Faces of NNLM Region 4: Annabelle Nunez

Posted in: #CC/Academic List, #Health Interest List, #Health Sciences List, #Public/K-12 List, All Members

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Today we will be shining a light on Annabelle Nunez, Associate Director at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Library (UAHSL). Below is an interview with Ms. Nunez about her experience being a librarian.

Can you give us the elevator-speech rundown of your librarian career?

I earned my library degree in 2003 from the University of Arizona as an inaugural cohort member of Knowledge River. A nationally known program committed to educating, recruiting, and retaining information professionals dedicated to serving the needs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. In 2004, I joined the University of Arizona Health Sciences Library (UAHSL) after a career in arts administration. Since 2004, I have held three positions at UAHSL. The first was the Arizona Hispanic Center of Excellence (AHCOE) Librarian, supported by external funding. Then, for approximately ten years, I was the embedded librarian at the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public. In 2017 I was promoted into my current position as Associate Director (AD).

What are your interests or top work activities?

I have a diverse portfolio as an administrator. My primary role is to work with the leadership team of UAHSL to operate the library and implement strategic initiatives. I work closely with our Outreach Services Librarian to develop and deliver outreach services. I also work with a small team of staff members to provide administrative services to the Arizona Health Information Network (AZHIN). This consortium provides health-related library resources and point of care tools to members across Arizona. I also have oversight of the library’s exhibit and events committee. My interest in doing this work is to collaborate with health sciences partners and engage the external community whenever possible.

What prompted you to become a medical/health sciences librarian?

I’ve always been interested in medicine and health. When I was a reference librarian, I enjoyed learning about health disparities as I conducted complex literature searches for students and faculty. This aligned well with my interest in social equity and justice for underserved communities.

What is your favorite health information resource or tool?

PubMed! I love building search strategies to find “the perfect article.”  I also like MedlinePlus en español to share with family and friends when they require health information in Spanish.

Why is providing consumer health information at your library important to you?

The University of Arizona is a land-grant institution. It is our mission to provide access to reliable health information to Arizonans. Health information literacy is essential, and I think it is incumbent upon us to find ways to deliver health information services to consumers. In other words, meet the consumer where they are – in public libraries, health fairs and related events, exhibits, etc. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was evident that disseminating accurate health information was necessary for safe public health practices.

What do you think are the most important challenges librarians face in providing consumer health information?

When I first started working at UAHSL, we worked to discredit the value of Google as it was believed to be a threat to libraries – so goes the legend. Eventually, we worked to include Google and Google Scholar in our instruction and focused on teaching health information evaluation skills. Today, I think social media is a game-changer in disseminating health information. Some health consumers can easily be influenced by inaccurate or dangerous health information. The opportunity for librarians is to move into this space to promote good health information resources.

Please tell us about an interaction with a library user that gave you a lot of satisfaction.

I recently worked with a member of the AZHIN consortium to conduct a PubMed workshop at two of her hospitals. It was pretty satisfying working with doctors and nurses to use Mesh and apply limiters/filters to refine their searches.