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Health Sciences Library Reports
Health Sciences Library Report 2010-2011
Space
The Health Sciences Library developed two new spaces to serve graduate students and faculty.
A comfortable reading area was created on the entrance floor adjacent to displays of new reading material. The easily accessible shelving holds current issues of journals and new additions to the book collection, including humanities selections related to health sciences. This is a spot where patrons can catch up on the latest news in health research. This area also accommodates hospital patients and their families who may peruse a selection of consumer health resources.
On the library’s lower level, a study room was dedicated for Faculty of Health Sciences graduate students, who require quiet spaces to work independently. Room 1B21 features seven carrels and chairs; keys are available for each user. No pre-booking is required.
These changes follow the library’s award-winning 2007 renovation as a people-centred space featuring ample room for group learning and quiet study. Undergraduate students are heavy users of the library, and the change was made to accommodate the needs of graduate students and faculty.
Services
Demands on Library services are increasing. A position in Interlibrary Loans/Document Delivery was eliminated through a retirement; statistics in this area had been decreasing for many years, but have now increased at certain times to meet the demands of major systematic review projects.
Services to meet the needs of distance education students are under development. McMaster has never had an infrastructure to support distance education, and the idea that everything is available online is of course not true.
Support for the hospital staff in the shared building has been formalized (see User Community below).
Education
There has been a major increase in the number of requests for training and consultations to help students meet the research requirements of their programs, including medical residents. In September 2010, a new one-year contract liaison librarian position was created to support graduate education and postgraduate medicine. The core residency programs have been approached, training sessions have been offered and a steady stream of consultations has taken place.
The Undergraduate Nursing program introduced a new “Kaleidoscope Curriculum” this year, which has been very challenging to support. In particular, evidence-informed decision making is now supposed to be “threaded through” the problem-based learning components rather than being concentrated in a third year required course.
The Faculty of Health Sciences has introduced a new Masters in Global Health in conjunction with Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The Nursing and Midwifery Liaison Librarian has added this to her portfolio due to her expertise in circumpolar health and experience with working on a nursing project in Trinidad.
The need to develop services for distance learners was highlighted by the introduction of the new Master of Health Management program introduced by the School of Rehabilitation Science in conjunction with the DeGroote School of Business.
Collection
At the request of the McMaster PLUS team, the Health Sciences Library found funding to add DynaMed to its evidence-based point of care tools. The Library also added ADAM Interactive, and dropped eAnatomy. The Library continues to purchase the LWW eBook collection for Medicine and Nursing, and contributed toward the University Library’s purchase of the Springer 2011 eBook frontfile.
A major journal weeding project took place over the summer of 2010. By identifying titles and volumes for which there was confirmed permanent archival access, staff was able to remove 54 bays of printed journal material. As a result, the journal collection is finally in the correct order, the shelves are labeled and dusted, and wherever possible the top shelf has been left empty. Staff and patrons are very happy.
There have been significant cost increases for some society journals. The Library is currently mapping its core clinical and research titles to be in a better position to make cancellation decisions, if need be.
Resource Sharing / Consortia
Discussions are continuing on the future of the Hamilton and District Health Library Network and “Building an Academic Health Sciences Library Network”. The anticipated outcomes include the rationalization of collections, streamlining document delivery and the identification of a core set of resources to license consortially in support of the clinical, educational and research needs of widely distributed user groups.
The Library continues to participate in consortia licensing with the Hamilton and District Health Library Network, the Consortium of Ontario Academic Health Libraries (COAHL), the Ontario Learning Resources for Nursing (OLRN), the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN).
User Community
A 3-year contract to provide library support for the Hamilton Health Sciences Children’s Hospital located in the shared Health Sciences Centre was successfully negotiated. Starting on April 1, a librarian is the key contact on a half-time basis, with a variety of staff also providing services. The funding will also be used to build and maintain the Library's pediatric and women’s health collections. Details will be worked out over the summer with a full service available in September 2011.
New Technology
A new printing/copying service was introduced across the McMaster campus in September 2011. Previously library staff managed the printing service and helped to troubleshoot the photocopiers; now that PrintSMART has taken over the service patrons must contact them directly for support and problem shooting.
Avenue to Learn (Desire2Learn) was introduced as the new Learning Management System in September 2010. Plans to create a formal broad spectrum library presence were deferred; however, individual librarians established a presence in Avenue dependent on course needs.
A University of Western Ontario library school co-op student spent her eight-month placement helping to update the online tutorials and to create new ones using both Captivate and Camtasia. She submitted a report recommending software and strategies to support this initiative. In addition, she formed a group of staff interested in the use of social networking tools to promote the Health Sciences Library; as a result the Library now has a Facebook and a Twitter account (http://library.mcmaster.ca/php/blog.php?id=1008&display=full), plus a set of guidelines on how to maintain them.
McMaster Libraries migrated to Sirsi/Dynix Symphony in May 2011. The staff training, completion of myriad tables, development of conversion rules, testing of functionality, troubleshooting and meetings continue to take a major amount of staff time. Because of the change in the data structure, Endeca was no longer available as a discovery layer after the end of April 2011.
Staffing
- As mentioned above, a Library School co-op student completed an eight month placement from September 2010 to April 2011. She returned in May 2011 for a one year contract to carry out a project looking at the multimedia/learning resources needs of the Faculty of Health Sciences educational programs. Several years ago the Faculty eliminated its Learning Resources Office resulting in a loss of oversight and coordination. In addition, many of the resources are outdated in terms of content and medium.
- An additional Liaison Librarian was hired on a one year contract starting in September, 2010, to support the Postgraduate Medicine and Graduate programs. While the bid to secure ongoing funding from the Faculty of Health Sciences graduate programs was unsuccessful, a three-year contract was signed with the hospital site in the shared McMaster Health Sciences Centre. As a result, the contract position has been successfully converted to a permanent position, shared between Postgraduate Medicine and the Hamilton Health Sciences McMaster Site.
- The non-administrative librarians certified in March 2010 to form the McMaster University Academic Librarians Association (MUALA). First contract negotiations have recently been completed and the contract ratified. The administrative librarians (AULs and the Director of the Health Sciences Library) are still members of the McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA).
- Library staff are members of CAW. Their latest contract set up a new Job Evaluation Plan. All the staff job descriptions are being rewritten to reflect changing needs and responsibilities.
- One position in binding and processing was reduced to half time; the incumbent chose to retire instead. The position has therefore been eliminated and the work was redistributed to other staff.
Funding
The Health Sciences Library was able to balance its 2010-2011 budget thanks to several staff leaves and a strong Canadian dollar. Direct funding is provided by educational programs to support several of our liaison positions and a proposal is being developed to extend this funding method to cover another of the liaison librarian positions.
Major Events
- Celebration of the life and career of Dr. Charles Roland, 1933-2009. (Inaugural Jason A. Hannah Professor of the History of Medicine at McMaster and central figure in the study of medical history) - November 20, 2010
- Nursing Student Health Fair – March 29, 2011
- Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Research Poster Days – May 10, 11, 12 and 18, 2011
- Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Student Career Night, June 15, 2011
Upcoming events:
- FHS Writes – September 27, 2011– our third annual celebration of publishing by our faculty
- CHLA 2012 – June 11-15, 2012 in Hamilton
Key Priorities
-
Introduction of Symphony
-
Support of evidence-based practice and health informatics
-
Renewing a model of collaborative library support in the area
-
Budget
-
Staffing – getting the right level and number of people in the right jobs.
ALSO SEE: Health Sciences Library Plan 2010-2011: Status of Projects as of August 2011
APPENDIX: Statistical Summary
External Indicators
The Health Sciences Library submits detailed statistics to the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries for publication in the "Annual Statistics of Medical School Libraries in the United States and Canada". The table below provides McMaster's ranking on selected indicators among the 125 libraries reporting in 2009-2010. As in previous years, the statistics show that the Health Sciences Library is a very popular location and that despite the large electronic collection, the print collection is still heavily used. Borrowing from other institutions increased, probably in response to increased Faculty research particularly systematic review projects. The strong Canadian dollar meant that the collections budget appeared stronger when converted to US dollars.
This year, use of the electronic collection was added to the data collection:
- Of the 15 core eBook titles, McMaster had the highest use of all libraries reporting for one title: Williams Obstetrics
- Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine was the eBook with the most use at McMaster
- Of the 37 core eJournal titles, McMaster had the highest use of all libraries reporting for five titles: Archives of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ and Diseases of the Colon and Rectum
- New England Journal of Medicine was the eJournal with the most use at McMaster
Ranking of 125 Medical School Libraries in 2009-2010
Library |
Gate Count |
In-house Use of Collection Items |
Items Borrowed from Outside Sources |
Librarians |
Total Staff |
Collection Expenditures |
McMaster |
634,444 |
76,502 |
4,800 |
8.0 |
29.69 |
1,799,002 |
Mean |
239,347 |
21,454 |
4,816 |
13.34 |
31.79 |
1,765,122 |
Standard Deviation |
142,748 |
25,491 |
7,496 |
7.54 |
16.13 |
845,509 |
Minimum |
4,940 |
302 |
0 |
1.0 |
4.4 |
177,217 |
Maximum |
722,848 |
193,930 |
70,786 |
44.0 |
92.75 |
4,525,893 |
McMaster's Ranking |
2 |
3 |
36 |
97 |
62 |
46
|
McMaster's Ranking in 2008-2009 |
4 |
6 |
30 |
97 |
73 |
69 |
Source: Annual Statistics of Medical School Libraries in the United States and Canada, 2009-2010 – 33rd ed. Seattle: Association of Academic Health Sciences Library Directors, 2011.
Internal Indicators
Organizational Statistics
Collections |
2005-2006 |
2009-2010 | 2010-2011 |
Current journal titles (all formats)* |
3,935 |
4,324
4,184 140 58,127 2,080 56,047 |
4,648 |
Facilities |
2005-2006 |
2009-2010 | 2010-2011 |
Hours of opening per week ** Phase 1 of the Library renovations eliminated the Student Computer Lab in the Library |
98 0
|
97 725 82 11 15 |
97 10 |
Use and Services |
2005-2006 |
2009-2010 | 2010-2011 |
Entrance count |
384,865 41 |
634,444
48,379 12 |
672,375 |
Liz Bayley, Director
August 29, 2011