Background: Fulfilling a recognized need in data skills training for academic librarians, the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program collaborated to enhance academic library workers’ skills in biomedical and public health data, as well as their library's research capacity, through the awareness and use of the All of Us Researcher Workbench. Case Presentation: The All of Us Data Training and Engagement Program for Academic Libraries (ALP) blended professional development training, hands-on learning, and peer-to-peer networking that focused on increasing knowledge of the All of Us Researcher Workbench. Activities were designed to build institution-wide, interdisciplinary awareness and interest in using the All of Us Researcher Workbench. A series of ongoing activities ensured sustained skill-building and collaboration, and included training for R, a program language used for statistical computing and data visualization. Program activities were intentionally designed to help grow institutional research capacity, enhance skills in biomedical and public health data, and promote meaningful use of the Researcher Workbench to campus communities. Conclusion: The ALP helped participants overcome barriers to data access and improve research infrastructure and successfully empowered 115 library professionals to leverage the All of Us Researcher Workbench for meaningful biomedical and public health research. Measured outcomes validate the success of the program and demonstrate how the ALP has positioned participating institutions for long-term success in biomedical and public health research. Institutions can build upon the foundation established through this case report to advance equitable, data-driven health research across academic landscapes.
Background: Research data services (RDS) have expanded in academic libraries but can be challenging to develop, particularly in teaching-intensive and less-resourced institutions. Learning communities offer a promising model for building skills, fostering collaboration, and aligning services with local needs. Case Presentation: This case report describes the development and implementation of three learning communities—a library group, a faculty group, and a student group—at a teaching-focused institution. These communities brought together library professionals, faculty, and students from diverse disciplines—including health sciences, education, data science, and engineering—to collaboratively explore the All of Us dataset. By working with the same dataset, participants were able to move quickly from abstract concepts to hands-on practice, while developing a shared understanding of tools, workflows, and challenges. The learning communities also served as platforms for building institutional capacity in data-intensive research. Conclusions: The learning communities model proved to be an effective strategy for fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration, promoting data literacy, and building institutional readiness to support research using the All of Us dataset. By centering on local expertise, learning communities provide a sustainable, resource-conscious framework for developing RDS. This approach also demonstrates how academic libraries can act as conveners and catalysts for equitable data engagement. Lessons learned from this case may inform similar efforts at other institutions seeking to build collaborative, inclusive models for engaging with various data resources.
Objectives: This study examines users’ behaviors and perceptions when accessing medical information in digital environments and proposes strategic directions for medical libraries seeking to adopt emerging technologies. Specifically, we empirically investigate user expectations regarding digital technologies, differences in perception based on individual characteristics, and key factors influencing satisfaction with information use. Methods: We conducted a web-based survey from January to February 2024 through the National Center for Medical Science Knowledge, a national institution in South Korea. A total of 580 participants—including healthcare professionals, researchers, educators, and students—completed a questionnaire assessing digital information behavior, preferences for emerging technologies, perceptions of information and service quality, and overall satisfaction. We analyzed the data using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple regression analysis. Results: Users exhibited a strong tendency to use online-based medical information, reporting particular interest in big data (38.5%) and artificial intelligence (24.9%) technologies. Statistically significant differences in preferences and awareness of digital technologies were observed based on gender, education level, academic major, and occupation. Information reliability (β = .623), service speed, and personalization were identified as key determinants of user satisfaction. Conclusion: Medical libraries should establish technology-based services that are suitable for the digital information environment and develop customized strategies that accurately reflect user characteristics and demands. This study offers practical insights for designing user-centered digital medical information services.
This profile offers a portrait of Heather Nadean Holmes, MLIS, AHIP, 2025-2026 Medical Library Association (MLA) President, as a leader defined by authenticity, courage, and deep commitment to the profession. Holmes, known for her candor and dedication to the profession, brings a career rooted in service, gained from her work in hospital, academic, and association environments, to the presidency. Her professional journey reflects a sustained commitment to evidence-based practice, research, and elevating librarians as essential partners in health care, education, and discovery. Holmes is widely recognized for her work as a clinical medical librarian and her national leadership in developing the MLA Research Agenda. Colleagues describe her as a truth-teller who leads with integrity, sets clear boundaries, and consistently uses her platform to support others, especially early- and mid-career professionals. Her presidency focuses on inclusivity, transparency, and member engagement during a significant transition for both the Association and the profession. Beyond titles and accomplishments, this biography captures Holmes’s humanity. Her resilience, mentorship, humor, and unapologetic passions, including her love of K-pop, are highlighted. Together, these qualities portray a president who leads with conviction, empathy, and joy.
Objective: Scientific article titles play a central role in shaping research visibility, interpretation, and discoverability. With the rise of large language models like ChatGPT, there is growing interest in using AI tools to support title generation, yet little is known about how AI-generated titles differ from those written by human authors. This study compared titles written by original authors to those generated by ChatGPT-4.0 from the same abstracts, focusing on structural and content-level differences. Methods: Fifty research articles published in 2000, before the advent of generative AI, were randomly selected from ten high-impact general internal medicine journals. For each, the structured abstract was submitted to ChatGPT-4.0 using a standardized prompt to generate a title. Human-written and AI-generated titles were then compared using quantitative measures (word and character counts, punctuation marks) and descriptive content analysis (study design, population descriptors, outcome emphasis, public health or clinical framing, temporal context). Paired statistical tests were applied to assess differences. Results: ChatGPT-generated titles were significantly longer than human-written titles (median 16 vs. 12.5 words, p-value<0.001) and included more characters and punctuation marks (colons in 100% vs. 30%; p-value<0.001). AI titles more often specified or clarified study design, detailed populations, emphasized outcomes, framed findings in public health or clinical terms, and incorporated temporal context. Conclusion: ChatGPT-4.0 produces more explicit and structured titles than human authors, emphasizing methodological clarity and content completeness. These findings raise important questions about norms in scientific communication and the need for further research and ethical guidance on AI-assisted writing.
Background:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD), including Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn&s Disease, are chronic and recurrent conditions that severely impact patients' quality of life and increase the risk of complications. Providing accurate and evidence-based health information is a non-pharmacological strategy that may improve disease outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of physician-prescribed information on patients' quality of life and disease Relapse. Methods:In this randomized controlled trial, 160 patients with IBD were randomly assigned to two groups. The intervention group received a structured information prescription (IP) developed by a trained medical librarian and approved by a physician, while the control group received routine oral explanations. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL) and Time to Relapse Questionnaire (TRQ) were used to assess quality of life and Relapse, respectively. Statistical analyses included t-tests, Chi-square, and Mann-Whitney tests using Stata17 software. Results:The Relapse rate in the intervention group was significantly lower than in the control group at both two months (12.5% vs. 87.5%, p=0.004) and four months (15% vs. 42.5%, P<0.001). The risk of Relapse in the control group was more than twice as high compared to the intervention group (Hazard ratio: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.6-2.8). The mean overall quality of life scores showed an improvement in the intervention group, while a decline was observed in the control group. A significant improvement was also indicated in all quality-of-life domains in the intervention group when compared to the control group (P < 0.001). Conclusion:Physician-prescribed information interventions significantly enhance quality of life and reduce disease Relapse in IBD patients, offering a promising complementary approach in clinical care.
Background: Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are underrepresented in librarianship. We developed a curriculum to introduce high school students from BIPOC communities to careers in health sciences librarianship and to concepts and skills in health information literacy. Case Presentation: Librarians at Weill Cornell Medicine partnered with Mentoring in Medicine, a Bronx-based nonprofit, to develop the Community Health Ambassador Program (CHAmP) curriculum. The project settings were at three New York City schools. The project took place over two years, with the pilot taking place in year 1, followed by an assessment which included data from pre- and posttests measuring student learning and focus groups with the students to gather feedback about their experience. Informed by data from the year one assessment, we worked with an experienced high school teacher to redesign the curriculum for year 2. Changes included reducing the amount of lecture and providing more time for activities to reinforce the content, including a team final project and presentations. In year two focus groups, students demonstrated increased understanding of health sciences librarianship and indicated increased engagement and enjoyment of the course compared to year 1. There was a statistically significant improvement in the mean student score from the pretest to the posttest. Conclusions: The revised curriculum resulted in increased student engagement and statistically significant improvement in learning compared to the year one pilot. We have published the full curriculum online under a Creative Commons license so that other organizations may implement it in their communities.
Objectives:To synthesize and map literature on automated indexing of the biomedical literature, with a focus on the Medical Text Indexer (MTI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM). We review the drivers, benefits, and challenges of automated indexing, evolution of the MTI from 2000-2025, and impacts on information retrieval in MEDLINE. Methods:We conducted a scoping review following the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis and reported findings using PRISMA-ScR and PRISMA-S. We searched several bibliographic databases, key journals, conference proceedings, and grey literature sources, with no restrictions on language or study design. Eligible publications were published 2000-2025 and focused on MTI development. Screening, data charting, and thematic analysis were conducted by multiple reviewers. Results:We included 64 publications, with most originating from the United States (n=53, 83%) and five from Canada (8%). Study methods included evaluation or comparative studies (65%), qualitative descriptions (25%), and mixed methods (11%). MTI evolved from a rules-based recommendation tool in 2002 to the neural network-based MTIX in 2024. Despite numerous enhancements to the MTI, human curation remains necessary for approximately one-third of records to correct inaccuracies, capture missed concepts, and address errors arising from figurative language or algorithmic biases. Conclusions:This review synthesizes twenty-five years of MTI research (2000-2025). Despite reduced indexing times and a markedly improved algorithm, the MTIX has not yet achieved full equivalence to human indexing. Our findings suggest searchers should watch for algorithmic ambiguities in their MEDLINE searching and adapt accordingly. Health sciences librarians should work with stakeholders, including authors, to shape future algorithmic indexing methods, outputs, evaluation and research.
Objective: Previous research has found bullying present across the library profession, with documented instances in school, public, and university literature, but not in academic medical and hospital library literature. This study aims to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying among academic medical and hospital librarians. Methods: An anonymous survey was distributed to members of the Medical Library Association, the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries, and the Association of College & Research Librarians Health Sciences Interest Group containing the Short Negative Acts Questionnaire. Quantitative analysis was conducted using the Real Statistics Resource Pack software (Release 8.9.1). Results: One-hundred eighteen survey responses met inclusion criteria. 49.2% of the sample met the threshold for self-identifying as victims of workplace bullying. This was significantly higher than the prevalence among the general librarian population (40.1%) in 2017 (p = 0.029) and consistent with findings in 2022 (51.8%; p = 0.31). More participants perceived themselves as not experienced bullying (69%) than the prevalence rate found. Those who perceived themselves as victims identified colleagues as the most frequent perpetrators (35%), followed immediate superiors (22%) and other superiors/managers within the organization (25%). Conclusions: This study showed nearly half (49.2%) of academic medical and hospital librarians included in the sample experience bullying. These findings highlight the need for an increased understanding of bullying behaviors, education on prevention, and for library leaders to develop interventions to mitigate bullying in their institutions.
The Association of Vision Science Librarians (AVSL) is an international organization composed of professional librarians, or persons acting in that capacity, whose collections include vision-related materials and/or whose patrons include vision scientists. Since 1976, AVSL has defined standards for vision science libraries in all capacities, including optometry, ophthalmology, academia, industry, and beyond. As the most recent Standards for Vision Science Libraries was published in 2014, an AVSL member committee was formed in 2024 to review the Standards and consider what a revision should include. Over the course of several months, committee members collaborated with one another, held discussions with other AVSL members, and reviewed current literature. What resulted is a revised set of Standards that aims to address the significant changes that have taken place not only within the field of librarianship, but with the information needs of the vision science professions as well. These updated Standards place the focus on the librarian rather than the library, as many librarian positions that once focused solely on vision science are now expected to manage several disciplines. The aim of this revision is to serve as a starting point for any librarian working with vision science materials and/or serving vision scientist patrons who wishes to develop their knowledge base and skills in this particular field of health sciences librarianship.
Background: The study seeks to identify the board exam preparation (prep) resources made available to medical students by academic health sciences libraries and other departments within U.S. colleges of osteopathic medicine (COM) programs, and the extent to which these resources are utilized by medical students and educators. Methods: The study was conducted in two phases. In phase one, forty-two COM library directors were invited to complete a survey regarding their usage, funding, and access models for available board prep resources. In phase two, semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom to explore the library's role in providing access to these resources. Results: In phase one, thirty-five out of a possible forty-two survey respondents shared the top board exam prep resources to which their COM programs subscribed, as well as the top library resources that included board prep elements. In phase two, thirteen directors participated in Zoom interviews, which were recorded and transcribed to identify key trends in funding responsibility, resource selection, and librarian involvement. It was revealed that governance matters, digital format rules, partnerships drive impact, telling the data story is key, and one-stop guidance works. Conclusion: The two-phase study provided a comprehensive review of the specific resources that academic health sciences libraries and other departments offer for board prep within COM programs. Through analyses of survey and semi-structured interview data, this study identifies trends in resource availability and use, informing strategic planning for libraries, medical school administration, and library science education, ultimately enhancing student outcomes.
Objective: Through a content analysis of public websites, this paper provides a centralized and summarized picture of evidence synthesis (ES) service characteristics at academic libraries and medical schools and centers in the United States in the mid-2020s. Methods: Our team identified 116 institutions classified in the 2021 Carnegie Classification as R1, R2, or Medical Schools and Centers that had an ES service. These services were coded for service characteristics. Using frequency and comparison tables, we answered the following research questions: What are the common structures and characteristics of ES services, within and independent of Carnegie Classification of Research Activity? Is there any relationship between Carnegie Classification of Research Activity and Size & Setting and characteristics of ES services? Results: We found that services often used tiers to delineate between services offered, with higher tiers requiring more responsibilities from the library or information professional. Some universities and medical schools limit librarian involvement with ES projects based on user role (student, faculty, researcher, etc.) or user affiliation with a college or department. Librarian acknowledgment or authorship are common in return for engagement in ES projects. Fees and Memoranda of Understanding were uncommon but do exist at some institutions. Conclusion: Librarians seeking to create or update their ES service can benefit from this ‘data snapshot,’ as it will allow them to see the service elements under consideration by other institutions and offer ideas for their own services. Overall, we found that there were more similarities than differences between basic ES service structures (e.g. tier amounts/categories, presence of fees, etc.), independent of classification type or size setting. We recommend that librarians utilize this paper and the associated data in order to identify which institutional elements are important in their context for ideas in improving their ES service.
Objective: Access to historic individually identifiable health information has been studied from a researcher perspective, but there has not been a comprehensive review of access policies at an institutional level to see if there is any consistency across institutions. The objective of this study is to gather preliminary information on these access policies and potentially identify similarities and gaps to inform future research. Methods: This study employs an online survey for data collection about respondents’ access policies and procedures at their institution. The final survey instrument consisted of 29 questions with a mix of multiple choice and free-text questions. The survey was distributed through listservs and posted in forums that targeted qualified participants. Results: The survey received 36 responses, 21 of which met the criteria for inclusion in analysis. Some notable results are that covered entities are nearly equally split on when to open research collections, non-covered entities have a wide range of access policies, and all respondents were nearly equally split on how long it has been since they last updated their access policy. Conclusion: While the number of responses was low for this study, the results identified areas that would benefit from further research and more robust study methods to potentially achieve a more standardized approach to access policies at research institutions.
Background: Librarians providing feedback on Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) assignments face time constraints. This case report describes implementing a semi-automated rubric — defined here as a tool that automatically calculates scores from grader-selected ratings while narrative feedback is still written by the instructor — to reduce grading time for an EBM capstone assignment for first-year medical students. Case Presentation: Two cohorts of approximately 100 students completed the same EBM assignment. The 2023 cohort received manual feedback, while the 2024 cohort received feedback using the semi-automated rubric. Grading time was logged for both cohorts. The rubric, adapted from a template, automatically calculates scores based on selected criteria, streamlining the feedback process. Conclusions: The semi-automated rubric reduced grading time by 30%, from an average of seven minutes per assignment to five minutes. This simple, adaptable intervention can help reduce educator workload, improve feedback timeliness, and enhance assessment consistency. While limited by its single-grader and single institution design, this case report offers practical insights for educators seeking to improve feedback efficiency in EBM and other disciplines.
To advance information retrieval science for producing evidence syntheses at Canada’s Drug Agency, the Research Information Services team developed a replicable process to evaluate automated or artificial intelligence (AI) search tools. The team inventoried 51 tools in the fall of 2023 and built a flexible evaluation instrument to inform adoption decisions and enable comparison between tools. Building on this foundational evaluation work, the team further conducted a comparative analysis on three top-ranked tools in the fall of 2024. The investigation confirmed that these automated or AI tools have inconsistent and variable performance for the range of information retrieval tasks performed by Information Specialists at Canada’s Drug Agency. Implementation recommendations from this study informed a “fit for purpose” approach where Information Specialists leverage automated or AI search tools for specific tasks or project types.
As part of an effort to seek sustainable support models for Open Access (OA) publishing, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), Health Sciences and Human Services Library’s (HSHSL’s) Scholarly Communications Committee developed an interactive dashboard to visualize university-wide OA publishing trends. Using publication data exported from Scopus and visualized in Microsoft Power BI, the dashboard displays five years of publishing trends by OA model, publisher, journal, school, and citation count. The dashboard is fully interactive, allowing users to filter results based on school, OA model, and year. The design of the dashboard was iterative, with planning discussions taking place in Summer 2024, data model development and initial data collection in Fall 2024, refining of the visualization and data model in early Spring 2025, and the publication of the final dashboard to our website in April 2025. The dashboard continues to be refined and improved based on feedback from stakeholders, and the project team plans to incorporate data on publishing costs in Spring 2026. The project was designed for sustainability and adaptability, with a documented workflow that will be easy for future committees to implement. This innovative, replicable approach supports informed decision-making around OA publishing and provides a model that can be adopted by other academic health sciences libraries.
Circulating Now, the history of medicine blog for the National Library of Medicine (NLM), highlights blog posts written by community contributors. To evaluate the community represented within the blog, the project team explored how XQuery, a language for querying XML data, could be utilized in developing a dataset on institutions represented in the blog. The team used ChatGPT to develop the XQuery script and processed the queries through BaseX. The resulting data was transferred to Excel where additional data elements, such as geographic location and institutional type, were manually added. From this dataset, the team created visualizations in Tableau to show the over 400 unique institutions across the world represented. These visualizations supplemented an internal report for the Circulating Now Editorial Board, illustrating the current engagement reach of the blog and areas for future possible collaboration.
Background: The integration of literature and the humanities into medical education offers numerous benefits for both students and the broader community. Engaging with literary texts encourages the development of empathy, critical thinking, emotional awareness, and communication skills, all essential for a more humanistic and socially responsive medical practice. Additionally, initiatives that bring together students and local residents through shared cultural experiences help strengthen the university’s connection with the surrounding community and promote mutual understanding. The Book club was created at the medical school in Caicó (RN, Brazil), as a space to explore diverse literary works beyond the health sciences. Case Presentation: The Book Club was approved as an extension event and is promoted in Escola Multicampi de Ciências Médicas do Rio Grande do Norte (EMCM) by the Pro-Rectory of Extension from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) situated in Caicó city (RN, Brazil). It has a multidisciplinary team of students, teachers and technical staff. Six literary works were selected based on the alignment with the club’s educational goals, particularly the potential to stimulate critical reflection on themes such as grief, racism, gender, and social justice. Registration took place through the Integrated Academic Activities Management System, and the monthly meetings were held in the Medical School auditorium. Participants received pedagogical support via social networks, club app, reading planner and newsletter. Conclusions: With 22 participants, including 8 community members and 14 medical students, the Book Club explored perspectives such as gender, racism, grief, trauma and colonialism. The predominance of medical students highlights academic interest and institutional support in extension projects, while low community adherence points to the need for new engagement strategies. The analysis of followers on Instagram reveals a significant participation of the local population, especially among women, but also highlights a gap in the presence of men and adolescents. This demonstrates the importance of a more inclusive and diverse approach to attracting different audiences. The Book Club at the public Medical School, by stimulating cognitive and human skills through literature, enriches academic training and strengthens the connection between academia and the community.
Background: This case report details an exploratory instructional session for dental students led by librarian-instructors at the University at Buffalo. Using historical source materials from the Robert L. Brown History of Medicine Collection, an hour-long session was developed to introduce year-one dental students to the history of their profession and its ongoing collaboration with important clinical populations. Case Presentation: At the request of course faculty, the University at Buffalo’s Dental Liaison Librarian, History of Medicine Curator, and History of Medicine Archivist were invited to develop and lead a session on the history of dentistry for a first-year course, Profession, Practice, and Community Dentistry (PDO 801). A core feature of this course is the introduction of students to eight underserved dental patient populations—referred to as “communities of focus.” To supplement student learning, library staff utilized the holdings of the Robert L. Brown History of Medicine Collection to bring together stories, artifacts, and printed materials that spoke not only to the history of the profession, but also to the history of the communities of focus. Thought prompts were developed to guide students during a textual analysis activity that analyzed representative materials. Conclusions: Overall, this interdisciplinary collaboration provided the opportunity to develop and implement a syllabus-informed historical instructional session that offered targeted insights into dentistry’s past. Through guided discussions, hands-on exploration, and textual analysis of historic materials, instructors worked to inspire and educate participating dental students as they progress further along their path as providers of patient-forward care.
Objective: Limited empirical research is available to guide hospital librarians through a healthcare system merger or acquisition. To address this knowledge gap, an e-Delphi research study was used to develop recommended tasks that librarians should consider when consolidating the delivery of library services to a newly merged, geographically distributed healthcare system. Methods: This e-Delphi study was conducted and reported according to the Guidance on Conducting and REporting DElphi Studies (CREDES). The expert panel, composed of 29 hospital librarians, responded to four rounds of questionnaires during April to December 2022. In Round 1, the panelists’ qualitative responses were collected and analyzed via thematic analysis to identify potential recommended tasks. In Rounds 2 through 4, tasks were eliminated or prioritized based upon the panelists’ rating of each task using a seven-point Likert scale. Those tasks rated as 5, 6, or 7 by ≥75% of the panelists were included in the final consensus statement. Results: The consensus statement identifies 330 recommended tasks. Highly prioritized tasks involve cultivating beneficial relationships with others throughout the merger, particularly newly blended library teams, finance and administrative leadership, information technology/services, and vendors. Marketing and outreach activities and physical library space management tasks were not prioritized. The panelists emphasized understanding organizational context and culture throughout any merger. Conclusions: The recommended tasks can be used by hospital librarians to create an action plan for consolidating and delivering library services in the event of a healthcare system merger or acquisition. Future research on the utility of the recommendations is anticipated.
