Drs. Elizabeth Schulman and Juliana Eng recently partnered with Antonio DeRosa, the newest member on the Reference team, to develop an online resource guide and tool to deliver customized training content to the medicine housestaff. By incorporating Web 2.0 technologies, this group now has an opportunity to access an array of orientation materials, selected articles and PowerPoint slides, and other education resources on their own or as a group, at times that are convenient for them. Welcome to the “Medicine Educational Resources” LibGuide.
When Drs. Schulman and Eng first dropped by the library to discuss what they were hoping to achieve, they never dreamed that the outcome would exceed their expectations. Their initial goal was to create a central resource for housestaff from different programs so that these individuals could access essential orientation and education materials to supplement their oncology experience at MSKCC. Neither Drs. Schulman nor Eng had heard about “MSKCC LibGuides” and while they were aware that other institutions had developed educational websites, they wanted a site that did not overwhelm the user with information and that was user-friendly. They also wanted a site that would be easy to update and the Library was able to achieve this requirement. An inherent benefit of this guide is that it directly links to other Library resources so the user can ultimately access a larger range of targeted cancer information more readily.
As of April 22, the Medicine Educational Resources LibGuide has been accessed 774 times (published on: Thursday, March 29, 2012). The site traffic has been excellent, to say the least, considering it has only been available to MSK staff for about three weeks! Feedback has also been positive and unanimous! According to Drs. Schulman and Eng “everyone thinks the LibGuide is very practical and well-organized and thus a useful educational resource that is readily accessible to everyone. In fact, multiple attendings have already wanted to add to our LibGuide or create their own for their department.”
Collaborating with the Library, especially, Antonio DeRosa, according to Drs. Schulman and Eng was “seamless. Not only was he professional, efficient, and organized, he completely understood our goals and thought of creative ways to achieve our goal in a technologically advanced way.”
If you are interested in learning more about LibGuides, don’t hesitate to contact the Reference Team via Ask a Librarian or Donna Gibson, Director of Library Services. Perhaps, you and your department/group would benefit from having a customized LibGuide. We can create several different types of LibGuides to include those that support an educational initiative, keep you up-to-date and informed, or cover a subject of interest. Don’t wait to start collaborating with us to develop a LibGuide that fits your information needs!