Engaging Students and Faculty in the Evaluation of a USMLE Review Product: Implications for Library Collection Development

Introduction: Study materials for USMLE exams are some of the most commonly requested materials at Dana Medical Library. In Fall 2015, the Dana Medical Library received several student requests for online USMLE preparation materials. Librarians arranged for a trial of a new USMLE test preparation software available for library licensing. Librarians designed a plan for soliciting student and faculty feedback to inform the purchasing decision. Methods: The Dana Medical Library ran a 4-week trial of the USMLE preparation software. Students and faculty were notified of the product trial through meetings, e-mail, signs in the library and social media. Trial participants were invited to complete an anonymous survey at the end of the trial. Survey questions addressed ease of use, quality of content, effectiveness in test preparation, and recommendation for or against purchase. Results: Forty students and faculty members participated in the trial. Eighteen responded to the survey (45% response rate). Survey respondents were divided over a recommendation for purchase, with 50% advising against purchase, 37.5% advising for purchase with reservations and 12.5% recommending purchase. Twenty-five percent indicated there were errors in the content. Feedback on the ease of use, quality of questions, and overall performance was also mixed. Conclusions: Engaging students and faculty in an online trial provided valuable feedback. Librarians will continue to evaluate and trial new exam review products in collaboration with students and faculty

Disruption of Library Services Due to Hospital Cyberattack: A Case Study

Cyberattacks on healthcare organizations increased dramatically in 2020 and 2021. The University of Vermont Medical Center suffered an attack in October 2020, during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The disruption to hospital computer systems had wide ranging impacts, including loss of online access to the medical library for nearly three months. Library staff worked to reduce impacts and increase access for hospital employees until full access was restored. This case study offers lessons learned and resources for health sciences libraries planning for a potential cyberattack

Access to Mobile Resources: How Does It Affect the Clerkship Experience?

Objectives: To evaluate the perceived benefits of access to library-licensed mobile clinical decision support resources in clinical medical education. Methods: A cohort of medical students was surveyed midway through the clerkship year. Dana Medical Library offered instruction on clinical mobile resources at the beginning of the year. Students were offered a subject guide and assistance with authentication. Assessment methods included web analytics measuring the utility of the subject guide and a survey. Survey questions gathered data on access to mobile devices, relevance of instruction, use of library-licensed mobile resources, and benefits and barriers to their use in the clinical setting. Students were also asked whether access to mobile resources facilitated comparable educational experiences across clerkship sites. Results: The survey was sent to all 111 students from the University of Vermont College of Medicine class of 2014; 31 completed the survey, with a completion rate of 28%. All respondents owned a mobile device, despite efforts to recruit both users and non-users. Nearly 75% of respondents reported using an iPhone. About 90% of respondents brought their mobile device on rotation. Generally, the wireless access at each clerkship site was rated good or excellent. Of the 60% of respondents who attended the instruction session on mobile resources, 94% found the class helpful. Half of the respondents looked at the Mobile Apps subject guide; 70% of those who did found it helpful. A significant increase in page views was reflected in subject guide usage statistics immediately following the instruction session. Approximately 25% of respondents sought out individual assistance at the library. Conclusions: Respondents suggested improvements to library instruction such as distributing access codes during the class and demonstrating installation of an app. A large number of students did not seek additional assistance from the library, citing they did not have any questions. While that may be because they found the subject guide and/or class sufficiently helpful, a significant number of respondents indicated they were unaware of the subject guide. This suggests a need for further promotion and marketing efforts. Researchers were surprised that nonlibrary licensed apps (ePocrates or Medscape) were valued over resources such as DynaMed, and that the most common barrier cited was not having access to appropriate apps. Finally, almost all of the participants who reported taking a mobile device on a rotation agreed it facilitated access to clinical information and improved the clerkship experience

Closing the Reference Desk: Increasing Number of Questions Asked, and Level of Librarian Embeddedness

In January 2016, Dana Medical Library closed its physical Reference Desk and moved to an on-demand reference service model. Reference needs are now predominantly met by para-professional staff at a Main Desk. Librarians answer chat, email and telephone questions in their offices on a shift basis, and respond to more complex questions from in person walk-ins referred from the Main Desk. Patrons can also schedule consultations directly with librarians. Over a year later, the number of interactions has increased, and librarians are more engaged in units across campus. This poster explores the transition from physical desk to on-call service, and posits why such a change has positively impacted patron interaction with the library. This poster offers viewers lessons learned, and suggestions for making similar changes in other libraries

Introducing Mobiles to Dana Medical Library: Successes & Challenges

The Dana Medical Library mounted a webpage of health-sciences information sources for mobile apps in early 2011, followed later by a lending system for iPads. We offered workshops on Mobile Apps and promoted them at orientations, usually including a few words while teaching other topics. We will review the successes and challenges of introducing this new technology, and offer some perspectives for the future in managing mobile apps

Library Support Of Mobile Resources During Clinical Clerkships

In response to frequent use of mobile devices among medical students, Dana Medical Library at the University of Vermont provided mobile resource support to medical students preparing for clerkships. The librarians offered group instruction, individual assistance, and an online subject guide. These activities were assessed through evaluations, web statistics, and a survey. Survey questions gathered data on access to mobile devices, use of library-licensed mobile resources, and benefits and barriers to use in the clinical setting. The majority of survey respondents believed access to mobile resources improved their clerkship experience and contributed to comparable educational experiences across clerkship sites. Researchers found that library support impacted student perception of the value of mobile resources in the clerkship experience

The Models of Authority Project: Extending the DigiPal Framework for Script and Decoration

The DigiPal project for palaeography has featured in previous DH conferences. It includes a generalised framework for the description and analysis of handwriting, initially applied to Old English of the eleventh century but subsequently extended to Latin, Hebrew, and decoration; it incorporates a novel model for describing handwriting; and a recent addition allows the embedding of linked palaeographical images into prose description. The purpose of this poster is to present new developments which form part of two further major grants, one of which is the Models of Authority project. Specifically, the focus here is on the incorporation of textual content into the model for handwriting

Synthetic Applications of Polar Transition Metal Metallocenes

Since the sandwich structure of ferrocene was elucidated in 1952, metallocenes have generated a vast amount of interest. Transition metal metallocenes have previously been shown to be suitable precursors in the syntheses of novel organometallic and metallo-organic complexes, although the use of metal halide starting materials for organometallic synthesis is much more common due to their being readily commercially available and generally easier to handle than the extremely air- and moisture-sensitive metallocene alternatives. In this project, the polar transition metal metallocenes Cp2V, Cp2Cr, Cp2Mn and Cp2Ni were employed as precursors in the synthesis of fourteen novel metal containing complexes, in several cases generating products which could not have been obtained using metal halide starting materials.EPSR

Synthetic Applications of Polar Transition Metal Metallocenes

Since the sandwich structure of ferrocene was elucidated in 1952, metallocenes have generated a vast amount of interest. Transition metal metallocenes have previously been shown to be suitable precursors in the syntheses of novel organometallic and metallo-organic complexes, although the use of metal halide starting materials for organometallic synthesis is much more common due to their being readily commercially available and generally easier to handle than the extremely air- and moisture-sensitive metallocene alternatives. In this project, the polar transition metal metallocenes Cp2V, Cp2Cr, Cp2Mn and Cp2Ni were employed as precursors in the synthesis of fourteen novel metal containing complexes, in several cases generating products which could not have been obtained using metal halide starting materials.EPSR