Managing Health Sciences Libraries In A Time Of Change

In Managing Health Sciences Libraries in a Time of Change, experienced leaders of the medical library community offer insights into the current trends and issues faced by health sciences librarians and present practical guidelines and management skills needed to create a culture of excellence.

Health Sciences Collection Management for the Twenty-First Century is intended for those with any level of experience in health sciences collection management. This book from the authoritative Medical Library Association starts with the context of health sciences publishing and covers the foundations of selection, budgeting, and management. It won’t tell new librarians what to buy but will give them background and criteria that should go into their selections. However, the focus of this book is not only on best practices but also on the big picture and the deeper changes in the field that affect decision making. Subjects not always covered in many collection development textbooks such marketing or accessibility are included because they are part of the larger collections landscape. Chapter contributors bring their own perspectives to the topics. Stories of different libraries’ experiences bring interesting topics to the forefront in practical, specific, and timely detail. While whole books have been written that go into some of these topics more in depth on their own, the treatment of each topic here focuses on the unique perspective and concerns of the collection manager.

In Managing Health Sciences Libraries in a Time of Change, experienced leaders of the medical library community present insights into the current trends and issues faced by health sciences librarians and offer practical guidelines and management skills needed to create a culture of excellence. The Medical Library Association points out that “Management skills and a leader’s abilities affect the culture and performance of coworkers and the effectiveness of an institution.” The last decades have resulted in a sea change for health sciences library leadership and management. In a short period of time, medical libraries have transformed from collections of print books and journals to databases of digital resources accessible from any desktop. Library services no longer must be provided face to face, but the need for virtual library services has grown in complexity and now demands a greater knowledge of technology and informatics. Reference service, instruction, cataloging, and collection development all remain as key library tasks, but they have been transformed in this digital environment. This book explores what it means to be a manager of health sciences libraries today. Chapters focus on current trends in health science library leadership; managing change; staffing issues; managing for diversity, equity, and inclusion; mentoring; accreditation and evaluation; leadership skills, and a discussion of the differences between the concepts of leadership and management.

This books presents firsthand experiences and thoughts of librarians on the transformation of health sciences library spaces. They provide insights into planning, budgeting, collecting, and integrating user feedback, collaborating with leadership and architects and thriving in the good times and the tight times.

Managing a medical library in a climate of rapidly changing technology requires the astute manager to anticipate and then manage change. Written by medical library professionals carefully selected for their specific knowledge and experience, these essays cover fiscal management, human resources, marketing library services, technology, facilities, and strategic planning. Appendixes offer a list of skills recommended for the career health sciences professional and an annotated bibliography on space planning.

Transforming Medical Library Staff for the Twenty-First Century focuses on how the medical library can redeploy its staff to support these new services through actively engaging and empowering them in the process. It shares best practices in developing and motivating staff to accept and welcome the changing priorities of medical libraries.

Many hospitals and health care organizations that were independent, freestanding institutions are now part of large health systems that deliver patient care in a variety of inpatient, ambulatory, and community settings. Vast changes in the U.S. health care system are reshaping how librarians provide services to physicians and other patient caregivers, as well as to medical and allied health sciences students and faculty. Twenty one experts have contributed to this groundbreaking text. Their individual chapters offer specific, practical advice on administrative issues, planning and marketing, financial management, space planning, collection development, cataloging and classification, document delivery, audiovisual services -- every aspect of managing today's ever-changing health care library. Required reading for any librarian offering health care information to professionals, faculty, or consumers.

As academic health sciences centers look toward innovative product development as their new income source with the decline of clinical income and research dollars, health sciences librarians and libraries can partner with these revenue-generating innovators to offer invaluable services, evidence, training, dissemination venues and attractive collaborative physical spaces equipped with the latest tools, such as 3-D printers, body scanners, models and video-monitors. This book uses case examples, including perspectives from both librarians and innovators, to illustrate how various health sciences libraries have partnered with innovators by offering valuable services and creative products and spaces– especially innovators who create medical digital therapeutics devices and apps. Many health sciences libraries are transforming their physical spaces into collaboration or maker spaces to spark innovation and discoveries. Key health sciences libraries that have done so to enable others to learn more about what professional benefits result from such collisions of information and innovation are highlighted here. Also included in the book are chapters that describe various innovation competitions and products that help to showcase the unique scholarly output that is generated by innovators. Transferring the knowledge of librarians who have progressed down this path to others is the key goal of this book.