The Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center at Northwestern University serves the Feinberg School of Medicine. While health sciences researchers prefer resources like PubMed and Google Scholar, usage of the library's discovery services is low. The library aims to better integrate into the research lifecycle by offering services that support complex searching, metrics and impact analysis, clinician support, and emerging areas like data services and institutional repositories.

1. Beyond the index: research and discovery
services in a health sciences library
Joelen Pastva, Head, Collection Management & Metadata Services
Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center
NISO, Discovery: Where Researchers Start, August 8, 2018

2. Northwestern University
Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
Galter Health Sciences Library &
Learning Center

3. Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center
Serves Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, IL
• 3,361 students, residents, and fellows
• 4,183 medical school faculty, including regular, visiting, part‐time, and clinicians
• Staff (professional, research, support, etc.)
• Administratively separate from Main Library in Evanston, IL
3
Alma/Primo environment
• Shared catalog with other NU libraries
• Custom Primo view via Galter’s website

4. Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center
99% of collections spending over the last 5
years went toward electronic formats
(vs North America average of 88%) 1
4

5. Health sciences researcher profile:
• Prefer PubMed and Google Scholar
• Comfortable with searching and managing citations
• Increasingly specialized skills
• Concerned about compliance and privacy
Research & discovery landscape
5
Researcher motivations:
• Securing funding
• Developing professional reputations through
publication
• Building support networks for research2
Emerging areas of need:
• Data
• Statistical methodology
• Collaboration
• Openness and
reproducibility

6. Research & discovery landscape
6
Idea
Preparation
ResearchWriting
Dissemination
Simplified research cycle model
Libraries currently support
preparation and dissemination
phases most heavily.

7. But…
7
Academic library directors acknowledge that the research
process increasingly begins outside the library.3
&
There is low measured usage of discovery services by health
sciences faculty, staff, and resident users.4

8. Discovery at Galter
8/8/2018

9. Measuring user engagement
Website analytics
9
Most searches for databases & textbooks.
Article search rarely used.
User, librarian and peer institution feedback

10. Measuring user engagement
Website usability testing
10
Primary uses reported – searching
databases, articles, books, and PubMed.
How often do you use the library website?

11. Current search & discovery configuration
• Legacy Primo UI
- Planning for new UI in late 2018
• Article search separate from catalog
• Integrated PubMed search
• Results page allows tabbing across
different searches
• Utilize “did you mean” for common
databases
11

12. New resources to discover
• JoVE – scientific video journal
• Journal of Medical Insight (JOMI) – peer reviewed video articles
• FAIRHealth – healthcare cost data
• VitalSource – e‐textbook platform
• Board Vitals – board review question banks
• Doc Com – multimedia tool for healthcare communication
Personalized content, multimedia resources, and tools not immediately associated with
the library.
12

13. Library services for health
sciences researchers
8/8/2018

14. Improved search workflows
14
Galter proxy button
• Access to library‐subscribed resources at the point of discovery using a
browser extension
• Highly utilized and praised by researchers
• Derived from proxy button developed by University of Michigan
• Similar to Unpaywall and LeanLibrary

15. Complex searching
15
Systematic review services
• Valued service growing in popularity
• Skill that most researchers acknowledge lacking
• Library’s program has become the de facto starting point for researchers at the
medical school

16. Metrics & Impact Core
16
• Bibliometrics, data visualization, social network
analyses, and altmetrics
• Publication strategies and tracking
• Online identity creation and maintenance
• Helps researchers with tenure committees, funding applications, reputation
building, and networking that are all essential to sustaining research

17. Clinician support
17
Clinical informationist services
• In‐the‐field librarian support during rounds
• Brings library resources and expertise directly to users
• Provides valuable feedback for researcher and clinician information seeking
behavior and resource needs

18. Emerging services
18
• DigitalHub institutional repository – open access solution for Feinberg School
of Medicine research outputs, including non‐traditional outputs, data sets, and
all resource types
• DataLab – consultation and training for all stages of the research data lifecycle

19. Final thoughts
19
• Be responsive in approach to discovery.
• Be prepared for new resource formats, platforms, and utilities.
• Find ways to integrate into all areas of the research lifecycle
- Know your local environment and research community.

20. References
1. Bosch, Stephen, and Kittie Henderson. “New World, Same Model." Library Journal
142, no. 7 (2017): 40‐45.
2. Ragon, Bart. “Exploring the relationship between health sciences libraries and the
research lifecycle.” EdD diss., University of Virginia.
https://doi.org/10.18130/V3639K49S.
3. Wolff, Christine. Ithaka S+R Library Survey 2016. New York, NY: Ithaka S+R, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.303066.
4. Thompson, JoLinda, Elaine Sullo, Laura E. Abate, Meaghan Heselden, and Kathleen
Lyons. “Discovery Assessment and Improvement at an Academic Health Sciences
Library: Health Information @ Himmelfarb Five Years Later.” Journal of Electronic
Resources in Medical Libraries, 15 (2018).
https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15424065.2018.1433093.

21. Questions?
joelen.pastva@northwestern.edu
@jolophon

22. Thank you!