scholarly journals Roles for Health Sciences Librarians at College and University Libraries

Author(s):  
Jason B Reed ◽  
Alexander J. Carroll

ABSTRACT   Objectives: To meet the changing priorities of researchers and funding agencies, U.S. college and university libraries (C&ULs) that are not Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) members may want to hire librarians capable of supporting interdisciplinary health sciences research. This study sought to identify whether such roles are emerging by examining advertised position descriptions.   Methods: We collected position advertisements posted to job boards and mailing lists between September 1 2018 and March 1 2019. Positions that included one of these terms in the title, qualifications, or responsibilities were eligible for inclusion: medic*, health, life, nursing, veterinary, bio*, pharma*. We categorized postings by institution type, geographic region, and position type. We used grounded theory to identify themes within the data, and NVivo to quantify how often each theme appeared within the data.   Results: 104 job postings met our inclusion criteria: 60 at AAHSL institutions and 44 at C&UL institutions. Despite some minor variations among specific roles and responsibilities, we found substantial overlap in the qualifications listed for positions at both types of institution. Qualifications more often prioritized traditional librarian competencies rather than emerging areas, such as data science, grant support, and research impact.    Conclusions: Both AAHSL and C&UL institutions show an interest in hiring librarians capable of supporting health and life sciences teaching and research. Competition for a similar pool of applicants may create challenges for hiring officials, and librarians interested in these positions will likely seek out professional development opportunities in emerging areas of practice.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Negeen Aghassibake ◽  
Lynly Beard ◽  
Jackie Belanger ◽  
Diana Louden ◽  
Robin Chin Roemer ◽  
...  

As part of ARL’s Research Library Impact Framework initiative, the University of Washington (UW) Libraries explored UW faculty and postdoctoral researcher needs for understanding and communicating the impact of their work, with a focus on researchers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and health sciences fields. The project was designed to understand the challenges researchers face in this area, identify how participants in these fields define and measure impact, and explore their priorities for research-impact support. The project team conducted a survey and follow-up interviews to investigate these questions. This research report presents the project team’s methodology, findings, and recommendations for future research.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mia Partlow ◽  
Karen Ciccone ◽  
Margaret Peak

Presentation given at TRLN Annual Meeting, Durham, North Carolina, July 1, 2019. The Hunt Library Dataspace was launched in August 2018 to provide students with access to the tools and support they need to develop critical data skills and perform data intensive tasks. It is outfitted with specialized computing hardware and software and staffed by graduate student Data Science Consultants who provide drop-in support for programming, data analysis, statistical analysis, visualization, and other data-related topics.Prior to launching the Dataspace the Libraries’ Director of Planning and Research worked with the Data & Visualization Services department to develop a plan for assessing the new Dataspace services. The process began with identifying relevant goals based on NC State University and the NC State University Libraries’ strategic priorities. Next we identified measures that would assess our success in relation to those goals. This talk describes the assessment planning process, the measures and methods employed, outcomes, and how this information will be used to improve our services and inform new service development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Tracy

This study establishes baseline information about the ways library publishing services integrate user studies of their readers, as well as common barriers to doing so. The Library Publishing Coalition defines library publishing as “the set of activities led by college and university libraries to support the creation, dissemination, and curation of scholarly, creative, and/or educational works.” This area includes traditional as well as novel publication types. Results suggest that discussions of library publishing underrepresent engagement with readers but that ample room for increased attention remains. Existing reader-related efforts vary widely and may in some cases be happenstance. These efforts also face key barriers in lack of prioritization, lack of expertise, and lack of control of out-of-the-box platforms.


Author(s):  
Michelle Kowalsky ◽  
Bruce Whitham

This chapter reviews the current literature on the types of social media practices in college and university libraries, and suggests some new strategic agendas for utilizing these tools for teaching and learning about the research process, as well as other means to connect libraries to their users. Library educators continually hope to “meet students where they are” and use social media to “push” library content toward interested or potential university patrons. One new way to improve engagement and “pull” patrons toward an understanding of the usefulness of licensed resources and expert research help is through the channels of social media. By enhancing awareness of library resources at the point of need, and through existing social relationships between library users and their friends, libraries can encourage peer interaction around new research methods and tools as they emerge, while increasing the use of library materials (both online and within the library facility) in new and different ways.


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