Finding Librarianship in Information Specialist Positions

Posted by Carolyn Martin on March 23rd, 2026 Posted in: Consumer Health, Guest Post
Tags: cancer, consumer health, health information, librarian roles, medical librarian

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Rachel Raymond, Clinical Trials Information Specialist III at Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL), NCI’s Cancer Information Service, provided us with the guest post about her role at the National Cancer Institute. Rachel also acquired her Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) by attending NNLM classes.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the leading federal agency conducting and supporting research into cancer (National Cancer Institute, 2024). As part of the legislation that created the NCI, an information service for the public was outlined (History of the National Cancer Institute, 2022; Vanderpool, n,d,). This information service was meant to help the public with their questions providing free, high-quality, evidence based information in English and Spanish (NCI Contact Information, n.d.).

Oftentimes the public reaches out when cancer touches their life through a personal or loved one’s diagnosis. However, students, researchers, organizations, government workers, doctors, and the general public contact the services for a variety of reasons. From providing information about how to pursue grants and who to contact within the NCI to helping the public understand medical terms in plain language, the service uses consumer health resources like Cancer.gov, MedlinePlus, DailyMed, and ClinicalTrials.gov to assist. The service also provides information from foundational medical clinical decision aids such as UpToDate as well as fact sheets, publications, and Physician Data Query (PDQ) summaries on different cancer-related topics. Information Specialists are able to email or mail materials, and are encouraged to send the information discussed with the public directly to them. An important aspect of this service is its confidentiality, and it is important to note that information pertaining to someone’s contact details is not saved. The public can reach out via phone or livehelp Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET, or anytime via email.

Studying as a Health Sciences Librarian, I feel lucky to be involved with this service. My primary role with the information service is to provide assistance with clinical trials. As part of services I help provide, the public is able to request a search of NCI-supported clinical trials. Typically, I use the database provided on Cancer.gov, but I also use ClinicalTrials.gov. I tailor the results of this search based on the request, using information such as a patient’s health history, diagnosis, biomarkers and mutations, and location (Cancer Details Checklist, n.d.). These results can be emailed or mailed, and it is encouraged to share the results with the doctor most familiar with the patient’s situation. Furthermore, I’m able to provide vital background information, such as how clinical trials work, who pays for them, and questions to ask the doctor about clinical trials (Clinical Trials Information for Patients and Caregivers, n.d.).

Being able to participate in these discussions requires me to have a wide knowledge of the consumer health resources available publicly and within an internal knowledge base. It also requires critical thinking and reading skills. These searches have a turn around time of between two and four days, making fluency of medical terminology key. My background in health sciences, particularly my Consumer Health Information Specialist II designation make this aspect of my job an exciting challenge. I believe it’s a special situation to be able to use so much of my current education towards my role.

In my studies to be a health science librarian, I have been able to enhance my understanding of how indispensable the service is. Services such as this are an important part of the health sciences information infrastructure. Having a service that the public can contact for high-quality information can help vulnerable people access information that they can use in their healthcare decisions, instead of a general internet search that includes misinformation and scams (Using Resources You Can Trust, 2015; Anatomy of a Cancer Treatment Scam, 2026). I like to see my role as being a step in-between a patient and their doctor, with a dash of reference librarian knowhow: a patient can call and ask questions about their diagnosis, and I help them refine these questions to be clear and concise, using my reference librarian skills. They can then bring these questions back to their doctor, who can provide context and knowledge. The doctor can see that the patient is using evidence-backed information to formalize their questions, and use the provided materials to help patients determine their next steps.

In fact, I use the Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom pyramid (Ackoff , 1989) in my work everyday. With my growing skills in reference librarianship, I have found understanding the shifts between the different parts of these concepts is a constant negotiation. Human Information Behaviors is a large field of study with a lot of models, perspectives, and nuances. However, in a role such as this, I help the public through this pyramid at their own pace. Oftentimes, the public comes in with what they believe is knowledge and wisdom about cancer. My role is often to break down this assumed knowledge and wisdom to get at the heart of what they’re asking, before providing evidence-based data and information that relates to their question. It’s special to be part of the moments where patients begin to understand that they have options for treatment, or that their test results don’t necessarily mean that they have cancer –and all because they had a friendly voice to talk them through their situation.

To end, my work within the NCI’s Cancer Information Service has exposed me to how special this type of information service is. I enjoy that my Consumer Health Information Specialization II provides a solid base to build my work with this service. The creation and maintenance of this service is a jewel for public health.

References

Ackoff , R. (1989). From Data to Wisdom: Presidential Address to ISGSR. Journal of Applied Systems      Analysis, 16, 3–10.

Anatomy of a Cancer Treatment Scam. (2026). Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/managing-care/using-trusted-resources/health-info-online

Clinical Trials Information – NCI. (2023, September 13). Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/research/participate/clinical-trials

Contact NCI – National Cancer Institute. (1980, January 1). Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/contact
Consumer Health Information Specialization. (2021). NNLM. https://www.nnlm.gov/training/consumer-health-information-specialization

DailyMed. (2019). DailyMed. NIH.gov. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/index.cfm

Facebook. (2016). Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/research/participate/clinical-trials-search/advanced

How to Join a Clinical Trial Cancer Details Checklist. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2026, from https://www.cancer.gov/research/participate/clinical-trials-search/steps/detailschecklist.pdf

Medline Plus. (2019). Drugs, Herbs and Supplements: MedlinePlus. Medlineplus.gov. https://medlineplus.gov/druginformation.html

National Cancer Act of 1971. (2024, December 20). Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/overview/history/national-cancer-act-1971#national-cancer-program

National Cancer Institute. (2019, February 28). Patient Education Publications. National Cancer Institute; Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education

National Cancer Institute. (2024). Comprehensive Cancer Information. National Cancer Institute; Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/

Research Grants. (2025). Cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/grants-training/grants-funding

Using Trusted Resources. (2015, March 10). National Cancer Institute. https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/managing-care/using-trusted-resources

Vanderpool, Robin C. The National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service: 50 years of service to the nation, JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2025; djaf285, https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djaf285