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Cover page of Going Global: Librarian Involvement in Outreach & Global Health Research

Going Global: Librarian Involvement in Outreach & Global Health Research

(2024)

The mission of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is Advancing Health Worldwide. To that end, the campus engages in outreach to low-and-middle-income countries through research collaborations and other outreach activities.  The education and research librarians at the UCSF Library actively work with researchers and programs engaged in global health programming and projects, and provide educational support and online training for learners in Africa and other developing countries. UCSF research librarians support those working in UCSF’s Institute for Global Health, the Global Brain Health Institute, and UCSF’s Global Cancer Program, as well as UCSF School of Medicine projects engaging in global health efforts. This poster will describe the global programming activities on campus and librarian involvement in teaching and supporting learners around the world. The poster will also highlight librarian involvement and collaboration on specific systematic review projects involving researchers from Latin America, Mexico, and Africa. Librarian involvement supports the overall campus mission, but has also led to additional projects and greater visibility for library services and librarian expertise. 

Presented at the American Library Association 2024 Conference.

Cover page of Promoting DEIA Through Outreach, Collections, & Scholarly Communication

Promoting DEIA Through Outreach, Collections, & Scholarly Communication

(2024)

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Library has been actively engaged in promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) goals through a variety of approaches, including outreach and education to targeted campus groups, research collaborations, exhibits and public programming, participation in UC-wide groups, and collections. The library has incorporated DEIA into the library’s strategic plan goals, created rubrics for use in the hiring process, and incorporated DEIA activities and goals into the performance evaluation process for library employees. The University of California has also developed transformative publishing agreements with multiple publishers, allowing UC authors the option of publishing their articles open access with no or low article processing charges (APCs). These agreements allow UC authors to maintain their copyrights and encourage young researchers, LGBTQ+ researchers and other minority researchers to publish and promote their projects from the diversity of our campus populations. All of these activities promote UCSF’s PRIDE values of professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence. This poster will highlight numerous activities and initiatives both within the library and on the UCSF campus promoting DEIA and beyond that, the campus mission of Advancing Health Worldwide.  

Presented at the American Library Association 2024 Conference.

Cover page of An Actionable Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Scholarly Communication

An Actionable Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Scholarly Communication

(2024)

Libraries strive to increase diversity in the workforce and foster equity and inclusion through the resources and services we provide. Recognizing the inequities and biases that exist within the scholarly publishing ecosystem, the authors created a publicly accessible online resource on the University of California Office of Scholarly Communication website to guide stakeholders to actions they could take to create more equitable scholarly communication environments. The resulting site offers distinct sections for peer reviewers, editorial boards, authors, scholarly publishers, and libraries, each summarizing research into the equity challenges for that group and suggesting actionable steps for addressing these challenges. We hope that, by interacting with this resource, scholarly communication stakeholders will gain a better understanding of the landscape and know how to take action. This poster will present our model for raising awareness of the inequities in the scholarly publishing ecosystem and encouraging participants to take concrete steps to reduce barriers and inequities in scholarly publishing. We will describe how we first identified the need for such a resource, engaged stakeholders in a review of the initial draft, modified that draft in response to feedback, and are currently implementing our recommendations in our library-based publishing setting. We will explore some of the challenges we face in ensuring that the resource remains up-to-date and relevant over time. Suggestions will also be provided for linking to this resource on library and publisher web pages and for contacting the group with suggestions and feedback.

Presented at the American Library Association 2024 Conference.

Cover page of Reaching Diverse Populations Through Targeted Library Services 

Reaching Diverse Populations Through Targeted Library Services 

(2023)

The mission of the University of California, San Francisco is Advancing Health Worldwide. There are several different programs across the University providing outreach to and collaborating with health providers and learners in developing countries, and programs reaching out to minority students enrolled in high school and undergraduate programs to encourage interest in careers in the health sciences. The UCSF Library has worked to collaborate with campus groups engaged with minority and marginalized populations. This poster will highlight collaborations with our Global Cancer Program, The UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences, The Global Brain Health Institute, SF BUILD (Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity), UCSF PUP (Pre-Health Undergraduate Program), NEXGENE Girls program, and the UCSF Summer Student Research Program. The poster will also highlight other types of research collaborations between Librarians and investigators working on projects focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or on minority health both in the U.S., and in low-and-middle-income countries. We will share how these collaborations lead to continuing engagement, published papers, and greater exposure of Librarians as active collaborators in the University’s educational and research enterprise. 

Presented at the 2023 American Library Association Conference.

Cover page of Sexual harassment in the library: understanding experiences & taking action

Sexual harassment in the library: understanding experiences & taking action

(2023)

Poster presented at the 2023 American Library Association Conference.

Sexual harassment of library employees has not been comprehensively studied. In the first study measuring sexual harassment experiences of academic library employees at a single institution, we conducted a census of 1,610 non-student employees at the 10-campus University of California Libraries system. Our objectives were to: measure sexual harassment experiences quantitatively and qualitatively; identify opinions of library staff regarding institutional support around sexual harassment; and produce policy and training recommendations based on this data. Out of 579 respondents to our anonymous online survey, 54% experienced and/or observed sexual harassment at work, 74% did not report their experiences, and University of California Libraries staff were the most frequently reported exhibitors of sexual harassment behaviors. Respondents recommended training, workplace culture change, support from leadership, and clear reporting processes in order to address sexual harassment at University of California Libraries. With this poster presentation, we aim to raise awareness of this issue and provide tools for library workers interested in beginning conversations about addressing sexual harassment in their libraries.

 

We plan to showcase our methods, including the process by which our study was designed in collaboration with an advisory team, campus advocates, and library administrators, and present our key results visually through the use of infographics, colorful data visualizations, and descriptive text. 

Although our study was conducted in a large academic library, we believe the results are relevant to all libraries. By raising awareness of our methods and results, we aim to equip library workers from all types of libraries to begin conversations about sexual harassment in their environments and empower others to create similar studies and organizational culture change in their workplaces.

Cover page of Creating a police-free library: new abolitionist roles for library workers

Creating a police-free library: new abolitionist roles for library workers

(2023)

Poster presented at the 2023 American Library Association Conference.

Librarianship is grappling with how structural racism manifests and is furthered through the profession. This is occurring at a moment when the impact of policing and incarceration, particularly of Black Americans, has reached a critical point in the US. With Black people five times more likely to be incarcerated and twice as likely to be killed by police than people of any other racial identity, the manifestations of structural racism, and anti-Blackness in particular, in these systems are apparent.

 

After learning that 70% of 231 use of police force incidents on our campus in 2020 were against Black people, our library staff dedicated ourselves to eliminating anti-Black violence in our library space. This poster presentation will describe our journey to learn about and practice abolitionist services in libraries; our collaborations with campus groups including administration, university and county police forces, and student and staff organizations; our unique perspectives as academic and health sciences library workers situated in both clinical and academic settings; and our continuing efforts to create a police-free library given the challenges of institutional dynamics and politics. Our aim is to facilitate a space for attendees to reflect on the harmful effects of policing that manifest in libraries and discuss opportunities for incorporating abolitionist services into their library settings.

 

We will use visual representations of national and local policing statistics to capture attendees' attention and will include infographics, images, and zines to describe our journey to create abolitionist library services. 

We are aware that creating a police-free library may be considered a controversial topic: however, we believe this work is imperative given the police violence our Black patrons experience nationwide. This issue affects us all and we are excited about the opportunity to raise awareness of everyday ways that library workers can fight anti-Blackness in their libraries.

Cover page of Sexual harassment at University of California Libraries: Understanding the experiences of library staff members

Sexual harassment at University of California Libraries: Understanding the experiences of library staff members

(2021)

Poster presented at the 2021 Mountain Pacific Health Science Libraries Conference.

In the first study measuring sexual harassment experiences of academic library employees at a single institution, we conducted a census of 1,610 non-student employees at the 10-campus University of California Libraries system. This anonymous online survey measured how sexual harassment was experienced and observed in terms of behaviors, exhibitors, reporting and disclosure, institutional support and betrayal, and recommendations for future actions. Out of 579 respondents, 54% experienced and/or observed sexual harassment at work, 74% did not report their experiences, and University of California Libraries staff were the most frequently reported exhibitors of sexual harassment behaviors. Respondents recommended training, workplace culture change, support from leadership, and clear reporting processes in order to address sexual harassment at University of California Libraries. We aim to raise awareness of this issue and provide tools for health sciences librarians interested in beginning conversations about addressing sexual harassment in their libraries.

Cover page of Systematic reviews at UCSF: an evaluation of methodology

Systematic reviews at UCSF: an evaluation of methodology

(2017)

Presentation at the 2017 Medical Library Association Conference

Objective: UCSF Library has one year trial access to Embase with the express goal of providing a systematic review service to assist authors create this increasingly important study type. The aim of the current study is to analyze the last 10 years of systematic reviews written by UCSF authors for databases used and conformity with IOM and PRISMA recommendations.

 

Methods: A search of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for UCSF-authored systematic reviews between 1/1/2006 through 8/23/2016 found 2133 articles. Title/abstract screening eliminated 979 articles that did not meet inclusion criteria. Data was extracted from the remaining 1154 articles.

 

The following data will be extracted: number and names of databases searched, extent of librarian involvement in the review, and other methodological components identified in PRISMA and IOM guidelines. Descriptive statistics will be used to look for patterns and trends, and bivariate analyses may be used to examine relationships between methodological factors (e.g. librarian involvement) and other variables (e.g. departmental affiliation). Our conclusions will help inform instructional services, database purchase decisions, and targeted promotion of our systematic review services. Future investigation will include effect of these efforts on UCSF community conformity with Systematic Review best practices.

Cover page of Negotiating the librarian's role in research collaborations: a health sciences case study

Negotiating the librarian's role in research collaborations: a health sciences case study

(2017)

Poster presented at the 2017 Librarians Association of the University of California (LAUC) Assembly

Background: Librarians contribute expertise to faculty projects but often experience uncertainty around the extent of their involvement in research teams. The librarian’s role, while crucial in many projects, can be ambiguous at best, dismissed at worst, and misunderstood in many cases. Lack of librarian acknowledgement in completed projects highlights the fact that librarians are a highly utilized but undervalued resource. 

 

Objective: Systematic reviews are a relatively new method of research that require in-depth librarian involvement, but there are no standards within librarianship for negotiating place within systematic review research teams. This poster aims to address key issues librarians face when collaborating on systematic reviews and other research projects. 

 

Methods: A health sciences librarian, new to health sciences but experienced in academic research and librarianship, created a systematic review service at her library and explored the issues that arose around establishing the librarian’s place in research teams. Issues included confusion about the librarian’s role, a lack of understanding about the systematic review process, and potential awkwardness around librarian acknowledgement and coauthorship. 

 

Results: Several strategies were utilized to address issues of uncertainty in research collaborations, including the development of a memorandum of understanding that outlined expectations and responsibilities, documentation about the systematic review research process, and the enforcement of mandatory requirements to receive librarian assistance. This poster will report on the current state of the systematic review service, including the librarian coauthorship rate and number of reviews that have reached completion. 

 

Conclusions: A variety of lessons learned are presented, including tips for addressing key issues in the early phase of establishing the librarian’s role and addressing uncertainty or resistance from research teams. The information presented in this poster is not unique to the health sciences field and can be applied to all academic librarians’ work with faculty. A discussion of strategies for librarians working in a variety of disciplines and settings will be presented. 

Cover page of Evidence-based public health and information needs of public health workers: a systematic search and review

Evidence-based public health and information needs of public health workers: a systematic search and review

(2016)

Poster presented at the 2016 Northern California & Nevada Medical Library Group (NCNMLG) Conference.

This study aims to assess the information needs of public health workers based on a review of the literature using a systematic search strategy.