Category Archives: Director’s Reflections

Learn about the library from the Director’s perspective

Attention MSK Staff: We Need Your Feedback!

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COVID-19 has had an impact on the way we work and interact with our colleagues and user communities. The MSK Library is taking time to re-examine our operations and current service offerings. To help develop our strategic plan and roadmap for the next three years, we are seeking feedback from MSK staff.  

The survey will take about five minutes to complete and will close on Thursday, September 30, 2021. Click here to enter: 
Client Feedback Survey

As a token of our appreciation, MSK staff who complete the survey will be entered into a drawing to win one of three gifts (iPad Mini, or one of two $100 Amazon gift cards).

If you have any additional thoughts, feel free to reach out to me!

Donna Gibson
Director, Library Services

What Do These Numbers Have in Common: 5,308… 217… 11?

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The 2020 Synapse Publications Report can help you find out. This year our authors published 5,308 works! Of this total, we noted that 217 works were COVID-related. We also expanded our document publication types and now organize works under 11 different formats. The new formats include: Correspondence, Editorial, Guidelines, Journal Article, Miscellaneous, Research Letter, and Review.

Synapse is a public-facing resource and the authoritative bibliographic database of MSK publications, developed and maintained by a team of skilled librarians. While this report reflects the year in review, the Synapse database provides a record of the intellectual output written by MSK researchers, clinicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. As of July 2021, Synapse contains over 90,290 entries [references] dating back to 1987.

I hope that by browsing the 2020 Synapse Publications Report, readers will gain a sense of the contributions made by MSK authors to the ever-growing body of scholarly research. If you are curious about our past annual reports, feel free to explore.

Donna Gibson
Director, Library Services



We’re Back to Regular Business Hours!

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We are delighted to announce that effective July 1, the MSK Library will be returning to regular business hours, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 7:00 pm.

MSK staff will no longer have to register to reserve a seat and seating availability will return to a first come, first serve scenario.

There are guidelines that will remain in place. While vaccinated staff are not required to wear a mask, social distancing should continue to be followed. Unvaccinated staff are still required to wear their mask in public areas which includes the Library’s physical space.

Our patients and their caregivers are also welcome to return to the MSK Library to use available resources and consult with librarians on-site. For the safety of our patients, visiting and research hours for them will be Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from Noon to 2:00 pm where all individuals in the Library’s space will need to wear their masks. In addition, no food/beverages are permitted in the Library, with the exception of bottled water.

For our Tri-Institutional colleagues, we recommend they contact us to confirm seating availability by calling our info desk (212.639.7439) or sending an email to Ask a Librarian.

As a friendly reminder, MSK Staff can continue to access the majority of the Library’s services and collections remotely. Visit our Virtual Library Services page to learn more. 

Donna Gibson
Director, Library Services