Medical Librarian Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville, Georgia
Background--how it started: In March 2020, the novel Coronavirus and COVID-19 created unprecedented demand for/supply of literature. To support evidence-based practice during the pandemic, a hospital librarian attempted to mimic viral adaptability by experimenting with methods of information selection and delivery. This poster offers a reflection on the evolution of an ad-hoc information curation service at a community teaching hospital system.
Description--how it mutated: As the volume and variety of available information exploded, impromptu curation strategies were developed to strike a balance between urgency, relevance, quality, and quantity. Content delivery modalities went from sporadic group e-mails to hospital stakeholders, to building an intranet toolkit, to working through Public Relations for placement on a webpage.
Conclusion--how it's going: User data collected over varying time-frames include webpage hits, e-mail “read receipts”, and a service impact questionnaire to individuals on the e-mail contact list. E-mails yielded the most consistent readership averaging just over 40%. Questionnaire respondents indicated that the e-mailed content was overwhelmingly shared with colleagues, used for professional development, and used for medical/patient education. Improved decision-making and patient care/safety were the areas of highest impact.