The Changing Face of Public Services in Health Sciences Libraries Post-Pandemic.

Health sciences library public services underwent profound changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Circulation, reference services, instruction, interlibrary loan, and programming were all significantly affected. Libraries adapted by moving to virtual services, featuring online workshops, video consultations, and digital information sharing. Reference services moved to virtual consultations for a streamlined experience, and instruction transitioned to interactive video tutorials. Interlibrary loan services saw a decrease in print material lending but an increase in electronic subscriptions. Library programming shifted from in-person to virtual, focusing on wellness activities. This post-pandemic transformation underscores the importance of ongoing adaptation to meet changing user needs.

Themes in Health Sciences Librarianship Literature, 2016-2020: A Keyword and Subject Analysis.

Previous investigations into trends in Library and Information Science literature have revealed changes in the topics librarians publish on over time, with older studies highlighting classification and indexing, and information retrieval and more recent studies highlighting keywords such as Internet, information technology, digital libraries, and again, information retrieval. No similar investigation has been conducted on current publication trends by health sciences librarians. This study analyzes the top themes on which health sciences librarians published from 2016 to 2020 by examining the frequency of keywords. Keywords and subject headings were analyzed from The Journal of the Medical Library Association, Medical References Services Quarterly, The Journal of Hospital Librarianship, and The Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries. A total of 8,806 keywords were downloaded for analysis and organized into 292 categories during taxonomy creation. The ten most frequent themes were: libraries, information, education, humans, demography, librarian, geographical locations, research, electronic resources, and technology. The study also found that data, psychiatry and psychology, informatics, and publishing were other key themes, indicating that health sciences librarians are publishing on a wide range of topics. Some keywords that appeared only once, such as telecommuting and flexible staffing, suggest emerging areas of research for librarians.

Bring Your Own Story: The Evolution of a Library Program to Celebrate Diverse Voices.

The Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine collaborated with the college's Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to enhance its existing diversity programming, created to foster a sense of community throughout the college. Through this partnership, a library-driven idea for an occasional diversity-themed lunch and learn session gained valuable institutional support and transformed into a larger event series. A second related project emerged with a goal of creating a diversity corner for the college. These collaborative efforts have helped the library further its mission to be an inclusive entity within the college and have afforded the library greater programming reach.

Exploring students' [pre-pandemic] use and the impact of commercial-off-the-shelf learning platforms on students' national licensing exam performance: A focused review - BEME Guide No. 72.

BACKGROUND: Commercial-off-the-shelf learning platforms developed for medical education (herein referred to as MedED-COTS) have emerged as a resource used by a majority of medical students to prepare for licensing examinations. As MedED-COTS proliferate and include more functions and features, there is a need for an up-to-date review to inform medical educators on (a) students' use of MedED-COTS outside the formal medical school curriculum, (b) the integration of MedED-COTS into the formal curriculum, and (c) the potential effects of MedED-COTS usage on students' national licensing exam scores in the USA. METHODS: Due to the limited number of studies published on either the use or integration of MedED-COTS, a focused review of literature was conducted to guide future research and practice. Data extraction and quality appraisal were conducted independently by three reviewers; with disagreements resolved by a fourth reviewer. A narrative synthesis was completed to answer research questions, contextualize results, and identify trends and issues in the findings reported by the studies included in the review. RESULTS: Results revealed consistent positive correlations between students' use of question banks and their licensing exam performance. The limited number of integration studies, combined with a number of methodological issues, makes it impossible to isolate specific effects or associations of integrated commercial resources on standardized test or course outcomes. However, consistent positive correlations, along with students' pervasive use and strong theoretical foundations explaining the results, provide evidence for integrating MedED-COTS into medical school curricula and highlight the need for further research. CONCLUSIONS: Based on findings, we conclude that students use exam preparation materials broadly and they have a positive impact on exam results; the literature on integration of MedED-COTS into formal curriculum and the use by students of resources outside of exam preparation is scant.

When One Library Door Closes, Another Virtual One Opens: A Team Response to the Remote Library.

The University of Central Florida Health Sciences Library is a digital library with 98% of resources being electronic and available online. Though almost all aspects of the library's operations were impacted by the closing of the physical space during the coronavirus pandemic, being a digital library helped the library team transition quickly to remote reference, programming and instruction services.

A Practical Guide to Scholarly Activity for Health Sciences Librarians.

This guide to scholarly activities provides early- and mid-career health sciences librarians with a path to immersing in scholarly activities. The four levels walk librarians through increasing stages of scholarship. Early-career librarians will begin at the first level, navigating from discovering mentors and areas of research interest to level two, publishing a resource or book review and finding their first public speaking opportunity. More experienced librarians will find where they are on the path and continue to build their scholarship all the way to conducting and publishing original research and becoming leaders in their field.

Promoting Library Visibility Through Creative Programing.

Digital libraries and their librarians face a challenge to remain visible to users since almost all their resources can be accessed without having to visit the library space. Libraries with a primarily electronic collection can promote their visibility through creative programing that draws people into the library space or provides opportunities for users to engage with librarians. A new, primarily digital academic health sciences library shares its experiences with developing creative user events and programs to promote the library's visibility.

Clinician Job Searches in the Internet Era: Internet-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Traditional methods using print media and commercial firms for clinician recruiting are often limited by cost, slow pace, and suboptimal results. An efficient and fiscally sound approach is needed for searching online to recruit clinicians. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to assess the Web-based methods by which clinicians might be searching for jobs in a broad range of specialties and how academic medical centers can advertise clinical job openings to prominently appear on internet searches that would yield the greatest return on investment. METHODS: We used a search engine (Google) to identify 8 query terms for each of the specialties and specialists (eg, dermatology and dermatologist) to determine internet job search methodologies for 12 clinical disciplines. Searches were conducted, and the data used for analysis were the first 20 results. RESULTS: In total, 176 searches were conducted at varying times over the course of several months, and 3520 results were recorded. The following 4 types of websites appeared in the top 10 search results across all specialties searched, accounting for 52.27% (920/1760) of the results: (1) a single no-cost job aggregator (229/1760, 13.01%); (2) 2 prominent journal-based paid digital job listing services (157/1760, 8.92% and 91/1760, 5.17%, respectively); (3) a fee-based Web-based agency (137/1760, 7.78%) offering candidate profiles; and (4) society-based paid advertisements (totaling 306/1760, 17.38%). These sites accounted for 75.45% (664/880) of results limited to the top 5 results. Repetitive short-term testing yielded similar results with minor changes in the rank order. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of our findings, we offer a specific financially prudent internet strategy for both clinicians searching the internet for employment and employers hiring clinicians in academic medical centers.

Encouraging Engagement with Students and Integrating Librarians into the Curriculum through a Personal Librarian Program.

Five years ago, the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library created a Personal Librarian Program (PLP) to encourage librarian engagement with first- and second-year medical students and to promote awareness of library resources and services. Prior to the creation of the PLP, the library struggled with finding ways to connect with its medical students, especially because the library is 98% digital. The PLP was created to give students an individualized library experience and an easier way to interact with librarians. As a result, opportunities for librarian-student engagement increased, and Personal Librarian groups facilitated the integration of librarians into two first- and second-year medical school courses.