Transcript folb_apha

Evaluating and Addressing
the Information Needs
of an Urban Public Health Department
Through an
Academic Health Sciences Library
Health Department Partnership
Presenter: Barbara Folb, MLS
Health Sciences Library System,
University of Pittsburgh
ACHD Information Environment
2002
 Dispersed
offices
 Reading Room in one location


About 20 print journal subscriptions
Copies on request
 Internet
access
 Full library privileges for ACHD/GSPH
adjunct faculty (15)
HSLS 2002
 Serves
U of Pittsburgh and UPMC
 Staff – 25 professional librarians, 36
support and technical staff, plus student
assistants
 Collection – app. 200,000 books, 2,600
journal subscriptions, 2,000
Audiovisuals, 1,700 educational
software programs


68 (99%) of core PH journals
269 PH specialty journals
PHIA Steering Committee
 ACHD


Alice Kindling, Training
Ed Schwartz, Policy Development and
Assessment
 HSLS



Barbara Epstein, Director
Nancy Tannery, Associate Director for
Information Services
Barbara Folb, Public Health Librarian
Successful Program
Characteristics
 Easy
to use
 Time effective
 Cost effective
 Has name recognition at ACHD
 Increases potential access to information
 Increases use of information
Grant Funding Allocation
 NLM
18 month grant, March 1, 2003August 31, 2004
 Librarian/Project Manager 2 days/week

Reference, training, web site development
 Photocopy
service support (journal
articles, book chapter copies)
Initial PHIA Survey
 Purpose


–
Training development
web site development
 July/August
2003
 Multiple publicity routes
 Web based
 141 responses from a possible 350 (app)
Survey Topics
 Internet
use
 Confidence in Internet skills
 Estimated use of specific web resources
and search engines
 Barriers to information access
 Training preferences
Survey Results
Internet Use
In the average month, how often do you need to
access information on Internet web sites to do your
job?
n=141
45
Responses
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0/month
1-5/month
Times Per Month
610/month
11more than
25/month
1/day
No Use
17
Moderate use (1-10)
60
Higher use (11- )
64
Use by ACHD Program, Grouped
0-10/month
Administration
Support Services
Environmental
Air
Water/Waste
Env/Housing
Food
Human Health
Chronic Dis
Injury Prevention
Dental
ID/STD/Lab
MCH/WIC
Total responses
10
2
35
16
2
9
8
29
2
2
0
13
12
76
11 or
more/month
4
9
17
8
6
2
1
30
3
2
1
14
10
60
=Major
division
=Subdivision
Survey Results
Confidence in Internet skills
How confident do you feel using the
Internet for work?
N=141
50
45
Responses
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
NA
Very
Unconfident
Somewhat
unconfident
Moderately
Confident
Confidence Level
Confident
Very Confident
Low confidence
15
Moderate confidence 41
High confidence
80
Survey Results
Web Sites Used
Web Sites Used
•Large number of web sites used
•Small number of users per web site

Heaviest use



Phone books
Fed/State agency
Regulatory

Lighter Use



PubMed
Toxnet
CDC Wonder
Sites used more than 1/day
SITE
Other
=Other
RESPONSES
15
=Gov Agency
CDC not CDC Wonder
4
EPA
3
Federal Register
3
=Phone Bk
Phone Directories
3
=Data Source
CFR
2
PA Health Dept
1
PittCat
1
USDA
1
=Regulation
=Literature
PA Health Dept
29
Other
25
Phone Directories
20
EPA
19
CDC not CDC Wonder
18
Federal Register
18
PA Bulletin
6
PA Code
6
CFR
5
PA State Data Center
5
=Phone Bk
PubMed
5
=Data Source
USDA
5
Toxnet
4
US Census
2
CDC Wonder
2
PittCat
2
Sites used
6-25/month
=Other
=Gov Agency
=Regulation
=Literature
Phone Directories
46
PA Health Dept
45
PA Bulletin
36
CDC not CDC Wonder
31
EPA
30
Federal Register
24
PA Code
23
=Gov Agency
USDA
23
=Regulation
PA State Data Center
21
=Literature
Toxnet
20
=Phone Bk
PubMed
19
=Data Source
US Census
17
CDC Wonder
16
CFR
11
PittCat
11
Other
10
Sites used
1-5/month
=Other
CDC Wonder
95
US Census
94
PittCat
93
CFR
91
Toxnet
89
PubMed
88
USDA
86
PA State Data Center
85
PA Code
82
Federal Register
79
PA Bulletin
74
=Phone Bk
EPA
74
=Data Source
CDC not CDC Wonder
64
Phone Directories
51
PA Health Dept
50
Other
25
Sites Used
0/month
=Other
=Gov Agency
=Regulation
=Literature
PA Health Dept
75
Phone Directories
69
CDC not CDC Wonder
53
EPA
52
Other
50
Federal Register
45
PA Bulletin
42
=Other
USDA
29
=Gov Agency
PA Code
29
=Regulation
PA State Data Center
26
Toxnet
24
PubMed
24
US Census
19
CDC Wonder
18
CFR
18
PittCat
14
Total, Any Use
=Literature
=Phone Bk
=Data Source
Search Skill Self Rating:
Selected web sites
Very
High
High
Moderate
SomeWhat
Low
CDC
Wonder
(18)*
1
5
10
9
6
101
Pubmed
(24)
3
3
11
11
7
96
Pittcat (14)
4
1
11
7
3
102
Toxnet (24)
1
7
9
7
10
97
Very
Low
Never
Used
*Total who used the site, any amount/month
Survey Results
Barriers to Information
Internet Content Couldn’t Find
Is there information you wish to access via the
Internet that you have not been able to locate or
use? n=136
Number
Percent
No
107
79%
Yes
29
21%
Summary, What They Couldn’t
Find



Total who gave text answers: 27 out of 29
Specific needs PHIA can’t address: 3
Needs PHIA can address:








Journal articles (6)
Training (5)
Technical chem/engineering info (4)
Statistics (3)
Directory info (2)
Regulatory info (2)
Consumer Health (1)
Laboratory (1)
Thinking back on the past work week, were
there any times when you needed information
(in any format) to accomplish a job-related task,
but were unable to obtain the information?
n=132
Number
Percent
No
114
86%
Yes
18
14%
What barriers did you encounter to obtaining the
information? Please check all that apply.
n=18
I was unable to locate a source for
the information.
I was able to locate a source, but
not able to obtain the source.
I did not have time to complete the
task.
The source was too expensive.
Other problems. Please list below.*
Number Percent(x/18)
8
44%
6
33%
12
67%
5
3
28%
17%
I was not sure of where to look. (1)
Inexperienced in where and how to locate programs offering data (1)
Information was too generic/ consumer oriented (1)
Survey Results
Training Preferences
Electronic Tutorial Interest
n=135
As a refresher after
attending a live class
As a substitute to attending
a live class
Number
Percent
74
55%
37
27%
24
18%
Not at all
Survey Conclusions

Need for training demonstrated



Not all employees are highly skilled and confident
using the Internet
Valuable resources underutilized
Access to librarian and library collections
needed to overcome information barriers from



Lack of time to search
Not knowing where to look
Lack of money for fee based information
Addressing Training Needs
 Hands


PubMed - Internet I & II
Statistical Resources -Evidence Based Public
Health – Consumer Health – Grant Funding
Resources
 Email


on classes– 7 topics
– Tuesday Info Tips
Short Internet search tips, sent weekly
Second purpose: increase program visibility
Addressing Information
Barriers
 Reference

30 search requests/year, 30 other queries
 Journal

article delivery
210 requests
 Book

borrowing
Moderate use, stats not retrievable
 PHIA web

Services
site
http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/phia/
PHIA Continuation
 Yearly
contract for document delivery
coverage.
 Librarian funded through the Center for
Public Health Practice, GSPH, University
of Pittsburgh
Ongoing Goals of PHIA
 Provide
enhanced library services to
ACHD
 Evaluate
the academic/practitioner
partnership model for library services.
 Disseminate
findings to other health
departments and libraries
Acknowledgements
 This
project has been funded with Federal
funds from the National Library of
Medicine, National Institutes of Health,
under Contract No. N01-LM-3521.
 Authors: Barbara Folb, MLS, Barbara
Epstein, MSLS
 For further information contact Barbara
Folb, [email protected]