President's Message


Ruth Riley
AAHSL President 
School of Medicine Library
University of South Carolina


November 11, 2016 - AAHSL President’s 2015/16 Report – AAHSL Annual Membership Business Meeting

It was my privilege to serve as president this year.

I knew it was going to be a challenging year when 30 minutes after I assumed office in Baltimore last year that Rikke Ogawa from UCLA asked me if I knew Heather Collins at the University of Kansas.  She explained that Heather was interested in the possibility of AAHSL helping form a team to review how our libraries were responding to the AAMC Core EPAs initiative. This led to several phone calls and the eventual agreement by the board to establish the Competency-Based Medical Task Force in March.

As you saw in their report and in the poster on display here, the task force has been very productive with conducting a literature review, focus group interviews, and a survey of our member libraries. When Heather first described their work at the University of Kansas on this, I immediately saw the potential for AAHSL to get involved.  I think we’ll continue to see strong work coming out of this task force.

Another great collaboration opportunity this year was AAHSL serving as a co-sponsor of the symposium in April in Philadelphia which addressed the changing landscape of how health sciences libraries are using their spaces to support teaching and learning.  This highly success symposium was co-sponsored by AAHSL with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM), Southeastern/Atlantic (SE/A) Region, NN/LM Mid-Atlantic (MAR) Region in April in Philadelphia, PA.  I want to thank Barbara Epstein for serving as chair of the symposium planning committee and thank Pam Bradigan, Ohio State University, for serving as the AAHSL Board Liaison on the planning committee. I think this was a highly effective use of AAHSL funds that benefited many of our members.

AAHSL continued to be a strong advocate for supporting issues of scholarly communication by signing on numerous letters of support to various organizations throughout the year.  I want to commend the Scholarly Communications Committee for their diligent work in this area.  Mary Langman with MLA HQ was also wonderful in providing leadership and support. The letter that I will most remember is the letter to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration in support of Dr. Carla Hayden’s nomination as the fourteenth Librarian of Congress. I was able to follow up on this recommendation in person when I attended the MLA/AAHSL Joint Legislative Task Force meeting in DC in April. When we did our constitutent visits with our senators, we were able to reinforce AAHSL’s support for Dr. Hayden.  As you know, Dr. Hayden has been confirmed and it’s wonderful to have her as the first librarian and the first woman to hold the position. You know the country is moving in the right direction when you have two amazing women sworn in as the Librarian of Congress and the Director of the NLM in the same week. I was actually giddy that week!

Another highlight of the year for me as attending the NLM/AAHSL Fellows Capstone event in DC in September. I had the opportunity to facilitate a panel on interprofessional education with representatives from AAMC, AACN, ADEA, AACP, and AMIA and also attend the graduation ceremony where I was able to meet Dr. Patty Brennan and hand out the graduation certificates with Betsy Humphreys.  What an honor.As you can see, as president, you get to do a lot of neat things.

We were able to take some small steps in the continuing effort to review our assessment and statistics program.  The latest update is that the Assessment & Statistics Committee has just completed a preliminary comparison of the ACRL and AAHSL survey questions provided to us at no charge by Counting Opinions. We will continue to update the membership as that analysis moves forward.

Although the Board made good progress on updating the association’s strategic plan during our winter board meeting in Atlanta, we made some edits to it during our board meeting yesterday. We should be able to get it to you very shortly.

One initiative I’m focused on right now is AAHSL’s application to become a member of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC). This is the group that created the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice document in 2011. Our application for membership is due on  November 30.  I will soon be soliciting AAHSL members for examples of how our libraries are supporting interprofessional education at our institutions.

If you’ve had time to review the annual reports from the committees and task forces, you know that that bulk of the work in the association is really member-driven. This year we had 88 members serving on our committees and task forces.  On behalf of the Board, I want to thank each of you who served on a committee or task force this year.

I also want to thank my fellow board members for their significant contributions of time and energy to the work of the association over the past year.  It’s been a privilege to serve with them.

Ruth Riley

President, AAHSL, 2015-16


November 7, 2016

AAHSL Colleagues,

I’m looking forward to our annual meeting in Seattle this Thursday and Friday, November 10-11.

As noted on the website we have a full agenda of activities in store.

As a nod to one of the most valuable benefits of attending the annual meeting – NETWORKING – we’ve added a networking breakfast to Friday morning from 8-9 am.

The Program and Education Committee has done an outstanding job of securing Dr. Patricia Brennan for the Matheson Lecture (hurray!) and organized the educational workshop What You Need To Know To Build Effective Marketing Strategy. The workshop features Stephanie Worrell, a brand strategist with over 25 years of experience building consumer brands, and marketing case studies presented by four of our esteemed colleagues.

-Collaborating Across the Institution to Promote the Library
Kristi Holmes, Director, Galter Health Science Library, Northwestern University

-Promoting "Space as a Service" at the University of Minnesota
Janice Jaguszewski, Associate University Librarian, and Director, Health Sciences Libraries, University of Minnesota

-Marketing a New Digital Library at a Developing Medical School
Elizabeth Lorbeer, Library Director, Western Michigan University School of Medicine

-Effective Communications Committee (ECC) Targets Marketing, Branding, and Public Relations   
M.J. Tooey, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Executive Director, Health Sciences and Human Services Library, University of Maryland

After the educational workshop, we’ll have the privilege of visiting the University of Washington Health Sciences Library where Tania Bardyn, Associate Dean & Director, Health Sciences Library, and Director, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region, is hosting the AAHSL reception.  Directions to the library are posted on the AAHSL website and also available here

I’ve collated the 2016 Committee and Task Force Reports received to date for your airplane reading pleasure. They’re also available on website.

Safe travels!

Sincerely,

Ruth


September 17, 2016

AAHSL Colleagues,

What an exciting and energizing week to be a librarian with the swearing-in of Dr. Patty Brennan as Director of the National Library of Medicine on Monday and the subsequent swearing-in of Dr. Carla Hayden as the Librarian of Congress on Wednesday.  If you weren’t able to view the ceremonies live, the archived versions of the webcasts are available here.

Dr. Patty Brennan - https://videocast.nih.gov/Summary.asp?File=19851&bhcp=1

Dr. Carla Hayden - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvNuPcftWYE

I found Dr. Brennan’s presentation to be invigorating and challenging.  We’re fortunate to have such a strong and visionary leader of AAHSL’s strongest partner. Next week I will have the good fortune to meet Dr. Brennan and congratulate her on her appointment when I attend the NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program 2015-16 graduation ceremony in Washington, DC.  The graduation ceremony is part of the Leadership Fellows Program Capstone, September 18-21, which includes a series of sessions designed to introduce the Fellows to roles of organizations important to academic health centers, meet key players, and address external issues shaping libraries and their implications for directors.  I’ll be moderating a panel on interprofessional education with leaders from AAMC, AACN, AACP, ADEA, and AMIA.

Speaking of interprofessional education, I’m pleased to report that the AAHSL Board of Directors has agreed to move forward with an application to the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) to become an institutional member in 2017. IPEC promotes and encourages constituent efforts that advance substantive interprofessional learning experiences to help prepare future health professionals for enhanced team-based care of patients and improved population health outcomes. In July 2016 IPEC announced the release of an updated version of the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice. First published in 2011, the IPEC core competency document has helped to frame the national dialogue on the need for interprofessional education and practice as a catalyst for improving team-based patient care and enhancing population health outcomes. The founding members of IPEC include:

  • American Dental Education Association
  • American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
  • American Association of Colleges of Nursing
  • American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Association of American Medical Colleges
  • Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health

In February 2016, IPEC welcomed 9 new institutional members, expanding the professional representation from 6 to 15:

  • American Association of Colleges of Podiatric Medicine
  • American Council of Academic Physical Therapy
  • American Occupational Therapy Association
  • American Psychological Association 
  • Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
  • Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry
  • Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions
  • Council on Social Work Education
  • Physician Assistant Education Association

Given that many AAHSL members are actively engaged in supporting IPE initiatives on our campuses, the Board of Directors agreed that it would be wise for AAHSL to become an IPEC institutional member. We’ll be engaging the membership as we move forward through the application process.

Plans for the AAHSL 2016 annual meeting in Seattle are continuing to crystallize with the announcement this week of the educational workshop being organized by the Program & Education Committee - What You Need to Know to Build an Effective Marketing Strategy.  The featured speaker will be Stephanie Worrell, a brand strategist with over 25 years of experience building consumer brands. Her expertise comes from her career-spanning role as account manager for global design agency LPK where she led brand identity initiatives for a variety of companies including Proctor & Gamble, Heinz, Novartis and Ventura Foods. Today, she works as an independent brand strategy and design consultant in both the public and private sectors.  The program will also include case studies from our peers detailing successful marketing program at their institutions.

As noted in emails from Steve Squires, Editor, AAHSL Statistics, the 39th Edition of the AAHSL Statistics surveys are now open and ready for data entry.  Our goal is to have all surveys submitted and reviewed before the end of the year so that the collected data can be made available to members in January.  The deadline for submissions is October 31. 

Neil Rambo, President-Elect, has been working diligently on the appointment of 2016-17 committees. Thank you to all who have volunteered to serve.

Member transitions: 

Director Appointments

-Ann Barrett, Head, W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library, Dalhousie University

-Jo Ann Van Schaik, Executive Director, Louis Calder Memorial Library, University of Miami

Sincerely,

Ruth


Ruth Riley
AAHSL President
Assistant Dean for Executive Affairs and Director of Library Services
School of Medicine
University of South Carolina

June 28, 2016

AAHSL Colleagues,

Summer greetings! Here's a roundup of AAHSL news.

Cynthia Henderson (U of Southern California), Barbara Epstein (U of Pittsburgh), Julie Schneider (U of Wisconsin), and I are headed to DC next week, June 28-29, to represent AAHSL during the Capitol Hill visits and meet with the MLA/AAHSL Joint Legislative Task Force. Cynthia is current chair of the task force. Mary Langman, Director, Information Issues and Policy, MLA, is doing an outstanding job of facilitating meetings with our senators and representatives and prepping us with info on MLA/AAHSL legislative priorities. Should be a fascinating time to be on the Hill. Will report back.

I had the opportunity to attend several AAHSL activities during the MLA Toronto meeting including the New Directors Symposium, the Leadership Fellows reunion, and meetings of the Program Committee, chaired by Jeff Williams (NYU), and the newly established Task Force on Competency-Based Medical Education, chaired by Heather Collins (U of Kansas). Other AAHSL committees met as well and our own M.J. Tooey (U of Maryland), a past president of AAHSL, delivered an inspiring Janet Doe Lecture.

The Future Leadership Committee, chaired by Sandra Franklin (Emory U), recently provided the attached progress report which is an excellent update on the Leadership Fellows program, the New Directors Symposium, scholarships and other activities. Also attached is the committee’s progress report on the Leadership Fellows Program which provides more detail including this impressive data. Through the 2014-15 class, 28 or 42% of graduates have received library director appointments. In addition, two former fellows and one current fellow (2016 class) serve as interim library directors. Overall, approximately 58% of fellow graduates have been promoted to director or other positions of higher responsibility. Including the current 2015-2016 class, 72 fellows and 59 different mentors have taken part in the program. Well over half of AAHSL libraries have participated in one or more roles.

The Teaching and Learning Committee, chaired by Tony Frisby (Thomas Jefferson U) has produced the attached Fast Facts about Core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) which is attached and available in the Resources area of AAHSL website. Many thanks to Barbara Cavanaugh (U of Pennsylvania), Gail Hendler (Loyola U) and Racheline Habousha (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) for their work on this resource. You will also find Fast Facts for MedEd Portal and Educational Technology on the website. http://www.aahsl.org/resources-AAHSL

The 38th Edition of the Annual Statistics of Medical School Libraries in the United States and Canada was published and mailed between May 17-20. Many thanks to the members of the Assessment and Statistics Committee, chaired by Rod MacNeil (Thomas Jefferson U), for their very hard work on this important resource. Rod, Kate Carpenter (U of Illinois-Chicago), Pam Bradigan (Ohio State U), Neil Rambo (NYU) and I are continuing to work on soliciting information from Counting Opinions about AAHSL’s potential use of ACRLMetrics.

Another installment of the “Born Digital” series written by members of the New and Developing Academic Health Sciences Libraries Committee, chaired by Patrick McCarthy (Saint Louis U), appeared in the May 2016 issue of MLA News. Nadine Dexter (U of Central Florida) is the series editor. This installment, “Staffing the ‘Born Digital’ Library,” was authored by Nadine and Bradley Long (Central Michigan U).

Neil Rambo, President-Elect, will soon be making the annual call for volunteers for committees. Please offer to serve!

Member Transitions:

Retiring: Michael Homan (Mayo Clinic); Rajia Tobia (University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio); Karen Butter (University of California San Francisco); Barbara Shearer (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine); Lila Pedersen (University of North Dakota)

Interim Director: Talia Chung (University of Ottawa); Rick Fought (University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center); Jim Munson (University of California San Francisco); Kelly Thormodson (University of North Dakota); Nancy Godleski (Vanderbilt University); Beth Ketterman (East Carolina University); Sandra Wenner (Rush University)

Director Appointment: Lisa Ennis (Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine); John Gallagher (Yale University); Anna Beth Morgan (Mayo Clinic); Fatima Mncube-Barnes (Howard University); Owen Ellard (University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio), Nandita Mani (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – effective July 1)

Sabbatical: Tom Singarella (University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center) New Full Member: Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso (Andrea Cancellare) – Welcome!

New Developing Member: University of Nevada Las Vegas (Joanne Muellenbach) – Welcome!

Hope we can all squeeze in as much R&R as possible in the coming summer months. M-I orientation will be here before we know it!

Ruth


Ruth Riley
AAHSL President
Assistant Dean for Executive Affairs and Director of Library Services
School of Medicine
University of South Carolina

April 19, 2016

AAHSL Colleagues,

Spring greetings! I’m quite behind in updating you on AAHSL activities. Here’s the latest information.

Teaching & Learning in New Library Spaces Symposium - I hope that many of you are able to attend this symposium in Philly tomorrow which is co-sponsored by NN/LM MAR, NN/LM SE/A and AAHSL.

Many thanks to Barbara Epstein (U of Pitt) for spearheading the planning and to Pam Bradigan (Ohio State U) and Judy Consales (UCLA) for representing AAHSL on the planning group.


Assessment and Statistics Summit – February 17 – Atlanta - The agenda for the summit included review of the Assessment & Statistics Review Task Force Oct 2015 report, a presentation by Robert Dugan, Chair, ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey Editorial Board, and Dean of Libraries, University of West Florida, on the ACRL statistics program and their collaboration with Counting Opinions. Inc., review of the results of the Feb 2016 AAHSL membership survey about potential new assessment measures, brainstorming about ways to reframe AAHSL’s statistics and assessment program, and discussion of next steps. Outcomes of the summit include (1) consensus that we need to continue to collect a core set of statistics which provide benchmarks for peer comparisons but that our current model for collecting, editing, and reporting stats is too labor-intensive for members, (2) understanding that the profession as a whole is grappling with how to develop new measures that demonstrate our libraries’ contributions to learning, research, and clinical care outcomes at our institutions and that these “measures” are more qualitative and involve “story telling” and/or presenting data on best practices, trends, and outcomes, (3) agreement to explore the potential use of the ACRL Annual Survey and ACRLMetrics for our stats program. In February, I initiated a conversation with Mary Jane Petrowski at ACRL. Since the Oberlin Group, a consortium of 80 selective, top-ranked liberal arts colleges, recently transitioned to using the ACRL Annual Survey, ACRLMetrics, and a customized portal on Counting Opinions, I also initiated a discussion with Terri Fishel, Macalester College, about their experience. I also had a preliminary conversation with Frank Biss, VP Customer Service, Counting Opinions. Based on the information gathered in February and March, the Board has agreed to continue with the present cycle for the 2015-16 survey (annual, salary, descriptive) to allow sufficient time for exploratory work with Counting Opinions on potential migration to ACRL survey and a Counting Opinions portal. Neil Rambo (President-Elect-NYU), Rod MacNeil (Thomas Jefferson U), Kate Carpenter (U of Illinois-Chicago) Pam Bradigan (Ohio State U), and I will be initiating discussion with Counting Opinions about the specifics of a potential migration to ACRL survey for the 2016-17 survey cycle and creation of an AAHSL stats portal and secure a proposal for board review. Many thanks to Rod MacNeil, Chair, Assessment & Statistics Committee, and Judy Cohn, Chair, Assessment & Statistics Review Task Force, and all the members of their committee and task force for their work to date on this effort. We will keep you apprised as we continue to work on improving our assessment and statistics program.

Board Meeting – February 18-19 – Atlanta – Highlights of the board meeting included:

(1) Consideration of a proposal from Heather Collins (U of Kansas), Rikke Ogawa (UCLA), Kelly Thormodson (U of North Dakota), and Rachel Vukas (U of Kansas) to establish an AAHSL/MLA task force on milestones and entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for evidence-based medicine competencies. Board agreed that this was an excellent and timely proposal and would be appropriate to be led by AAHSL. The Board created a formal charge and Neil Rambo posted the call for volunteers last week. Deadline for response is April 22.

(2) Update of strategic plan – Board reviewed results of the membership feedback survey, heard from Paul Schoening,(Past-President-Washington U), about feedback he received during his listening tour, and reviewed strategic plans of NLM, MLA, ARL, and technology trends reports. After a brainstorming session, the Board agreed upon the following updated vision and mission statements. Preliminary work on strategic goals for 2016-18 was completed and is ongoing.

Vision: Academic health sciences libraries improve health through essential contributions to patient care, discovery, and education at academic health science centers.

Mission: AAHSL promotes the success of its members through professional development and leadership programs; imagining the future; promoting best practices; advocacy; strategic partnerships and collaborations; and fostering a community of colleagues.

(3) Preliminary scheduling of the 2016 AAHSL Annual Meeting in Seattle. Tania Bardyn, Associate Dean of University Libraries, Director of the Health Sciences Library, and Director, National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) Pacific Northwest Region (PNR), has graciously assisted us with scheduling Thursday, November 11, meetings on her campus at U of Washington and also agreed to host the AAHSL reception in her library on Friday evening, November 12. Thank you, Tania! Please note that these are temporary schedules and subject to change based on final confirmation of facilities.

Thursday, November 10, 2016 – U of Washington Campus

  • Board meeting 
  • Fellows orientation 
  • Board dinner with new members/directors 
  • Late afternoon committee meetings

Friday, November 11, 2016 – Downtown Seattle

  • Early morning committee meetings
  • Networking breakfast
  • Annual Membership Meeting 
  • Matheson Lecture (to be held as part of AAHSL meeting)
  • Networking lunch
  • Educational program 
  • Evening library reception – U of Washington

Spring Presidential Visits to DC – April 4-6 – Paul Schoening, Neil Rambo, and I had very productive visits to our partner associations including NLM, AAMC, ARL, AMIA, AACN, and SPARC. I’ll be sending a separate report on the updates we received during our visits.

Regards,

Ruth 


Ruth Riley
AAHSL President
Assistant Dean for Executive Affairs and Director of Library Services
School of Medicine
University of South Carolina

March 30, 2016

AAHSL Colleagues,

Next week Paul Schoening, Past-President, Neil Rambo, President-Elect, and I will be visiting Washington, DC for our spring visits to AAHSL's partner organizations. We will be meeting with representatives from the following organizations.

* National Library of Medicine (NLM)
* Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
* Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
* American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
* Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
* American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)

These visits provide the opportunity to educate our colleagues not only about our association, but also of the vital role that academic health sciences libraries play within their member institutions. In return we learn about the issues they are facing and possible areas where our members could provide support. If you have any particular issues that you would like to see addressed during our visits, please let Paul, Neil, or me know.


Regards,

Ruth


Ruth Riley
AAHSL President
Assistant Dean for Executive Affairs and Director of Library Services
School of Medicine
University of South Carolina

January 27, 2016

AAHSL Colleagues,

As the AAHSL Board prepares for its winter board meeting in Atlanta next month, Feb 18-19, the need to update AAHSL's 2012-14 strategic plan is a high priority agenda item. The plan is available on AAHSL website.

As you know, Paul Schoening, Past-President, engaged in a listening tour last year which generated a significant amount of valuable feedback from numerous members about AAHSL's value, strengths and weaknesses, and desired new directions and initiatives. Amazingly, he was able to visit with 58 librarians in person or virtually while doing his regular job of leading the Washington University Becker Medical Library. As the board begins its discussion of AAHSL's 2016-18 strategic plan, the information gathered by Paul will be very helpful. Given that it wasn't possible for Paul to visit with the entire membership, the board is asking for your feedback on the below questions discussed with members during the listening tour.

You may use the survey link or call or email a board member with your thoughts. Below is the contact info for board members. Please share your thoughts with us by February 15th if possible.

Also, below, I've included links to various resources that I've been reviewing to get my brain thinking about the current/future environment of academic medicine, libraries, IT, etc. Certainly not a comprehensive list. If you've come across a resource that is germane, please share. Thanks!

Ruth

 

1. What do you get from your participation in AAHSL that is important to you?

2. What does AAHSL do well?

3. What would you like to see AAHSL do better, differently, or not at all?

4. Are there ways that AAHSL can directly make you or your library more successful?

5. Are there any new directions or initiatives that you think AAHSL should pursue?

Survey Link

 

AAHSL Board contact information

 

Strategic Planning Resources

MLA - Medical Library Association Strategic Plan

ARL - Report of the Association of Research Libraries Strategic Thinking and Design Initiative

NIH Advisory Committee to the Director - National Library of Medicine (NLM) Working Group FINAL REPORT-JUNE 11,2015

NIH-Wide Strategic Plan 2016-2020

AAMC Annual Report

AAMC - Innovations in Medical Education infographic

AAMC - Advancing the Academic Health System for the Future

AMA CREATING THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE Initiative

Progress Report - 2015 (have to set up AMA account to access)

2016 Top 10 IT Issues - EDUCAUSE
Includes 2 minute video, links to article, presentations, webinar, supporting data and graphics

NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition - collaboration between NEW MEDIA CONSORTIUM and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (2016 report due out Feb 4, 2016). Outlines trends, challenges, and emerging technologies that will be impacting higher education teaching and learning over the next five years.


 

Ruth Riley
AAHSL President
Assistant Dean for Executive Affairs and Director of Library Services
School of Medicine
University of South Carolina

January 24, 2016

AAHSL Colleagues,

I'm overdue in providing you with an update on where we are with the association's review of its assessment/statistics program.

As you know, the Board appointed the Assessment and Statistics Review Task Force in February 2015 which included the following members.

Assessment and Statistics Review Task Force
Judy Cohn, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , Chair
Sara Holder, McGill University
Susan Kendall, Michigan State University
Amy Gische Lyons, University at Buffalo
Elizabeth Ten Have, Drexel University
Jameson Watkins, University of Kansas
Matthew Wilcox, Quinnipiac University
Kathryn Carpenter, AAHSL Board Liaison

The Task Force, ably led by Judy Cohn, submitted the attached status report and survey summary to the Board in October 2015. The report was subsequently shared with the Assessment & Statistics Committee.

On behalf of the Board and the membership, I want to thank Judy and the entire task force for their excellent work. I also want to thank Rod MacNeil, Chair, Assessment & Statistics Committee, and Steve Squires, AAHSL Statistics Editor, for their collaboration with the task force and their contributions to the report.

As noted in the report summary, the most significant finding from the survey is that the vast majority of respondents find value in the data and results compiled in the Annual Statistics and Salary survey, as well as the Descriptive and Resources surveys.

In response to recommendations in the report, the Board charged the Assessment & Statistics Committee with responding to the need to educate preparers, both directors and the staff to whom they delegate data compilation, by providing a several paragraph description of the program (what information is captured and why) and creating a short video for preparers to post on the AAHSL web site. The Assessment & Statistics Committee is working on this charge.

After reviewing the report at its November 2015 meeting in Baltimore, the Board agreed that the next step in reviewing AAHSL's assessment/stats program would be to convene a one-day assessment/stats summit prior to its winter board meeting in Atlanta to engage in brainstorming about new metrics and new assessment models. Judy Cohn and Rod MacNeil will be joining the board for the summit. Robert Dugan, Chair, ACRL Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey Editorial Board, Dean of Libraries, University of West Florida, will also be joining us to share information about the ACRL stats program - current status and future directions and their experience in collaborating with Counting Opinions, Inc.

The Board has asked Judy Cohn and the Assessment & Statistics Review Task Force to solicit feedback from the membership about your thoughts on new metrics and new assessment models that AAHSL should be considering for the future. You can expect to receive a solicitation from them about this in early February. The Board would like to have this feedback from you for the February 17 assessment/stats summit in Atlanta.

The Board is also updating the charge to the Assessment & Statistics Review Task Force as follows:

1) Solicit AAHSL members for feedback on desired new metrics or areas to measure, new assessment models, and new directions for AAHSL assessment/statistics program.

2) Gather information from other library associations about where they are with reframing their assessment/statistics program.

3) Review marketplace for commercial assessment/statistics services being utilized by other library associations. At present, this is the lowest priority and is on hold until after the summit in ATL.

After the assessment/stats summit and board meeting in Atlanta, I'll provide you with another update.

Thank you for your continued patience and participation as we continue to work on ways to improve our assessment/statistics program!

Ruth


Ruth Riley
AAHSL President
Assistant Dean for Executive Affairs and Director of Library Services
School of Medicine
University of South Carolina

November 25, 2015

AAHSL Colleagues,

It was wonderful to see so many of you in Baltimore at our annual meeting.

I thought the AAHSL educational workshop was very strong this year and held high relevance for the majority of our members. 

View the program

Many thanks to the Program and Education Committee for their excellent work on organizing and implementing the workshop. The committee was chaired by Leslie Schick (U of Cincinnati) and included Mary Blanchard (Boston U), Tania Bardyn (U of Washington), Nancy Bulgarelli (Oakland U), Kerry O’Rourke (UMDNJ), Christina Pope (SUNY Upstate Medical U), M.J. Tooey (U of Maryland), Tom Singarella (U of Tennessee), Jeff Williams (NYU), and board liaison, Paul Schoening (Washington U).

The PPTs from the program are now available in the members area of website.

I also want to commend the Program and Education Committee for their outstanding work on the Matheson Lecture.  Dr. Philip Bourne’s presentation was timely, thought-provoking, and also of very high relevance to our members.  Here is the link to his presentation via SlideShare.

A Successful Academic Medical Center Must be a Truly Digital Enterprise

2015 Nina Matheson Lecture - Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Meeting - November 7, 2015

Philip Bourne, Associate Director for Data Science, National Institutes of Health

I also want to thank our dear colleague, M.J. Tooey, for hosting the AAHSL reception in her beautiful library. M.J. – you and your staff were very gracious hosts. Thank you! We also thank you for helping us secure the use of your campus center building. We couldn’t have asked for a more convenient setup!

Wishing each of you a peaceful Thanksgiving holiday,

Ruth