Evaluating and Addressing the Information Needs of an Urban Public Health Department Through an Academic Health Sciences Library Health Department Partnership Presenter: Barbara Folb, MLS Health Sciences Library System, University of Pittsburgh

ACHD Information Environment 2002  Dispersed offices  Reading Room in one location About 20 print journal subscriptions About 20 print journal subscriptions Copies on request Copies on request  Internet access  Full library privileges for ACHD/GSPH adjunct faculty (15)

HSLS 2002  Serves U of Pittsburgh and UPMC  Staff – 25 professional librarians, 36 support and technical staff, plus student assistants  Collection – app. 200,000 books, 2,600 journal subscriptions, 2,000 Audiovisuals, 1,700 educational software programs 68 (99%) of core PH journals 68 (99%) of core PH journals 269 PH specialty journals 269 PH specialty journals

PHIA Steering Committee  ACHD Alice Kindling, Training Alice Kindling, Training Ed Schwartz, Policy Development and Assessment Ed Schwartz, Policy Development and Assessment  HSLS Barbara Epstein, Director Barbara Epstein, Director Nancy Tannery, Associate Director for Information Services Nancy Tannery, Associate Director for Information Services Barbara Folb, Public Health Librarian Barbara Folb, Public Health Librarian

Successful Program Characteristics  Easy to use  Time effective  Cost effective  Has name recognition at ACHD  Increases potential access to information  Increases use of information

Grant Funding Allocation  NLM 18 month grant, March 1, August 31, 2004  Librarian/Project Manager 2 days/week Reference, training, web site development Reference, training, web site development  Photocopy service support (journal articles, book chapter copies)

Initial PHIA Survey  Purpose – Training development Training development web site development web site development  July/August 2003  Multiple publicity routes  Web based  141 responses from a possible 350 (app)

Survey Topics  Internet use  Confidence in Internet skills  Estimated use of specific web resources and search engines  Barriers to information access  Training preferences

Survey Results Internet Use

No Use 17 Moderate use (1-10) 60 Higher use (11- ) 64

=Major division =Subdivision

Survey Results Confidence in Internet skills

Low confidence 15 Moderate confidence 41 High confidence 80

Survey Results Web Sites Used

 Heaviest use Phone books Phone books Fed/State agency Fed/State agency Regulatory Regulatory  Lighter Use PubMed Toxnet CDC Wonder Large number of web sites used Small number of users per web site

Sites used more than 1/day SITE SITE RESPONSES Other15 CDC not CDC Wonder 4 EPA3 Federal Register 3 Phone Directories 3 CFR2 PA Health Dept 1 PittCat1 USDA1 =Other =Gov Agency =Regulation =Literature =Phone Bk =Data Source

PA Health Dept 29 Other25 Phone Directories 20 EPA19 CDC not CDC Wonder 18 Federal Register 18 PA Bulletin 6 PA Code 6 CFR5 PA State Data Center 5 PubMed5 USDA5 Toxnet4 US Census 2 CDC Wonder 2 PittCat2 Sites used 6-25/month = Other =Gov Agency =Regulation =Literature =Phone Bk =Data Source

Phone Directories 46 PA Health Dept 45 PA Bulletin 36 CDC not CDC Wonder 31 EPA30 Federal Register 24 PA Code 23 USDA23 PA State Data Center 21 Toxnet20 PubMed19 US Census 17 CDC Wonder 16 CFR11 PittCat11 Other10 Sites used 1-5/month = Other =Gov Agency =Regulation =Literature =Phone Bk =Data Source

CDC Wonder 95 US Census 94 PittCat93 CFR91 Toxnet89 PubMed88 USDA86 PA State Data Center 85 PA Code 82 Federal Register 79 PA Bulletin 74 EPA74 CDC not CDC Wonder 64 Phone Directories 51 PA Health Dept 50 Other25 Sites Used 0/month = Other =Gov Agency =Regulation =Literature =Phone Bk =Data Source

PA Health Dept 75 Phone Directories 69 CDC not CDC Wonder 53 EPA52 Other50 Federal Register 45 PA Bulletin 42 USDA29 PA Code 29 PA State Data Center 26 Toxnet24 PubMed24 US Census 19 CDC Wonder 18 CFR18 PittCat14 Total, Any Use = Other =Gov Agency =Regulation =Literature =Phone Bk =Data Source

Search Skill Self Rating: Selected web sites VeryHighHigh ModerateSome-WhatLowVeryLowNeverUsed CDC Wonder (18)* Pubmed (24) Pittcat (14) Toxnet (24) *Total who used the site, any amount/month

Survey Results Barriers to Information

Internet Content Couldn’t Find Is there information you wish to access via the Internet that you have not been able to locate or use? n=136 NumberPercent No10779% Yes2921%

Summary, What They Couldn’t Find  Total who gave text answers: 27 out of 29  Specific needs PHIA can’t address: 3  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 there any times when you needed information (in any format) to accomplish a job-related task, but were unable to obtain the information? n=132 NumberPercent No11486% Yes1814%

What barriers did you encounter to obtaining the information? Please check all that apply. n=18 NumberPercent(x/18) I was unable to locate a source for the information. 844% I was able to locate a source, but not able to obtain the source. 633% I did not have time to complete the task. 1267% The source was too expensive. 528% Other problems. Please list below.* 317% I was not sure of where to look. (1) Inexperienced in where and how to locate programs offering data (1) Information was too generic/ consumer oriented (1) I was not sure of where to look. (1) Inexperienced in where and how to locate programs offering data (1) Information was too generic/ consumer oriented (1)

Survey Results Training Preferences

Electronic Tutorial Interest n=135 NumberPercent As a refresher after attending a live class 7455% As a substitute to attending a live class 3727% Not at all 2418%

Survey Conclusions  Need for training demonstrated Not all employees are highly skilled and confident using the Internet Not all employees are highly skilled and confident using the Internet Valuable resources underutilized Valuable resources underutilized  Access to librarian and library collections needed to overcome information barriers from Lack of time to search Lack of time to search Not knowing where to look Not knowing where to look Lack of money for fee based information Lack of money for fee based information

Addressing Training Needs  Hands on classes– 7 topics PubMed - Internet I & II PubMed - Internet I & II Statistical Resources -Evidence Based Public Health – Consumer Health – Grant Funding Resources Statistical Resources -Evidence Based Public Health – Consumer Health – Grant Funding Resources  – Tuesday Info Tips Short Internet search tips, sent weekly Short Internet search tips, sent weekly Second purpose: increase program visibility Second purpose: increase program visibility

Addressing Information Barriers  Reference Services 30 search requests/year, 30 other queries 30 search requests/year, 30 other queries  Journal article delivery 210 requests 210 requests  Book borrowing Moderate use, stats not retrievable Moderate use, stats not retrievable  PHIA web site

PHIA Continuation  Yearly contract for document delivery coverage.  Librarian funded through the Center for Public Health Practice, GSPH, University of Pittsburgh

Ongoing Goals of PHIA  Provide enhanced library services to ACHD  Evaluate the academic/practitioner partnership model for library services.  Disseminate findings to other health departments and libraries

Acknowledgements  This project has been funded with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. N01-LM  Authors: Barbara Folb, MLS, Barbara Epstein, MSLS  For further information contact Barbara Folb,