4. PAST SIX MONTHS
• Six staff members laid off / retired
• Fellows program finalized and launched
• Two Fellows hired
• Evaluation plan developed
• Library Operations space reconfigured
• Reference Desk removed
• Circulation Desk trimmed
• Workspaces redesigned to be more welcoming
• Three Task Forces formed
5. CURRICULUM TASK FORCE
The Curriculum Task Force was formed to develop a two year curriculum for the
Fellows Program that would provide a comprehensive range of experiences
resulting in a broad foundation in health sciences information services.
Members: Jane Fama (Lead), Judy Nordberg, Vivian Okyere, Catherine Carr,
Rebecca Reznik-Zellen, Mary Piorun, Martha Meacham.
Initial Task: Develop the overall plan for the two year integrated curriculum.
October 1, 2013, the task force delivered report including:
• Curriculum overview including foundations, rotations, projects, and research
• Learning objectives
• Curriculum at a glance, including skills and activities mapped to learning
objectives
• Detailed breakdown of skills and activities
6. CURRICULUM TASK FORCE, cont.
Moving Forward: Take the plan from paper to production.
• First fellow hired in October 2013 and curriculum was launched.
• First fellow joined task force in October.
• Developed project proposal process; may need rethinking as an informal process has been organically
working.
• Developed an evaluation plan with Nancy LaPelle.
• Determined how remaining processing tasks would be handled. (per diems, current support staff,
Bibliotemps)
• Developed process for tracking fellows’ activities including capturing narrative/reflection not just
numbers; includes individual tracking logs, individual journaling, and regular meetings with supervisor
and associate director.
• Tweaks along the way: project work starting sooner than originally planned; Foundations will be a
rotation; need to include expert searching as separate module/rotation.
• Rotation departments are developing their syllabuses.
• First rotation started in February 2014 – Martha in Systems.
• Developed two year schedule for both fellows.
• Coordinating with Education and Clinical Services Department to develop plan for reference
training/mentoring – ongoing.
Next Steps:
• Develop an updated curriculum at a glance which will link to detailed syllabuses, etc. to be posted on
the intranet
• Map curriculum to MLA competencies
• Coordinate development of two expert searching modules
7. REFERENCES SERVICES TASK FORCE
The Reference Services Task Force was formed to develop a plan for an appointment based,
consultation reference service to replace the current triage/pager model.
Members: Len Levin (Lead), Jane Fama, Kerry Mayotte, Nancy Harger, Molly Higgins, Sally Gore
Outcomes
•No pager/No triage. Fellows will take all questions coming in at the desk and will respond
accordingly. Will be encouraged to develop their own working relationships with patrons.
•Creation of “Morning Report” and “Journal Club” as new learning tools for both fellows and LSL
professional staff.
•Implemented online patron registration as a process improvement initiative.
•A new “Consultation Suite” for patron meetings/instruction created as part of the recent
remodeling.
•Updating Service Tracking Log/Education Log to better capture information.
Ongoing
•Enhancement of professional staff profiles though “Librarian Gallery” on eScholarship and greater
visibility in the physical LSL & HGL.
•Continued “organic” development of new relationships with underserved departments/patrons.
8. RESEARCH TASK FORCE
The Fellows’ Research Projects Task Force was formed to provide research guidance to the Library
Fellows and other librarians. The role of the group has expanded to create a “culture of research”
at the Lamar Soutter Library.
Members: Penny Glassman (Lead), Ellen More, Lisa Palmer, Kristine Sjostedt, and Bob Vander Hart.
Initial Task
•The initial accomplishment of the Research Projects Task Force was to create a Research Projects
Database of potential projects for the Library Fellows and other librarians. This was completed in
September 2013.
Ongoing Tasks
•Updated Research Guidelines: distributed October 2013
•Began the process of developing a “culture of research” at LSL.
• The Journal Club began meeting in January and met again in February. Some of the Journal
Club articles will address Research topics, and others will be on other topics.
• Educational opportunities are planned for the coming months:
• Creating Posters using PowerPoint,
• Role of Mentors in Research
• How to Write a Research Paper
11. LIBRARY OPERATIONS
Recent Activities:
•Developing and delivering the LO foundations module for fellows curriculum.
•Working on the Curriculum and Reference Services task forces
•Hiring two fellows
•Assisting in designing the new LO space
•Putting the area back together, keeping a clean efficient work area for staff.
Impact of Re-Organization
•A collaborative library-wide environment has organically developed
•You can feel the positive attitudes, and see the cooperation between fellows and senior staff.
•Work flows are changing
• Elimination of some processing
• Remaining processing being distributed to per diems; contactors, and remaining support staff.
•Self-service implemented where ever possible (e.g. reserves moved out to the floor from behind the desk)
•Patrons are getting immediate thorough service without being handed off.
•LO area remodel has created an open, inviting area for patrons.
•No one is sitting waiting for patrons to appear, but there is always someone available to help a patron
when needed.
•Evenings and weekends are staffed by per diems, and only one person staffs each shift.
•There are no “shifts” during the day.
13. CLINICAL & EDUCATION SERVICES
Recent Activities:
•All attended recent “Capstone Scholarship & Discovery Forums” in our roles as House Librarians.
•Len, along with Hathy from the RML, presented a workshop on public health resources to members
of the City of Worcester Public Health Division, following initial discussions and outreach at the
APHA meeting in Boston.
•Nancy H. and Judy have been asked by Dr. Richard Irwin (Pulmonary) to assist in searching the
literature in order to update cough guidelines in the journal “Chest.”
•Catherine now offers a bibliographic alert services to members of the Emergency Medicine
department at Milford Regional Medical Center as part of our continued contracted outreach to
them.
•Nancy L. worked with the regional AHEC to plan a primary care event.
Impact of Re-Organization:
•More time. Without having to cover the pager, we are have greater latitude in planning our
schedules in order to work efficiently with our patrons.
•Better way of teaching. In addition to the establishment of appointment-based reference
services , we also changed to an appointment-based instruction system. This a) gives us less time
planning for classes that often had no-shows and b) allows us to offer greater flexibility to our
patrons.
•More Engaging Work. With the fellowship program including departmental rotations, we now
have the opportunity to not only provide good service but to teach what this means and how to
successfully execute it.
•Emphasis on enhancing expert searching skills for fellows.
14. RESEARCH & SCHOLARLY
COMMUNICATION SERVICES
Recent activities
•Foundational Work
• Streamlining IR workflows, Strategic Plan and department policies
•Outreach and Instruction
• RSCS Service Overview, NIH Public Access Policy, Research Impact, Tools (Mendeley, ORCID), Open Access,
Managing Data in Excel
•Digital Collections
• Medline XML, bepress Data Pioneers program, Neurological Bulletin application for MEDLINE indexing
• Women’s Health Research grant faculty publications collection and gallery
• Cancer Concepts course textbook
• Upcoming new collections: Flexible Clinical Experience course papers, UMCCTS newsletter
•Embedded Informationist
• NIH Supplemental Informationist Grant: completed (PI: Costanza), submitted (PI: Kennedy)
•Research Data Initiatives:
• Library Data Services Advisory Group
• eScience Institute
• Environmental Scanning (student survey and faculty/administrator interviews)
Effects of Reorganization
•Assumed responsibility for Copyright
•Lost equivalent of 1 classified FTE for IR support
•Gained 1 professional FTE
•Developing Fellows RSCS Training Manual and Curriculum
•Participating on Fellows Task Forces
15. TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES
Recent Activities
•Website Work:
• New England Collaborative Data Management Curriculum Web site,
• e-Science Portal
• History of Medicine site
• Web Advisory Board: updates to the public Web site and usability testing of Clinical
Faculty.
•OCLC WMS Knowledge Base: migration of our eBook and eJournal holdings to the
Knowledge Base to maintain holdings.
Impact of Re-Organization
•Lost a position: Systems Library Assistant.
•Negative: Many tasks now fall to Penny. (e.g. reimaging laptops, updating software on
computers, etc.)
•Positive: Not as many routine technology questions from staff. (e.g. printer problems,
computer not working, laptop problems, etc.) Library Fellows can respond to most routine
technical problems encountered by library staff.
•Martha started Systems Rotation on 2/1.
16. ARCHIVES
• American Archives Month: Celebrating UMass Hospital
• Archival Management Software Review Task Force
• “Surviving and Thriving”: NLM AIDS Exhibition, panel
discussion, window display and new Website (designed
by Molly)
• Illustrated Timeline of UMMS History
• Collection Processing: the role of interns
• Collaborations: MassBiologics; Alumni Office; Office of
Faculty Affairs
• History of UMass Med: chapters 5-7 drafts completed
17. NNLM NER
Recent Activities
•One year since the office moved to the main campus
•Turn over in staff
•Focus Outreach program takes shape
•Numerous initiatives
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Community of Interests
Community College
K-12
Medline Plus Connect
ClinicalTrials.gov
•Mid-Contract site review
Impact of Re-Organization
•Fellows will do a mini-rotation
20. WEB ADVISORY BOARD
Members: Bob Vander Hart (Lead), Penny Glassman, Nancy Harger,
Sally Gore, Jane Fama, Vivian Okyere, Martha Meacham, Molly
Higgins.
•The “It’s My Library” feature currently displays brief testimonials from
ten users (http://library.umassmed.edu/its_my_library)
•Developed a “LibGuides Best Practices” LibGuide as an aid to
LibGuide authors (
http://libraryguides.umassmed.edu/libguides_best_practices)
•Recently conducted two usability interviews with clinical researchers,
with many more planned
•Will be updating our Board charge in the near future
23. ARCHIVAL SYSTEMS
Team Members: Kristine Sjostedt (Leader), Penny Glassman (Champion), Judy
Nordberg, Martha Meacham
Charge:
•Outline the functional requirements for an Archives Management System for the
Lamar Soutter Library.
•Provide feedback on Functionality, Training, Ongoing Support,
Summary of Work & Decision Making Process:
•Six AMS products were chosen to research and evaluate.
•Four of the AMS products were eliminated
•Two remaining AMS products thoroughly evaluated
•One of the systems was more visually appealing and had a greater sense of
usability for patrons and staff
•Recommended a free, 30-day trial of software
•In process of adding content to trial system
24. ELECTRONIC RESOURCES TASK FORCE
Members: Mary Piorun (Chair), Marianne Siener, Sally Gore, Len Levin,
Molly Higgins, Bob Vander Hart
•Charge: Provide a comprehensive review of the current electronic
databases, e-journal and e-book collections, and standing orders.
Taking into consideration cost, usage, overlap, ILL data, the wish list,
and relevance to current UMMS and UMMHC programs and services
and recommend elimination for budget reductions. In addition,
consider items to cancel/swap in order to rebalance current
collections to meet new program areas by adding the most relevant
resource(s).
•Time Frame: Cost/Usage 2011-2013
•Deliverables:
• Present statistical data to Management Team for initial discussion and review.
Due: March 18, 2014
• Recommendations for cancelation, replacement/swap, and the addition of new
products requiring new funding. Due: May 13, 2014
27. PRIORITIES GOING FORWARD
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eResearch support
Embedded librarianship
House librarian program
Open Access
New relationships with Information Services
Publishing activities
• History of Medical School
28. GRANT FUNDED WORK
Ongoing
•E-Science & Data Management
•Public Health Information Access
•PHPartners.org
•Women’s Health Resources
•Systematic Review
Completed
•Informationist (Mammogram study)
Submitted
•Informationist (Neuroimaging / data management)
•CCTS Event Grant for e-Science Symposium
