Message from the Chief Library Services Officer
Welcome to our new annual report! We hope you like the design, format and new ways of sharing our knowledge and information with you. It’s been a successful year with new initiatives, collaborations, and community outreach that connect students, faculty, and staff. Our team is dedicated to supporting the Mission of PCOM 2020 and each program by ensuring that Library resources support the curriculum and scholarly pursuits. We will share key metrics and stories from each campus. Moving forward, we hope to continue reporting our successes. Thank you for making FY18 an outstanding year for the PCOM Libraries!
Metrics
The growth and expansion of clinical, research, and educational activities have strengthened our partnerships and have resulted in an increased demand for library services and assistance.
DigitalCommons@PCOM
DigitalCommons@PCOM: Faculty and Student scholarship continues to grow. This past November the number of cumulative downloads surpassed the 1 million mark, 1,025,795 from all sources!
Content Discovery
Our digital usage and resources continues to expand. The chart shows a sizable 42% growth rate in total digital downloads over the three years from FY16 though F18; which means users are consuming the library’s online content.
Education
The Library educates the community about our academic resources in an array of delivery modes. We introduce students and faculty to library resources through orientations, seminars, and curriculum based instruction, including evidence based practice and research tools. Librarians remain committed to outreach. Last year 128 sessions were taught in which 4391 people were in attendance.
Engaging Our Community
Art, Technology, Medicine Event
During the summer of 2017, Georgia campus Library staff began planning a program that would serve as an introduction for the PCOM community to the concept of graphic medicine as both an educational tool for both students and patients. From this single idea, the Art, Technology, Medicine (ATM) event grew to include other educational and therapeutic methods that share the quality of being creative and innovative. Held at the end of National Medical Librarians Month, ATM was a collaborative event that featured employees from the Simulation Center, Student Affairs, and the Department of Physical Therapy demonstrating how various arts and technologies could be integrated into patient care and health sciences education. We did our best to integrate a bit of fun into each station, so that the community could have an event that was both enjoyable and edifying. Feedback from both attendees and facilitators was very positive, so the ATM event has become an annual event.
Database Room Renovation
The Philadelphia campus Library database room underwent a major summer facelift in 2018. The redesign objective was to create a conducive learning environment for adaptive group learning. New features include four groups of six student computer workspaces and Solstice software, which encourages collaboration through the use of multiple mobile devices. Instructor facilitation is enhanced by the addition of a mobile lectern, wireless connectivity, and drop-down dual flat-screen monitors positioned centrally in each workgroup. The space is always accessible for casual student use when not being used for learning, instruction, or testing.
Credits:
Created with an image by medicalmuseum - "Anatomical models on display (MIS 52-854-1), National Museum of Health and Medicine"