An Investigation of the Backgrounds of Health Sciences Librarians

The purpose of this study was to investigate the educational and professional backgrounds of health sciences librarians currently working in the U.S. and Canada. A survey consisting of 15 questions was created using the software program Qualtrics. 389 total surveys were received. Respondents reported having a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds. Only about 22% of respondents reported having health sciences work experience prior to entering the field. Recruitment into the field of health sciences librarianship should take a broad approach, and professional development efforts should appeal to a wide array of experience levels

The Trials & Tribulations of incorporating 3D Printing into the Health Science Curriculum

In May 2015, our library was granted an NNLM MAR Medical Library Project Award to purchase a 3D printer and incorporate its’ use into the health science curriculum. No one on our staff had any prior experience with 3D printing. What we did have was an interest in offering new and innovative library services. We also wanted to promote the library as a partner in introducing new technologies to our students. Therefore, we forged ahead and learned all we could very quickly in order to get the program up and running. During brainstorming sessions with our Occupational and Physical Therapy departments, it was agreed that a valuable experience for our students would be for them to design and print a custom assistive device for a patient. Our plan was for the Librarians, OT & PT faculty and IT staff to attend a 2-day training in 3D printing and design. Then the Librarians and faculty would train the students in two different graduate courses to design and print a custom assistive device. The IT staff would help with the installation and maintenance of the printer. The 3D printer would be housed in the library where all the involved parties could have access to it for the greatest number of hours and the printing would be supervised by library staff. What we didn’t foresee was that a 2-day training was not enough to learn the design skills needed to create the assistive devices. We felt we had learned what we needed to get started running the printer, but designing objects to print was a more technical process that required skills and expertise beyond our introductory knowledge. The design software was completely foreign from any other types of software the Librarians and faculty had experience with and we were intimidated and overwhelmed by the end of the 2nd day. In addition, no one realized the noise that a 3D printer makes and how that would affect students studying in the library. Others might have given up at this point, but we wanted to complete the project somehow. With a little luck, a little serendipity, and a lot of determination, we found a solution. But it didn’t solve all the problems and our solution created new problems. We kept working through them and have found the experience to be worthwhile and valuable for everyone involved. In this presentation we would like to share how we managed the unexpected problems and also share our successes and continuing challenges. The key takeaways will be tools for evaluating 3D printers, training or finding partnerships for file creation, and effectively situating a 3D printer within the physical space of the library

A Reconsideration of library treatment of ethically questionable medical texts: The case of the Pernkopf Atlas of Anatomy

The Pernkopf Atlas of Anatomy consists of anatomical drawings created by Austrian physician Eduard Pernkopf, an active member of the Nazi Party during World War II. While the book was known for its highly detailed anatomical drawings, in the 1990s it was determined that Holocaust victims were likely used as subjects for the drawings. Using a survey, the authors aimed to gather information about the presence of this monograph in academic libraries today to provide best practice recommendations for academic libraries in their approach to ethically questionable materials

MEDLINE citation tool accuracy: an analysis in two platforms

Background: Libraries provide access to databases with auto-cite features embedded into the services; however, the accuracy of these auto-cite buttons is not very high in humanities and social sciences databases.  Case Presentation: This case compares two biomedical databases, Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed, to see if either is reliable enough to confidently recommend to students for use when writing papers. A total of 60 citations were assessed, 30 citations from each citation generator, based on the top 30 articles in PubMed from 2010 to 2020. Conclusions: Error rates were higher in Ovid MEDLINE than PubMed but neither database platform provided error free references.The auto-cite tools were not reliable. Zero of the sixty citations examined were 100% correct. Librarians should continue to advise students not to rely solely upon citation generators in these biomedical databases

Leveraging Survey Results In Support of a Library Renovation: A Case Study

The Health Sciences Library (HSL) at Stony Brook University along with the School of Medicine were motivated to make improvements in seating and hours based on survey results from an LCME self-study. Preparation for the site visit from the Liaison Committee for Medical Education helped to garner resources and support for this initiative. To meet the evolving needs of the HSL patrons, librarians completed an overdue collection assessment project which allowed for 142 new seats, including newly designed spaces and furnishings. Ongoing assessment of the redesigned space will be conducted to evaluate success and areas for continued improvement

Three professions come together for an interdisciplinary approach to 3D printing: occupational therapy, biomedical engineering, and medical librarianship

Background: Although many libraries have offered 3D printing as a service or available technology, there is a lack of information on course-integrated programs for 3D printing in which the library played a primary role. Therefore, librarians at the Touro College School of Health Sciences began exploring 3D printing for inclusion in the occupational and physical therapy curriculum. Case Presentation: The goal of this project was to educate occupational and physical therapy students and faculty about the potential applications of 3D printing in health care and provide hands-on experience, while increasing collaboration between librarians and faculty. Students’ tasks included designing and creating a 3D-printed assistive device as part of their course. Conclusion: Students were able to successfully print assistive devices, demonstrating the feasibility of 3D printing in a health sciences curriculum. Librarians involved with this project reached approximately 78 students and 200 other librarians and faculty members. 3D printing at Touro College continues to evolve and expand; the trial 3D printing course is being reviewed for formal adoption into the occupational therapy curriculum, and additional funding for 3D printing technologies is currently being allocated by Touro administration

Three professions come together for an interdisciplinary approach to 3D printing: occupational therapy, biomedical engineering, and medical librarianship

Background: Although many libraries have offered 3D printing as a service or available technology, there is a lack of information on course-integrated programs for 3D printing in which the library played a primary role. Therefore, librarians at the Touro College School of Health Sciences began exploring 3D printing for inclusion in the occupational and physical therapy curriculum. Case Presentation: The goal of this project was to educate occupational and physical therapy students and faculty about the potential applications of 3D printing in health care and provide hands-on experience, while increasing collaboration between librarians and faculty. Students’ tasks included designing and creating a 3D-printed assistive device as part of their course. Conclusion: Students were able to successfully print assistive devices, demonstrating the feasibility of 3D printing in a health sciences curriculum. Librarians involved with this project reached approximately 78 students and 200 other librarians and faculty members. 3D printing at Touro College continues to evolve and expand; the trial 3D printing course is being reviewed for formal adoption into the occupational therapy curriculum, and additional funding for 3D printing technologies is currently being allocated by Touro administration

Panel Two: Open Educational Resources

Elizabeth Nelson, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Penn State Lehigh Valley I co-created and currently help to run The Affordable Course Content Faculty Fellowship. The ACCFF is an OER adoption project funded by a campus grant supporting innovative approaches to student success at Penn State Abington’s campus. As a panelist, I can share more about how the ACCFF is structured, how we present and manage an OER-adoption initiative on the Abington campus, and how we work with other OER initiatives within the Penn State system. I can also discuss how we discovered and addressed unexpected concerns among our participating faculty around the ideas of copyright and of students’ perceptions of authority in the presentation of an OER text. As a relatively new partner to the OER movement, I can also speak to the steps of getting a second OER initiative off the ground at Penn State Lehigh Valley, where we’re beginning with a grass-roots model to harness pre-existing motivation and direct it toward a shared goal. Kristen Nyitray, Director, Special Collections and University Archives, Stony Brook University Libraries Students are often required to include primary sources of information in assignments, but they are unsure of how to identify, access, interpret, and incorporate these compelling sources created at the time under study. “Using Primary Sources in Research” is an OER tutorial developed for students to introduce them to concepts and to equip them with strategies for the effective and ethical use of primary sources in research and creative projects. Kristen Nyitray will provide an overview of how she developed the standards-based tutorial with the aim to expand and improve student learning, writing, and critical thinking skills across the curriculum. Mona Ramonetti, Head of Scholarly Communication, Stony Brook University Libraries In 2017, as a component of the Excelsior program, SUNY introduced the Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative. Stony Brook University Libraries, along with support from the Office of the Provost immediately got to work to educate the campus about OER and the advantages they afforded students. This presentation addresses the various challenges and unlikely collaborations that resulted from attempting to implement and support the OER initiative on Stony Brook University\u27s campus. Georgia Westbrook, Open Educational Resources & Instruction Librarian, Touro College I will be speaking about leading a young OER initiative as a new librarian and the accompanying opportunities and challenges