Mapping the pathways to health sciences librarianship: reflections and future implications from an immersion session.

Objective: Many health sciences librarians enter the profession without specific health sciences training. Some LIS programs have health sciences courses or tracks, but health sciences training within an LIS program is only one path to entering health sciences librarianship. To develop a map of pathways into health sciences librarianship, an immersion session at the Medical Library Association conference in 2022 asked health sciences librarians to share how they entered the profession. Methods: The immersion session was structured in three parts: facilitator introductions, small group discussions, and a whole group summary discussion. Guided by questions from the facilitators, small groups discussed what pathways currently exist, how to promote existing pathways, what new pathways should be created, and how to develop and promote pathways that make the profession more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Results: Through in-the-moment thematic analysis of the small group discussions, the following emerged as key pathways: library school education; internships and practica; the Library and Information Science (LIS) pipeline; on-thejob training; mentoring; self-teaching/hands-on learning; and continuing education. Themes of equity, diversity, and inclusion arose throughout the session, especially in the concluding whole group discussion. Conclusion: Small group discussions in a conference immersion session showed the value of community building in a profession that has multiple pathways for entrance, highlighting the importance of unearthing hidden knowledge about avenues for exploring and enhancing career pathways. The article seeks to address barriers to entry into the profession and adds to the literature on strengthening the field of health sciences librarianship.

VAWnet: A Project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.

For more than 25 years, the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence has operated VAWnet, a freely available, online network focused on violence against women and other forms of gender-based violence. This column will provide an overview of the resources available from VAWnet, including a sample search that demonstrates how to access the resources available within as well as a discussion of how to effectively browse the thousands of materials available on VAWnet that provide life-saving information on gender-based violence and related issues.

Insuring Good Health: A Consumer Health Resource.

Choosing and using health insurance is a complicated task for anyone, and there are limited resources available to assist users during this process. Insuring Good Health is an online resource that was developed out of a community-based participatory research partnership to address this need. This column will provide an overview of the resources available from Insuring Good Health and outline how the website and videos can support patrons' health insurance-related information needs.

Health sciences librarian research and instruction services in pandemic information environments.

This study examined research and instruction services provided by academic health sciences librarians in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 205 respondents (N = 205) completed an anonymous online survey about academic health sciences librarian involvement in providing research and instruction services during the global pandemic. In-depth literature searching services (86%, n = 176), curated COVID-19 research through guides (66%, n = 135), and systematic review consultations (53%, n = 109) were reported as the top three research services in demand. Librarians supported online teaching and learning at their institutions by providing online instruction for a course (92%, n = 189), facilitating access to licensed resources (73%, n = 150), and identifying open access and open educational resources (62%, n = 127). Overall, this study contributes to understanding pandemic-responsive academic library services to meet the unique needs of health sciences education and research in evolving COVID-19 pandemic information environments.

The impact of COVID-19 on reference services: a national survey of academic health sciences librarians.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the scope and adaptive nature of reference services provided by academic health sciences librarians over a one-year period (between March 2020 and March 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: In March 2021, academic health sciences librarians in the United States were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about their experiences providing reference services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was developed, pretested, and distributed to various listservs. RESULTS: A total of 205 academic health sciences librarians and other information professionals with health sciences liaison responsibilities in the US (N=205) responded to the online survey. The scope of reference services provided during the COVID-19 pandemic included email-based reference services (97%), virtual reference (89%), telephone (80%), text-based (33%), and in-person (31%). The most common types of COVID-related reference questions included COVID-19 treatments (53%), safety precautions (46%), vaccines (41%), and prevalence (38%). Additionally, the identification of challenging reference questions and examples of misinformation were provided by respondents. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the survey characterize the evolving nature and scope of academic health sciences reference work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians reported an increase in reference questions during the pandemic and are answering them in creative ways despite barriers (e.g., limited time and reduction in resources). There is an opportunity for librarians to continue to address COVID-related misinformation. Overall, these findings provide useful insight for library practitioners and administrators planning reference services during public health crises.

Global Health Observatory Data Repository.

The Global Health Observatory Data Repository is the publicly available interface for the World Health Organization's health-related statistics for the 194 countries that are Member States. It includes statistics for over 1,000 indicators including mortality, child nutrition, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, environmental health, equity, and more. This overview explains the variety of ways that users can access and browse WHO's health-related statistics.

Health insurance literacy: A mixed methods study of college students.

Objective: This study examines the health insurance literacy, or the ability to use health insurance effectively, of college students. Participants: A total of 455 students from a large, public university completed an online questionnaire in November 2016. Methods: A questionnaire examined students' knowledge of commonly encountered health insurance terms and ability to apply that knowledge to determine cost-sharing in a clinical setting. Results: The majority of students were able to correctly identify the most commonly encountered terms, but could not identify terms related to plan types and options. Eighty-eight percent of students could not determine their cost-sharing for two presented scenarios. Approximately half of the students indicated they had been confused about their health insurance plan, with one-quarter of students stopping or delaying medical care due to confusion. Conclusions: Outreach and education for students should target specific deficits in knowledge such as those identified in this study.

OSTMED.DR®, an Osteopathic Medicine Digital Library.

The OSTMED.DR® database provides access to both citation and full-text osteopathic literature, including the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. Currently, it is a free database searchable using basic and advanced search features.

Advancing the conversation: next steps for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) health sciences librarianship.

In recent years, librarians in various sectors have been moving forward a conversation on the distinct information needs and information-seeking behavior of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) patrons and how well the profession recognizes and meets those needs. Health sciences librarianship has been slower than other areas of the profession in creating an evidence base covering the needs of its LGBTQ patrons, with, until recently, only very limited literature on this subject. LGBTQ health sciences librarianship is now starting to attract new interest, with librarians working together to bring this emerging specialization to the attention of the broader professional community. In this paper, the authors report on a dedicated panel discussion that took place at the 2016 joint annual meeting of the Medical Library Association and Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; discuss subsequent reflections; and highlight the emerging role for health sciences librarians in providing culturally competent services to the LGBTQ population. Recommendations are also provided for establishing a tool kit for LGBTQ health sciences librarianship from which librarians can draw. We conclude by highlighting the importance of critically reflective practice in health sciences librarianship in the context of LGBTQ health information.

A Survey of Information Source Preferences of Parents of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

For parents of children with an Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), high quality, easily accessible information and a strong peer network can be the key to raising a happy, healthy child, and maintaining family well-being and emotional resilience. This article reports the findings of an anonymous survey examining the information source preferences for 935 parents of individuals with ASDs in North Carolina. Data indicates that parents show similar information seeking patterns across the age spectrum, that availability of information (as indicated by overall information source selection) decrease as children age. It also shows that parents rely heavily on local sources of information, preferring them to nonlocal sources (such as the internet) for many types of information.

AMED: The Allied and Complementary Medicine Database.

AMED: The Allied and Complementary Medicine Database is a resource from the Health Care Information Service of the British Library. AMED offers access to complementary and alternative medicine topics, such as acupuncture, chiropractic, herbalism, homeopathy, hospice care, hypnosis, palliative care, physiotherapy, podiatry, and rehabilitation. This column features a sample search to demonstrate the type of information available within AMED. AMED is available through the EBSCOhost and OVID platforms.

SAGE Research Methods Datasets: A Data Analysis Educational Tool.

SAGE Research Methods Datasets (SRMD) is an educational tool designed to offer users the opportunity to obtain hands-on experience with data analysis. Users can search for and browse authentic datasets by method, discipline, and data type. Each of the datasets are supplemented with educational material on the research method and clear guidelines for how to approach data analysis.

Pediatric Care Online: A Pediatric Point-of-Care Tool.

Pediatric Care Online is the American Academy of Pediatrics' point-of-care tool designed for health care providers. Pediatric Care Online builds on content from Red Book Online and Pediatric Patient Education and features Quick Reference topic pages for more than 250 pediatric health care topics. The multitude of resources available within Pediatric Care Online will be reviewed in this column, and a sample search will be used to illustrate the type of information available within this point-of-care pediatric resource.

Natural Medicines: A Complementary and Alternative Medicines Tool Combining Natural Standard and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.

Natural Medicines is a subscription-based database of complementary and alternative medicine information, building on the information previously available within Natural Standard and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. Natural Medicines offers several special features including an Interaction Checker and Effectiveness Checker, as well as tools focused on Nutrient Depletion, Pregnancy & Lactation, and Adverse Effects. This column features a sample search of Natural Medicines, along with descriptions of the special features and how they might be used in practice by health care providers and health sciences information professionals.

ClinicalKey 2.0: Upgrades in a Point-of-Care Search Engine.

ClinicalKey 2.0, launched September 23, 2014, offers a mobile-friendly design with a search history feature for targeting point-of-care resources for health care professionals. Browsing is improved with searchable, filterable listings of sources highlighting new resources. ClinicalKey 2.0 improvements include more than 1,400 new Topic Pages for quick access to point-of-care content. A sample search details some of the upgrades and content options.

ClinicalAccess: a clinical decision support tool.

ClinicalAccess is a new clinical decision support tool that uses a question-and-answer format to mirror clinical decision-making strategies. The unique format of ClinicalAccess delivers concise, authoritative answers to more than 120,000 clinical questions. This column presents a review of the product, a sample search, and a comparison with other point-of-care search engines.

JoVE: the Journal of Visualized Experiments.

The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is the world's first scientific video journal and is designed to communicate research and scientific methods in an innovative, intuitive way. JoVE includes a wide range of biomedical videos, from biology to immunology and bioengineering to clinical and translation medicine. This column describes the browsing and searching capabilities of JoVE, as well as its additional features (including the JoVE Scientific Education Database designed for students in scientific fields).

FastStats: a public health statistics database.

FastStats is a site that provides quick and easy access to public health statistics. The freely available website is maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. Users can browse alphabetically by topic and state/territory or search across the National Center for Health Statistics site. A description of the browsing capabilities and sample searches are presented.

F1000Prime: a faculty of 1000 tool.

F1000Prime is an expert review service that aims to identify and rate new articles likely to greatly influence current biomedical and clinical knowledge and practice. In addition to the expert-selected and reviewed articles of F1000Prime, the publisher, Faculty of 1000, offers numerous personalized features, access to two open access journals, and an open repository of scientific posters and presentations. This article includes a sample search of F1000Prime and a discussion of its additional features.

Joanna Briggs Institute: an evidence-based practice database.

The Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence-Based Practice Database offers systematic reviews, practice recommendations, and consumer information designed to support evidence-based practice. A sample search was conducted within the Ovid platform to demonstrate functionality and available tools.