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Annual Report
2000/2001
The Library has numerous significant projects in progress. Following is a
representation of these activities and expected results.
Union Catalog (UC)/Universal Borrowing (UB)
The UC is a collection of all University System of Georgia (USG)
Library records. Allowing a patron to execute a single search against the
holdings of many Libraries, the UC eliminates the need for patrons to search the
catalog of each participating Library individually. The UC offers access to a
de-duplicated database of bibliographic records, as well as detailed holdings
and item information retrieved in real-time from local Libraries’ databases.
The UC will be complimented by Endeavor’s intra-consortium requesting and
borrowing function, UB. The implementation of this feature will allow any valid
user from any institutional Library to request materials from any USG Library
for pickup.
Education and Information Services
Education and Information Services outlined numerous planning goals
for 2002. Expected outcomes include an emphasis on providing online tutorials
for several classes; development of new classes based on the results of client
needs assessments, structured interviews, and liaison contacts; improvement of
instruction through structured training for teaching effectiveness; increased
outreach to distant learners and the general public; and development of programs
to enhance alumni loyalty through programs focused on MCG graduates.
Document Delivery
Improved methods of electronic desktop delivery of information to both
on‑campus and distant clients were investigated. The result was a plan for
more efficient delivery of interlibrary loan documents to all clients, including
rapid electronic delivery of materials from the Greenblatt Library collection
for FY02. Initially Interlibrary Loan (ILL) staff will work the service into
their workflow to support an initiative to fill thirty ILL/full-text requests
for underserved countries.
Computer Lab Reconfiguration
By redesigning the current Greenblatt Library computer lab floor plan
and purchasing additional computers, the total number of computers available to
MCG students, staff and faculty for reference/research, e-mail, and productivity
application needs could be doubled. Informal observations show that the
computer lab is used heavily throughout the year. Periodically users must
wait for PCs to access the hundreds of full-text journals, bibliographic
databases, tutorials, and applications provided by Greenblatt Library.
Implementing wireless technology would allow for expansion in the lab. The
current configuration requires that all workstations remain in close proximity
to walls or columns that contain network jacks and electrical outlets.
Wireless computer workstations would eliminate network jack location obstacles
and the need to upgrade existing network communications at considerably higher
costs.
PDA Applications
LTS will explore opportunities for PDA use in conjunction with
MICROMEDEX® to download summary data from all drug databases currently
subscribed. If testing is successful, this could be an important component
to the new Greenblatt Library Clinical Librarian Program. It would offer timely
information for hospital rounds via technology that many physicians have
already. Greenblatt Library is currently on a list to beta test the Ovid PDA
Program early FY02. LTS will be working with Education and Information Services
(E&I) to provide instruction on PDA use and available medical PDA software
that supports the MCG mission.
Digital Library Expansion
Access outside Library walls will increase with the digitization of
several components of the Library’s Special Collections. This process
will improve access to the Library special collection of instruments,
photographs, and manuscripts. The digitized collection will be searchable
via a web interface.
Planning is underway also to convert several classes into
Internet‑based tutorials. In response to the broadening of the MCG
mission, these tutorials will be accessible by the general public.
Information Kiosk for Hospital
LTS and E&I are in the early stages of investigating an
information kiosk for the hospital. Currently, the Children’s Medical Center
and MCGHI Hospital have a limited number of PCs available for patients and their
families to search electronic resources for consumer health information. A small
hospital library exists in addition to various resources available through the
Greenblatt Library. While these are potentially useful to patients and
their families, volunteers staff the hospital library on an irregular basis.
A kiosk with quality-filtered consumer health oriented resources, a simplified
and easy to use interface, and direct access to trained Library personnel via
e-mail and/or kiosk telephone should be useful in fulfilling patient information
needs. This would position the Library, in conjunction with the newly created
Clinical Librarian position, to play a significant role in assisting the
Hospital in meeting JCAHO standards for patient education.
Potential benefits from a hospital information kiosk include:
- Increased awareness of consumer health information available in the
Library
-
Access to quality-filtered resources selected by librarians
- Consumer health information access for people with minimal computer skills
-
24/7 information access for hospital patients and their families
-
Provision of full-text resources in a self-serve print environment
-
An outreach opportunity in hospital waiting rooms
Micromedex® on PDA
Select Library faculty, nursing faculty and members of the MCG Health, Inc.
Information Services Executive Committee beta tested the mobileMICROMEDEX™
module containing drug information, alternative medicine information, acute care
information and toxicology information. Including Personal Digital Assistant
(PDA) software, mobileMICROMEDEX™ will be available to MCG as subscribers to
the Healthcare Series for Intranet. Should mobileMICROMEDEX™ prove beneficial
to the MCG community after beta testing, users will be able to access and
download MICROMEDEX® clinical content on their Palm OS-compatible, hand-held
devices from the MICROMEDEX® Healthcare Series main screen. This will
ensure that MCG physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other clinicians are using
the same sources of reliable information, whether it is on the Intranet,
desktop, or the palm device.
Greenblatt Conference Room
Future plans include the installation of three built-in exhibit cases with
locking doors to display and secure valuable artifacts from the Greenblatt
Archive and Special Collections. The Greenblatt Conference Room provides a more
formal conference room for general campus use and a display of Greenblatt
memorabilia and other Special Collections artifacts. The benefit to the campus
and Library of a formal meeting room is an attractive space for special
activities and guests. With access to both remote and hardware technologies, the
conference room supports and promotes advanced opportunities for presenting and
learning.
3)
Assessment Methods/Procedures
The Library Management Council developed service oriented outcomes to ensure
that we make a difference for our users, with goals to increase knowledge and
skills, change behaviors and attitudes and improve Library experiences for
faculty, students and staff. The associated goals, outcomes and methods are
provided in Appendix F.
4) Assessment
Evidence
An assessment of a FY01 program that extended Library hours over the winter exam
period was conducted, with the criterion for continuation of extended hours
being extended-hour Library use by 5% of the student body. As only 1.3% of the
student body made use of extended hours during exams, this option was
discontinued.
Assessments of teaching effectiveness for open enrollment classes was conducted in an ongoing manner through the use of instruments based on a multi-point scale. Evaluations received from 7/5/00 -10/2/00 were on a five-point scale, summarized as follows:
| Criteria | Excellent | Good | Average | Below Avg. |
Poor |
| Organization | 53 | 67 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Handouts | 47 | 69 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Instructor Knowledge | 85 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Instructor Experience | 56 | 67 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Patron Knowledge Postclass |
28 increased greatly |
54 increased moderately |
44 increased slightly |
4 stayed the same |
| A new evaluation form was used from 10/4/00 through
6/02/01. This was also an instrument based on a multi-point
(four-item) scale, summarized as follows: |
| Criteria | Strongly agree |
Agree | Neutral | Disagree |
| Relevancy of class to patron's work | 65 | 20 | 4 | 2 |
| Understood the instructor | 61 | 29 | 1 | 1 |
| Instructor's teaching style | 57 | 31 | 4 | 1 |
| Usefulness of topic | 56 | 29 | 5 | 2 |
| Extent of patron's knowledge increase due to class | 54 | 33 | 4 | 2 |
| Will patron be able to use the information taught? | 54 | 31 | 3 | 3 |
| Library Faculty were involved in the Medical Information
Management module of the new School of Medicine Essentials of Medicine
course. Approximately 180 students received instruction in online
database searching techniques and related methods of information
retrieval. Library Faculty also assisted in grading student
searches and instructor participation was evaluated through student
assessment forms. |
| The Library suggestion box indicated client
dissatisfaction with the serviceability of copy machines located in the
Library. Maintained by the Copy Center, these machines received heavy
use and were regularly out of order. As current machines do not stand up
to the high volume use typical of academic libraries, the Library
recommended to the Copy Center that durable machines be acquired in the
near future. |
|
5)
Analysis of Collections Findings/Comparisons with National or Regional
Results or Long-Term Trends How does the term unique help define our
collection? A few years ago, a journal subscription was in print format
alone. Now the Library has a wide variety of electronic versions of
journals in a number of configurations – free online with paid print
subscription; online with paid print for a few dollars more; online site
license access separate from the print subscription and journals through
consortia. For the purposes of comparison, medical school libraries have
chosen unique current serials – and count each title once, regardless
of format, as well as eliminating titles that appear to be completely
out of scope at health sciences institutions. |
|
6)
Improvement Plans |