Each of the Regions, Offices, and Centers (ROC) are highly interested in working with Library and Information Students as a way to advance the mission of NNLM. Each ROC offers a unique variety of health information access related activities that are designed to be of interest to a broad range of students. Activities can be designed to accommodate schedules, locations, and personal goals. NNLM is committed to prioritizing support for students, high school age and older, from traditionally marginalized communities and those underrepresented in biomedical research (See Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity). Students and faculty are strongly encouraged to connect with their regional point of contact or with an Office or Center to find an activity that might be of interest.
Student Engagement
Student Engagement is an NLM and NIH priority area for NNLM. The purpose of NNLM’s strategic focus in this area is to:
- champion health sciences librarianship by developing partnerships with Library and Information Science (LIS) and other graduate programs; and
- collaborate with undergraduate programs, professional associations, and other organizations to work toward increasing diversity in the LIS pipeline.
NNLM student engagement supports goal three of the 2017-2027 NLM Strategic Plan, “Build a workforce for data-driven research and health.”
From the Medical Library Association (MLA), learn about careers in health sciences information.
Kickstart your PubMed search skills
Resources from the American Library Association (ALA) for aspiring librarians.
Browse NNLM funding opportunities related to student outreach that may be available in your region.
Region 1 is administered out of the University Maryland, Baltimore and serves the following: Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
To get started contact Faith Steele at fsteele@hshsl.umaryland.edu.
Region 1 is invested in the future of librarianship and in supporting future health sciences librarians. We encourage students and LIS educators within our region to connect with us. There are many ways we can help: we may be able to start a project, refer to an existing project in another region, or provide resources to build professional skills. We look forward to hearing from you!
Past Projects
- 2022 University of Kentucky Alternative Spring Break. Funded students to work with NNLM to create projects during Alternative Spring Break.
Region 2 is administered out of the Medical University of South Carolina. Region 2 provides programs, services, and dedicated support to Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
To get started contact Heather Holmes at holmesh@musc.edu.
Region 2 is invested in the future of librarianship and in supporting future health sciences librarians. At this time we do not have any ongoing projects, however we encourage students and LIS educators within our region to connect with us. There are many ways we can help: we may be able to start a project, refer to an existing project in another region, or provide resources to build professional skills. We look forward to hearing from you!
Contact person: Heather Holmes
Email: holmesh@musc.edu
Phone: (843)-792-0065
Region 3 administered out of the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas. We provide programs, services, and dedicated support to Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.
To get started contact Bailey Sterling at bailey.sterling@unthsc.edu.
Students: Check out the great opportunities below!
Current Projects (May 2022 - April 2023)
Fall Development Award (announced Summer 2022): Each Fall, NNLM Region 3 offers a competitive award for LIS graduate students in our region which funds attendance to an MLA chapter conference. This award serves to introduce the future LIS workforce to the health sciences, trusted National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources, and develop their professional skills. With coaching from a talented NNLM professional, each awardee delivers a presentation on an NLM resource at an MLA chapter conference. These student presentations are a conference highlight at each year; students should view this as an opportunity to network with and impress future employers. Student presentations are typically well-attended by a range of health sciences librarians from around our region.
After the chapter conference, students are asked to write a brief report about their experience and are given the opportunity to engage in professional development with the NNLM Region 3 office.
- Internships (announced November 2022): We host 2 interns/practicum students each academic year. Each intern works on a project of their choosing that corresponds with their professional interests. These projects support the goals of NNLM Region 3. Interns have regular meetings with staff and submit weekly progress reports. Students present their final deliverables to staff at the end of the semester.
- Employment (announced as needed): NNLM Region 3 believes in the value and potential of the library students as leaders in our region. To that end, we periodically post employment opportunities that are especially suitable for current students or early career information professionals. Please keep an eye out for these postings by joining our mailing list.
Contact
Name: Bailey Sterling, MSIS
Title: Technology & Library Information Science Coordinator, NNLM Region 3
Email: Bailey.Sterling@unthsc.edu
Region 4 is administered out of the University of Utah and serves the following States: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and those who can meet us on online.
To get started contact John Bramble at john.bramble@utah.edu.
You Are Invited!
We invite students to connect with us for informational interviews regarding the role our program has on improving access to quality health information using community-led approaches to program design and implementation or for local or virtual practicum experiences.
Current Projects
- Proximity Mapping Project
- Membership Renewal Project
- Consumer Health for Librarian Students Project
- Connections Projects
- Community Based Health Organizations
- Public Health Organizations
- Library Organizations
- Citizen Science & SciStarter
- Telehealth In Libraries Project
- Bidirectional Communications Projects
- Data Services Projects & The Carpentries
About Region 4's Student Engagement Program
Region 4 is committed to support students wishing to spend their practicum course credit hours on professional level activities resulting in real work experiences they might used to further develop their resume or portfolio.
Region 4’s Student Practicum Health Information Access Experience program is primarily designed to connect Library and Information Science or iSchool graduate students with seasoned librarians or information professionals working in the area of health information access.
All activities can be completed remotely.
We recognized that each student has different needs, interests, and goals and Region 4 will do our best to accommodate these differences so that students have a unique and personalized practicum/field experience they can be proud of.
We have years of experience working with students and their graduate program officials on designing an experience based on one, two, or three credit hours.
We invite students and professors to explore how working with the Region 4 team will support students develop into amazing library and/or information professionals.
The very best way to get started is to meet with John Bramble, Executive Director, Region 4 and National Training Office. Please call or email to get started!
Best Contact Person
John Bramble, MLIS, MSBMI
801 585 9646
john.bramble@utah.edu
Office Hours: M-F 7am-4pm Mountain Time
Region 5 serves the states of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States in the Pacific.
To get started contact Liz Morris at elizar@uw.edu.
Region 5 advances equal access to biomedical information for all. We support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing librarianship, informatics, research, or allied health opportunities. Please connect to learn more about ways we can work together.
Current Projects (Year 2)
Region 5 oversaw the work of two UW iSchool students and their Capstone project in Spring 2022. The students proposed a maternal health toolkit or LibGuide for public libraries to assist birthing persons seeking health information. The completed Capstone project originally consisted of a patron handout, a library staff handout, social media graphic and messaging with suggested hashtags, an inclusive language guide, and a birthing language glossary. After reviewing and editing the toolkit, it now consists of a introduction to the toolkit, a patron handout, a library staff handout, social media graphic and messaging with suggested hashtags. Resources for the patron include information that is from MedlinePlus, NIH, and additional government agencies and organizations. The handout for the library staff include information to additional birthing person resources but also items for staff to do further learning through NNLM classes, articles and websites. The toolkit now resides on the NNLM Public Libraries Guide in the Tools and Print Materials section.
Best Contact Person
Liz Morris
elizar@uw.edu
Region 6 is administered out of the University of Iowa and serves the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
To get started contact Erica Lake at erica-lake@uiowa.edu.
Region 6 is dedicated to supporting future health sciences librarians, and we are eager to connect with LIS and iSchool students, educators, and administrators to identify new engagement opportunities.
Region 6 offers a 12-week virtual practicum each Spring, entitled Mapping Health Equity to Empower Communities. Focused on social determinants of health, health literacy, health statistics resources, and mapping analytics software, students use the knowledge and skills they acquire to create a new county story for the Community Guide to Advance Health Information Equity. Region 6 can match students with seasoned librarians or information professionals working in the area of health information access in a wide variety of ways. We recognize that each student and each program is different, and we will do our best to tailor our engagement opportunities to meet your requirements, interests, and goals.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Best Contact Person
Erica Lake, MLS, AHIP(she/her/hers)
Health Sciences Librarians Outreach Specialist
Network of the National Library of Medicine, Region 6
Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, University of Iowa
Region 7 serves the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont
To get started contact Jessica Kilham at jessica.kilham@umassmed.edu.
Potential Project Areas
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Graphic Medicine
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Data and Informatics
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Multilingual, multicultural health
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Rural Health
Past Intern Projects
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2022 University of Rhode Island focused on rural libraries and patrons with disabilities by developing brochures on NLM resources in plain language, wrote blog posts on library services for patrons with disabilities and ableism language in libraries, completed CHIS credentialling.
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2022 University of Kentucky Alternative Spring Break students created Graphic Medicine discussion guides and documented their process
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2020 Southern Connecticut State University created materials to recruit LIS students to participate in the Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
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2020 Southern Connecticut State University created outreach materials around graphic medicine and veterans health
Best Contact Person
Interested in any of these project areas? Have an idea that you don’t see listed? Reach out to
Jessica Kilham
The NNLM Training Office (NTO) plans, creates, shares, delivers, and coordinates an instructional program and educational materials based on key NLM products and services for a variety of audiences throughout the NNLM.
To get started contact Jessi Van Der Volgen at j.vandervolgen@utah.edu.
The NTO invites students to connect with us for informational interviews regarding the role of NTO, training, or instructional design, or for local or virtual practicum experiences. The NTO is hosted at the Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah.
Possible practicum projects:
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Tutorial storyboarding and development
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Training content organization and analysis
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User needs assessment
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Training evaluation design and analysis
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Creating accessible training content
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Social media or publicity strategy for training
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Projects that meet your needs and goals
Other
- Willing to host practicum experiences from 20-120 hours
- Can co-host with other regions or offices
- Will provide training and professional development opportunities for interested students
- Must have completed at least 1 semester of LIS program
- No training experience required
Best Contact Person
j.vandervolgen@utah.edu
The User Engagement Program (UEP) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) works alongside the NNLM regions to connect NLM and National Institutes of Health biomedical and health information to users.
To get started contact Louise To at louise.to@nih.gov.
National Library of Medicine Office of Engagement and Training
Through BLH Technologies, the User Engagement Program (UEP) hosts internships on projects in the areas of library and information science, research, communications, and training.
Learn about BLH Technologies career opportunities.
National Library of Medicine Associate Fellowship
A one-year residency program for recent library science graduates interested in a leadership career in health sciences libraries. The program combines curriculum and project work along with professional development activities to foster the acquisition of subject matter, technical, and soft skills.