Category Archives: About the Library

Now Available Online: Research In Review: An Analysis of MSK Publications 2016-2020

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The Synapse team led by Jeanine McSweeney, Associate Librarian, Scholarly Communications, publishes annually the Synapse Publications reports, showcasing our authors’ contributions to the body of scientific knowledge and their research and clinical activities associated with Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center.

This year I am delighted to share that we have added a new report entitled, “Research In Review: An Analysis of MSK Publications 2016-2020,” which dives deeper into the publications affiliated with the Center. This report provides insight into the variety of existing metrics used to measure research impact at an article-, journal-, or author-level. In the period covered in this report, the Synapse team retrieved and curated over 25,500 works, and it is with these citations that we share one aspect of a very complex research story. This report highlights the demographics of our author community, existing metrics, and how research impact is gauged. In addition, we share interesting facts about publication-related datasets gleaned from a variety of credible resources such as PubMed Central® (PMC). Our intentions in producing this report are simply to raise awareness of possible ways in which to view research contributions.

Synapse is a public-facing resource and the authoritative bibliographic database of MSK publications, developed and maintained by a team of skilled librarians. This database provides a record of the intellectual output written by MSK researchers, clinicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.

We hope in the future to produce other “Research In Review” type publications.  Please feel free to reach out to me to share your thoughts about this report.

Donna Gibson
Director, Library Services

Three Questions: Tiffany Chan, Special Project Librarian

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Tiffany posing in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Tiffany visiting the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

For our next Three Questions interview, we spoke with Tiffany Chan, Special Project Librarian.

What areas can you help MSK users with?

Hi! I work with the team that identifies MSK authors’ published works and links them to Synapse, our online database of MSK authors and their publications. Synapse is unique to our organization and it allows MSK staff to effortlessly find their published works via their profiles to use for networking, CV development, and more! I can answer your questions about how to enhance your profile and our overall process from beginning to end.

What projects have you been working on recently?

We receive many publications each month by MSK authors. I index these works in our database by reviewing each one and making sure all the identifiers and other bibliographic data match up with what is on the original PDF, PubMed record, publisher website etc. I then ensure the publication is associated with the correct MSK author’s profile or create a new one if it is their first time publishing while at MSK. This ongoing project is an important step in our process that ensures your work is discoverable by others.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

There are many places I want to explore, but my heart tells me to go back to my roots. My family’s ancestral home in China was occupied for countless generations by hardworking farmers and very capable women. This home is now unoccupied, but still holds on to its former beauty. My hope is to see it soon before time and nature reclaim it.

Can You Guess Where Our Focus Will Be Over the Next Three Years?

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I am delighted to share the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Library Strategic Plan 2022-2024. This plan was written based on feedback obtained from our user community in 2021, through extensive one-on-one interviews, focus group sessions, Yammer polls, and a large-scale client feedback survey. We also selected four libraries for a benchmarking exercise. A major outcome was the development of three strategic focus statements.

Library Strategic Plan 2022-2024 infographic

Click on the image above to better view, Who We Support, What We Do, and Our Ambition.

As we move forward to implement the goals and objectives outlined, we will continue to keep our users in mind and focus on their information needs. This might translate to adjusting the strategic plan to accommodate changing patient care initiatives and the evolving research environment.

Should you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. 

Donna Gibson
Director, Library Services