Providing Health Sciences Services in a Joint-Use Distributed Learning Library System: An Organizational Case Study

Area of Science:

• Library and Information Science
• Academic Librarianship
• Health Sciences Information Services

Background:

• Serving multi-campus institutions presents unique complexities for librarians.
• Joint-use libraries and expanding health sciences partnerships require tailored support.
• Lack of centralized health science library administration necessitates proactive librarian engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the complexities faced by librarians in a multi-campus land-grant university.
• To explore the service and outreach needs of dispersed health sciences programs and user groups.
• To examine the integration of research and teaching support within a decentralized system.

Main Methods:

• Organizational case study methodology.
• Team-based approach involving health sciences liaison librarians.
• Identification and analysis of dispersed programs and user groups.

Main Results:

• Liaison librarians are actively identifying and defining unique service needs.
• Collaboration is crucial for integrating support across dispersed campuses and systems.
• Librarians are addressing future needs, including those of new community-based medical programs.

Conclusions:

• Effective library service in complex academic environments requires adaptive strategies.
• Team-based collaboration among librarians is essential for meeting diverse user demands.
• Proactive engagement with expanding health sciences programs is vital for institutional success.