Poster Board Number: 168
Title: Of Mice and Monographs: Assessing and Rebuilding the Veterinary Medicine Collection at an Academic Health Sciences Library
Objective: The veterinary medicine collection at an academic health sciences library was not adequately meeting the needs of faculty, students, and research staff. This service gap became obvious as the library increased its outreach to clinical and translational researchers. To address this problem, a librarian conducted both a needs assessment and collection assessment, and used the results to begin rebuilding the library’s veterinary medicine collection.
Methods: Needs assessment: The librarian used a number of techniques to learn about the information needs of faculty, students, and research staff, including a departmental needs assessment. These results were discussed with relevant campus entities, including bench scientists, research administrators, and representatives from the institution’s animal use and care committee to generate more feedback. Concurrently, the librarian conducted a literature review and sought the advice of colleagues with experience in veterinary medical librarianship regarding core resources. Collection assessment: An inventory of library-owned or licensed information resources specific to veterinary medicine or laboratory animal medicine was conducted. Based on the information gathered, the librarian identified the major gaps in the library’s collection of veterinary medical resources and submitted a proposal to rebuild the library’s veterinary medicine collection.
Results and Conclusions: My results and conclusions are not complete yet.
Author: Marisa L. Conte, Clinical and Translational Science Liaison, Taubman Health Sciences Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
