Hospital Libraries: Past, Present and Future.

Hospital libraries have a long and storied history in the United States. Since the 1700 s, they have provided vital resources to the medical community. Over time, hospital libraries have evolved regarding staffing, resources, and access, yet their mission has remained the same-they are expected to provide the best possible medical information to support patient care. Hospital librarians need to appreciate the history of their profession and the services they have provided in the past in order to sustain the value of their contributions well into the future. Looking at the history, as well as the present state of hospital libraries, helps hospital librarians shape their future. Advocacy is vital in a time when hospitals stretch their budgets as far as possible, hospitals consolidate and hospital libraries close.

Interlibrary loan and document delivery in North American health sciences libraries during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The study purpose was to understand how early months of the COVID-19 pandemic altered interlibrary loan (ILL) and document delivery (DD) in North American health science libraries (HSLs), specifically the decision-making and workflow adjustments associated with accessing their own collections and obtaining content not available via ILL. Methods: Researchers distributed an online 26-question survey through 24 health science library email lists from January 6-February 7, 2021. Respondents reported their library's ILL and DD activities from March-August 2020, including ILL/DD usage and policies, collection access, decision-making, and workflow adjustments. In addition to calculating frequencies, cross-tabulation and statistical tests were performed to test a priori potential associations. Two researchers independently and thematically analyzed responses to the 2 open-ended questions and reached consensus on themes. Results: Hospital libraries represented 52% (n=226/431) of respondents, along with 42% academic (n=179) and 6% (n=26) multi-type or other special. Only 1% (n=5) closed completely with no remote services, but many, 45% (n=194), ceased ILL of print materials. More than half (n=246/423; 58%) agreed that ILL requests likely to be filled from print remained unfilled more than is typical. Open-ended questions yielded 5 themes on ILL/DD staffing, setup, and systems; 6 on impacts for libraries and library users. Conclusion: Lack of communication regarding collection availability and staffing resulted in delayed or unfilled requests. Hospital and academic libraries made similar decisions about continuing services but reported different experiences in areas such as purchasing digital content. Hybrid ILL/DD workflows may continue for managing these services.

Borrowing trouble? The impact of a systematic review service on interlibrary loan borrowing in an academic health sciences library.

BACKGROUND: With the mandate to review all available literature in the study's inclusion parameters, systematic review projects are likely to require full-text access to a significant number of articles that are not available in a library's collection, thereby necessitating ordering content via interlibrary loan (ILL). The aim of this study is to understand what effect a systematic review service has on the copyright royalty fees accompanying ILL requests at an academic health sciences library. CASE PRESENTATION: The library created a custom report using ILLiad data to look specifically at 2018 ILL borrowing requests that were known to be part of systematic reviews. This subset of borrowing activity was then analyzed to determine its impact on the library's copyright royalty expenditures for the year. In 2018, copyright eligible borrowing requests that were known to be part of systematic reviews represented only approximately 5% of total filled requests that involved copyright eligible borrowing. However, these systematic review requests directly or indirectly caused approximately 10% of all the Spencer S. Eccles Library copyright royalty expenditures for 2018 requests. CONCLUSION: Based on the sample data set, the library's copyright royalty expenditures did increase, but the overall financial impact was modest.

Matcha green tea (MGT) inhibits the propagation of cancer stem cells (CSCs), by targeting mitochondrial metabolism, glycolysis and multiple cell signalling pathways.

Matcha green tea (MGT) is a natural product that is currently used as a dietary supplement and may have significant anti-cancer properties. However, the molecular mechanism(s) underpinning its potential health benefits remain largely unknown. Here, we used MCF7 cells (an ER(+) human breast cancer cell line) as a model system, to systematically dissect the effects of MGT at the cellular level, via i) metabolic phenotyping and ii) unbiased proteomics analysis. Our results indicate that MGT is indeed sufficient to inhibit the propagation of breast cancer stem cells (CSCs), with an IC-50 of ~0.2 mg/ml, in tissue culture. Interestingly, metabolic phenotyping revealed that treatment with MGT is sufficient to suppress both oxidative mitochondrial metabolism (OXPHOS) and glycolytic flux, shifting cancer cells towards a more quiescent metabolic state. Unbiased label-free proteomics analysis identified the specific mitochondrial proteins and glycolytic enzymes that were down-regulated by MGT treatment. Moreover, to discover the underlying signalling pathways involved in this metabolic shift, we subjected our proteomics data sets to bio-informatics interrogation via Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software. Our results indicate that MGT strongly affected mTOR signalling, specifically down-regulating many components of the 40S ribosome. This raises the intriguing possibility that MGT can be used as inhibitor of mTOR, instead of chemical compounds, such as rapamycin. In addition, other key pathways were affected, including the anti-oxidant response, cell cycle regulation, as well as interleukin signalling. Our results are consistent with the idea that MGT may have significant therapeutic potential, by mediating the metabolic reprogramming of cancer cells.

Health Sciences Library Closings; A Context Sensitive Pilot Study.

A significant number of U.S. health sciences libraries have closed since the mid-1990's. A pilot study was conducted with academic physicians to understand the impact of closing the health sciences library in the teaching hospital with which they were affiliated. A brief survey was designed and distributed to fourteen faculty members with thirteen useable responses received. The study elicited a context-sensitive perspective on the closing of the library with the most noteworthy outcome being the additional time required by attending physicians and trainees to perform the work that previously was performed by library staff. The loss of the expert literature search, instructional services, journal request, and interlibrary loan services had the most significant impact on study participants. Further research is needed to understand the long term consequences of closing hospital-based health sciences library on the education of physicians.

A journal cancellation survey and resulting impact on interlibrary loan.

OBJECTIVE: The research describes an extensible method of evaluating and cancelling electronic journals during a budget shortfall and evaluates implications for interlibrary loan (ILL) and user satisfaction. METHODS: We calculated cost per use for cancellable electronic journal subscriptions (n=533) from the 2013 calendar year and the first half of 2014, cancelling titles with cost per use greater than $20 and less than 100 yearly uses. For remaining titles, we issued an online survey asking respondents to rank the importance of journals to their work. Finally, we gathered ILL requests and COUNTER JR2 turnaway reports for calendar year 2015. RESULTS: Three hundred fifty-four respondents completed the survey. Because of the level of heterogeneity of titles in the survey as well as respondents' backgrounds, most titles were reported to be never used. We developed criteria based on average response across journals to determine which to cancel. Based on this methodology, we cancelled eight journals. Examination of ILL data revealed that none of the cancelled titles were requested with any frequency. Free-text responses indicated, however, that many value free ILL as a suitable substitute for immediate full-text access to biomedical journal literature. CONCLUSIONS: Soliciting user feedback through an electronic survey can assist collections librarians to make electronic journal cancellation decisions during slim budgetary years. This methodology can be adapted and improved upon at other health sciences libraries.

Expanding Access: An Evaluation of ReadCube Access as an ILL Alternative.

ReadCube Access is a patron-driven, document delivery system that provides immediate access to articles from journals owned by Nature Publishing Group. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of ReadCube Access as an interlibrary loan (ILL) alternative for nonsubscribed Nature journals at Auburn University, a research university with a School of Pharmacy and a School of Veterinary Medicine. An analysis of ten months' usage and costs are presented along with the results of a user satisfaction survey. Auburn University Libraries found ReadCube to be an acceptable alternative to ILL for unsubscribed Nature journals and at current levels of use and cost, consider ReadCube to be financially sustainable.

Scanning technology selection impacts acceptability and usefulness of image-rich content.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical and research usefulness of articles can depend on image quality. This study addressed whether scans of figures in black and white (B&W), grayscale, or color, or portable document format (PDF) to tagged image file format (TIFF) conversions as provided by interlibrary loan or document delivery were viewed as acceptable or useful by radiologists or pathologists. METHODS: Residency coordinators selected eighteen figures from studies from radiology, clinical pathology, and anatomic pathology journals. With original PDF controls, each figure was prepared in three or four experimental conditions: PDF conversion to TIFF, and scans from print in B&W, grayscale, and color. Twelve independent observers indicated whether they could identify the features and whether the image quality was acceptable. They also ranked all the experimental conditions of each figure in terms of usefulness. RESULTS: Of 982 assessments of 87 anatomic pathology, 83 clinical pathology, and 77 radiology images, 471 (48%) were unidentifiable. Unidentifiability of originals (4%) and conversions (10%) was low. For scans, unidentifiability ranged from 53% for color, to 74% for grayscale, to 97% for B&W. Of 987 responses about acceptability (n=405), 41% were said to be unacceptable, 97% of B&W, 66% of grayscale, 41% of color, and 1% of conversions. Hypothesized order (original, conversion, color, grayscale, B&W) matched 67% of rankings (n=215). CONCLUSIONS: PDF to TIFF conversion provided acceptable content. Color images are rarely useful in grayscale (12%) or B&W (less than 1%). Acceptability of grayscale scans of noncolor originals was 52%. Digital originals are needed for most images. Print images in color or grayscale should be scanned using those modalities.

Breaking inertia: increasing access to journals during a period of declining budgets: a case study.

Beginning in January 2012, a 1-year pilot pay-per-view (PPV) service was implemented. Twenty-four journal subscriptions were canceled to fund the service, and through the PPV service, the library was able to offer patrons access to over 700 previously unavailable biomedical journals. At the end of the pilot period, the total PPV cost for each journal accessed was compared to the subscription cost to determine if PPV was an effective use of library money. While remaining essentially budget neutral, the number of full-text articles accessed increased over 400%. PPV can be a cost-effective method for expanding access to journals.

Assessing availability of scientific journals, databases, and health library services in Canadian health ministries: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-informed health policymaking logically depends on timely access to research evidence. To our knowledge, despite the substantial political and societal pressure to enhance the use of the best available research evidence in public health policy and program decision making, there is no study addressing availability of peer-reviewed research in Canadian health ministries. OBJECTIVES: To assess availability of (1) a purposive sample of high-ranking scientific journals, (2) bibliographic databases, and (3) health library services in the fourteen Canadian health ministries. METHODS: From May to October 2011, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among librarians employed by Canadian health ministries to collect information relative to availability of scientific journals, bibliographic databases, and health library services. Availability of scientific journals in each ministry was determined using a sample of 48 journals selected from the 2009 Journal Citation Reports (Sciences and Social Sciences Editions). Selection criteria were: relevance for health policy based on scope note information about subject categories and journal popularity based on impact factors. RESULTS: We found that the majority of Canadian health ministries did not have subscription access to key journals and relied heavily on interlibrary loans. Overall, based on a sample of high-ranking scientific journals, availability of journals through interlibrary loans, online and print-only subscriptions was estimated at 63%, 28% and 3%, respectively. Health Canada had a 2.3-fold higher number of journal subscriptions than that of the provincial ministries' average. Most of the organisations provided access to numerous discipline-specific and multidisciplinary databases. Many organisations provided access to the library resources described through library partnerships or consortia. No professionally led health library environment was found in four out of fourteen Canadian health ministries (i.e. Manitoba Health, Northwest Territories Department of Health and Social Services, Nunavut Department of Health and Social Services and Yukon Department of Health and Social Services). CONCLUSIONS: There is inequity in availability of peer-reviewed research in the fourteen Canadian health ministries. This inequity could present a problem, as each province and territory is responsible for formulating and implementing evidence-informed health policies and services for the benefit of its population.

A national survey of UK health libraries investigating the cost of interlibrary loan services and assessing the accessibility to key orthopaedic journals.

BACKGROUND: NHS Library Services are utilised by NHS staff and junior trainees to locate scientific papers that provide them with the evidence base required for modern medical practice. The cost of accessing articles can be considerable particularly for junior trainees. OBJECTIVES: This survey looks at variations in cost of journal article loans and investigates access to particular orthopaedic journals across the country. METHODS: A national survey of UK Health Libraries was performed. Access to and costs of journals and interlibrary loan services were assessed. Availability of five wide-reaching orthopaedic journals was investigated. RESULTS: Seven hundred and ten libraries were identified. One hundred and ten libraries completed the questionnaire (16.7%). Of these, 96.2% reported free access to scientific journals for users. 99.1% of libraries used interlibrary loan services with 38.2% passing costs on to the user at an average of £2.99 per article. 72.7% of libraries supported orthopaedic services. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (British) had greatest onsite availability. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates fluctuations in cost of access to interlibrary loan services and variation in access to important orthopaedic journals. It provides a reflection of current policy of charging for the acquisition of medical evidence by libraries in the UK.

Pay-per-view in interlibrary loan: a case study.

QUESTION: Can purchasing articles from publishers be a cost-effective method of interlibrary loan (ILL) for libraries owing significant copyright royalties? SETTING: The University of Nebraska Medical Center's McGoogan Library of Medicine provides the case study. METHOD: Completed ILL requests that required copyright payment were identified for the first quarter of 2009. The cost of purchasing these articles from publishers was obtained from the publishers' websites and compared to the full ILL cost. A pilot period of purchasing articles from the publisher was then conducted. RESULTS: The first-quarter sample data showed that approximately $500.00 could have been saved if the articles were purchased from the publisher. The pilot period and continued purchasing practice have resulted in significant savings for the library. CONCLUSION: Purchasing articles directly from the publisher is a cost-effective method for libraries burdened with high copyright royalty payments.

Interlending and document supply trends in NHS North West health libraries 2003/2004 to 2006/2007.

BACKGROUND: The Library and Information for Health Network North West (LIHNN) represents health libraries in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside and Wirral. LIHNN members take part in a regional co-operative network supporting interlending and document supply. METHODS: Data were analysed over a 4-year period to identify trends and patterns. In addition, a literature review was conducted to compare trends seen in NHS libraries to those trends seen in other sectors and in other countries. RESULTS/TRENDS: Between 2003/2004 and 2006/2007 there was a significant drop in document supply activity reported by NHS North West libraries from 59 321 to 37 134 copies, representing a fall of 37.4%. During the same period, lending between libraries stayed constant. DISCUSSION: The NHS supplies a significant number of documents to its users and it is investigating a number of options to increase efficiencies. The observed fall in document supply activity has been reported in several sectors and has been attributed to a number of cofactors. Although the fall in document supply activity is expected to continue, a critical mass of information is likely to remain behind subscription barriers and this, in turn, will necessitate supply from external sources.

Utilización del fondo del Centro Provincial de Información de Ciencias Médicas, Matanzas: período 2005-2007 / Usage of the fund of the Provincial Center of Medical Sciences Information of Matanzas: during the period 2005-2007

La utilización de los fondos bibliográficos posibilita conocer la frecuencia con que se usan y son visitados los centros preparados para estos fines y su aprovechamiento. El propósito de este trabajo fue identificar la utilización que ha tenido el fondo documental del Centro Provincial de Información de Ciencias Médicas de Matanzas (CPICM) a través de los servicios de Solicitud de Préstamo y Servicio Cooperativo de Acceso al Documento (SCAD), en el período comprendido del 2005-2007. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo de corte transversal, revisándose el movimiento de las fuentes de información, de acuerdo al tipo de documento, clases, número de revistas según años de edición y para lo cual se utilizó todo el fondo documental existente (libros, revistas, tesis y obras de referencias). Sólo un 15.54 por ciento del fondo fue utilizado en el período estudiado, de ellos los libros representaron un 30.02 por ciento, las revistas un 10.45 por ciento y las tesis fueron los documentos menos usados (3.64 por ciento). La utilización del fondo documental comprobada en este estudio es considerada como pobre y con un aprovechamiento insuficiente. Una mejor labor de promoción en el centro, la incorporación de nuevos servicios y nuevas estrategias de trabajo podría mejorar sustancialmente la utilización del fondo documental(AU)

The usage of library collections allows knowing the frequency the centers prepared for this purpose are visited and used with this objective and the form the visitors take advantage of them. The aim of this work was identifying the usage that has being made of the documental fund of the Provincial Medical Sciences Information Center of Matanzas through the service of Loan Asking and the Cooperative Service of Access to Documents, in the period 2005-2007. We carried out a descriptive, transversal study, reviewing the movement of the information sources, according to the kind of document, classification, number of journal in relation with the edition year; for that we used the entire documental fund in existence (books, journals, papers, and reference works). Only 15.54 percent of the fund was used in the studied period; only 30.02 percent of the books and 10.45 percent of the journals were used, and papers were the less used documents: 3.64 percent. The usage of the documental funds verified in this work is considered poor and its exploitation insufficient. A better promotion work in the center, the incorporation of new services and new working strategies would substantially improve the usage of documental funds(AU)

Utilización del fondo del Centro Provincial de Información de Ciencias Médicas, Matanzas: período 2005-2007 / Usage of the fund of the Provincial Center of Medical Sciences Information of Matanzas: during the period 2005-2007

La utilización de los fondos bibliográficos posibilita conocer la frecuencia con que se usan y son visitados los centros preparados para estos fines y su aprovechamiento. El propósito de este trabajo fue identificar la utilización que ha tenido el fondo documental del Centro Provincial de Información de Ciencias Médicas de Matanzas (CPICM) a través de los servicios de Solicitud de Préstamo y Servicio Cooperativo de Acceso al Documento (SCAD), en el período comprendido del 2005-2007. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo de corte transversal, revisándose el movimiento de las fuentes de información, de acuerdo al tipo de documento, clases, número de revistas según años de edición y para lo cual se utilizó todo el fondo documental existente (libros, revistas, tesis y obras de referencias). Sólo un 15.54 por ciento del fondo fue utilizado en el período estudiado, de ellos los libros representaron un 30.02 por ciento, las revistas un 10.45 por ciento y las tesis fueron los documentos menos usados (3.64 por ciento). La utilización del fondo documental comprobada en este estudio es considerada como pobre y con un aprovechamiento insuficiente. Una mejor labor de promoción en el centro, la incorporación de nuevos servicios y nuevas estrategias de trabajo podría mejorar sustancialmente la utilización del fondo documental.

The usage of library collections allows knowing the frequency the centers prepared for this purpose are visited and used with this objective and the form the visitors take advantage of them. The aim of this work was identifying the usage that has being made of the documental fund of the Provincial Medical Sciences Information Center of Matanzas through the service of Loan Asking and the Cooperative Service of Access to Documents, in the period 2005-2007. We carried out a descriptive, transversal study, reviewing the movement of the information sources, according to the kind of document, classification, number of journal in relation with the edition year; for that we used the entire documental fund in existence (books, journals, papers, and reference works). Only 15.54 percent of the fund was used in the studied period; only 30.02 percent of the books and 10.45 percent of the journals were used, and papers were the less used documents: 3.64 percent. The usage of the documental funds verified in this work is considered poor and its exploitation insufficient. A better promotion work in the center, the incorporation of new services and new working strategies would substantially improve the usage of documental funds.

Interlibrary loan in US and Canadian health sciences libraries 2005: update on journal article use.

PURPOSE: The authors analyzed 2.48 million interlibrary loan (ILL) requests entered in the National Library of Medicine's (NLM's) DOCLINE system from 3,234 US and Canadian medical libraries during fiscal year (FY) 2005 to study their distribution and nature and the journals in which requested articles were published. METHODS: Data from DOCLINE and NLM's indexing system and online catalog were used to analyze all DOCLINE ILL transactions acted on from October 2004 to September 2005. The authors compared results from this analysis to previous data collected in FY 1992. RESULTS: Overall ILL volume in the United States and Canada is at about the same level as FY 1992 despite marked growth in online searching, knowledge discovery tools, and journals available online. Over 21,000 unique journal titles and 1.4 million unique articles were used to fill 2.2 million ILL requests in FY 2005. Over 1 million of the articles were requested only once by any network library. Fifty-two percent (11,022) of journals had 5 or fewer requests for articles from all the years of a journal by all libraries in the network. Fifty-two percent of the articles requested were published within the most recent 5 years. CONCLUSION: The overall ILL profile in the libraries studied has changed little since FY 1992, notable given other changes in publishing. Small changes, however, may reveal developing trends. Total ILL traffic has been declining in recent years following a peak in 2002, and fewer of the articles requested were published in the most recent five years compared to requests from 1992.

Retention of retrospective print journals in the digital age: trends and analysis.

PURPOSE: The issue of retaining retrospective print journals is examined in light of the shift to electronic titles, the reallocation of library budgets from print to electronic, and the changing research practices of today's library users. This article also examines the evolving role of the physical library and its impact on space allocation. METHODS: To determine current practice and opinion, a survey of health sciences librarians and academic librarians was conducted. To demonstrate the use patterns of older journal issues, citation analyses and interlibrary loan statistics were examined. RESULTS: All methods indicate that recent material is accessed more frequently than older material, with a significant drop in use of materials greater than 15 years old. Materials greater than 20 years old constituted less than 5% of interlibrary loans and less than 9% of articles noted in the citation analysis. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to eliminate older years of a print journal collection without a large impact on the needs of researchers. Librarians' preference to maintain full runs of journal titles may be motivated by reasons outside of actual usage or patrons needs.