Introduction to Health Sciences Librarianship

M. Sandra Wood, M. Sandra Wood

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781136614378
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Get the foundational knowledge about health sciences librarianship. The general term "health sciences libraries" covers a wide range of areas beyond medical libraries, such as biomedical, nursing, allied health, pharmacy, and others. Introduction to Health Sciences Librarianship provides a sound foundation to all aspects of these types of libraries to students and librarians new to the field. This helpful guide provides a helpful overview of the health care environment, technical services, public services, management issues, academic health sciences, hospital libraries, health informatics, evidence-based practice, and more. This text provides crucial information every beginning and practicing health sciences librarian needs—all in one volume. Introduction to Health Sciences Librarianship presents some of the most respected librarians and educators in the field, each discussing important aspects of librarianship, including technical services, public services, administration, special services, and special collections. This comprehensive volume provides all types of librarians with helpful general, practical, and theoretical knowledge about this profession. The book's unique "A Day in the Life of... " feature describes typical days of health sciences librarians working in special areas such as reference or consumer health, and offers anyone new to the field a revealing look at what a regular workday is like. The text is packed with useful figures, screen captures, tables, and references. Topics discussed in Introduction to Health Sciences Librarianship include:

• overview of health sciences libraries
• health environment
• collection development of journals, books, and electronic resources
• organization of health information
• access services
• information services and information retrieval
• information literacy
• health informatics
• management of academic health sciences libraries
• management and issues in hospital libraries
• library space planning
• specialized services

Introduction to Health Sciences Librarianship provides essential information for health sciences librarians, medical librarians, beginning and intermediate level health sciences/medical librarians, and any health sciences librarian wishing to review the field. This crucial volume belongs in every academic health sciences library, hospital library, specialized health library, biomedical library, and academic library.

SECTION III: PUBLIC SERVICES

Chapter 6

Access Issues

Elizabeth R. Lorbeer
Cindy Scroggins

SUMMARY. This chapter examines the ways in which health sciences libraries make their information resources available and usable. Whether material is accessible in print format or electronically, in-house or via interlibrary loan, on-site or from a remote location, libraries face the challenge of providing their users with the information they need, when and where they want it. The chapter includes discussion of traditional and emerging trends in access services in general, with particular emphasis on the importance of information access within clinical and academic health care environments.

INTRODUCTION

As noted in nearly every chapter of this book, hospital and academic health sciences libraries share much in common with other types of libraries. This is true in the area of access services as well. All types of libraries are seeing a shift from their previous role of repository for print materials to that of gateway to the larger world of electronic information. All libraries are also experiencing greater demand for ease of access and timeliness of information delivery. In this sense, the health sciences library may serve as a model to other libraries, in that the accessibility and timely delivery of health-related information have always been of utmost concern to health sciences librarians.¹

While health sciences librarians have always stressed timely access to information, the pool of people eligible for such accesswas, until relatively recently, quite limited. Historically, hospital libraries were available only to those associated with clinical care or research, and academic health sciences libraries were limited strictly to faculty and students. Access was considered a privilege, due in large part to the expensive nature of the resources and the fact that they were written specifically for those schooled in the sciences. Material was frequently not allowed to circulate and often kept in closed stacks. Patients or members of the general public in search of health-related information were generally limited to what they could glean from the family physician.

Today, health sciences libraries play a strong supportive role in all functions of clinical research, education, and patient care. Health sciences libraries provide information to health professionals, faculty and students, administrators, and the general public. The library of today provides quality information for all levels of educational background and language comprehension. Patients and their families generally have physical access to the entire library collection. Even during times when the physical library is closed, authorized users may access the library's electronic collection twenty-four hours a day.

FUNDAMENTALS OF ACCESS

Simply put, access is about connecting users to the resources they need. This requires the health sciences librarian to take an active role in partnering with the community it serves to ensure that it is meeting the informational needs of its current clientele while being mindful of new partnerships with underserved populations. The more obstacles the library puts in the way of its users, the more likely users are to seek information elsewhere. Health sciences librarians need to continually ask, “Am I connecting my users to the information they need, without barriers? What impediments stand in the way of users coming either physically or virtually to the library?” Staff can test accessibility by surveying their clientele and designing interfaces that enable efficient opportunities to engage the collection.² User input should drive the customization of library services, operations, design, and delivery.

When discussing access issues, it is important to keep in mind that the goal is to get the user to the source of information as easily as possible. Today's health sciences library contains vastly more electronic resources than it was ever able to acquire in print in previous years. Much content is born and acquired digitally with no print counterpart, while some publications remain available exclusively in print format. Essentially, the modern health sciences library exists in a mixed-media realm where it is providing access to both physical and electronic content. Many library users want the library to remain as it has traditionally been known to them, as a physical destination to socialize, study, and browse. Others want nothing but virtual access and see little need for physical libraries to exist, beyond housing a qualified staff to acquire, maintain, and deliver information electronically. The primary concern of both groups is easy access to information in the form that they want it. Libraries face the challenge of meeting the expectations of both groups.

Ideally access is taken into consideration at every level and within every job in the library, toward the ultimate aim of making the library's collections accessible and usable to clientele. The following examples illustrate how various library departments are involved with issues of access:

• Catalogers mull over subject headings and classifications in consideration of whether the user will be able to find the material easily.
• Web services staff consider the overall design and functionality of the Web site in terms of how to best connect the user with electronic information.
• Shelvers carefully ensure that books and journals are returned to their proper locations so they may be readily found.
• An electronic services librarian enabling a link resolver³ to provide the full text of an article from a citation database is facilitating greater ease of access.
• Reference librarians promote virtual reference service to expand access beyond the walls of the library.
• A collection development librarian develops a policy of purchasing books in electronic format when available as a means of increasing access.
• Administrators enter into consortial licensing arrangements to increase access and affordability of electronic information resources.

ACCESS SERVICES

Many health sciences libraries have access services departments that generally include the functions of circulation, reserves, and stacks maintenance (shelving). The position of head of access services or access services librarian has traditionally been held by a master's-prepared librarian. In many libraries, access services management has been transferred to capable and experienced paraprofessionals who work under the supervision of a librarian. Typical job duties of an access services librarian include supervision and scheduling of staff, often including student workers and volunteers; the establishment of guidelines for circulation and reserves; monitoring copyright compliance and fair use of library materials; customizing the circulation and reserve modules of the integrated library system (ILS); ensuring the security of personal information of borrowers; collecting and reporting circulation, gate count, and shelving statistics; monitoring overdue materials; and overseeing and documenting the collection of fines.

Many libraries are moving toward consolidation of services and staff under a single umbrella.^{4, 5} These libraries utilize a centralized service desk to address users' changing service needs in a digital age. In such centralized service units, access services falls under the same umbrella as reference, electronic services, document delivery, and interlibrary loan. Under this model, each employee maintains expertise in his or her specified area, but everyone works as a team to address user needs. For example, staff traditionally working in access services might perform the photocopying, scanning, and mailing of interlibrary loan materials.

A skilled access services librarian should have the experience to plan for long-term growth of the physical collection while balancing the need to reallocate space for new services (see Chapter 15, “Library Space Planning,” for further information on facilities planning). In addition, the access services librarian should work closely with supervisors in all areas of the library on coordinated service efforts, whether or not a centralized service unit exists. Perhaps the most important aspect of the access services librarian's role is to foster an environment of exceptional customer service.

PHYSICAL ACCESS

The role of the library as a physical destination is clearly changing. Most libraries are seeing declines in their number of annual visitors, as well as in the number of books circulated. In their published statistics for a composite library, the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) indicates a gate count drop of 24.5 percent from fiscal year (FY) 2000 to FY 2006 (from 288,126 to 217,554), and a dramatic 78.2 percent drop in circulation during that same time period (from 240,749 to 66,189).^{6, 7}

These declining numbers are important to consider when planning physical space needs, as well as spending and service priorities; however, the fact remains that, while libraries are not the physical destination they once were, many people still want or need physical access to the library. Although an ever-growing percentage of information is available in electronic format, much remains available only in print. While many people are enthusiastic about computer access to information, some have no computer available to them apart from those provided in the library, and still others have no desire to learn to use a computer—including some physicians. Health sciences libraries are, above all else, service units, and they must strive to accommodate both the physical and electronic access needs of their clientele.

Public Access

In the past ten to fifteen years, most hospital libraries have broadened their service population to include patients and their families.⁸ Some hospitals and health care organizations have created separate consumer health libraries with the specific aim of providing information to patients and their families, as well as to the general public. Most publicly funded academic health sciences libraries have adopted a policy allowing members of the general public in-house access to the library's full print collection. Many academic health sciences libraries also negotiate licensing terms to allow the public on-site access to electronic resources. Further, health sciences libraries often collaborate with local, state, or regional networks to provide access to their resources, in some cases extending borrowing privileges to public library card holders.

Borrowing

Full borrowing privileges are generally granted only to patrons affiliated with or otherwise recognized by the institution. Many health sciences libraries extend borrowing privileges to adjunct and emeritus faculty, alumni, physicians with admitting privileges, visiting researchers, and volunteers. Further privileges may be extended to users affiliated with regional health networks in which the library's institution is a member. The loan period and the types of materials that circulate are determined by each library, though many tend to circulate material for fourteen days. Reference books and journals typically do not circulate outside the library.With the availability of more electronic resources, however, many health sciences libraries are broadening their policies to allowcirculation of print materials that have traditionally been noncirculating.

Hours of Availability

To accommodate the study and work schedules of health care providers, residents and students, the hospital library may choose to operate twenty-four hours a day, with secured entry available to authorized personnel during periods when the library is not staffed.With the growing availability of electronic information, this practice is less common today than in years past, when physical access to the library was the only means of accessing information needed to address urgent patient care.

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