Continuing education needs of hospital librarians

The Hospital Library Section (HLS) of MLA conducted a survey of its members to determine their continuing education needs and preferences. A questionnaire mailed with the HLS Newsletter gathered information in four general areas: preferred modes of continuing education, subjects viewed as most important, motivators and deterrents, and topics for presentation at the 1985 MLA annual meeting. Additional data were collected on the type and bed size of the member's institution. Of the 560 questionnaires mailed, 257 (46%) were returned. Overall, for continuing education, members favored one-day courses dealing with automated systems, planning and marketing; for annual meeting topics, they were additionally interested in health care finance.