A special liaison or librarian-in-context program that augments your information resources, saves you and your staff time, and most importantly, enhances the quality of research and patient care. The informationist provides personalized, on-site information services for your team.

For more information contact Susan Whitmore at 301-496-1157; or by email at susan_whitmore@nih.gov .

Look for existing groups working with Informationists.

Publications on the Informationist Program

Medha Bhagwat 301.496.2185 bhagwat@mail.nih.gov	Medha Bhagwat earned her PhD in biochemistry in December 1994 from the University of Maryland at College Park.  Medha did her postdoctoral training at NIDDK, NIH on the structure-function studies of bacteriophage T4 RNase H. Medha joined National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in 1998 in the GenBank database. From 2000 to 2008, she offered a variety of bioinformatics training at NCBI. She taught at the NCBI Core-Bioinformatics Facility, which trains the representatives from the NIH institutes in the use of the NCBI bioinformatics tools in 9-week sessions. Medha also developed and taught several 2 hour mini-courses which describe the effective usage of a set of bioinformatics tools. The courses were taught more than 400 times to about 12,000 participants. She has published several articles on her research and book chapters on bioinformatics classes/protocols. Medha joined the NIH Library in February 2009 in keeping with Library's new objective to promote genetics and bioinformatics research.  Medha's diverse background and strong experience in biochemistry, molecular biology and bioinformatics is ideal for both basic and translational research.
Barbara Brandys joined the NIH Library in 1997 and became an informationist in 2004. She provides information services to the Laboratory of Comparative Carcinogenesis in Frederick, Maryland, and to the Drug Information Service in the Clinical Center. Barbara has an undergraduate degree in chemistry and has worked as a chemist at W.R. Grace and has worked as a science teacher. Barbara speaks several languages including English, Hebrew, and Polish and works as a volunteer translator in the Clinical Center.	Barbara Brandys 301.594.6203 brandysb@nihrrlib.ncrr.nih.gov
Diane Cooper 301.594.2449 cooperd@mail.nih.gov	Diane Cooper has a Master's Degree in Library Science from the University of Kentucky, and a BA degree in English from Kentucky Wesleyan College. She is certified by the Medical Library Association at the Distinguished Level. Diane has extensive experience in the corporate environment. She has worked for United HealthCare, Magellan Health Services,and Parexel Inc., a global bio/pharmaceutical services organization. She also has medical center experience, having worked in a Veterans Administration Medical Center and at the University of California, Davis medical library. In addition, she was librarian for the research laboratory of the National Institutes of Drug Abuse and Addiction, Addiction Research Center, at Lexington, Kentucky. She joined the NIH library July, 2003. As an Informationist, Diane works with Endocrinology services of the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institutes of Kidney and Digestive Diseases; Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Branch, Center for Developmental Biology and Perinatal Medicine in the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development; and the Indian Health Service headquarters and clinics and health care providers across the US.
Josh Duberman has been an Informationist/Research Librarian at the NIH Library since May 2005. He has a Masters in Library Studies and a bachelor's degree in chemistry, with 18 years of information research experience at Applied Biosystems Inc. (ABI), SRI International, and as a consultant. Previously, he was a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and at Chevron Research. He has several patents, and has written numerous articles for professional publications about the information industry, searching techniques and information resources. His areas of expertise and research include intellectual property, chemistry, biotechnology, pharmaceutics, engineering, competitive intelligence and technology transfer resources, and information retrieval issues.	Josh Duberman  301.594.6200  dubermaj@ors.od.nih.gov
Janet Heekin 301.594.6201 heekin@nih.gov	Janet Heekin joined the NIH Library in April 1998, and is currently employed as a Biomedical Librarian/Informationist. She received a Masters of Library Science from Indiana University in August, 1989, holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Cincinnati; and fieldwork in mental health and substance abuse counseling. Prior to coming to the NIH Library, she held positions as a clinical librarian at the University of Pittsburgh, and medical library intern at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ms. Heekin currently works with research administrators at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the Office of the Clinical Director, National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), where she provides expert search services in support of evidence-based health practice.
Alicia Livinski joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library in 2007. Alicia supports the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the Office of the Secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She provides a variety of information management and research services. She also provides information support to NIH researchers working on a variety of biodefense, chemicals weapons, and emerging and infectious diseases. Prior to joining NIH, she worked for 5 years as the Information and Communications Advisor with the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood on international maternal health and advocacy programs. Alicia has a MA in Library & Information Science from the University of South Florida in Tampa; Masters in Public Health (MPH) from the Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine with a focus in food security and humanitarian crisis management; and a bachelor's degree from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL in international relations. Her professional interests include: use of social technologies in libraries and public health; health information access; international health; and access to research by developing country healthcare providers and researchers.	Alicia Livinski 301.594.6423 livinska@od.nih.gov
Susan M. Pilch 301.594.6275  pilchs@ors.od.nih.gov	Susan M. Pilch joined the NIH Library in January, 2001, and is currently employed as a Biomedical Librarian/Informationist. She received a Masters of Library Science from the University of Maryland in December, 2001, and holds a PhD in nutritional biochemistry from Cornell University and a bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from the University of Virginia. Prior to moving into the field of information science, she held positions at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the NIH Office of the Director, the National Cancer Institute, and the Food and Drug Administration, with varied responsibilities including scientific writing, editing, and review; nutrition research policy and coordination; research program management in diet and cancer; and regulation of health claims and dietary supplements.
Rex Robison joined the NIH Library in 2006. He has a PhD in biopsychology from Stanford University and a Masters of Library Science from the University of Maryland. Prior to working at NIH, Rex's employment included reviewing scientific and medical issues in lawsuits and teaching at a community college in Hawaii. He is currently contributing to the library's instruction and research teams, as well as serving as Informationist Team Leader. Rex works mainly with groups involved in neuroscience and psychology research.	Rex Robison 301.594.6283  robisonr@mail.nih.gov
Mary Ryan 301.451.5861  ryanm@mail.nih.gov	Mary E. Ryan joined the NIH Library as a Biomedical Librarian/Informationist in December, 2002. Before coming to the NIH Library, she worked for over three years at the National Center for Health Services Research (NICHSR), National Library of Medicine, where she provided research and database development and support for public and private organizations in the areas of public health and health services research. Prior library experience includes five years as a clinical medical librarian at the Washington Hospital Center, followed by nine years as a clinical librarian and instructor at the George Washington University Medical Center. In addition to a Masters Degree in Library Science (MLS), Ms. Ryan holds undergraduate degrees in education and political science, and earlier work experience includes a U.S. Senate staff position.
Pamela C. Sieving came to NIH in 2001 from the University of Michigan, where she was Director of Library Services for the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Her master's degree in library science is from Southern Connecticut State University; she also holds a BA from Valparaiso University, and an MA in English literature and linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has also worked at the Yale University Graduate Library, the University of Illinois/Chicago, the Chicago legal office of Kirkland & Ellis, and the graduate library of the University of Michigan. Pam's interests include open access and changes in scholarly communication, how physicians find and incorporate new evidence into their clinical decision-making, epidemiology and evidence-based medicine, and access to information in developing countries. Her responsibilities at NIH include informationist positions for the National Eye Institute and the Clinical Center's tracheotomy care team. She is active in the American Library Association, the Medical Library Association, and chairs the Association of Vision Science Librarians (2005-2007) and she teaches with the US Cochrane Center. She is fluent in several languages, including German and Swedish.	Pam Sieving  301.451.5862  sievingp@ors.od.nih.gov
Karen G. Smith 301.594.6273 smithk@nihrrlib.ncrr.nih.gov	Karen Smith has been a biomedical librarian at NIH since 1994, and joined the Informationist program in 2003. She received her Masters of Library Science from the University of Alabama in 1985.   As a Clinical  Informationist, she works with the Pain & Palliative Care Consult Service, the NIAAA Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies, and several branches within the NHLBI intramural program.
Tina Stiller has been a Biomedical Librarian/Informationist with the NIH Library since May 2005. She received a Masters of Library & Information Science degree in 1998, and holds undergraduate degrees in Dental Hygiene and Health Studies. Tina was employed as a medical librarian at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for nearly five years prior to coming to NIH. Tina is an experienced clinical dental hygienist and also has experience as a public dental health educator. As an Informationist at the NIH Library Tina works with the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research.	Tina M. Stiller 301.594.6276   tstiller@nih.gov
Nancy Terry 301.594.6274 terryn@nih.gov	Nancy Terry began working in the NIH Library in 1995 as a Biomedical Librarian and joined the Informationist program in 2005. In addition to a Masters Degree in Library Science (MLS), Ms. Terry received a BA in psychology from the University of Maryland. Before coming to the NIH Library she worked for five years as a clinical medical librarian and instructor at the George Washington University Medical Center and for ten years as a clinical medical librarian at the Washington Hospital Center. As an Informationist for the NIH Library, Nancy works with the NHLBI Center for the Application of Research Discoveries, and for the Office of the Secretary, an HHS agency served by the NIH Library.
Judy Welsh has worked at the NIH Library since 2005.  Current projects include teaching a series of database searching classes; assisting with the development of the NLM Infobot project; and providing support to the DC HIV Initiative. Judy's previous experience includes working at the UC Davis Health Sciences Library as liaison to the Department of Internal Medicine and coordinator of the HouseCalls outreach program. Judy also worked as a registered nurse, primarily in the field of pediatrics. Judy received her MLS degree from UCLA and BSN degree from Cornell University-New York Hospital School of Nursing.	Judy Welsh 301.594.6211 welshju@ors.od.nih.gov
Anne White-Olson 301.451.5863 whiteols@mail.nih.gov	Anne White-Olson has been at the NIH since 1990, starting off her career here at the National Library of Medicine. Prior to that she worked as Product Manager for OCLC and a software development company, managing integrated library system development, maintenance and training. Anne has been at the NIH Library since 2006, as a Biomedical Librarian, where she worked on the Communications Team, Instruction Team, Information Services Team and the NIH Library Writing Center. As an Informationist, Anne worked with the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Office of Science Policy and Planning Branch (NIDCD/SPPB) in the development and maintenance of a NIDCD-funded publications database. She continues to work with the NIDCD Extramural Program, NIDA Intramural Program, HHS/Administration for Child and Families (ACF) and NCI Office of Science Policy. Prior to coming to the Library, Anne worked as a Program Analyst in the NIDCD/SPPB where she tracked Federal health legislation, provided support to, and outreach for, the NIH Stem Cell Task Force and contributed to many reports required by Congress. Anne has an MLS from the Syracuse University, School of Information Studies (iSchool). Her professional interests include: Writing and editing, Open Access, user search behavior, database development, knowledge management systems, open government, and health information and health policy

Publications on the Informationist Program

1. Clark, C. (2005, Nov-Dec). The 'embedded librarian': NIH informationists become team players. NIH Catalyst, 13, 14-15.
2. Clark, C. (2007, Nov-Dec). The embedded librarian: NIH informationists click into chemistry and tech transfer. NIH Catalyst, 15, 12-13.
3. Rankin, J. A., Grefsheim, S. F., & Canto, C. C. (2008). The emerging informationist specialty: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 96(3), 194-206.
4. Robison, R. R. (2008). Informationist education. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 27(3), 339-347.
5. Robison, R. R., Ryan, M. E., & Cooper, I. D. (2009). Inquiring Informationists: A Qualitative Exploration of Our Role.Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 4(1).
6. Whitmore, S. C., Grefsheim, S. F., & Rankin, J. A. (2008). Informationist programme in support of biomedical research: a programme description and preliminary findings of an evaluation. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 25(2), 135-141.
7. The Embedded Librarian: Making and Leading the Team [video]. FLICC Brown Bag Series. October 5, 2005.