DataFlash: Recruiting Students for MCBK Pilot Class

Posted by Nancy Shin on October 8th, 2021 Posted in: Blog, Training & Education
Tags: bioinformatics, MCBK pilot class

Would you like to be part of pilot class to help improve delivery of computable applications to LIS professionals and healthcare providers? Library and Information professionals are invited to apply for training on Mobilizing Computable Biomedical Knowledge (MCBK). Training will be online using Zoom over two weeks in late December 2021 and early January 2022 (between traditional fall and spring semesters). As part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the training will introduce how electronic journals can provide “dynamic knowledge” that readers can validate immediately. For example, for data, programming code or encodable prediction models in healthcare, readers can provide feedback and contribute to faster development of diagnosis treatments or tools to compute risk of coronavirus infection.

LEARNING GOALS from the pilot training in MCBK collections and technology are:

• LIS professionals can help design more effective data archives and repositories to improve healthcare information accessibility for professionals, patients, and researchers.
• Based on the pilot class and a community of practice (CoP) from universities, libraries, and medical schools, a sustainable open educational resource (OER) will be developed with online materials for future use.

As part of Learning Health Systems (LHS), MCBK strives to speed up access to information and computable tools, but the process is also applicable to other sciences and research. Whereas printed publications provide readable information, new technologies and platforms support electronic publication of computable knowledge. The availability of computable information can reduce the gap between research and practice from years to a few months. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has begun supporting MCBK publications, such as the LHS Journal from the Michigan School of Medicine.

Space is limited to 15 students, but there will be a wait list. A stipend of up to $1500 will be paid to students for attending class and providing feedback. The 40-hour interactive class with speakers and discussions are 2-4 hours: December 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 27, 28, 30 and January 3, 5, and 6. Mentors will support groups of students, too.  Please submit your letter of interest and resume to Dr. Deborah Swain, Project Director (dswain@nccu.edu) or Dr. Christopher Cunningham, Co-Director (ccunni23@nccu.edu) by November 15. Criteria for students includes both years of experience in LIS profession and motivation to learn for LIS students.

NOTE: The project directors will confirm your attendance prior to the workshop, and invited attendees will have 48 hours to reconfirm participation. Nonresponses will be removed from the list of potential students. If in the meantime you learn that you cannot attend, please alert Dr. Swain so that your space can be given to someone else. We will only contact waiting list participants if there is a place available.

ABOUT Nancy Shin
I received my Bachelor of Science in the Integrated Sciences majoring in medical genetics and animal biology from the University of British Columbia (UBC). I also graduated from UBC's esteemed MLIS program with a focus on health librarianship. In 2018, I was the Research Data Management Sewell Fund Fellow for the Technology Incubator at Washington State University. Currently, I'm the NNLM Region 5's Outreach and Data Coordinator for the University of Washington's Health Sciences Library. In my spare time, I enjoy photography, drawing, cooking and baking, and travelling the world!!!

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