Happy Medical Librarians Month! Something we know you’ve all been waiting for ?.
In 1997, the Medical Library Association declared October the month of the medical librarian to celebrate and raise awareness of the important work they do. How do your health sciences librarians help, you ask? Oh, let me count the ways we support you:
Finding reliable, trustworthy, and evidenced-based literature for projects, big or small
Consulting and teaching on effective searching and research; we’ll give you the tips and tricks of the trade
Providing the resources you need, whether it be journals, books, etc.
Identifying where to publish and tracking the impact of your work
Creating guides to make finding the information you need faster
Dr. Elizabeth Malm-Buatsi didn’t know where to turn when she wanted to improve her standing as a researcher. As the only pediatric urologist at MU HealthCare, and often called away for surgeries, she had no built-in research team she could lean on. After flying solo for a few months, she found herself on the verge of abandoning projects she was passionate about, frustrated by the research process and unsure how to proceed. Luckily, a colleague suggested she contact Diane Johnson at the Health Sciences Library. Dr. Malm-Buatsi says that initial meeting was absolutely lifechanging
When she first contacted Diane, Dr. Malm-Buatsi was creating an educational flyer to give to parents about newborn circumcisions. In order to provide this vital information to parents about the process, she needed to find the best evidence-based research, but she already conducted a literature search and found no information after several hours of searching. Diane, however, was able to find the information in the matter of minutes, at least that’s how Dr. Malm-Buatsi describes it. “Ever since meeting Diane, my outlook on research projects has changed,” she says, “and I’ve learned to enjoy the process. She makes sure to keep me on track, makes the process easier, and helps me think critically about what I’m working on.”
Diane Johnson
Diane’s assistance wasn’t limited to the patient education project. Dr. Malm-Buatsi was also in the midst of applying for an internal grant related to the urinary microbiome. Diane conducted literature searches and created an EndNote Library, not only adding relevant articles, but also pointing out the most relevant sections of information. “Diane was able to cut the time I would’ve spent on researching in half.” Dr. Malm-Buatsi says the grant proposal was recently accepted, and she expects Diane will still be an integral contributor of the project. Diane has also found several additional grant opportunities for Dr. Malm-Buatsi to pursue.
Two projects wasn’t enough for Dr. Malm-Buatsi, though. She also wanted to assess residents’ satisfaction with and the perceived usefulness of an online surgical training system, including a pre-surgery assessment that allows the residents to set goals and view videos before surgery. They determined the best way to capture these qualitative results was developing a survey. Caryn Scoville, Information Services Librarian, consulted with Dr. Malm-Buatsi, designed the survey in Qualtrics, and distributed it to the residents. Dr. Malm-Buatsi and her colleagues submitted an abstract about their system, and although it hasn’t been accepted yet, she is positive it will, in large part because of Caryn’s behind-the-scenes work.
Caryn Scoville
Looking to strengthen your own research profile? Dr. Malm-Buatsi suggests consulting with your librarians from day one of your project and learning how they can contribute to your research process. “They are so open and I feel I can bounce my ideas off of them,” she says. Dr. Malm-Buasi has also discovered an unanticipated benefit: “Now that I am in their minds, I often receive emails with suggestions or pieces of information related to my projects.Their help has had a huge impact on my career.”
Cycle of Success is the idea that libraries, faculty, and students are linked; for one to truly succeed, we must all succeed. The path to success is formed by the connections between University of Missouri Libraries and faculty members, between faculty members and students, and between students and the libraries that serve them. More than just success, this is also a connection of mutual respect, support, and commitment to forward-thinking research.
If you would like tosubmityour own success story about how the libraries have helped your research and/or work, please use the Cycle of Success form.
For the past two years, a small group from the University Libraries have participated. We make goodie bags and hand them out. Putting together the goodie bags takes an hour or so. Handing out the goodie bags also takes about an hour. If you do not want to go to the hospital to physically hand them out, you can always help with the goodie bags.
Reverse trick-or-treating allows staff dressed in costume to deliver treats and small treasures to children in their hospital rooms.
Each month we provide an overview of University of Missouri authored articles in medicine and related fields as well as a featured article from a School of Medicine author with the highest journal impact factor.
You asked, we listened: More computers on the main floor!
We recently asked what you’d like to see at the library and a popular answer was more computers (See image below ?).
Three more computers were placed in the back of the library, in the blue colored room. Not only did we add new computers, the six computers, toward the front of the library, were replaced with newer models.
The library has many computers, both windows and macs, on the 1st floor, but we know computer access is limited when the 1st floor is restricted for exams. We hope these computer additions will provide the access you need.
We welcome any ideas you have to make the library your library.
If you have a recommendation, please contact us or write your ideas on the pad of paper when you first walk in. We love all ideas big and small.
Dr. Frank’s research focuses on prisoner rights and justice involved youth intervention strategies and often travels to speak and consult on issues involving systematic bias and inequity. In 2017, she launched Project MI, a collaborative that aims to transform the criminal justice system and eliminate racial injustice by aggressive advocacy, leadership development, and connecting opportunity communities to law makers.
The One Read Program, which promotes conversations regarding diversity, inclusion, and social justice through students, faculty, and staff reading a particular book together, is sponsored by Mizzou Law and Univerisity Libraries.
