Librarian instruction-delivery modality preferences for professional continuing education.

OBJECTIVES: Attending professional continuing education (CE) is an important component of librarianship. This research study identified librarians' preferences in delivery modalities of instruction for professional CE. The study also identified influential factors associated with attending CE classes. METHODS: Five instruction-delivery modalities and six influential factors were identified for inclusion in an online survey. The survey completed by members of the American Library Association (ALA), Special Libraries Association (SLA), and Medical Library Association (MLA) provided the data for analysis of librarian preferences and influential factors. RESULTS: The majority of respondents were MLA members, followed by ALA and SLA members. Librarians from all three library associations preferred the face-to-face instructional modality. The most influential factor associated with the decision to attend a professional CE class was cost. CONCLUSIONS: All five instruction-delivery modalities present useful structures for imparting professional CE. As librarians' experience with different modalities increases and as technology improves, preferences in instruction delivery may shift. But at present, face-to-face remains the most preferred modality. Based on the results of this study, cost was the most influential factor associated with attending a CE class. This may change as additional influential factors are identified and analyzed in future studies.

Foundations of database searching: integrating evidence-based medicine into the medical curriculum.

Library integration into the medical school curriculum is a crucial aspect of meeting Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Accreditation Standards and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Medical School Objectives Project (MSOP) guidelines. To accomplish this, academic health sciences libraries seek to develop evidence-based medicine (EBM) literature searching classes within the medical school curriculum. Establishing a basic understanding of the fundamental concepts behind health sciences database searching among medical students is a prerequisite for a more demanding evidence-based literature searching curriculum. The George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library, Penn State College of Medicine, sought to incorporate an evidence-based medicine literature searching structure by working within the existing problem-based learning system during the preclinical years. Students in the clinical years will participate in evidence-based assignments during their rotations. A fourth-year EBM elective will be created to reinforce and round out students' exposure to these concepts.