A Study on the Change of Medical Librarians Role and Library Services at the Emergence of Electronic Information Park, Jeong Hee Chief Librarian, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Library #138-736, 388-1, Poongnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea Abstract From the beginning of the 21st century, medical information has rapidly been changed into electronic form. Such a trend brought in another radical change of purchasing pattern of medical libraries and the access pattern of the users. Within the last four or five years, many medical libraries have changed their purchasing pattern from printed to electronic form. More users are beginning to depend on websites. While this phenomenon caused the librarians to reexamine their traditional duties, an abundance of unattested information were heaped on the users. Medical librarians decided to make the information to be more user-friendly. By this we mean, whenever the user desires to find any medical information, he/she would call to the librarian rather the library. To meet the needs of the users, several services are available: one-stop service, the requested information will be supplied within 12 hours that is in the boundary of the library, subject search service, SDI service, a mobile service which announces users' status, formatting of thesis according to the journal's rule, analysis of the quotations, and purchasing personal books. All these services are accessible on the website, being effective for the last five years. This study is striving to discover users pattern of utilizing the medical information, the frequency of users visit, the degree of their satisfaction, and the need for such services, in order to find a better way of serving the medical professionals and to identify the role of the medical librarian in influx of the electronic informational era. 1
Introduction With the development of internet technology in the 21 st century, the information field became highly sophisticated. As the form of information became rapidly dependent on electronic means, the users of information relied on the cyber space. Users of medical information began bypassing medical librarians and go directly to the source of information as they need more up-to-date information on their fields. Because of the nature of the need for the medical information users, the users dependence on the internet was far greater than other science fields. This rapid change of means to find medical information forced medical libraries to be equipped with both internet based forms of medical information as well as traditional forms. Medical librarians also needed to be prepared to provide electronic information services. To cope with this change, Asan Medical Library of the University of Ulsan came to redefine the role of a medical librarian and developed new information services based on the changed role of providing electronic information. Change of the Form of Information Resources The influence of hard copy has decreased almost extremely while production of electronic information rapidly increased as if it is a time of information chaos. Medical Libraries in Korea started to subscribe academic journals in package form being forced by Korean consortium from 2000. The stipulation of consortium was to choose one out of three options: 1) print holdings, 2) e-only, and 3) either print or e-only. However, the current trend is gradually going for e-only. Table 1) Number of Korean medical consortiums and the status of the Asan Medical Library 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Korea AML Korea AML Korea AML Korea AML Korea AML NO of total 19 16 19 16 21 17 22 20 23 22 E-only 4 2 5 2 6 3 6 8 12 21 (%) 21.05 12.50 26.32 12.50 28.57 17.65 27.27 40.00 52.17 95.45 Print holding 6 14 5 14 5 14 4 12 0 1 (%) 31.58 87.50 26.32 87.50 23.81 82.35 18.18 60.00 0.00 4.55 Choice 9 9 10 12 11 (%) 47.37 47.37 47.62 54.55 47.83 2
As the above table1 shows, many publishers induced libraries to subscribe e-only by suggesting the package form of consortium. Many Korean medical libraries along with Asan discontinued paper journals. Of the six representative Korean medical libraries 1), the first two changed to e-only in 2004, and in 2005, the third one in 2008, and the forth and the fifth ones in 2009. The last one that was run by the government subsidies is still subscribing print journals. With the acceleration of the production of electronic information, the expertise in this field had construed that by 2015 medical journals will be only in electronic form, and all of the back volume of academic journals, manuscripts, images will be transformed into electronic form 2). Such informational atmosphere on the globe caused nations like Korea to establish networking infrastructures, and search engines like Google appeared to connect the networks to find information with ease. Because of these readily accessible means to information sources, users could find what they want without restriction of time and space yet they could not find exactly what they need. It became even more difficult for them to find adequate and valuable information as they used to. To complement the situation, evidence-based databases were introduced. The Role Change of Medical Librarians According to the traditional role of a librarian, he/she has a very important role in classifying, indexing, arranging, circulating, and loaning of books. The whole process of library would be valued as its space is comfortable and accessible. The dependence of finding information from the electronic means such as internet made the user to go to the websites rather than to the library. Because of web dependence, users now find more channels to find diverse information. The traditional relationship among three entities, the information producer, user, and librarian fell apart. Now the flow of information became possible from producers to users, library to users, venders to users, and even from users to users. The relationships among these entities became a great challenge to the librarians. 1) The budget of the medical libraries are that more than $1,000,000 a year 2) Donald A.B., Lindbert, M.D. and Betsy L. Humphreys. 2005-the future of medical libraries. N Engl J Med 2005:352:1067-1070. 3
As the users dependence on electronic information became popular, and the speed of reception became enhanced, their reliance on medical library was lowered. Users were satisfied with the quick reception of the information though it may not suit the quality they looked for. In addition to this, the administrators who were responsible for upholding the library considered electronic information was a replacement of printed materials. They came to a point of seeing the library s uselessness, and had a tendency of shrinking the role of the library and the librarians. However, the real role of the librarians became greater than when they only dealt with printed material, because a quantity of information was flooded in through subscribing journals in package form. We had to develop different roles in order to help users to effectively utilize electronic resources, such as in management of contents, in education of the users for a changed use of the library through animation, in supporting theses writing by supplying information they need, and in homepage management. Types of Services Drawn Out by the Change of Librarians Role The transformation of information into electronic forms caused a great gap to occur in the awareness of the need for the existence of medical library between users, librarians, and the administrators. As the circulation of medical information is easily flowing among the information producers, users and vendors, the role of medical librarian decreased to the users as well as to the administrators. However, the medical librarians came to recognize the quality of medical information is getting poorer due to innumerable routes of variety of medical information. We saw the need for providing better quality information and for the importance of diversifying the information services. In such an effort, Asan Medical Library took responsibility for circulating more credible up-to-date medical information to the users, for which it endeavored to develop a variety of services. Following services are developed in an effort to suit for the diverse needs of the users: (1) One-Stop Service This one-stop-service is providing what users ask as they request it through various channels such as internet home-page, fax, and e-mail. If the requested information is available in the library, it is supplied within 12 hours. This service began in 2001, and in 2004 we extended another service to supply articles as they search the original articles on the PubMed and request for it via one-stop to our home page. We now have one 4
more electronic service: that is to directly e-mail the subscribed electronic journals in PDF form. (2) SDI Service SDI Service is providing up-to-date articles on the subject which the users are interested in. We provide the most recent articles by utilizing the function of weekly e- mail alert from medical web DB for letting the user know about the available articles. This service is being in use since 2003. (3) Subject Search Service This service was derived from the unsatisfactory results of the users effort to search a limited web DB. To complement their limitation, we use around 10 different DB at once, and give more satisfactory information. It has been working since 2004. We send the result within 24 hours. (4) Theses Formatting Service From 2008, we began a service of formatting theses to fit the particular academic journals formatting rules when users are presenting their articles to domestic and international academic journals. References are arranged by Endnote tools, and the original images are attached, being corrected through Photoshop, and we confirm and recommend keywords by searching through PubMed MeSH. (5) Mobile Service This service can be used while they are on the move. We provide their current status regarding the use of library through library automatic system: such as searching library holdings, the due date of their loaned books, and reservation of books loaned out. This mobile phone automatic service has begun in 2006. (6) Quotation Analysis Service This is to letting the authors know how many and by whom the articles were quoted through Web of Science. It provides analyses of quotations by countries, by organizations, by disciplines, by writers, and by subject. It began in 2008. We also 5
supply information on journals to which users are expecting to submit their articles. They desire to know whether the journal is belonging to SCI. Besides these, we are providing VOD animation service that educates users on the internet how to use the library and medical related databases. The animation was produced in 2007 and is being up-dated as needed. From 2008, there are two book exhibitions each year, and we began helping users purchase their personal books for all year round. Results of the Services As the use of the medical library changed from off-line to on-line, Asan Medical Library established home-page in 1997, and linked electronic journals to home-page for users convenience in 2000. These two land-mark establishments spurred it to develop the above described services on the cyber space. Table 2) Yearly status of services 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 One-stop 19,422 44,333 45,691 42,691 35,555 28,855 26,766 22,290 SDI 3) 136 136 84 40 96 55 Subject search 421 466 402 285 385 Assisting 181 Theses Individual Book Purchase 55 As stated above the one-stop service came into being as the relationship between users and library became distanced due to the rapid flux of electronic information. From 2001 to 2003, the usage had increased while from 2004 it was gradually decreasing. In an effort to keep the users dependent on the library, we began two different services: from 2003 SDI service was opened, which was to supply more up-to-date and reliable information to our users; in 2004 subject search service was established; in 2008 supporting theses formatting had begun; and in the same year we took the effort of 3) The indicated SDI service was for the newly entered ones for that year. According to 2008 publishers statistics, the total users are 580. 6
buying books for individual users by way of increasing friendliness with our users. We helped 181 theses in 2008, and in January and February of 2009 we already assisted 56 theses. This latter service is getting a good reception from the users and is expected to increase. Though sectional use was partly decreased, the overall use was increased as new and more convenient services were added. Table 3) Yearly Usage of the Library 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Visit to the library 36,706 26,918 28,860 33,137 69,579 77,080 88,283 91,884 Home 90,681 276,230 306,490 416,803 475,869 512,078 547,786 575,015 page Proxy 23,144 49,278 91,415 136,478 168,055 The table 3 shows that usage of the homepage was increasing while the direct visit to the library decreased since 2001. There was a rapid increase in outside connection of users in our homepage. This phenomenon can be explained that the users now seem to feel that they could fill their needs through our web services. As Asan Medical library transforms its service to electronic service in order to suit for the era of electronic medical information, we find that the satisfied users are increasing. Table 4) Satisfaction of Users by Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Resp. % Resp. % Resp. % Resp. % Resp. % Resp. % satisfied 79 66.4 1 1 4 72.6 124 83.2 256 82.6 383 87.8 382 88.4 Moderate 33 27.7 42 26.8 23 15.4 48 15.5 47 10.8 45 10.4 dissatisfied 7 5.9 1 0.6 2 1.3 7 2.3 6 1.4 5 1.2 number of responses 1 1 9 157 149 310 436 432 7
From 2001 medical information became available in electronic form. So we began to develop and supply electronic services. To find the effectiveness of the electronic services, we surveyed the users responses from 2003 through survey questions. Up to 2005 we received responses in person, and from 2006 we collected them through internet. As the result shows, the satisfactory rate increased every year, and their dependence on the library for the reception of information was increasing. After two or three years of their use, the trend of using newly developed electronic services has been decreasing. We construe that the reason for such decrease was because the freshness and curiosity those services aroused at the launching time were worn out, and they become so accustomed with the services. They only come when they truly need for it. Besides users have a lot of opportunities to get what they want through many readily available accesses. As the table on the number of use for the newly developed service shows no sooner a service is established than we have to develop another more useful service. What we found by continually developing newer services was that we could keep the users in close contact with the librarians, and could have a better control over the electronic information. In order to generate another service, we had to grasp the needs of the users before they realize what they need. As a result of Asan s effort to make newer services, we found that it was possible for medical librarians to create the needs of the users and supply better kinds of information before the users recognize. Conclusion The role of the library in the past was mainly keeping books, and that of the librarian was to make copies. In the medieval age, its main role was to provide reading room. Information users had to come to the library to fill this basic need, and the libraries had to provide comfortable reading rooms and prepare large rooms to keep large holdings. In the days of inundation of information, librarians main function was to classify and indexing of the information. Modern medical libraries are expected to provide a different function as the users are able to have direct access to information sources. Because medical information in electronic form is prevalent, and the users ability to handle such information is widely popular, medical librarians have to cope with these changes and be able to handle all of their services through cyber space. What users have to do is to click their mouse to find what they need instead of going through a series of actions to get the book they need, such as looking through the library 8
card drawers to see if it has the book they need, going to the shelves, picking up the book, and either checking it out or making copies from the library copy machine. Medical librarians must attract users who are so accustomed with the inundated material which is only a click of their mouse away, to have a connection with themselves. Attracting users means drawing users into the network of services that would fit the needs of the users in satisfactory manner. For such endeavor, we have been developing services that the users want and that they could find what they need through personal contacts with the librarians instead of websites or visiting libraries. It seems users are satisfied with our efforts. In days of inundation of electronic information such as ours, medical librarians face a great challenge to lead in the dissemination of good and proper medical information. 9