Recap of Hospital Libraries Advisory Group Meeting

Posted by Margot M on June 13th, 2022 Posted in: Communities of Interest
Tags: DOCLINE, hospital librarians, hospital library advisory group

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On Thu, June 9, 2022, we hosted our Hospital Libraries Advisory Group Annual Meeting. The virtual meeting was limited to folks working in Region 7 to discuss the needs of hospital librarians in CT, ME, MA, NH, NY, RI, and VT. Fifty-five people registered for the meeting, and fifty attended the live session. Thirty-six of the attendees participated in the breakout discussions on training ideas and the support needs of hospital librarians.

During the meeting, I re-introduced myself as the regional DOCLINE Coordinator. The Regions are responsible for opening and closing DOCLINE Library accounts and adding new users to existing DOCLINE Library accounts. Troubleshooting beyond these issues goes to the National Library of Medicine Help Desk.

What We Learned about DOCLINE Use in Region 7

• Hospital library closures and reductions in staff are impacting interlibrary loan services.
• Remote work (either completely remote or partial remote) limits the ability to loan to print materials.
• Hospital libraries struggle with DOCLINE coverage even if library is short-staffed for just one day.
• Many libraries close at 3:00pm and/or are closed on Fridays.
• Librarians want the ability to indicate open hours, not just open days.

Training Topics Useful to Hospital Librarians

The primary focus of our work at NNLM is to provide training in health information resources and funding for health information related technology and outreach programs. Our most worthwhile webinars come from the input input of hospital librarians. In December 2021, we hosted the webinar “Ransomware Attacks: What Medical Librarians Need to Know”, and the idea for that webinar came from a discussion with hospital librarians in Vermont and New Hampshire. In the breakout session, these topics emerged:

• How to conduct ROI for hospital librarians.
• How to support the Magnet Journey for librarians providing services to nurses.
• How to conduct virtual trainings in library resources.

Support Needs of Hospital Librarians

• In-depth research that shows value of hospital librarians.
• Funding for research that examines the value of hospital library services.
• Update the Rochester Study conducted in the 1990s.
• Advocacy on library services to hospital administrators.
• Visibility of hospital librarianship in LIS programs.

Hospital Libraries Advisory Group Recording

The first 30 minutes of the meeting was recorded. Please contact Margot Malachowski (link to email below) with comments and questions. Thank you!