Informatics Instruction: An Informal Needs Assessment Survey.

Area of Science:

• Health Sciences Librarianship
• Medical Informatics Education

Background:

• Instruction is a core competency for health sciences librarians, frequently listed in job requirements.
• Limited formal training opportunities exist, necessitating on-the-job learning for effective teaching skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine existing pedagogical literature relevant to medical informatics librarians.
• To identify health sciences librarians' training needs in instruction competencies through an informal survey.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of pedagogy in medical informatics librarianship.
• Informal survey distributed to health sciences librarians regarding instruction training needs.

Main Results:

• Analysis of current literature on teaching strategies for medical informatics librarians.
• Gathering data on perceived gaps in formal instruction training for librarians.

Conclusions:

• Highlighting the need for more structured training programs for instruction competencies.
• Encouraging librarians to voice their specific needs for professional development in teaching.