Laboratory Office Hours as Outreach in the Health Sciences: Better Research Skills for Better Careers

Abstract

Medical librarianship is changing in health care environments. Since 1996, by which time the standards that determine how hospitals acquire accreditation changed, many hospitals have been acquiring accreditation without a qualified medical librarian on site. For that reason, it has become even more important that health care professionals, doctors, nurses, and other clinicians learn to access and evaluate quality information as an integral part of their academic training. Medical clinicians now must begin their careers with strong research skills. These skills must be attained during their academic matriculation, and studies in the field of librarianship have shown that departmental outreach hours are an extremely effective way to promote library services to university students and faculty. Other methods, such as technology applications, are useful but have their limitations. This paper reviews current literature on the vital importance of in-person outreach to future health care professionals and illustrates these insights with a discussion of my personal experiences as a health sciences librarian at Georgia State University.

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