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The Lamar Soutter Library is a cornerstone of the UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Health systems. The library is an essential partner exercising creative leadership to provide equitable service to all in teaching, learning, and accessing information in support of education, research, and healthcare.at UMass Chan Medical School.

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Recently Published

  • Implementing a Hybrid Work Model in a University Medical Library

    Grynoch, Tess; Downing, Kathleen; Vander Hart, Robert J.; Baltich Nelson, Becky; Carr, Catherine W.; Kolinski, Morgan; Malachowski, Margot G. (2024-07-24)
    Like many libraries, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School Lamar Soutter Library adopted a hybrid work model when returning to onsite work after being remote during the COVID-19 Pandemic. To inform this model, a Hybrid Work Environment Team used existing metrics, a literature review, and surveyed staff on how they felt about hybrid work. Most Library staff stated that 75%-100% of their work could be completed remotely and the most popular onsite schedule was two or three days a week. The hybrid work model provides benefits of both remote and onsite work and hopefully mitigates the drawbacks of both.
  • The IR Venn Diagram: Diversity in Technology, Content, Users, and Roles in Specialized Institutional Repositories

    Kubilius, Ramune K.; Burke, Michael; Jerome, Erin; Lovett, Julia; O'Brien, Emily Ping; Palmer, Lisa A. (2024-07-15)
    In this poster, librarians from six academic libraries – representing various sectors including science, technology, engineering, medicine, music, and large universities – collaborated to explore and reflect on the academic IR community that encompasses specialized libraries, collections, and formats. The authors answered self-survey questions and responses were analyzed for visualization in the poster. The poster spotlights diversity in technology, content, users, roles, priorities, and challenges. It also illustrates some of the common threads and opportunities that have relevance and implications in both the special library and the broader IR landscape.
  • Review of Interventions That Improve Uptake of Lung Cancer Screening: A Cataloging of Strategies That Have Been Shown to Work (or Not)

    Núñez, Eduardo R; Ito Fukunaga, Mayuko; Stevens, Gregg A; Yang, James K; Reid, Sarah E; Spiegel, Jennifer L; Ingemi, Molly R; Wiener, Renda Soylemez (2024-05-24)
    Topic importance: Lung cancer screening (LCS) has the potential to decrease mortality from lung cancer by 20%. Yet, more than a decade since LCS was established as an evidence-based practice, < 20% of the eligible population in the United States has been screened. This review focuses on critically appraising interventions that have been designed to increase the initial uptake of LCS, including how they address known barriers to LCS and their effectiveness in overcoming these barriers. Review findings: Studies were categorized based on the primary barriers that they addressed: (1) identifying eligible patients (including enhancing awareness through smoking history collection, outreach, and education), (2) shared decision-making-related interventions, and (3) patient navigation interventions. Four of the studies included multicomponent interventions, which often included patient navigation as one of the components. Overall, the effectiveness of the studies reviewed at improving LCS uptake generally was modest and was limited by the multilevel barriers that need to be overcome. Multicomponent interventions generally were more effective at improving LCS uptake, but most studies still had relatively low completion of screening. Summary: Improving uptake of LCS requires learning from prior interventions to design multilevel interventions that address barriers to LCS at key steps and identifying which components of these interventions are effective and generalizable.
  • Working Together to Mint DOIs on Demand for a DSpace Repository

    Grynoch, Tess; Palmer, Lisa A. (2024-05-20)
    Background: Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are a key persistent identifier in the publishing landscape to ensure discoverability and citation of research products. Minting DOIs can be a time-consuming task for repository librarians. This process can be automated since the metadata for DOIs is already in the repository record and DataCite, a DOI minting organization, and Open Repository, a DSpace repository platform, both have application programming interfaces (APIs). Previous software has enabled bulk DOI minting. However, the institutional repository contains a mixture of original materials (dissertations, reports, data, etc.) and previously published materials such as journal articles and preprints. Description: An institutional repository librarian and her librarian colleague with Python experience embarked on a pair programming project to create a script to mint DOIs on demand in DataCite for individual items in the institution’s Open Repository instance. The pair met for one hour each week to develop and test the script. The institutional repository librarian lent invaluable insight into both platforms and the metadata variations the code would need to account for. The project was also a great learning opportunity for both librarians to improve their Python coding skills. This project will be evaluated in terms of how the time spent creating the code compares to the time it takes to mint DOIs manually as well as metadata enhancements and accuracy in DataCite. Program Conclusion: This poster will share the final Python script and highlight the takeaways from this approach for both the institutional repository librarian and the coding librarian. Final evaluation is forthcoming.
  • Let's Discuss: The History of Medical Libraries and Medical Librarianship

    Malachowski, Margot G. (2024-05-18)
    In the Medical Library Association 2022 Janet Doe Lecture, Michael Kronenfeld stated that "The great challenge medical library professionals are facing is how we evolve and respond to the emerging digital era." The Network of the National Library of Medicine invited librarians to explore the history of medical librarianship and the evolution of the profession in a book discussion format based on “The History of Medical Libraries and Medical Librarianship” by Kronenfeld and Kronenfeld. This poster displays a timeline of the history of medical libraries and medical librarianship, a visual of the number of active book discussion participants in relation to the registrants, and word balloons of ideas generated during the three-month discussion.
  • The 20th Annual Gerald F. Berlin Creative Writing Award Ceremony and Readings

    Lamar Soutter Library; Berlin, Richard M (2024-03-26)
    The Gerald F. Berlin Creative Writing Award is funded by a donation from Richard M. Berlin, M.D., a poet and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UMass Chan Medical School. Dr. Berlin established the Award to encourage creative writing among UMass Chan students and residents, and to honor his father who struggled with a severe chronic illness. 2024 Awards: First Place: "Two True Stories" by Elizabeth (Liz) M. Irvin, MD Candidate, Class of 2026, UMass Chan Medical School. Second Place: "To Be a Body" by Hyein Sarah Lee (she/they), MD/PhD Candidate, GS1, UMass Chan Medical School. Third Place: "Hospital Food" by Abigail DeNike, MD Candidate, Class of 2027, UMass Chan Medical School. Honorable Mention: "Grief Sandwich" by Darya Herscovici, MD Candidate, Class of 2024, UMass Chan Medical School. Honorable Mention: "Shadow" by Alexander Hamel, MD Candidate, Class of 2027, UMass Chan Medical School. Honorable Mention: "His Name is Phil" by Melanie Fu (she/they), MD Candidate, Class of 2027, UMass Chan Medical School.
  • Presentation: History of Medical Librarianship at NAHSL

    Malachowski, Margot G. (2023-11-15)
    In 2023, Network of the National Library of Medicine, Region 7 (NNLM R7) hosted a webinar on the History of the Rochester Study: Literature Discussion. We identified the Rochester Study topic by watching discussions on the Medical Library Association’s Hospital Libraries Caucus listserv. On the listserv, librarians expressed curiosity about this historic research. During the webinar, the chat discussion was lively, creating 16 pages of commentary that was saved, anonymized, and distributed to the registrants and on the Hospital Libraries Caucus listserv. ​In 2024, we will deepen our conversation on this history of medical librarianship by taking three months to read A History of Medical Libraries and Medical Librarianship by Michael and Jennie Kronenfeld. The Moodle course starts in February and closes at the end of April. Participants can choose to join discussion forums and Zoom meetings to share ideas with their peers. This presentation will hit the highlights of the Rochester Study literature discussion. This includes participant remarks about the historic changes in federal requirements, information access, aspects of care as well as commentary on future research directions. The presentation will conclude with a synopsis of the Kronenfeld book, with surprising details about the history of medical librarianship. The NNLM training program had 162 registrants for the History of the Rochester Study: Literature Discussion. Judging from these counts, health sciences librarians are interested in the history of their profession. NNLM supports the work of health sciences librarians and looks forward to providing a learning opportunity for this population.
  • Presentation: History of Medical Librarianship at UNYOC

    Malachowski, Margot G. (2023-10-26)
    In 2023, Network of the National Library of Medicine, Region 7 (NNLM R7) hosted a webinar on the History of the Rochester Study: Literature Discussion. We identified the Rochester Study topic by watching discussions on the Medical Library Association’s Hospital Libraries Caucus listserv. On the listserv, librarians expressed curiosity about this historic research. During the webinar, the chat discussion was lively, creating 16 pages of commentary that was saved, anonymized, and distributed to the registrants and on the Hospital Libraries Caucus listserv. ​In 2024, we will deepen our conversation on this history of medical librarianship by taking three months to read A History of Medical Libraries and Medical Librarianship by Michael and Jennie Kronenfeld. The Moodle course starts in February and closes at the end of April. Participants can choose to join discussion forums and Zoom meetings to share ideas with their peers. This presentation will hit the highlights of the Rochester Study literature discussion. This includes participant remarks about the historic changes in federal requirements, information access, aspects of care as well as commentary on future research directions. The presentation will conclude with a synopsis of the Kronenfeld book, with surprising details about the history of medical librarianship. The NNLM training program had 162 registrants for the History of the Rochester Study: Literature Discussion. Judging from these counts, health sciences librarians are interested in the history of their profession. NNLM supports the work of health sciences librarians and looks forward to providing a learning opportunity for this population.
  • Research output of Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences faculty: A visual review

    Grynoch, Tess; Honor, Leah B.; Gore, Sally A.; Palmer, Lisa A. (2023-10-26)
    Research metrics can be used to demonstrate individual research output but also the research output of a group and their contributions to scientific effort. Traditional research metrics have been limited to publication and citation counts and journal impact measures. New tools allow for a broader perspective and an exploration of public engagement with the inclusion of altmetrics such as mentions in traditional and social media, citations in policy documents, and downloads. Similarly, network analysis of bibliometric data can demonstrate the power of co-authorship and collaboration, as well as reveal trending topics. By using the 2020-2022 research output of current Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences faculty at UMass Chan Medical School, what conclusions can be drawn by seeing all these metrics visually? This poster will display a variety of research metrics and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each.
  • Lamar Soutter Library Annual Report Fiscal Year 2023

    Lamar Soutter Library (2023-10-12)
    Annual report of the Lamar Soutter Library at UMass Chan Medical School, covering fiscal year July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023.
  • LGBTQ+ health research guides: a multi-institutional analysis of usage patterns and user information needs

    Stevens, Gregg A; Morris, Martin; Parker, Robin M. N.; Fajardo, Francisco J.; Brody, Erica R.; McLean, Katie (2023-10-02)
    Objective: LGBTQ+ health research guides can strengthen the LGBTQ+ community through connecting people to quality health services and information, and previous studies have recommended that health sciences libraries create and maintain these guides. Little evidence exists, though, on how these guides are used and how well they meet the needs of LGBTQ+ users. Using retrospective data retrieved from multiple LGBTQ+ health research guides, we examined the categories of LGBTQ+ health information most used, as well as how often guides were accessed. Based on these results, we hope to find patterns which can lead to best practices for libraries. Methods: Five North American academic health sciences libraries contributed select usage data from their LGBTQ+ health research guides, covering a three-year period (July 2018-June 2021). Data was analyzed in two ways. Firstly, the 20 most-clicked resources from each guide were categorized through open coding, to assess if certain information resource categories were more popular among guide users, allowing for inference of user needs. A time-series analysis was also conducted for two sites, using the Classical Seasonal Decomposition by Moving Averages method, to provide deeper insights into the data. Results: Open coding data showed consumer health information resources were used more often than other health resource categories. Resources from more locally based organizations and those with provider and services information were heavily used, indicating that users may be looking for information connecting to local health services and providers. The time series analysis allowed the potential positive effect of guide promotion to be showcased in ways that would not have been clear from the raw data. Conclusion: This study shows that people are accessing LGBTQ+ consumer health information through academic library research guides, with a preference for local information. Guide usage appears to be positively driven by outreach within one’s institution and to the greater community. Locating external partners may increase guide impact and provide important links to local resources and services.
  • Adolescent cancer prevention in rural, pediatric primary care settings in the United States: A scoping review

    Ryan, Grace W; Whitmire, Paula; Batten, Annabelle; Goulding, Melissa; Baltich Nelson, Becky; Lemon, Stephenie C; Pbert, Lori (2023-09-29)
    Adolescence is a critical period for establishing habits and engaging in health behaviors to prevent future cancers. Rural areas tend to have higher rates of cancer-related morbidity and mortality as well as higher rates of cancer-risk factors among adolescents. Rural primary care clinicians are well-positioned to address these risk factors. Our goal was to identify existing literature on adolescent cancer prevention in rural primary care and to classify key barriers and facilitators to implementing interventions in such settings. We searched the following databases: Ovid MEDLINE®; Ovid APA PsycInfo; Cochrane Library; CINAHL; and Scopus. Studies were included if they reported on provider and/or clinic-level interventions in rural primary care clinics addressing one of these four behaviors (obesity, tobacco, sun exposure, HPV vaccination) among adolescent populations. We identified 3,403 unique studies and 24 met inclusion criteria for this review. 16 addressed obesity, 6 addressed HPV vaccination, 1 addressed skin cancer, and 1 addressed multiple behaviors including obesity and tobacco use. 10 studies were either non-randomized experimental designs (n = 8) or randomized controlled trials (n = 2). The remaining were observational or descriptive research. We found a dearth of studies addressing implementation of adolescent cancer prevention interventions in rural primary care settings. Priorities to address this should include further research and increased funding to support EBI adaptation and implementation in rural clinics to reduce urban-rural cancer inequities.
  • eScholarship@UMassChan Repository Flyer

    Palmer, Lisa A. (2023-09-27)
    Flyer about eScholarship@UMassChan, UMass Medical School's digital repository for research and scholarship, which is managed by the Lamar Soutter Library. The intended audience is faculty, researchers, staff, and students at UMass Chan Medical School.
  • Can psychological interventions prevent or reduce risk for perinatal anxiety disorders? A systematic review and meta-analysis

    Zimmermann, Martha; Julce, Clevanne; Sarkar, Pooja; McNicholas, Eileen; Xu, Lulu; Carr, Catherine W.; Boudreaux, Edwin D; Lemon, Stephenie C; Byatt, Nancy (2023-08-16)
    Objective: Little is known about the extent to which interventions can prevent perinatal anxiety disorders. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine whether interventions can decrease the onset and symptoms of perinatal anxiety among individuals without an anxiety disorder diagnosis. Method: We conducted a comprehensive literature search across five databases related to key concepts: (1) anxiety disorders/anxiety symptom severity (2) perinatal (3) interventions (4) prevention. We included studies that examined a perinatal population without an anxiety disorder diagnosis, included a comparator group, and assessed perinatal anxiety. We included interventions focused on perinatal anxiety as well as interventions to prevent perinatal depression or influence related outcomes (e.g., physical activity). Results: Thirty-six studies were included. No study assessing the incidence of perinatal anxiety disorder (n = 4) found a significant effect of an intervention. Among studies assessing anxiety symptom severity and included in the quantitative analysis (n = 30), a meta-analysis suggested a small standardized mean difference of -0.31 (95% CI [-0.46, -0.16], p < .001) for anxiety at post intervention, favoring the intervention group. Both mindfulness (n = 6), and cognitive behavioral therapy approaches (n = 10) were effective. Conclusions: Interventions developed for perinatal anxiety were more effective than interventions to prevent perinatal depression. Psychological interventions show promise for reducing perinatal anxiety symptom severity, though interventions specifically targeting anxiety are needed.
  • National Public Health Coordination Office (NPHCO) Annual Report 2022-2023

    Crespo, Javier (2023-08-02)
    This annual report is presented under NNLM format guidelines. The National Public Health Coordination Office facilitates NNLM's response to the information needs of the public health workforce through two program areas: Public Health Digital Library and National Public Health Engagement.
  • The Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries (MIRL) Symposium: a blueprint designed in response to a community of practice need

    Fay, Brenda; Buda, Lisa M; Dellureficio, Anthony J; Hoover, Sara; Kubilius, Ramune K.; Moore, Steven J; Palmer, Lisa A. (2023-07-10)
    Background: Health sciences libraries in medical schools, academic health centers, health care networks, and hospitals have established institutional repositories (IRs) to showcase their research achievements, increase visibility, expand the reach of institutional scholarship, and disseminate unique content. Newer roles for IRs include publishing open access journals, tracking researcher productivity, and serving as repositories for data sharing. Many repository managers oversee their IR with limited assistance from others at their institution. Therefore, IR practitioners find it valuable to network and learn from colleagues at other institutions. Case presentation: This case report describes the genesis and implementation of a new initiative specifically designed for a health sciences audience: the Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries (MIRL) Symposium. Six medical librarians from hospitals and academic institutions in the U.S. organized the inaugural symposium held virtually in November 2021. The goal was to fill a perceived gap in conference programming for IR practitioners in health settings. Themes of the 2021 and subsequent 2022 symposium included IR management, increasing readership and engagement, and platform migration. Post-symposium surveys were completed by 73/238 attendees (31%) in 2021 and by 62/180 (34%) in 2022. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Discussion: Participant responses in post-symposium surveys rated MIRL highly. The MIRL planning group intends to continue the symposium and hopes MIRL will steadily evolve, build community among IR practitioners in the health sciences, and expand the conversation around best practices for digital archiving of institutional content. The implementation design of MIRL serves as a blueprint for collaboratively bringing together a professional community of practice.
  • Data from LGBTQ+ Health Research Guides: A Multi-Institutional Analysis of Usage Patterns and User Information Needs

    Stevens, Gregg A; Morris, Martin; Parker, Robin M. N.; Fajardo, Francisco J.; Brody, Erica R.; McLean, Katie D. (2023-06-09)
    Data and documentation from LGBTQ+ Health Research Guides: A Multi-Institutional Analysis of Usage Patterns and User Information Needs research study.
  • Spontaneous Rupture of the Extensor Pollicis Longus Tendon: A Systematic Review

    Lister, Rachel C; Bradford, Henry C; Joo, Alex; Carr, Catherine W.; Delancy, Anna; Naram, Aparajit; Rothkopf, Douglas M; Shufflebarger, John V (2023-06-02)
    Background: Extensor pollicis longus (EPL) rupture and tenosynovitis of the third dorsal compartment is often described in association with a history of rheumatoid arthritis or in the setting of a distal radius fracture. However, the literature suggests multiple other potential factors that may lead to a seemingly spontaneous rupture. Methods: We performed a systematic review following guidelines set forth by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement. The search consisted of headings and keywords related to tendon injuries, tendinopathy, hand surgery, tendon transfer, and injections, as published in reports and studies. Citations were screened by title and abstract against predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria by 2 independent reviewers, with a third reviewer resolving discrepancies. To be eligible, articles had to meet the following inclusion criterion: describe cases of spontaneous EPL rupture or tenosynovitis of the third dorsal compartment. The exclusion criterion was any history of distal radius fracture or rheumatoid arthritis. Results: We identified 29 articles that met the inclusion criterion. Conclusions: A myriad of prodromal events or predisposing factors ultimately led to EPL rupture or tenosynovitis of the third compartment. Methods of reconstruction described included primary repair, tendon grafting, and tendon transfer techniques; all with generally good outcomes. These results highlight the inherent fragility of this tendon and support the historical recommendation for early release of the EPL tendon in the setting of tenosynovitis of the third dorsal compartment.
  • What’s the Big Deal? Preparing for Transformative Agreements

    Gerber, Rebecca; Gore, Sally A.; Palmer, Lisa A.; Honor, Leah B.; Grynoch, Tess (2023-05-19)
    Background: Since the open access (OA) movement emerged more than two decades ago, libraries, publishers, funders and researchers have struggled with sustainable publishing models in the complex scholarly communication environment. Fully OA journals typically use article processing charges (APCs) to generate revenue and many other publishers have moved to this model to offer immediate OA to individual articles. With growing scrutiny on library expenses, publishers have begun to offer transformative, or Read-and-Publish, agreements, which shift payment from subscription-based reading toward OA publishing. Collection development librarians handle subscriptions (“Read”) and Scholarly Communications librarians assist researchers with grants and publishing (“Publish”). There is now an opportunity to work together in the decision-making process to gather data and analyze these agreements. Description: The library has collected usage data for subscription resources for many years and used that information to inform future acquisitions or renewals. The collection of institution-affiliated author publishing data has not previously been part of this determination, but with the growing push by publishers to sign Read & Publish agreements, we have begun creating a new process. Our ultimate goal is to develop evaluation criteria for the value and benefit of transformative agreements and propose a strategy for approaching university administration and department chairs for funding of transformative agreements. Several steps will need to be completed to reach this goal. For each vendor/publisher, we want to collect and integrate author publishing data with subscription usage data to determine the level of library interest in pursuing a transformative agreement. Author publishing data could include APC dollars paid, number of articles, and departmental affiliation. Determining how APCS are typically paid across the institution, whether by individual grant, by department, or some other fund, can provide a talking point for best ways to fund APCs. Finally, we want to determine the most appropriate ways to disseminate and promote information to the university community on any current and future transformative agreements. Conclusion: We expect several outcomes from this initiative. We will create an internal campus portal for data concerning the costs of subscriptions and OA publishing in those journals, usage of subscriptions, and any pertinent background information that could impact a decision about transformative agreements. This portal would also allow university authors to determine what publications or publishers have agreements with the university and request assistance from scholarly communications librarians in determining the best place to publish. The evaluation criteria we develop will be utilized in the decision-making process. Most of all, we expect to see an overall decrease in costs associated with subscriptions and research publishing fees.
  • DOCLINE Spring Cleaning for Librarians

    Daby, Jill; Malachowski, Margot G. (2023-05-16)
    The National Library of Medicine developed DOCLINE in 1985 to increase the speed of interlibrary loan for biomedical literature. Each year, libraries face multiple factors that impact their participation in DOCLINE such as changes in journal holdings, alterations in embargo and license agreements, and fluctuations in staffing and operating hours. This poster suggests that library staff do an annual "spring cleaning" of their DOCLINE accounts. The poster includes a checklist of necessary tasks. Maintaining accurate library accounts will contribute to the timely delivery of biomedical literature to the end user.

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