Medical Library at Woman's Site Visit Project

Rebecca Kelley, David Laatsch, Cara McHugh, Mac Scarle

USERSMedical Library at Woman’s

Users

• Main users are physicians and nurses• Library is open to all staff members– Our visit saw usage from physicians as well as a

maintenance staff member, obviously for differing reasons

• Woman’s has around 2,500-3,000 staff members• Library is not open to patients or family members– Can be used by patients or family members upon

physician request

SERVICES AND PRODUCTSMedical Library at Woman’s

Print and electronic journals

• Primarily for doctors, nurses, current patients• Subscriptions based on user needs (nursing,

reproductive medicine, fertility and infertility issues, anesthesia and surgery, pediatrics, and overall women’s health)

• Off-site access available only to doctors, nurses

• Library offers electronic reference

Interlibrary loan

• Member of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine consortia

• Participates in document delivery and sharing, DOCLINE interlibrary loan, and access to other scholarly publishing resources

• NNLM membership saves cost and time of the user

Patient Information Library

• Ready reference room• Will offer brochures, journals, medical

reference books, and a computer terminal equipped with appropriate medical databases for users’ personal research

Nursing Reference Center

• ANA-granted magnet status for nurses• Membership grants nurses research and

writing assistance, information discovery services

STAFFINGMedical Library at Woman’s

Staffing

• One full time employee, one part time employee

• FTE responsible for: interlibrary loan, collection development, budget, and the design of the new library room

• PTE responsible for: electronic records and basic filing and organization of the collection

• Temporary/unpaid volunteer positions

FACILITIESMedical Library at Woman’s

Current location

• Inaccessible location• Little parking• High-congestion area• Needs more space

for researchers

New location

• Room for Patient Information Library• New reading chairs, study tables, book and

pamphlet displays, two employee offices• Prime location near doctor/nurse offices and

delivery wing• Small “archive” area• Ample parking

BUDGETINGMedical Library at Woman’s Hospital

Budgeting

• Medical Library is “blessed with a good budget”

• “Size dictates what you can buy”• Stretches budget to meet the library’s needs• Has avoided budget cuts (so far), unlike other

medical libraries• Bundles journal subscriptions to save money

Budgeting

• Collection Expense = $110,000• Includes monographs, journals and database

subscriptions

• Interlibrary Loan Expenses = $4,300• $3,000 for ILL purchases ($10-$12 per article)• $1,300 for Ariel software (secure transfer of ILL docs)

• Integrated Library System = $3,400• EOS (Electronic Online Systems) hosts:

– OPAC and modules for Cataloging, Circulation, & Serial Acquisitions

Budgeting

• Office Supplies Expense = $1,300• Minor Expenses- telephone, repairs & printing• Expenses that Hospital pays (doesn’t come out

of Library’s Operational Budget):• Capital budget items: new computers, printers, etc.• Electricity, Insurance

• Salaries & benefits:• Mean salary for medical librarians is $60,000 (MLA

2008 Salary Survey)

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENTMedical Library at Woman’s Hospital

Collection Development

• Collection consists mostly of medical journals:

• Obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics (infant) & general women’s health

• Reference areas for both physicians & nurses

• Minor collections:• Pharmacology, anesthesia,

surgery and oncology

Collection Development

• Database subscriptions:• CINAHL, nursing database• DynaMed, evidence-based clinical reference database• Cochrane Collaboration, full text reviews of evidence-

based medicine

• PubMed is great resource from NLM• Collection is weeded annually• Collection Development Policy overdue for

update; time constraints

MARKETINGMedical Library at Woman’s Hospital

Marketing• Variety of marketing techniques• Printed promotional materials:

• Bookmarks with Top Health Web Sites• Instructions for using databases

• Monthly emails to physicians; includes table of contents for latest medical journals

• “elevator speech” about library’s services; build relationships

• Host raffle fundraisers for charities

Proving Value within Hospital

• Tries to prove value everyday• Goal: to provide answers to all research questions in

timely manner

• Provides annual report to VP & Board:• Includes statistics on types of research requests,

database usage, interlibrary loans, variety of users• Demonstrates library’s value to upper management• Lacks return on investment component• Example of report on next slide

Proving Value within Hospital

• Woman’s Hospital Organizational Structure:• Library reports to Senior VP of Medical Staff Services

(see next slide)• Previously under IT, was “not a good fit”

• Medical Library is valued by Hospital:• No recent budget cuts • Providing larger space in new hospital

A DYNAMIC WORKPLACEMedical Library at Woman’s Hospital

Typical Days

• There are no “typical days” at the Medical Library

• Principle responsibility is information requests– The possibilities for different

requests is almost infinite• Rapid pace of change and

requests means that staff must be adaptable and ready for challenges

• “One does not schedule emergencies”

Room For Improvement

• State of transition: preparing for new library• State of flux leaves many opportunities and

issues for new location• Most important is new patient library• Marketing and staffing are other concerns

Problems and Difficulties

• Budgeting – specifically costly journal subscriptions

• Staffing• Physical space– Somewhat helped in new location– Many users prefer print– Requires smart collection development