1. On the job training.
2. Library school education.
3. Continuing education.

The medical librarian should be knowledgeable in the following areas: the health care environment, medical terminology, information needs of health care professionals, and computer hardware and software options. They must also possess skills in basic research techniques, management principles, acquiring and organizing information, MESH (Medical Subject Headings) and NLM (National Library of Medicine) classification, information sources in the health sciences, and online searching (Roper 1993). Professional associations such as the MLA (Medical Library Association) are sources for programs and services to reinforce professional competence of medical librarians.


ORGANIZATIONAL HEIRARCHY

Libraries operating in hospitals fall into a management organization system defined by hospital administrators. Libraries often function within a larger department, such as education. Librarians are responsible for reporting to the department head.

JCAHO is the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. This is the national accrediting agency for hospitals. Standards are set forth with criteria for library management and operation. The librarian must be prepared to accommodate JCAHO requirements in addition to requirements set forth by individual administration.


FUNDING SOURCES

Hospital medical libraries typically operate within an approved annual budget. Often the librarian is responsible for presenting and justifying the budget to administration. Hospital administration usually determines how involved the librarian will be in this process. Budgets are generally limited, and the use of volunteer staffing often supplements budgetary restrictions. Funding opportunities to increase library resources are available through the application to various grant programs.


CLIENTELE SERVED

The medical library’s main customers are physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, students, employees and volunteers. Services are also extended to patients, families and members of the community.


WEB PAGE EVALUATION

Orlando Regional Healthcare Medical Library
http://www.orlandoregional.org/services/library/

The Orlando Regional Healthcare Library system provides services for healthcare providers, patients, families and the community. This website is actually the home page for 4 different medical libraries within the Orlando Regional System. Each library is described in brief detail with a link for further access. Although the web address listed takes one directly to the library website, the library might be difficult to find from the hospital’s home page as it is linked thru Health Information without directly identifying the “library”. After accessing each library individually, one is able to obtain very specific information on library location, services, after hour access, contact information (including names of all librarians), and links to provide health care professionals with options for further desired resources not available locally. These links include sites for continuing medical education opportunities, access to medical journals, a site for purchasing medical books, access to clinical trials, and a site for authors in health services to submit articles for journals. There are databases requiring passwords for health professionals desiring specific medical information. Basic searches are provided for the public on generalized medical conditions with options for alternative medicine sources. These searches were found to be quick and efficient, with information provided appropriate to the population. One library is not open to the public, but this is stated clearly on the library’s welcome page. Overall, this web site was found to be informative and highly organized.

TRENDS AND ISSUES

A World Community: As boundaries blur with the increased use of internet resources, librarians are ever expanding their area of service, crossing institutional, state and national arenas. This causes concern over state licensing, decisions regarding governing rules and laws, and organizational politics (Carbo 2003).

Preventative Medicine: Baby boomers are reaching an age of Medicare entitlement, and with the improvement in medical knowledge and extension of quality of life, this population will soon drain the already challenged Medicare system. This places increased significance of promoting preventative medicine through our medical libraries (Goldberg 1999).

Increased growth in Biomedical knowledge and new information technologies: Changes in the health information environment impact the role of the medical librarian and in the knowledge and skills expected of them (Roper 1993). The explosion of new information in medicine and basic biomedical sciences signifies that new strategies need to be employed in the management and analysis of this knowledge. In a Chicago hospital study, two-thirds of the clinicians surveyed reported managing a patient’s case differently based on information received from the medical library (Goldberg 1999).

Professional Liability: As health care professionals rely more heavily on information provided by medical librarians in their patient treatment decisions, the librarian may be assuming a shared responsibility of liability with the healthcare professional (Hafner 1990).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carbo, Toni. "Challenges for libraries creating one world: information ethics and policy issues for medical librarians." JMLA. 91.3 (2003): 281-284.

Goldberg, Beverly. "Medical librarians examine their future at Chicago conference." American Libraries. 30.7 (1999):28.

Hafner, Arthur W. "Medical information, health sciences librarians, and professional liability." Special Libraries. 81.4 (1990): 305.

JCAHO. 27 Sept. 2003 <http://www.mlanet.org/resources/jcaho.html>.

Roper, Fred W. and M. Kent Mayfield. "Shaping medical library education." Library Trends. 42.1 (1993): 25.