122nd Annual Meeting Medical Library Association, Inc. New Orleans, LA May 3–6, 2022

The Medical Library Association (MLA) held its 122nd annual meeting May 3-6, 2022, in New Orleans LA. The meeting was entitled "MLA '22: Reconnect. Renew. Reflect" and utilized a hybrid model with some events in person, and some virtually. The virtual meeting was again broken into segments, all available using a variety of online platforms. Total attendance for the meeting was 1,250 with 575 attending in-person, and 675 virtually. Additional meeting content--including the meeting program and various electronic presentations from the business meetings, plenary sessions, poster sessions, and program sessions can be accessed by all meeting registrants via the MLA '22 website.

Virtual Services in the Health Sciences Library: A Handbook

Pope reviews Virtual Services in the Health Sciences Library: A Handbook edited by Amanda R. Scull.

Evaluating a Pandemic Chat Service in a Consumer Health Library

When The Learning Center, a consumer health library at a cancer center, closed its doors in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was not a robust system of virtual outreach in place. Staff decided to implement a chat/SMS service as one way to reach patrons during the library's 16-month shutdown, but usage numbers were low. A variety of factors can affect use and complicate success, and quantitative measures may not be the sole factor in evaluating a new service and whether it should continue. This article will talk about service implementation, challenges and context, patron and staff satisfaction, and lessons learned from the process.

Editorial: Library learning for the future: sustaining, reinventing and revitalizing how, when and where librarians support learning

The information, skills and habits that users and students can gain with librarian intervention and partnership support and facilitate lifelong learning. The authors in the current issue described how librarians at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse assessed reference desk interactions based on library program student learning outcomes, rather than a traditional user satisfaction scale, and also illustrated how teaching could and should occur in reference desk interactions, going beyond basic transactions. Both academic and public libraries can support continued learning by providing high-quality information, providing training in various literacies and connecting users with community programs.

COVID-19 and Innovation in Medical Library Services: A Scoping Review of Case Studies.

The services of medical libraries and information centers has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to identify the innovative services of medical libraries and information centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this scoping review, PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, ProQuest, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) databases were searched to identify case studies and case series. After screening the identified studies, 18 studies were selected. The results showed that the main users of medical libraries and information centers during COVID-19 were health care providers and recipients, researchers, organizational staff, and ordinary library users. Innovative services during the COVID-19 were also provided in these libraries, including distance education services, virtual information services, virtual guidelines, providing information resources, and evidence-based response to treatment teams. To provide these new services, medical libraries used traditional, semi-traditional, and modern information and communication technologies such as telephone, email, online library platforms, e-learning, and social networks. Medical libraries and information centers changed the way they provide services in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Analyzing the services provided during this period can provide a model for policymakers, and medical librarians and information professionals to improve their services. The information presented here can be used to inform library services during future, similarly critical situations.

Tiny Cow Heads, Methanol, and Apple-Flavored Ivermectin: Libraries Confronting Pandemic Misinformation

"The 1918 Influenza Pandemic in Popular Media and the Roles of Public Libraries in Supporting Health Information Access, Health Literacy, and Health Justice during Pandemics: Learning from the Past to Prepare for the Future." Libraries have been widely and justly praised for their creativity, resourcefulness, and tenacity in finding ways to meet community needs during the novel coronavirus pandemic that began in earnest in early 2020. [Extracted from the article]

COVID-19 and Health Sciences Libraries of public hospitals in Spain

The COVID-19 Pandemic has ostensibly affected the workability of libraries in all sectors, including health service libraries. The aim of this study is to analize the impact of this situation with a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in specialized libraries of health sciences within public hospitals in Spain. Methodology: This study was carried out via an email questionnaire from june to november of 2020, comprising 35 items and it gathered data in reference to personnel, services and collections before and during phase 0 of the alarm state. Results: 137 libraries were identified and 100 were analyzed. During the phase 0 of the alarm state 72% remained closed and 76% of the staff combined working in person with working from home. The greatest demand was for research papers/documentation and bibliography searches, no change was experienced with regard to collections. More than half who have participated in collaborative work groups value it as very useful. According to the authors, while this situation has revealed that the librarians have had a great capacity to readapt, they conclude that it has also directly affected libraries with their temporary reconversion or in some cases their total closure. © 2022 CSIC. Este es un artículo de acceso abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la licencia de uso y distribución Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0).

Library instruction and information literacy 2021

Purpose This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts. The selected bibliography is useful to efficiently keep up with trends in library instruction for busy practitioners, library science students and those wishing to learn about information literacy in other contexts. Design/methodology/approach This article annotates 424 English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, theses and reports on library instruction and information literacy published in 2021. The sources were selected from the EBSCO platform for Library, Information Science, and Technology s (LISTA), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Scopus, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and WorldCat, published in 2021 that included the terms "information literacy," "library instruction," or "information fluency" in the title, or keywords. The sources were organized in Zotero. Annotations summarize the source, focusing on the findings or implications. Each source was categorized into one of seven pre-determined categories: K-12 Education, Children and Adolescents;Academic and Professional Programs;Everyday Life, Community, and the Workplace;Libraries and Health Information Literacy;Multiple Library Types;and Other Information Literacy Research and Theory. Findings The paper provides a brief description of 424 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions. Originality/value The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested as a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy within 2021.

Pattern and Magnitude of Utilization of Information Resource Facilities and Services at Health Sciences Library in the Midst of COVID – 19 Pandemic

Background: Medical librarians support curriculum and research by delivering appropriate and high-quality information and facilities to students and faculty members. COVID-19 pandemic disrupted physical teaching and learning worldwide endorsing virtual education which was supported by digital information resources. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent of utilization of physical and digital learning resources along with customer satisfaction in a health science library before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online self-administered questionnaire was administered using Microsoft Forms to students and faculty members. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24. Qualitative variables were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. A Chi-square test was carried out to compare customers' satisfaction with the utilization of information resources before and during the pandemic. A p-value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: A total of 230 participants were included in the study. The library was visited by 18.7% and 26.1% of customers daily, and weekly respectively before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, none of them used the library daily during a pandemic, while digital library usage increased during this time. A significant reduction in the level of customers' satisfaction was observed with the physical library services in coronavirus outbreaks compared to satisfaction before the pandemic, p=0.028. Participants were satisfied with the utilization of digital library services during the pandemic compared to the prepandemic period, p= 0.024. Conclusion: The use of digital libraries surged during the pandemic resulting in a rapid adaptation of electronic books and journals. Librarians' have played a vital role in the current catastrophe by improving awareness of stakeholders regarding e-resources.

Role of Medical Libraries for Implementing Knowledge Management During Covid-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Study

The aim of this study was to examine the state of Knowledge Management (KM) in medical libraries in Bangladesh. It also explores the awareness and viewpoints of the doctors, researchers, students and librarians regarding KM during the pandemic. The questionnaire survey was adopted for this study. The Data gathering procedure was performed through Google forms. The questionnaire was distributed using email and social networking sites. Among 29 public medical colleges, this quantitative research was conducted in three medical college libraries in Bangladesh. The selected medical libraries were: Dhaka medical college library, Chittagong medical college library and Sylhet MAG Osmani medical college library. This study explored the barriers to KM in medical libraries and the possible implementation areas of KM. The study found that participants are aware of the concept of KM. They are also aware of the necessary KM tools and the probable KM implementation areas in the medical libraries. Present paper also revealed that lack of institutional policy, inadequate support from top management, scarcity of resources as barriers towards implementing KM in the medical libraries in Bangladesh. Further studies should be conducted on the same issues in other sectors as present study was limited to three medical libraries. This study is novel, in the sense that it is the first of its kind to examine KM implementation in medical libraries during pandemic situations in Bangladesh. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Events: From Planning to Promoting to Evaluation

Romano reviews Great Library Events: From Planning to Promoting to Evaluation by Mary Grace Flaherty.