1. NLRC Reboot 2015 Christine A. Willis, MLIS 2013 2015
Objectives: The NLRC received an Express Hospital Library Promotion Award in 2015 from the NN/LM SE/A to increase awareness of the resources for patients, families, and staff regarding research and information related to the catastrophic injuries treated at Shepherd Center. Through promotion of the NLRC with staff, the goal is to generate more recommendations to use the resources for medical research.
Methods: In order to measure the impact of outreach interventions, door count and usage statistics that have been recorded for several years will be compared to statistics after June 1, Outreach efforts include coffee breaks, Trustworthy Resource classes, and presentations in staff meetings. In addition to daily statistics, a survey was sent to the spinal cord injury peer supporters, nurse educators, case managers, and recreation therapy staff to assess knowledge of current resources prior to any outreach efforts. After six months a follow-up survey was sent to the same group to assess the effect of the outreach efforts on their use and referrals to the NLRC. A third measure is in place at the reference desk using a tablet computer with a Google Drive survey asking patients and families about their visit to the resource center.
Results: Unfortunately there is incomplete data from 2013 – 2014, therefore statistics from were used as a benchmark. Door count statistics dropped significantly due in part to a change in fax machine and popular fiction book availability, 2011 = 4153, 2012 = 3628, and 2015 = However, despite the change in these non-research services there was a 55.6% increase in the number of therapy visits in 2012 and 2015, and ready reference questions increased by 50 questions from 2012 and 2015.
Left axis is for ready reference and therapy visits; Right axis is for the door count.
Survey results from the staff did not show a statistically significant difference in use of the library resources during the six month timeframe. The reference desk survey did not have a large response (n=5) but the responses were positive in that patrons found the information they sought.
Conclusions: Based on observation of those who are visiting the NLRC it has become much more focused on research and as a learning space. More patrons have been coming in to read, check out reference books, and meet colleagues. The coffee breaks are the most successful draw for staff, but the Trustworthy Resources classes during the six month time period had only one person attend. There are areas for improvement in letting patients and families know about the available resources.