Publication Date
10-2013
Abstract
A presentation given at the annual meeting of the South Central Chapter of Medical Library Association (SCC/MLA).
Project Description
OBJECTIVE: To determine if new, strategic partnerships can be initiated between The Texas Medical Center Library (The TMC Library), Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston (UTHSC-H).
METHODS: Cohort study
The TMC Library joined a 22-member cohort of academic and research libraries to participate in the DuraSpace/ARL/DLF 2012 E-Science Institute, to discover new methods of supporting computational scientific research. From September to December 2012, library teams completed coursework that included interviews with key stakeholders at their local research offices. This work culminated in a capstone event attended by the DuraSpace faculty and cohort teams in Washington, D.C.
RESULTS: A strategic plan outlining potential new services at The TMC Library, capable of supporting patron research needs.
Our team discovered that both institutions were providing new tools to help researchers share content on a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary level. UTHSC-H subscribes to Elsevier’s Sci-Val Experts, and library staff will train to assist faculty with this networking tool. BCM built the Virtually Integrated Institutions for Clinical & Translational Research platform, which library staff will promote to BCM and partner institutions. In addition, library staff met with the dean of the UT School of Biomedical Informatics, to determine how the library can me their education needs. Librarians will attend a one-day course in bioinformatics.
CONCLUSION: The TMC Library has successfully developed new partnerships with both BCM and UTHSC-H, using embedded librarianship to connect with researchers, faculty and students, taking library service out beyond the physical space of the library.
Keywords
Library partnerships, computational scientific research, Sci-Val Experts, VIICTR, academic profiling and research networking tools