Health Sciences Librarianship
This course explores the roles of the health information professional in a variety of health sciences environments. Topics include embedded librarianship and liaison services, instruction, supporting evidence-based practice, scholarly communication, technology services, and ethics in health sciences libraries. This course will also cover research data management, outreach services to underserved populations, health literacy, and the management and use of physical space in health sciences libraries.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the many roles that the health sciences information professional can play across the range and functions of health sciences libraries and information centers.
- Explore how best to use evidence to support health information service provision.
- Conduct strategic database searches utilizing various electronic resources in the health sciences disciplines.
- Understand many of the issues concerning health sciences librarianship with regard to special topics such as outreach, research data management, library administration, and electronic health records.
- Consider the implications of emerging technologies for health sciences librarianship and for health care in general.
Agenda
Session
Topics
Readings
Activities Due
Week 1:
Overview of Health Sciences Librarianship
Healthcare Environment
Huber & Tu-Keefner, Chapter 1-3
Introductory Post Discussion Board
Health Sciences Environment Discussion Board
Week 2:
Evidence-Based Healthcare
Huber & Tu-Keefner, Chapter 4
EBP Tutorial (link)
Glossary of EBM Terms (link)
PICO Question Discussion Board
The Coming Plague Chapter Written Review I, Due
Week 3:
Governmental Agencies, Professional Organizations, Management in Health Sciences Libraries,
and Scholarly Publishing
Huber & Tu-Keefner, Chapters 5-6
Medical Library Association Career Center (link)
Demetres, M. R., Delgado, D., & Wright, D. N. (2020). The impact of institutional repositories: A systematic review. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 108(2), 177-184.
Discussion Board Post
Interview with a Health Sciences Librarian, Due
Week 4:
Technology Services
Huber & Tu-Keefner, Chapters 7 and 9
Norton, H. F., Tennant, M. R., Edwards, M. E., & Pomputius, A. (2018). Use of annual surveying to identify technology trends and improve service provision. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106(3), 320-329. doi:10.5195/jmla.2018.324
Review an electronic health record Discussion Board
The Coming Plague Chapter Video Review II, Due
Week 5:
Public Services and Embedded Librarianship
Huber & Tu-Keefner, Chapter 8
Hunt, S. L., & Bakker, C. J. (2018). A qualitative analysis of the information science needs of public health researchers in an academic setting. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106(2), 184-197.
Post a health sciences research question Discussion Board
Week 6:
Research Services and Database Searching
PubMed Essentials 2020 online short course (link)
Branching Out: The MeSH® Vocabulary (link)
Introduction to MeSH (link)
Search Exercise: Respond to one fellow student’s research question using MeSH terms in PubMed
Week 7:
Consumer Health Librarianship and Health Literacy
Huber & Tu-Keefner, Chapters 11 and 12
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2020). Addressing Health Misinformation with Health Literacy Strategies Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26021
Vaccine Hesitancy and Social Media’s Role in Spreading Vaccine Misinformation (webinar)
Optional:
Huber, J. T., Shapiro II, R. M., Gillaspy, M. L. (2012). Top down versus bottom up: The social construction of the health literacy movement. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 82(4), 429-451.
Health literacy Discussion Board
The Coming Plague Chapter Written/Video Review III, Due
Week 8:
Outreach Services, Underserved Populations, and Health Disparities
Huber & Tu-Keefner, Chapters 13 and 14
Health Disparities (MedlinePlus)
Speaker, S. L. (2018). An historical overview of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, 1985-2015. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106(2), 162-174.
Lenstra, N. (2019). Exercise your resources: Public libraries partner with academic institutions for health programming. American Libraries, 50(5), 51.
Outreach project Discussion Board
Week 9:
Instruction Services
Nevius, A. M., Ettien, A., Link, A. P., & Sobel, L. Y. (2018). Library instruction in medical education: A survey of current practices in the United States and Canada. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106(1), 98–107.
McGowan, B. S. (2019). Reimagining information literacy instruction in an evidence-based practice nursing course for undergraduate students. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 107(4), 572-578.
Database Evaluation and Presentation Assignment, Due
Week 10:
Research Data Management
Data Science 101 (link)
Federer, L. (2018). Defining data librarianship: a survey of competencies, skills, and training. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106(3), 294-303.
The Coming Plague Chapter Written/Video Review IV, Due
MLA CE Credits: 24