ICML 2009: Meeting Room 3 Session 36

Theme: Emerging & new technologies

Time:15.30-16.45
Date: Thursday 3rd September 2009
Chair: Howard Philpott

Positioning Medical Libraries in the World of Web 2.0 Technologies
Mrs Jodi L Philbrick, University of North Texas, United States
Ms Xuequn Pan, University of North Texas, United States
Ana D Cleveland, University of North Texas, United States

Jodi L. Philbrick, MLS, Adjunct Faculty/PhD Candidate, Health Informatics Program, School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA

Xuequn Pan, MS, Instructor/PhD Candidate, Health Informatics Program, School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA

Ana D. Cleveland, PhD, Regents Professor and Director, Health Informatics Program, School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA

Abstract:
Objectives: To conduct a literature review on the topic of Web 2.0 technologies in medical libraries; to explore the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies in medical libraries; to identify which Web 2.0 technologies are most commonly used in medical libraries; and to discuss future trends in Web 2.0 technologies in medical libraries.

Methods: Content analysis of contributed paper and poster abstracts submitted to the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting from 2005-2008

Results: Findings show that medical libraries are using Web 2.0 technologies for instruction, information sharing, and communication/discussion. The majority of contributed papers and posters from 2005 to 2008 were submitted by authors from academic health sciences libraries. The common Web 2.0 technologies used include blogs, wikis, podcasts, and RSS. The literature indicates that Web 2.0 technologies will be utilized more frequently to deliver information services in medical libraries.

Public Health 2.0: Collaborative partnerships for integrating social technologies into the practice community
Jane Blumenthal, University of Michigan, United States

Jane Blumenthal, Director, Health Sciences Libraries, has more than 25 years experience in information and library services. She directs and oversees the medical and public health libraries at the University of Michigan and is a member of the University of Michigan's University Library senior management team. She came to UM from Georgetown University, where she had 10 years experience as director of the health sciences library. Prior to Georgetown, she worked at the American Medical Association and the National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research Facility. Ms. Blumenthal has a BA degree from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree in Library Science from Catholic University of America. She is a distinguished member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals and has been active in a variety of professional organizations, including the Medical Library Association, Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries, and Group on Information Resources of the Association of American Medical Colleges. She is currently on the board of the Medical Library Association (MLA) and has previously served as chair of the MLA 2008 National Program Committee, chair of the MLA Leadership and Management Section, and on the AAHSL Board of Directors.

Abstract:
Objective: This project describes a collaborative effort between a health sciences library and two public health departments:

1. To develop best practices for integrating web 2.0 technologies into the work of the organizations and
2. To improve the communication and information sharing within the department and between partner organizations and the populations they serve.

Methods: Case study: Web 2.0 technologies offer many features to support the work of public health in collaborative partnerships, communication programs, and community engagement and health improvement. This project included four major components: assessment; training; collaboration and integration; and communication. A needs assessment was conducted to identify the ways in which web 2.0 technologies could increase the efficiency and effectiveness of each departments' communication and information sharing. A series of workshops were provided to train staff in skills and strategic uses of web 2.0 technologies. A wiki-based web site was created for sharing information about specific social technologies and their multiple uses for public health departments. Onsite collaboration with administrators, staff, committees, and the departments as a whole led to the integration of selected technologies into their work.

Results: Evaluation methods to determine the success of the project are shared, focusing on pre- and post-training surveys, usability testing of social technology applications, task-specific assessments, focus groups, peer evaluations, and usage statistics.

Conclusions: Insights gained from the experience will be beneficial to colleagues working with the practice community and other constituencies in the integration of social technologies into organizations to support community engagement and health improvement initiatives.

Open Medical Library: Cooperation and Scientific Communication Network through RSS Angels
Carles-Pomar, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain

Abstract:
One of the fastest and most performing tools on Web 2.0 is RSS (Really Simple Syndication). It allows the access to digital content without constantly visiting the pages where it is stored. Syndication enables to share all kind of information in XML format, and offers us the opportunity of showing our own content in other webpages in an integrated way, giving an added value to the information. In this communication we would like to present a Network Collaborative Project between medical libraries belonging to different institutions, located in different geographical areas and with different purposes, objectives and interests (some of them focusing on research and teaching and other on medical practice). Our medical libraries have incorporated “the content syndication”, on the one hand, as another tool for medical librarian work and, on the other hand, as a value-added service in order to be useful to different users such as medical staff, teachers, researchers or students. RSS lets us share information channels, creating a space for collaborative research. Syndication is a great help to our users as it develops a new trend in the content management sector, which is changing considerably the relationship with information, for both users and librarians point of view.

Open source systems bring Web 2.0 to special libraries
Dr Edmund Balnaves, Prosentient Systems, Australia
Don Keast, Greater Western Area Health Service, Australia

Edmund Balnaves is the director of Prosentient Systems and is active researcher in the area of library and content management systems. He is the Information Officer of the Information Technology Section of the IFLA Information Technology section.

Don Keast is the Research Librarian, Department of Rural Health, Sydney University, Broken Hill.

Abstract:
The library management systems market place has been transformed by two innovations: web 2.0 and open source systems. Open source developers have been quick to implement web 2.0 functionality in their systems, making it possible for special libraries to be early adaptors of new technology that supports community networking with their members. These services are particularly important for special libraries, who can have disparate, often widely separated, patrons and who can benefit greatly from the library 2.0 community networking innovations. Their free source code base and help bring web-based functionality to small (and often isolated) libraries whose budget does not measure up to conventional vendor-based systems. The experiences of implementing the open source Koha library management system will be explored in the context of the Greater Western Area Health Service network.