Outreach projects will be selected based on their targeted population, geographic location, and the overall quality of the project being proposed.
NN/LM NER will exhibit at health fairs and related exhibiting opportunities in order to promote MedlinePlus and other NLM resources to the general public. Health fairs and other forms of exhibiting also offers the opportunity of establishing relationships with health services agencies with intent of seeking training on NLM resources for their staff. NN/LM NER will exhibit at three health fairs that are open to the public.
NN/LM NER will fund one Community Day outreach project focusing on the public library as community facilitator and emissary for a selected community’s emergency services, public safety, and public health preparedness.
Training
NN/LM NER sees training and education as a core component for the broader program areas in reaching all of NN/LM’s targeted populations and its member libraries. The geography of the New England region allows training and educational programs to be conducted as they are requested. Despite the relative compact geography, network members and other constituents find NER’s distance based offerings a convenient and more efficient option for attending training sessions. Connecting with the NER is the umbrella name for courses, workshops, and drop-in learning sessions that will be offered through distance based formats.
All NN/LM NER coordinators, individually or in collaboration with other coordinators throughout National Network, have developed and will continue to develop a varied array of available classes. Course offerings are numerous and are often tailored to a specific audience. Course descriptions with details on professional development (continuing education) credits are attached. Course descriptions indicate whether a course is approved for continuing education credits. 22 Training sessions will be offered in using NLM resources and utilities like PubMed and NCBI resources, TOXNET and related environmental health tools, DOCLINE, and other technology related topics.
NN/LM NER makes funding available to network members to develop specialized training sessions for a particular focus geared for a specific population, health occupation, or a trending topic. Funding is available through NN/LM NER’s Express Outreach awards. Member libraries and other organizations can apply for Express Outreach awards to develop projects and programs that target previously unreached populations or focus on new trends in health information. Specific award amounts and areas are not previously determined.
Exhibits and Presentations at Meetings
NN/LM NER sees exhibiting as a unique opportunity to bring knowledge of NLM resources to large audiences of health care providers, public health workers, librarians, and consumers. National, state, and local mission-related meetings will be targeted for exhibiting opportunities and instructional sessions at identified meetings will be proposed. Exhibits for state and regional events for library and public health associations have been identified and have been proposed to the National Network Office. Because of fluid organizational structures across many organizations these can be subject to change and are not listed here.
NN/LM NER will exhibit at national conferences as proposed and approved by the National Network Office. They are:
- National Association of School Nurses, June 2009
- American Academy of Family Physicians, October 2009
- American Library Association, January 2010
- John Hancock Sports & Fitness Expo (part of the Boston Marathon) April 2010
Information Technology and Policy Awareness Program
In addition to assisting members to integrate the changing technologies of NLM Systems, NN/LM NER will also assist network members in selecting and adapting the technologies that are best suited to a particular library. Technology applications and trends will be monitored. Training on information technology use and policies will be conducted: Three technology related training events will be programmed. NER will also be a resource for members implementing the NIH Public Access mandate for submission of manuscripts to PubMed Central.
Library Improvement
The hardship caused by the health care organization’s reduction in hospital library resources is compounded by the resource-intensive nature of library operations. Given the environments in which libraries exist, library improvement is considered a continuous process with different methods for responding.
With special emphasis towards reaching NLM’s targeted populations, NN/LM NER will continue to work with libraries that need assistance in improving access to NLM resources by funding the purchase of computers for members offering public online information access. NER will also work with libraries that need assistance in enhancing their document delivery services the purchase of electronic document delivery technologies. Funding is available through NER’s Express Outreach awards. Member libraries and other organizations can apply for Express Outreach awards to enhance their services through purchases that improve the overall operation of the National Network through increased or improved access to health information. Specific award amounts and areas are not previously determined.
NN/LM NER also sees Library Improvement firmly linked with the work of the Hospital Library Subcommittee of the RAC. NER, in conjunction with the Subcommittee will continue to monitor issues related to hospital libraries in the region and develop appropriate programs and sessions that address the viability of hospital libraries within the region and the National Network.
