Information, promotion and training - the priority for hospital libraries

Description and implementation of an information strategy to reach and activate the county employees in information retrieval, skills development and research.

Background

In order to establish a sustainable regional growth and stimulate the development of a high quality health care, an R & D Centre, was created in 2006 by the Sörmland County Council and Uppsala University, Sweden. To this organization the County’s four hospital libraries with 9 librarians were added and merged into a single activity. A new mission was formulated, which focused on the libraries role of being a resource for the 7 000 county employees in their search for information for clinical work, education and research.
The first years were spent developing procedures and a functional infrastructure for the libraries. The goal has been to offer a similar service to all county employees, regardless of where they are in the region.

Information strategy

A priority in the new library organization was to locate and reach the users who do not automatically use library services. People in the health sector do not have time and opportunity to physically visit the library - and has no reason for it either. It is our job to give them the opportunity needed to be able to operate and develop a good health care. The libraries therefore added a strategy for a two-year effort that would include targeted marketing, outreach and locally adapted training. The librarians understood that they must seek the employees where they were and when they had time and opportunity.

During 2009-2011 the library organization visited more than 60 staff-meetings with groups between 5-50 people. The meetings took place at any time, from early in the morning to late at night - all as desired. The premises were all from large lecture halls to small closets with no Internet. For each operation the library prepared unique search examples. The librarians wanted the presentations to be an experience, even for those who were not interested in the content. On one level, it was as much about building the library brand as providing information about the library service.

Each semester the library organization in addition to the outreach campaign also focused on specific professions or specialties, such as nurses and primary health care centers. During the second year the offer expanded with breakfast and lunch seminars at each library, where in addition to information also sandwiches were a part of the offer.

Evaluation

The outreach campaign is now closed. The hospital libraries information strategy will be evaluated during the spring 2012. The library organization want to see if it is right that in addition to good infrastructure and available e-resources, it is information, promotion and training that should be a hospital library priority. During these two years, the hospital libraries visited nearly 20% of the county employees in their workplaces. The response has been beyond expectations. The hope is that the activity can be made ​​permanent and the number of visitors will double within the next two years