About

The goal of the "value of libraries planning study" is to develop a research plan and proposal to measure the value of the health sciences library, library services, and librarian. The idea for a study on the value of libraries came from a discussion of the NN/LM MAR's Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), held at New York University Medical Center on November 17, 2006. At the meeting, a focused yet freewheeling discussion of academic health sciences library directors and leaders of the four RML standing committees of Outreach, Library Improvement, Technology and Resource Sharing, centered on the issues of importance to health sciences libraries today. Out of that discussion emerged the issue of establishing the value of health sciences libraries to administrators in hospitals, academic health sciences centers and other organizations where librarians work.

One frequently cited study in the RAC discussion was the "Rochester study". In that study, a sample group of 448 physicians in 15 hospitals were asked to request information related to request some information related to a current clinical case and then to evaluate its impact on the care of their patients. Senior medical staff or administrators acted as study facilitators in each of the fifteen participating hospitals. As a result of the information provided by the library, 80% of the 208 physicians who returned their questionnaires said that they probably or definitely handled some aspect of patient care differently than they would have handled it otherwise. Changes in the following specific aspects of care were reported by the physicians: diagnosis (29%), choice of tests (51%), choice of drugs (45%), reduced length of hospital stay (19%), and advice given to the patient (72%). Physicians also said that the information provided by the library contributed to their ability to avoid the following: hospital admission (12%), patient mortality (19%), hospital-acquired infection (8%), surgery (21%), and additional tests or procedures (49%). The physicians rated the information provided by the library more highly than that provided by other information sources such as diagnostic imaging, lab tests, and discussions with colleagues.

The impact of the hospital library on clinical decision making: the Rochester study. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1992 Apr;80(2):169-78.

In discussing both the need for a value of libraries study, and the impact of the Rochester study - cited over 95 times since its publication in 1992 - the RAC came to the conclusion that before engaging in the research study itself considerable time, effort and thinking needed to go into what a research study would look like. We needed a plan.

At the April 30, 2007 RAC meeting, a proposed plan was presented and approved. Julie Sollenberger, an original participant in the Rochester study, agreed to be the Principal Investigator for the Value of Libraries Planning Study. An initial core group of planners - Karen Brewer, RML Director and Kathel Dunn, RML Associate Director and Joanne Marshall, the author of the Rochester study and an educator, researcher, author, consultant and advocate of health sciences libraries - drafted the objectives for the study.

Objectives:

1. To inform the research plan by seeking input from health sciences libraries of various types and sizes and in various geographic locations within MAR
2. To determine the value domain(s) to be measured: patient care (information for providers, patients), education, research, administration, community health
3. To determine the library products or services to be evaluated, and to identify key activities that are directly related to the quality of those products or services.
4. To identify and outline the outcomes to be measured.
5. To develop a study design and timeframe for the study.
6. To determine MAR participants in the initial research study.
7. To develop a plan that is replicable, and to suggest methods for replication.
8. To determine likely sources of funding for the research study.

Approved by the RAC, Julie Sollenberger then recruited a Committee to begin the work of planning a value of libraries study.

Value of Libraries Planning Committee

Email the Committee at valueplan@library.med.nyu.edu

Core Group:

Joanne Gard Marshall, Ph.D, Consultant,
Alumni Distinguished Professor
School of Information and Library Science,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
SILS: (919) 843-7883 Research Office: 843-9968

Julia Sollenberger, Principal Investigator
Director, Health Science Libraries and Technologies
University of Rochester Medical Center
Rochester, NY
Phone: (585) 275-5194

Karen Brewer, Ph.D
Director, NYU Health Sciences Libraries
Director, NN/LM Mid-Atlantic Region
New York University Medical Center
New York, NY
Phone: (212) 263-5393;

Kathel Dunn
Associate Director
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
Middle Atlantic Region
New York University Medical Center
New York, NY
Phone: (212) 263-4197

Additional Members:

Susan K. Cavanaugh.
UMDNJ Camden Campus Library
Cooper University Hospital
Camden, NJ
Phone: (856) 342-2522

Sharon Easterby-Gannett
Head, Systems & Technical Services
Christiana Care Medical Libraries
Newark, DE
Phone: (302) 733-1164

Mary Lou Klem, Ph.D
Librarian, Health Sciences Library System
School of Nursing
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Phone: (412) 383-9947

Lynn Kasner Morgan
Associate Dean for Information Resources and Systems/Library Director
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
New York, NY
Phone: (212) 241-7892

Project Timeline, Meeting Dates and Minutes

April 2007
Project discussion at RAC meeting.

May 2007
Recruitment of additional members and Fall meeting date determination

May 2007
MLA Philadelphia: Core Group Pre-meeting

Summer 2007
Teleconference Call

Fall 2007
Focus Groups: Will encourage participation by all types of MAR health science librarians, including hospital librarians
Facilitated by Elaine Martin
Philadelphia - Oct. 11 or 12
Rochester (for any and all upstate NY librarians) - time TBD

Late Fall 2007/Winter 2008
In-person meeting
Planning Committee will process focus group report, plan study design. Meeting will take place at NYU/RML offices.
Core Group will write draft research proposal and send to Planning Committee

Focus Group Report

February 2008
RAC meeting: Presentation of status of planning study

Spring 2008
Completion of planning study report.

Other "value of libraries" studies in progress

There are a number of active studies currently taking place throughout the country that are examining the value of libraries, the role of librarians in having an impact on patient care.

Medical Library Association Vital Pathways for Hospital Librarians
The MLA Vital Pathways Task Force is charged to review existing data and trends in the status of hospital librarians, collect data on the links between libraries and quality and financial outcomes, and develop an action plan for MLA to use this information to influence hospital decision-makers and key leaders in the health care field.

Special Libraries Association
Research Now Task Force 2005-2007
Chair: Robyn Frank
This task force will work in conjunction with the SLA Research Committee to identify research topics that will aid in defining the profession's and members' value to their organizations. This group will also define and create a partnering service for matching corporate and academic members who want to publish together.

Public Libraries - Return on Investment Studies

• Taxpayer Return on Investment [ROI] in Pennsylvania Public Libraries
  
• Taxpayer Return on Investment [ROI] in Florida Public Libraries: Summary Report

Bibliography

Search Methodology
Five databases - PubMed, Library Literature, LISA, CINAHL and Web of Science - were searched using some combination of the concepts of value/price/economics and patient care and outcomes and librarians. The databases and search strategies are listed below.

The total results of 800 citations and abstracts were then filtered, eliminating non-relevant articles and reducing the number to 150. The article,

Weightman AL, Williamson J; Library & Knowledge Development Network (LKDN) Quality and Statistics Group. The value and impact of information provided through library services for patient care: a systematic review. Health Info Libr J. 2005 Mar;22(1):4-25.

and examined the 32 studies they found to validate the search results. The search results found 14 of the 32 studies Weightman and Williamson identified. The search was refined PubMed was searched again using a slightly changed search strategy. Still, several articles Weightman and Williamson identified were not found either through the first or the second, revised search strategy.

After a second review for non-relevant articles, there were a total of 106 articles.

Kathel Dunn