National Medical Librarians Month
Pacific Northwest Region Featured Projects 2011
Sharing the S.T.O.R.E. (Slides, Theses, Our Recordings, Etc.)
Photo Courtesy of Kathryn Constant
Birthingway College Library, Birthingway College of Midwifery, Portland, OR
Project Director: Kathryn Constant
Sharing the S.T.O.R.E. created a new digital health information collection and service to Birthingway College of Midwifery's Library and the birth-related community the library serves. The project initiated the digitization of the 15-year-plus collections of slides, original research-based student theses, sound and video instructional recordings, diagrams, handouts, etc. The amount of enthusiasm and self-esteem the students show now when taking the Research Methods course and completing the Research Projects/Thesis papers is astounding. Students have a genuine interest in the process and take great pride in their papers knowing they will be published digitally and available online with potentially worldwide distribution. Sharing the S.T.O.R.E. of Birthingway College's unique collections is an admirable information service to provide. Facilitating learning, true interest in researching, and providing students with an information vehicle that instills self-esteem and pride in their accomplishments are truly invaluable treasures of the project.
Health Information Literacy Partnership: Oregon Physician Assistants and the OHSU Library
Photo courtesy of Laura Zeigen
Oregon Health & Science University Library, Portland, OR
Project Director: Laura Zeigen
The goal of this project was to enable Oregon's physician assistants (PAs) to improve awareness, availability and use of reliable health information resources that they could use for themselves and their patients. Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) library staff worked in collaboration with OHSU faculty and PAs throughout Oregon to achieve their goal.
To support the project, a web site was created specifically focused on resources for physician assistants to use for their own education and for patient education. A tri-fold brochure highlighting resources available to physician assistants was also developed. Training sessions were held for PAs throughout the state, particularly in rural areas.
OCCAM (Online Clinical Care Algorithms and Messages): A Key to Improved Clinical Guideline Awareness
Images Courtesy of Amy Harper
University of Washington, Health Sciences Library, Seattle, WA
Project Director: Amy Harper
Following a successful pilot project, the Online Clinical Care Algorithms and Messages (OCCAM) project created a mobile application that collected and presented institution-specific protocols and high-impact guidelines in an easily-accessible format, putting this vital information in the hands of clinicians at the point of need. The OCCAM tool not only presented protocols and algorithms in a mobile accessible format, but also was used to alert clinicians to new or updated clinical care information via RSS feed. The target audience for OCCAM was residents and clinicians working in trauma, critical and acute care settings.
This project served to: 1) Demonstrate the value and skill of information professionals by supporting their role in innovative projects; 2) Promote library involvement in institution-wide health information initiatives; and 3) Stimulate collaboration within the organization to address local health information problems.
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