JCHLA / JABSC 40: 81-84 (2019) doi: 10.29173/jchla29413


CHLA Conference Lightning Talks / ABSC Congrès 2019 Présentations éclairs

LT=Lightning Talk

LT1. Embedded Medical Research Librarianship in Academia: A Case Study

Amanda Wanner
University of Plymouth

Introduction: Embedded librarianship has been much discussed in the literature, but few institutions have the resources in place to implement such a role. This abstract describes the creation of an embedded medical research librarian role aimed at moving traditional library services from a support role to a researcher-in-situ role. This full-time position is grant-funded, and not affiliated with the university's library services. Description: The librarian is co-located within the Community and Primary Care Research Group department at the University of Plymouth and contributes to department projects from conception to dissemination as a full research team member. Part of the librarian's time is also allocated to systematic review support across the university in one-to-one consultations and workshops. Outcomes: Researchers have expressed appreciation for the new embedded role. In particular, researchers cite the ability to get quick, in-person support (e.g. EndNote) for issues they may not otherwise contact the library for, having an information specialist integrated into evidence synthesis project teams from the outset, access to information specialist skills by a wide range of staff, upskilling of existing research staff in information specialist skills, and availability of a specialist librarian with comprehensive skills in research and search methodologies who can be a single point of contact throughout a project's life-cycle. Discussion: Due to the overwhelming support for the position, it will continue to be funded into the next round of grant funding. Other research departments may benefit from funding similar positions.

LT2. Impact of Research Consults: Development and Implementation of a Survey at the W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library

Robin Parker, Melissa Helwig & Kristy Hancock
Dalhousie University

Introduction: Individual research consults in academic libraries are rarely evaluated, and when they are, their impact on scholarly pursuit or the specific projects for which the consults were booked is not assessed. We developed a tool to collect feedback from individuals supported through research consults with librarians at the Dalhousie University W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library. Using the collected responses, we aim to answer the following research question: How do users apply the knowledge and skills shared in individual research consults? Methods: We created a survey tool using REDCap software based on a review of the literature and existing consult evaluation instruments. Data collection variables include user demographics, characteristics of the specific research consult, user satisfaction, and details regarding scholarly outcomes. Data collection takes place directly following the research consult, and longer-term outcomes are assessed with follow-up questions after three months. Questionnaire data are analyzed, and summary statistics are used to describe the demographic characteristics and post-consult information use of respondents. Qualitative data from open-ended questions are coded to identify themes. Results/Discussion: Preliminary results from our research consult evaluation tool provide insight into the impact of our research support services and illuminate ways to improve consult sessions for our users. The survey also offers other libraries a tool they can use or adjust to measure impact in their local setting. Furthermore, the initial results of our study can be used to justify librarian time and effort dedicated to providing research consults at academic libraries.

LT3. Translating Clinical Research to the Bedside with the Mobile Tool MDPhD

Janice Thompson1 & Sanjeev Singwi2
1William Osler Health System & 2Headwaters Health Care Centre

Introduction: Despite the digitization of academic publishing, sophisticated search engines and dedicated medical libraries, physicians are not reading the clinical literature. Common barriers are information overload, lack of time and expertise to read articles, the rising costs of articles and decreasing budgets of medical libraries. As a result important clinical research is not being translated to the bedside in a timely and efficient manner. Description: The objective of this project was to collaborate with Dr. Sanjeev Singwi who is tackling the barriers to keeping up with clinical literature using Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Natural Language Processing. He has developed the mobile application MDPhD which makes real-time summaries, called EBM flashcards, of clinical abstracts 24 hours after publication. Each flashcard contains key Evidence Based Medicine insights and are designed to be consumed by the health professional within minutes. Many tools organize the clinical literature, however no other tool automatically summarizes the clinical literature like MDPhD. Outcomes: Dr. Singwi and I have collaborated to develop  an institutional version of MDPhD called MDPhD Teams that is using data visualizations, analytic tools, and collaborative tools to help our staff at William Osler Health System and Headwaters Health Care Centre consume and synthesize clinical evidence for quality initiative projects, clinical protocols, and meaningful changes in practice. Discussion: We will discuss our collaboration and how our institutions are using the app so other librarians can seamlessly integrate MDPhD Teams into their institutions.

LT4. It's Time for a Makeover! Remodeling our Medicine Subject Guide to Improve Usage and Impact

Jackie Phinney, Robin Parker & Melissa Helwig
Dalhousie University

The Medicine subject guide for UGME at Dalhousie University was once one of the most highly used guides offered, but usage has steadily declined over the past few years. While revising and updating our guide, we also want to ensure the resource is useful to—and used by—our medical students. To this end, we decided to look at how other universities in Canada and abroad are organizing their Medicine guides, what content they are prioritizing, and how they are choosing to name their navigation menu tabs. In reviewing all these guides and noticing a variety of differences, this led us to ask: what is the best way to engage our community and evolve our subject guides, so our users continue to identify them as a starting place for curriculum resources and assignment/research support? This lightning talk will describe our makeover process (and what we discovered along the way), who we consulted for input, and the impact we hope our guide will have going forward.

LT5. Teaching Ovid MEDLINE to Non-Medical Frontline Library Staff

Helen Lee Robertson
University of Calgary

Introduction: For interdisciplinary research that bridge health and societal issues, i.e., in the social sciences or education, researchers would benefit from readily accessing the biomedical literature covered in MEDLINE. In our academic institution, the medical library is a branch separate from the main university library. Anecdotally, the main library reference staff, including librarians and support staff, have expressed discomfort with using Ovid MEDLINE. Questions transferred to our branch include basic “how-do-I” queries, suggesting that that is the case. Methods: We are developing a 50-minute training session to familiarize library staff with MEDLINE. It will be offered through the regular “Training Tuesday” drop-in sessions.  Librarians and reference staff at the medical library will provide input into the content and pilot the session. It will cover what MEDLINE is, what MeSH is, Advanced Search using MeSH and keywords, and managing results. We will present a simple pre- and post-test to gauge comfort levels with the database. Results: There will be at least two sessions offered in the upcoming winter term.  Discussion: It is hoped that following these sessions, non-medical library staff will be more comfortable with, and more willing to suggest that clients search MEDLINE. This will grow capacity in the library staff to respond to questions and more evenly distribute staff workload. More importantly, it will build staff confidence, improve quality, provide immediacy of service to clients, and possibly make the biomedical literature more accessible to non-medical researchers.

LT6. Open Educational Resources in the Health Sciences

Nicole Askin
University of Manitoba

This talk will outline how and why to incorporate open educational resources (OERs) in the health sciences. It will explain what OERs are and their importance in providing equitable access to health information in both the academic and clinical context, with a focus on medical education. It will briefly cover locating and using OERs as a tool for learning and health promotion, including a list of key sources.

LT7. A Little Idea Made a Big Impact: How 10 Fun Library Trivia Questions Generated Engagement of Health Professionals

Orvie Dingwall & Christine Neilson
University of Manitoba

Introduction: Manitoba's Health Information and Knowledge Network (MHIKNET) launched in 2009 to provide library services to Manitoba Health and rural health professionals throughout Manitoba. To celebrate the service's 10th anniversary, we featured a series of events including monthly lists of ten feature resources, a service satisfaction survey, in-person events, and an online trivia quiz. The trivia was meant to be a fun activity with an opportunity to win a gift-card. Description: The online trivia quiz was open from December 10-14, 2018, utilizing the quiz feature in the online survey tool SurveyMonkey. The link to the survey was emailed to clients via listserv, followed by one reminder email. There were ten multiple-choice questions relating to the library service. Correct answers were displayed at the end of the quiz. Outcomes: There were 282 respondents to the trivia quiz. Discussion: The number of respondents to the trivia surpassed our expectations, particularly compared to the satisfaction survey we conducted in October which only had 198 respondents, despite it being open twice as long and more heavily promoted. Though the questions were simple, it became apparent that the trivia served as an education tool. For example, only 40% of respondents could identify the correct pronunciation of MHIKNET. Similarly, nearly 50% were not aware that literature searches can be conducted on any topic and are not restricted to health care. A fun trivia quiz is an educational opportunity in disguise that other health libraries should consider incorporating.

LT8. Teach Them Before They Need it: Instilling Research Skills in Pre-Professional Students

Goudreau1 & Jackie Phinney2
1University of New Brunswick Saint John & 2Dalhousie University

Students entering professional programs such as medicine, dentistry, etc. can sometimes be overwhelmed by the idea of doing research. At the University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ), undergraduate students can enrol in BIPS 4000, which is a non-credit seminar course that prepares them to enter a professional health program after graduation. With Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick (DMNB) residing on the UNBSJ campus, UNBSJ's Science & Health Sciences librarian teamed up with DMNB's on-site librarian to deliver a research skills workshop to the BIPS 4000 group. This lightning talk will discuss the content we covered, the immediate outcomes of our session, and the impact we hope this workshop will have on the students' future success.