Discovering what characterizes strong clinical medical librarianship and how those characteristics have been and are supporting clinicians in their delivery of evidence-based medicine can help those in this profession evaluate and strengthen their own programs. Perhaps more importantly, learning about and from leaders in clinical medical librarianship can help not only other librarians but also clinicians and other healthcare professionals strategize to ensure that their programs stay abreast of the rapidly changing healthcare field using methods and approaches that recognize the importance of providing biomedical information and adapting to new technology and research requirements. Beginning with a discussion of the birth of the Clinical Medical Librarian (CML) and continuing with chapters that explore current innovative programs conducted by CMLs, The Clinical Medical Librarians Handbook piques reader’s interest in this exciting professional field through descriptive scenarios. The book moves quickly through the history of librarians accompanying clinicians on medical wards to the realization of librarians partnering with clinicians in the face of a rapidly changing healthcare scene. Success and challenges are discussed by professional CMLs working in urban academic medical centers. The Clinical Medical Librarians Handbook is intended for any library student, practicing librarian or health administrator interested in understanding the variety of roles medical librarians play in the healthcare system of the United States, how medical librarians interact with clinicians and patients, the power of patient-centered care and technology, the importance of information to public health, novel ways to introduce and teach clinical learners to use resources, how clinical medical librarians learn to do the job and tips for managing clinical medical library programs.

The handbook includes sections on information and access services, reference and instruction, collections, and clinical services, encompassing the challenges and opportunities presented by virtual services for nearly every area of the health sciences library.

A practical manual ... for organizing and providing service from information resources to users of health sciences libraries ...

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.

Comprised of fifteen chapters written by experienced consumer health librarians, The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information is designed for library and information science graduate students as well as librarians new to health and medical librarianship, regardless of library setting. It is comprehensive in scope, covering all aspects of consumer and patient health and medical information from their humble, grassroots beginnings to the ever-evolving applications of new technology and social media. In between, the mundane aspects of health and medical librarianship, such as needs assessment, costs, budgeting and funding, and staffing are discussed. Adding richness to this discussion are the coverage of more sensitive topics such as patient-friendly technology, ethical issues in providing consumer and patient health information, meeting the needs of diverse populations, and responding to individuals from various cultural backgrounds. No comprehensive picture of consumer and patient health librarianship would be complete without addressing the critical importance of marketing and strategic partnerships; such discussions round out this invaluable guide. Patients today must be knowledgeable enough to participate in their health and well-being. Shorter hospital stays, changing reimbursement patterns and the gradual shift towards focusing on proactively maintaining health and managing disease require patients to be informed and actively engaged. Education, information and understanding are important components of actively-engaged patients. Correspondingly, in today’s e-world, there is a glut of information resources available through the Internet – from YouTube videos to Googling to blogs and Twitter feeds. What is lacking in these information-rich times is the relevance of meaning and context for those who ask, “Does this health and medical information apply to me and my unique clinical picture?” or “How do I use this information?” As knowledge navigators, information technology wizards and content experts, librarians offer focused responses to individuals’ specific and highly personal health and medical information queries. In a new healthcare world order of optimizing health and minimizing hospitalizations, such a service is invaluable. Sadly, there still exists in our highly networked and technological age an information gap for those who struggle in obtaining meaningful health or medical information. These individuals may be foreign-born, non-English speaking, poor, rural, aged or semi-literate. Whatever their status, librarians must have the wherewith-all to find germane resources and also help create responsive mechanisms to bridge that health information gap for vulnerable citizens. The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information will guide you on the road to providing that response.

Accreditation in the Health Sciences: A Definitive Guide for Libraries explores the role of the library in any health sciences organization’s accreditation efforts. This book has been specifically written to address the unique needs of health sciences libraries in supporting an institution's accreditation efforts. The enterprising library professional can treat this title as a manual on how to proactively address the challenges that come with any health sciences related accreditation site visits. The lessons in these chapters will create and build upon valuable opportunities for partnered success between the library and the institution it supports. Library professionals will want to have this guide handy if they need to convey any data to an accrediting agency on behalf of their institution. This book will cover all elements of health sciences libraries and has been written in a way to highlight theories and best practices, rather than specific steps to follow that will easily be outdated with any accrediting body update. In a time when librarians are asked to do more with less, this is especially targeted towards the solo, small team, and/or start up library team to simplify and optimize the accreditation experience. Special chapters discuss strategy to advance the library's story will serve as a way to illustrate value and advocate for a well-resourced library. Finally, this book also can serve as an informational tool to accrediting teams themselves to better understand the myriad ways that library services are meaningfully integrated into the institutions they support. Whether working directly in the library or adjacent to it, Accreditation in the Health Sciences will be an asset for a team invested in accreditation success.