Lessons and New Roles: T he Experience of Health Sciences Libraries

1. Lessons and New Roles: The Experience of Health Sciences Libraries Linda Watson, University of Minnesota ARL/CNI Fall Forum, October 17, 2008

2. Health Sciences Libraries Intersections Engagement Integration ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

3. Science Libraries at Minnesota Minneapolis Campus St Paul Campus Science and Engineering Agriculture, Biology, Environment Academic Programs Karen Williams 5 miles Bio-Medical Veterinary Medicine Health Sciences Libraries Linda Watson ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

4. The Interdisciplinary Challenge “… the most formidable challenges in the evolution of biomedical research… require expertise from disciplines that fall at the boundaries of most AMCs and their parent universities. These include disciplines that encompass the applied and theoretical physical sciences, including engineering, as well as the social sciences, law, and business. .. As intellectual campfires of interdisciplinary research and learning form, significant barriers born from entrenched institutional practices and culture surface, and, if unchecked, these barriers may drown the flames of discovery.” Balser JR, Baruchin A. “Science at the Interstices: An Evolution in the Academy” Academic Medicine 2008; 83(9):827-31 ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

5. The Interdisciplinary Challenge “Sharing biomedical research and health care data is important and difficult…Many initiatives fund, request or require researchers to share their data. These initiatives address the technical aspects of data sharing, but rarely focus on incentives for key stakeholders.” Selected recommendations: Educate trainees and current investigators on responsible data sharing and reuse practices; Encourage data sharing practices as part of publication and funding policies Fund the costs of data sharing and support for repositories Piwowar HA, Becich MJ, Bilofsky H, Crowley RS. “Toward a Data Sharing Culture: Recommendations for Leadership from Academic Health Centers.” PLoS Medicine 2008; 5(9): e183: 1-5 ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

6. The Interdisciplinary Challenge “NCRR will continue to support and address integration of informatics research and solutions in all its programs and centers...NCRR will pursue integration across various domains of knowledge and research within NCRR and its partners at other NIH institutes, other federal agencies, industry and foundations. Issues of integrity, durability, availability, and security of data will continue to play a critical role in this era of fast-moving technologies and analysis tools.” National Center for Research Resources – Strategic Plan 2009-2013. www.ncrr.nih.gov/strategic_plan/online_version/initiative4.asp ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

7. Academic Health Centers Tempered by human behavior and the vagaries of the healthcare system Evidence-Based Healthcare Competency Based Acceleration of new discoveries Brief half-life of medical information ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

8. The Health Sciences Landscape With an overlay of information technology Within the context of higher education ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

9. AAHSL Demographics2006-2007 survey; 122 respondents • Reporting Structure • 60% HS; 24% UnivLib; 12% Univ; 4% other • Public 56%; private 42% • Faculty Status • Tenure Track 21% • Not Tenure Track 29% • Not Faculty 50% • Facility • Standalone 29% • Integrated 71% • Collectively: • Expenditures: $401.7 M • Sales of Services: $17M • Professional Staff: 1,527 • Total FTE: 4,097 • Without students: 3,608 • Teaching • Sessions: 39,678 • Attendance: 322,949 ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

10. Positioning for E-Science • HSL’s have a relative advantage in embracing e-science because: • It’s all about science • NLM infrastructure & promotion of e-science link • Information not artifact (mostly) • Liaison/Teacher not bibliographer • Access not preservation (mostly) • The “Ithaka Alarm” does not resonate as strongly among HSL colleagues ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

11. Roles for Health Sciences Librarians An institutional context Matheson-Cooper Report, 1982 CTSA 2006-present IAIMS 1984-present Academic Health Centers ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

12. IAIMS: Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems • Grew from Matheson-Cooper Report which defined a future role and changed paradigm for the academic library operating within the complex information environment of the academic health center • Since 1984, librarians at institutions receiving IAIMS funding from the National Library of Medicine have had key roles in leadership and implementation • Among lessons: challenge of integration is more about information policies/politics and human behavior than about the technology • NLM has suspended the IAIMS Planning Grant as of September 26, 2008 and expects to issue its first RFA for knowledge management grants early in 2009. ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

13. CTSA: Clinical and Translational Sciences Awards • Similar goals and challenges as IAIMS • NIH goal to develop an infrastructure to support the effective and efficient translation of scientific discoveries into medical practice • 38 institutions to date; 60 by 2012 • Librarians less involved this time (reasons?) • Bioinformatics Core • Community Engagement • Support of clinical scholars • Libraries in CTSA - a new blog: http://ctsa-lib.blogspot.com ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

14. Roles for Health Sciences Librarians • Expert Searching: systematic reviews and support of evidence-based medicine initiatives (Cochrane Database, Family Practice Information Network, membership on Institutional Review Boards) • Teaching: integrated into clinical teaching rounds and Morning Report; working with AMIA and other health professional associations on information competencies (national curriculum) • Informationist: dual domain individual to facilitate integration into clinician or researcher or public health workflow • Bioinformatics: extent of engagement varies ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

15. Roles for Health Sciences Librarians Informationist Cochrane FPIN CML EBM IRBs Info Lit Bio-Informatics Morning Report E-Science ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

16. What's Ahead for Science Librarianship? • Liaison librarian approach is common in health sciences; could extend to other sciences. Facilitates engagement with users, but scalability is an issue • We need to develop more skills in data management among our librarians; model the Informationists (dual domain individuals) • We need to be at national and campus tables where infrastructure is being designed and implemented • Cross-campus library collaboration can work regardless of reporting structure but needs champions • Example of campus wide collaboratives (in similar way that we have approached Scholarly Communication) ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

17. Avenues Worth More Exploration(No Real Surprises Here) Betsy Humphreys, National Library of Medicine ARL/CNI Fall Forum, October 17, 2008

18. Worth Considering • Whatever has worked somewhere else  • Blurring distinctions between data, scientific publications, and synthesized knowledge • Relevance of library’s expertise • Research methods that span scientific disciplines • Library faculty as potential solution to the problem of scientists’ lack of training in effective data management • Likely expansion of data-sharing mandates ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

19. New Player to Watch Board on Research Data and Information, National Research Council ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008

20. Questions or Discussion? ARL/CNI Fall Forum October 17, 2008