Report of the RML Directors' Mid-Year Meeting
Judy Consales and Heidi Sandstrom joined Regional Medical Library (RML) directors and associate directors from the seven other National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) regions for the third RML Directors' Mid-Year Meeting on December 4-5, 2003. It was held in Houston, Texas, and was hosted by the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center (HAM-TMC) Library. Betsy Humphreys, Deputy Director for Library Operations, and Angela Ruffin, Head, National Network Office, also attended along with other librarians from the National Network Office, the Outreach Evaluation Resource Center, and the National Online Mapping Center. The agenda for the two-day meeting was a full one and included the discussion of RML outreach evaluation initiatives, a presentation on the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce collaboration, an NLM update, resource sharing discussion, reports of past and planned outreach activities, and presentations on special initiatives at HAM-TMC Library. Some of the highlights of the meeting follow:
NN/LM Outreach Evaluation Initiatives
Two populations have been selected by NN/LM Regional Medical Libraries for expanded outreach efforts: public libraries and the public health workforce. A logic model for each of these populations was adopted, in June 2003, as a tool to measure the effectiveness of outreach activities during the current contract period. (See the article, "Outreach Priorities: Public Libraries and Public Health Agencies", in the September/October 2003 issue of Latitudes). Some of the resources being developed to support these outreach evaluation initiatives were discussed at the Houston meeting. These include a curriculum for training public librarians about consumer health information, a resource for public librarians to use to identify and work with community health partners, and a curriculum for training public health professionals. These resources should be available to our Network Members by this summer to use in their outreach efforts.
Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce
A strategic planning session of the Partners project committee was held in October 2003 and reported on at the Houston meeting. Six-month and 3-year goals and objectives were developed. Three-year goals for Partners are:
- Increase the visibility of the Partnership with librarians and the public health workforce.
- Identify and develop collaborative projects to meet the information needs of the public health workforce.
- Strengthen the collaboration among the Partners.
- Increase the information literacy of the public health workforce.
- Organize and deliver public health resources so they are easier to find and use.
NLM Update
Betsy Humphreys, NLM's Associate Director of Library Operations, discussed NLM's growing role as a center for the distribution of clinical vocabularies. She also mentioned NLM's new emphasis on expert searching and NLM's Senior Fellowship for Informationist Training. This Fellowship provides support for experienced librarians, scientists, health professionals and others who wish to become informationists, defined as "information specialists who have received graduate training and practical experience that provides them with disciplinary background both in medical or biological sciences and in information sciences/informatics." More information about this Fellowship can be found at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/ep/GrantInformationistF38.html.
Ms. Humphreys' talk was followed by a review of the national maximum currently being charged by Resource Libraries for DOCLINE requests, including background on how this charge is determined and its relationship to fair use; some key findings; and a discussion of "next steps" in addressing requests for changes to the current maximum charge. PSRML will keep you posted on the status of this issue.
Resource Sharing
The Houston mid-year meeting concluded with a discussion of resource sharing, specifically the impact current licensing arrangements have on the ability of libraries to provide cost-effective interlibrary loan service to a broad range of users. NLM is working with the Regional Medical Libraries to identify possible actions that might improve access to these resources.