Evaluating and Addressing the Information Needs of an Urban Public Health Department Through an Academic Health Sciences Library Health Department Partnership.

Evaluating and Addressing Evaluating and Addressing the Information Needs the Information Needs of an Urban Public Health Department of an Urban Public Health Department Through an Through an Academic Health Sciences Library Academic Health Sciences Library Health Department PartnershipHealth Department Partnership

Presenter: Barbara Folb, MLS Presenter: Barbara Folb, MLS

Health Sciences Library System, Health Sciences Library System, University of PittsburghUniversity of Pittsburgh

ACHD Information EnvironmentACHD Information Environment20022002

Dispersed officesDispersed offices Reading Room in one locationReading Room in one location

About 20 print journal subscriptionsAbout 20 print journal subscriptions Copies on requestCopies on request

Internet accessInternet access Full library privileges for ACHD/GSPH Full library privileges for ACHD/GSPH

adjunct faculty (15)adjunct faculty (15)

HSLS 2002HSLS 2002 Serves U of Pittsburgh and UPMCServes U of Pittsburgh and UPMC Staff – 25 professional librarians, 36 Staff – 25 professional librarians, 36

support and technical staff, plus student support and technical staff, plus student assistantsassistants

Collection – app. 200,000 books, 2,600 Collection – app. 200,000 books, 2,600 journal subscriptions, 2,000 journal subscriptions, 2,000 Audiovisuals, 1,700 educational Audiovisuals, 1,700 educational software programssoftware programs 68 (99%) of core PH journals68 (99%) of core PH journals 269 PH specialty journals 269 PH specialty journals

PHIA Steering CommitteePHIA Steering Committee ACHDACHD

Alice Kindling, Training Alice Kindling, Training Ed Schwartz, Policy Development and Ed Schwartz, Policy Development and

AssessmentAssessment HSLSHSLS

Barbara Epstein, DirectorBarbara Epstein, Director Nancy Tannery, Associate Director for Nancy Tannery, Associate Director for

Information ServicesInformation Services Barbara Folb, Public Health LibrarianBarbara Folb, Public Health Librarian

Successful Program CharacteristicsSuccessful Program Characteristics

Easy to useEasy to use Time effectiveTime effective Cost effectiveCost effective Has name recognition at ACHDHas name recognition at ACHD Increases potential access to informationIncreases potential access to information Increases use of informationIncreases use of information

Grant Funding AllocationGrant Funding Allocation

NLM 18 month grant, March 1, 2003- NLM 18 month grant, March 1, 2003- August 31, 2004August 31, 2004

Librarian/Project Manager 2 days/weekLibrarian/Project Manager 2 days/week Reference, training, web site developmentReference, training, web site development

Photocopy service support (journal Photocopy service support (journal articles, book chapter copies)articles, book chapter copies)

Initial PHIA SurveyInitial PHIA Survey

Purpose – Purpose – Training developmentTraining development web site developmentweb site development

July/August 2003July/August 2003 Multiple publicity routesMultiple publicity routes Web basedWeb based 141 responses from a possible 350 (app)141 responses from a possible 350 (app)

Survey TopicsSurvey Topics

Internet useInternet use Confidence in Internet skillsConfidence in Internet skills Estimated use of specific web resources Estimated use of specific web resources

and search enginesand search engines Barriers to information accessBarriers to information access Training preferencesTraining preferences

Survey ResultsSurvey Results

Internet UseInternet Use

In the average month, how often do you need to access information on Internet web sites to do your

job? n=141

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

0/month 1-5/month 6-10/month

11-25/month

more than1/dayTimes Per Month

Re

sp

on

se

s

No Use 17

Moderate use (1-10) 60

Higher use (11- ) 64

Use by ACHD Program, Grouped

0-10/month11 or more/month

Administration 10 4Support Services 2 9Environmental 35 17

Air 16 8Water/Waste 2 6Env/Housing 9 2

Food 8 1Human Health 29 30

Chronic Dis 2 3Injury Prevention 2 2

Dental 0 1ID/STD/Lab 13 14

MCH/WIC 12 10Total responses 76 60

=Major

division

=Subdivision

Survey ResultsSurvey Results

Confidence in Internet skillsConfidence in Internet skills

How confident do you feel using the Internet for work?

N=141

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

NA VeryUnconfident

Somewhatunconfident

ModeratelyConfident

Confident Very Confident

Confidence Level

Res

pons

es

Low confidence 15

Moderate confidence 41

High confidence 80

Survey ResultsSurvey Results

Web Sites UsedWeb Sites Used

Web Sites UsedWeb Sites Used

Heaviest useHeaviest use Phone booksPhone books Fed/State agencyFed/State agency RegulatoryRegulatory

Lighter UseLighter Use PubMedPubMed ToxnetToxnet CDC WonderCDC Wonder

•Large number of web sites used

•Small number of users per web site

Sites used more than 1/daySites used more than 1/daySITESITE   RESPONSESRESPONSES

OtherOther 1515

CDC not CDC WonderCDC not CDC Wonder 44

EPAEPA 33

Federal RegisterFederal Register 33

Phone DirectoriesPhone Directories 33

CFRCFR 22

PA Health DeptPA Health Dept 11

PittCatPittCat 11

USDAUSDA 11

=Other

=Gov Agency

=Regulation

=Literature

=Phone Bk

=Data Source

PA Health DeptPA Health Dept 2929

OtherOther 2525

Phone DirectoriesPhone Directories 2020

EPAEPA 1919

CDC not CDC WonderCDC not CDC Wonder 1818

Federal RegisterFederal Register 1818

PA BulletinPA Bulletin 66

PA CodePA Code 66

CFRCFR 55

PA State Data CenterPA State Data Center 55

PubMedPubMed 55

USDAUSDA 55

ToxnetToxnet 44

US CensusUS Census 22

CDC WonderCDC Wonder 22

PittCatPittCat 22

Sites used 6-25/month

=Other

=Gov Agency

=Regulation

=Literature

=Phone Bk

=Data Source

Phone DirectoriesPhone Directories 4646

PA Health DeptPA Health Dept 4545

PA BulletinPA Bulletin 3636

CDC not CDC WonderCDC not CDC Wonder 3131

EPAEPA 3030

Federal RegisterFederal Register 2424

PA CodePA Code 2323

USDAUSDA 2323

PA State Data CenterPA State Data Center 2121

ToxnetToxnet 2020

PubMedPubMed 1919

US CensusUS Census 1717

CDC WonderCDC Wonder 1616

CFRCFR 1111

PittCatPittCat 1111

OtherOther 1010

Sites used 1-5/month

=Other

=Gov Agency

=Regulation

=Literature

=Phone Bk

=Data Source

CDC WonderCDC Wonder 9595

US CensusUS Census 9494

PittCatPittCat 9393

CFRCFR 9191

ToxnetToxnet 8989

PubMedPubMed 8888

USDAUSDA 8686

PA State Data CenterPA State Data Center 8585

PA CodePA Code 8282

Federal RegisterFederal Register 7979

PA BulletinPA Bulletin 7474

EPAEPA 7474

CDC not CDC WonderCDC not CDC Wonder 6464

Phone DirectoriesPhone Directories 5151

PA Health DeptPA Health Dept 5050

OtherOther 2525

Sites Used 0/month

=Other

=Gov Agency

=Regulation

=Literature

=Phone Bk

=Data Source

PA Health DeptPA Health Dept 7575

Phone DirectoriesPhone Directories 6969

CDC not CDC WonderCDC not CDC Wonder 5353

EPAEPA 5252

OtherOther 5050

Federal RegisterFederal Register 4545

PA BulletinPA Bulletin 4242

USDAUSDA 2929

PA CodePA Code 2929

PA State Data CenterPA State Data Center 2626

ToxnetToxnet 2424

PubMedPubMed 2424

US CensusUS Census 1919

CDC WonderCDC Wonder 1818

CFRCFR 1818

PittCatPittCat 1414

Total, Any Use

=Other

=Gov Agency

=Regulation

=Literature

=Phone Bk

=Data Source

Search Skill Self Rating:Search Skill Self Rating: Selected web sites Selected web sites

VeryVeryHighHigh High High

  ModerateModerate

Some-Some-WhatWhatLowLow

VeryVeryLowLow

NeverNeverUsed Used

CDCCDCWonder Wonder

(18)*(18)* 11 55 1010 99 66 101101

Pubmed Pubmed (24)(24) 33 33 1111 1111 77 9696

Pittcat (14)Pittcat (14) 44 11 1111 77 33 102102

Toxnet Toxnet (24)(24) 11 77 99 77 1010 9797

*Total who used the site, any amount/month

Survey ResultsSurvey Results

Barriers to InformationBarriers to Information

Internet Content Couldn’t FindInternet Content Couldn’t Find

Is there information you wish to access via the Is there information you wish to access via the Internet that you have not been able to locate or Internet that you have not been able to locate or use? n=136use? n=136

   NumberNumber PercentPercent

NoNo 107107 79%79%

YesYes 2929 21%21%

Summary, What They Couldn’t Summary, What They Couldn’t FindFind

Total who gave text answers: 27 out of 29Total who gave text answers: 27 out of 29 Specific needs PHIA can’t address: 3Specific needs PHIA can’t address: 3 Needs PHIA can address: Needs PHIA can address:

Journal articles (6)Journal articles (6) Training (5)Training (5) Technical chem/engineering info (4)Technical chem/engineering info (4) Statistics (3)Statistics (3) Directory info (2)Directory info (2) Regulatory info (2)Regulatory info (2) Consumer Health (1)Consumer Health (1) Laboratory (1)Laboratory (1)

Thinking back on the past work week, were Thinking back on the past work week, were there any times when you needed information there any times when you needed information (in any format) to accomplish a job-related task, (in any format) to accomplish a job-related task, but were unable to obtain the information? but were unable to obtain the information? n=132n=132

   NumberNumber PercentPercent

NoNo 114114 86%86%

YesYes 1818 14%14%

What barriers did you encounter to obtaining the What barriers did you encounter to obtaining the information? Please check all that apply.information? Please check all that apply.

  n=18n=18    NumberNumber Percent(x/18)Percent(x/18)   

I was unable to locate a source for I was unable to locate a source for the information.the information.

88 44%44%  

I was able to locate a source, but I was able to locate a source, but not able to obtain the source.not able to obtain the source.

66 33%33%  

I did not have time to complete the I did not have time to complete the task.task.

1212 67%67%  

The source was too expensive.The source was too expensive. 55 28%28%   

Other problems. Please list below.*Other problems. Please list below.* 33 17%17%  

I was not sure of where to look. (1) I was not sure of where to look. (1) Inexperienced in where and how to locate programs offering data (1) Inexperienced in where and how to locate programs offering data (1) Information was too generic/ consumer oriented (1) Information was too generic/ consumer oriented (1)

Survey ResultsSurvey Results

Training PreferencesTraining Preferences

Electronic Tutorial InterestElectronic Tutorial Interest

    n=135n=135 NumberNumber PercentPercent

As a refresher after As a refresher after attending a live classattending a live class

7474 55%55%

As a substitute to attending As a substitute to attending a live classa live class

3737 27%27%

Not at allNot at all   2424 18%18%

Survey ConclusionsSurvey Conclusions

Need for training demonstrated Need for training demonstrated Not all employees are highly skilled and confident Not all employees are highly skilled and confident

using the Internetusing the Internet Valuable resources underutilizedValuable resources underutilized

Access to librarian and library collections Access to librarian and library collections needed to overcome information barriers fromneeded to overcome information barriers from Lack of time to search Lack of time to search Not knowing where to lookNot knowing where to look Lack of money for fee based informationLack of money for fee based information

Addressing Training NeedsAddressing Training Needs

Hands on classes– 7 topicsHands on classes– 7 topics PubMed - Internet I & II PubMed - Internet I & II Statistical Resources -Evidence Based Public Statistical Resources -Evidence Based Public

Health – Consumer Health – Grant Funding Health – Consumer Health – Grant Funding ResourcesResources

Email – Tuesday Info Tips Email – Tuesday Info Tips Short Internet search tips, sent weeklyShort Internet search tips, sent weekly Second purpose: increase program visibilitySecond purpose: increase program visibility

Addressing Information Addressing Information BarriersBarriers

Reference Services Reference Services 30 search requests/year, 30 other queries30 search requests/year, 30 other queries

Journal article deliveryJournal article delivery 210 requests210 requests

Book borrowingBook borrowing Moderate use, stats not retrievableModerate use, stats not retrievable

PHIA web site PHIA web site http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/phia/http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/phia/

PHIA Continuation PHIA Continuation

Yearly contract for document delivery Yearly contract for document delivery coverage.coverage.

Librarian funded through the Center for Librarian funded through the Center for Public Health Practice, GSPH, University Public Health Practice, GSPH, University of Pittsburghof Pittsburgh

Ongoing Goals of PHIAOngoing Goals of PHIA

Provide enhanced library services to Provide enhanced library services to ACHDACHD

Evaluate the academic/practitioner Evaluate the academic/practitioner partnership model for library services. partnership model for library services.

Disseminate findings to other health Disseminate findings to other health departments and librariesdepartments and libraries

AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements

This project has been funded with Federal This project has been funded with Federal funds from the National Library of funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Medicine, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. N01-LM-3521.under Contract No. N01-LM-3521.

Authors: Barbara Folb, MLS, Barbara Authors: Barbara Folb, MLS, Barbara Epstein, MSLSEpstein, MSLS

For further information contact Barbara For further information contact Barbara Folb, Folb, [email protected]@pitt.edu