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HSLS Year in Review: 2003-04The past year was a busy and productive one for HSLS. Following are excerpts from our annual report, highlighting major accomplishments and initiatives. The full text of the annual report is available at <www.hsls.pitt.edu/about/annualreport.pdf>. HSLS continued to enhance its collection of electronic resources available to the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC community. The past year continued the transformation of the library from a "print-dominant" collection to one that is primarily electronic. Notable additions are:
Enterprise-wide access to Vector NTI Advance, an integrated sequence analysis and data management software package, was also implemented, making the University of Pittsburgh the only university to provide this service to researchers through the library. The HSLS Web site is a technologically sophisticated electronic "front door" to print and electronic resources, and library services. Improvements developed by HSLS librarians include:
The Information Service in Molecular Biology and Genetics continued to grow. The HSLS Web portal to molecular biology and genetics resources <www.hsls.pitt.edu/guides/genetics> receives over 100 visits per day. The training program currently offers a variety of three-hour hands-on workshops on the use of molecular biology and genetics software and databases. The workshops had 180 attendees during the past year. The consultation and support service assisted more than 70 faculty members, post-doctoral students and graduate students. HSLS librarians performed 1,220 mediated database searches for our user community, and provided 80 individual consultations. The Web-based Ask-A-Librarian feature <www.hsls.pitt.edu/services/reference/askalibrarian> allows library users to find answers to frequently asked questions, submit questions about library resources, or request assistance in searching HSLS databases. Requests typically receive a response in less than 24 hours. In the first five months of availability, 170 questions were answered. During the year, HSLS librarians and staff provided instruction, orientations or tours to 8,200 faculty, students or staff. HSLS librarians conduct extensive instructional and collaborative activities for the schools of the health sciences, residency programs, and the hospitals of the UPMC. HSLS expanded to include management of libraries and provision of electronic resources to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP) in January 2004. This major project impacted nearly every HSLS department. Three physical library collections are on the 7th floor of the CHP DeSoto wing: The Blaxter Medical Library with books and journals in clinical pediatrics, the Family Resource Center with healthcare information for children and parents, and the Moulis Children’s Library with books and videos for general reading, entertainment and school assignments. The HSLS Document Express service supplied 27,360 journal articles to libraries throughout the world through interlibrary loan, an increase of 20 percent from the previous year. In May 2004, HSLS Document Delivery Services initiated a service to deliver books to users’ homes or offices. HSLS is a leader in development, use and educational applications of information technology. The Computer and Media Center (CMC) in Falk Library sets a standard of excellence for its well-equipped classrooms, service-oriented staff, and outstanding media collection. Students, instructors, and clinicians use the CMC to prepare lectures, Web-based materials, and video editing applications. Nearly 250 users visit the CMC each day. --Barbara Epstein |
