Proposed Liaison Program

UC Davis Health Sciences Libraries

Proposed Liaison Program for the Health Sciences Libraries

Introduction

The UC Davis Health Sciences Libraries propose to establish a liaison program to serve targeted departments/divisions within the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The intent of the liaison program is to increase communication with and improve services for the faculty, staff and students within these departments/divisions by providing more customized, specialized, personal services.

Pursuit of this program is intended to enhance the position of the Health Sciences Libraries as a leader in the provision of health sciences information and services. The liaison program would foster increased visibility of the library and credibility of participating librarians.

Benefits of the liaison program would include improved communication with and service to targeted departments/divisions within the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. For example:

· More collaborative relationships between the Health Sciences Libraries and targeted departments/divisions

· Streamlined channels of communication between the Health Sciences Libraries and targeted departments/divisions

· Instructional activities customized to the specific needs of targeted departments/divisions

· Improved accessibility (time and location) of instructional activities and other services

By working closely with a specific group of faculty, staff and students, librarians can increase their understanding of user needs and facilitate responses to those needs in a more user-centered fashion.

Participating in the liaison program and concentrating their efforts toward a specific group of faculty, staff and students would provide the following benefits to librarians:

· Increased competence and confidence

· Improved rapport

· Greater proficiency in a specific group of resources

· Greater awareness of trends and programs

Proposal

The liaison program would serve selected departments within the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, the primary clientele of the Health Sciences Libraries. The targeting of major departments would allow individual librarians the flexibility to pursue liaison activities with as many (or few) divisions within their departments as seems feasible within workload constraints and faculty response.

My recommendation would be to initiate a six-month pilot program possibly followed by an expanded program. A pilot program would provide the flexibility to assess, plan and evaluate the following considerations before embarking on an expanded program:

· Success of the program relative to the targeted departments/divisions

· Impact of the program on the workload of the liaison librarians

· Effect of the program on the functioning of other library departments (collection development, access services and technical services)

Pilot Program : January 2003 – June 2003

· I : Monthly email to targeted departments/divisions announcing liaison program : January – March

ü Liaisons responsible for email to individual departments/divisions

· I/G : Design liaison web site including individual liaison web pages : January – March

ü Liaisons responsible for designing individual web pages

· I : Begin researching needs and interests of targeted departments/divisions : January – March

· I : Contact selected departments/divisions with regard to most essential services : April – June

· G : Discuss liaison program during SORD meetings : monthly

ü Plan group activities

ü Share ideas, successes, difficulties

· G : Evaluate impact of pilot program on liaisons and library staff : June

ü Should liaison assignments be changed?

ü Should liaison services be changed?

ü How to further facilitate coordination of liaison program with other library departments?

· G : Evaluate impact of pilot program on targeted departments/divisions : June

ü Are faculty, staff and students aware of liaison program?

Ø Quantifiable : Email survey

ü Number of instructional and other liaison activities?

Ø Quantifiable : Instructional database

ü Number of marketing and publicity activities?

Ø Quantifiable : Access database

ü Number of email messages?

Ø Quantifiable : Access database

Minimal activities for pilot program:

Try to meet with department chair or division chief at least one time
Try to attend department/division meeting(s) to announce new library services and resources at least one time
Use email to promote new library services and resources at least one time

Expanded Program : July 2003 – ongoing

· I : Conduct increasingly personalized marketing and publicity

· I : Add more advanced features to web pages

· I : Conduct formal needs assessment of targeted departments/divisions

ü Evaluate clinical and research interests of faculty, staff and students

ü Review catalogs, course descriptions and newsletters

ü Meet with department/division chairs, library representatives and other members of the department/division semiannually

ü Request that your name be added to the department/division email list

ü Review publications, dissertations and professional appointments of new faculty and graduate students

· I/G : Develop new services to meet the specialized needs of targeted departments/divisions

· I : Expand number of serviced departments/divisions : ongoing

· G : Discuss liaison program during SORD meetings : monthly

ü Plan group activities

ü Share ideas, successes, difficulties

· G : Evaluate impact of expanded program on liaisons and other library staff : semiannually

ü Should liaison assignments be changed ?

ü Should liaison services be changed ?

ü How to further facilitate coordination of liaison program with other library departments?

· G : Evaluate impact of expanded program on targeted departments/divisions: semiannually

ü Response and level of faculty, staff and student satisfaction with various aspects of the program?

Ø Quantifiable : Focus groups

Ø Quantifiable : Email survey

Ø Include the five AAHSL questions in the LibQual+ survey

ü Number of instructional and other liaison activities?

Ø Quantifiable : Instructional database

ü Number of marketing and publicity activities?

Ø Quantifiable : Access database

ü Number of email messages?

Ø Quantifiable : Access database

I = Individual responsibility

G = Group responsibility

Services

Proposed services to be performed under the liaison program are similar to existing services. The major difference between existing and proposed services is the strong emphasis on customizing the services to meet the specific needs of targeted departments/divisions. Hallmarks of the liaison program include intensive subject specialization, concentrated knowledge of the needs, trends and politics of the targeted departments/divisions, extensive communication with users, and personal information services.

Existing services performed and responsibilities assumed by reference librarians include:

· Provide reference service

· Perform instructional activities

ü Library Classes

ü Visiting Lectures for Credit Courses

ü Consultations

ü Library Credit Courses

ü Tours/Orientations

ü Exhibits

· Promote library services & resources

ü Develop of web pages

ü Participate in campus events

ü Participate in joint activities with the School of Medicine, the School of Veterinary Medicine and the UC Davis Health System

· Maintain a continuing awareness of trends and issues relating to instructional, patient care, and research aspects of the health sciences environment and share that information with colleagues

· Share in the review of health sciences resources to identify and recommend additions to the collection

Proposed customized services to be performed and responsibilities to be assumed by liaison librarians include:

Promote library resources and services and adapt them to the varying needs of targeted departments/divisions

ü Distribute customized email messages describing new library resources and services

ü Tailor instructional programs to the specific needs of the targeted departments/divisions

Partner with academic faculty to develop course-integrated instruction
Develop expertise in databases and other resources of particular interest to targeted departments/divisions

ü Provide assistance to targeted departments/divisions

Maintain awareness of current trends of potential interest to targeted departments/divisions

ü Browse tables of contents of subject-specific journals

ü Attend department-sponsored seminars

ü Audit campus courses

ü Attend meetings of professional societies

Staffing

The goal of the liaison program is to provide customized, subject-specific services to faculty, staff and students of targeted departments/divisions in the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. Liaisons specialize in the subject areas of their assigned departments, learning as much as possible about the subject areas and their resources and databases as well as departmental/divisional needs and trends.

Formal background in assigned subject areas is not required for successful liaison services. Liaisons at other universities have successfully developed their expertise by:

Attending continuing education courses
Attending subject-specific courses on campus
Attending vendor training sessions
Attending campus seminars and presentations
Joining subject-specific library and non-library associations
Joining departmental email lists
Browsing faculty web pages
Browsing medical and veterinary journal articles and text books

My recommendation would be to match four reference librarians to one (each) major department within the School of Medicine and the remaining three reference librarians to two (each) departments within the School of Veterinary Medicine. For example:

· Targeted departments for medical school faculty, residents & students – 4 liaisons

ü Terri (Obstetrics & Gynecology)

ü John (Pediatrics)

ü Rebecca (Surgery)

ü Judy (Internal Medicine)

Targeted departments for veterinary school faculty, residents & students – 4 liaisons

ü Jerry (Medicine & Epidemiology)

ü Ken (Anatomy, Physiology & Cell Biology; Molecular Biosciences)

ü Bernadette (Population Health & Reproduction; Surgical & Radiological Sciences)

ü Rebecca (Pathology, Microbiology, & Immunology)

Activities listed under focus areas in the Liaison Model Framework : Individual & Group Responsibilities to Targeted Departments/Divisions and Proposed Pilot Program and Expanded Program activities are meant to be guidelines rather than requirements. The successful application of many of these activities depends not only on the willingness and initiative of the liaison but also on the personalities, politics, needs and technical abilities of the departments/divisions.

References

Cunningham-Stillion, Avril. “Liaison Program”. Dahlgren Memorial Library, Georgetown University Medical Center. December 15, 2000

Tennant, Michele R. et al. “Customizing for clients : developing a library liaison program from need to plan.” Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 89 (January 2001) 8-20.

Tennant, Michele R. et al. “Development and Assessment of Specialized Liaison Librarian Services: Clinical vs. Basic Science in a Veterinary Medicine Setting.” Medical Reference Services Quarterly 21 (Summer 2002): 21-37.

Public and internal documents shared by Peggy Sleeth, Associate Director/Information Resources, Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries.

“Reaching Out through a Library Liaison Program.” Poster. Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia.