Advocacy for Librarians and Libraries
Resources from the NN/LM and NLM
- Librarians and the EHR: Envisioning the Future. A forum held on October 3, 2008 in Seattle, Washington. The forum was sponsored by the NN/LM PNR and held in conjunction with PNC/MLA's Continuing Education event.
- Resources for Hospital
Librarians on Communicating Their Value A list of
books, articles and Web sites compiled by Maryanne
Blake, Betsy Kelly and Susan Barnes for the class,
"Measuring
Your Impact: Using Evaluation for Library Advocacy
"
- Hospital
Library Promotional Toolkit from the NN/LM New
England Region. The toolkit was designed by the
Hospital Library Subcommittee of the NN/LM NER's
Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).
- Marketing
and Justifying the Library Links to books, articles
and full text web sites that focus on marketing and
justifying the library.
- Valuing
Library Services Calculator A medical library
calculator from Betsy Kelly, Evaluation Coordinator,
NN/LM MidContinental Region. Calculate what your
library is worth to your institution.
- Library Cost
Benefit and Return-on-Investment (ROI) Calculator
Another calculator from Ms. Kelly that helps you
determine what your library contributes to the bottom
line.
- Hospital Library Forum
"The 3 Ps of Hospital Library Success" a forum held
October 2, 2004 in Seattle, Washington. The forum
agenda, speakers presentations and collective wisdom of
the attending
librarians during breakout sessions are gathered here.
- National
Medical Librarians Month In celebration of National
Medical Librarians Month in October 2008, Neil Rambo,
Acting Director of the NN/LM PNR and the University of
Washington Health Sciences Libraries, is sending
letters to hospital administrators congratulating them
for their continuing support of medical librarians and
the valuable services they provide. Here is a generic copy of the
letter.
- Titles held in the NN/LM PNR Lending Library on
advocacy, marketing and valuing your library:
- Dudden, Rosalind Farnam. Using Benchmarking, Needs Assessment, Quality Improvement, Outcome Measurement, and Library Standards. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. 2007.
- Matthews, Joseph R. The Bottom Line: Determining and Communicating the Value of the Special Library. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2002.
- Seiss, Judith. The Visible Librarian: Asserting
Your Value Through Marketing and Advocacy. Chicago,
IL: American Library Association, 2003.
Additional books are available through the NN/LM PNR Lending Library on evaluation, library management and other topics relevant to advocacy.
Resources from MLA and other library organizations
- Vital Pathways for Hospital Librarians A task force is charged to develop an action plan for MLA to " influence hospital decision-makers and key leaders in the health care field."
- Hospital
Libraries Section of the Medical Library Association
(MLA) This is the largest and oldest of MLA's many
special interest sections. One of its stated purposes
is "to promote the interests and act upon the concerns
of hospital libraries and librarians". The sections
quarterly newsletter, National Network, is an
excellent source of ideas and information from hospital
library colleagues.
- Standards for Hospital Libraries in J Med Libr Assoc 96(2) April 2008
- MLA's Librarian Survival Kit Created to help you promote your value as a health sciences librarian and the value of the services you provide to your institution.
- MLA Advocacy Toolbox: A Practical Guide to Communicating Your Value. This web page is for MLA members only.
- MLA Benchmarking Network This MLA initiative provides opportunities for hospital, academic, and specialty health libraries to learn more about the benchmarking process, compare data, establish best practices, and identify and work with a benchmarking partner. Participate in the next round. Use the data to establish best practices and show your value.
- MLA Professional Resources This web page is a potpourri of materials and tools including hospital library standards, JACHO standards, public relations and marketing for your library, and other issues of concern to medical librarians.
- ALA
Advocacy Resource Center The American library
Association (ALA) gives you the reasons and resources
for advocating for libraries - all libraries. While the
emphasis is on public libraries the
Advocacy Institute Workbook (.pdf) would be a good
planning tool for any library.
Other resources
- WSMA Clinical Information Needs Questionnaire Results of a survey conducted in March 2008 by the Washington State Medical Association, in collaboration with the Regional Medical Library.
- Colorado Council of Medical Librarians Marketing and Advocacy CCML has put together this page of links and ideas for advocacy and marketing including an Administrator of the year Award. Last updated in 2006 but there is still useful information here.
- Web
Junction's Focus on Demonstrating Impact 2005