Judith Barnes, Medical Librarian
Ingham Regional Medical Center
John W. Chi Memorial Medical Library
Lansing, MI
1. How are you effectively marketing your library and library holdings among your patrons? What tips can you share with your colleagues that you found to be successful?
The Chi Memorial Medical Library at Ingham Regional Medical Center held a lunchtime conference with a live demonstration of the system. Attending were the Director of Medical Education, Coordinator of Continuing Medical Education and Andrew Borgschulte, my Elsevier Customer Engagement Specialist. (We suggest that the old saying “if you feed them, they will come” would have gone a long way to pull more people into the demonstration: i.e. cookies, punch, pretzels, cheese, vegetable platter, dip, etc.) After the lunch session, Andrew Borgschulte met with attending physicians as they came to the Physicians’ Lounge. There he was able to speak with several physicians who could not attend the lunch session.
On day two, Andrew took up a position in the Library and spoke with physicians, nurses and ancillary personnel coming to the library.
We continue to display posters and have the Quick Reference Cards at each computer workstation (16) enabling users to sign up for mobile access.
Next we will advertise the Webinars to spark additional interest.
As users approach the Librarian for assistance with the computers, First Consult and MD Consult will be the first demonstration and users will be referred to it when they ask for “point-of-care” or “evidence-based” resources.
We plan to put a small article in the Physicians Newsletter in October to continue promoting the resources.
2. If you weren’t a medical librarian, what would you be?
I suppose I would have turned out to be a computer geek of some kind. My background includes training in computer programming.
3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you be?
My husband and I chose Central Michigan. Originally from Pennsylvania, we were moved here in the 1970s with his job. We fell in love with it immediately! The pace, the space, the homespun people, the clean air. We had never seen such fluffy clouds on the east coast. I was tired of mass transit, the crowds, the smell. At the time, Michigan had one of the best roadway systems we had seen.
Subsequently, we were moved back to New Jersey, where we felt overcrowded. When we both found ourselves temporarily out of work, we picked up bag and baggage and moved back to Michigan, where my library training was put to use. Been here 25 years now.
4. If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?
Many have told me that I have superior searching skills. I believe that you can look without seeing but you can’t see if you don’t look. Bad eyesight has plagued me all of my life. So, I would opt for 20/20 vision. I know that’s not a “super” power, but having lived with glaucoma, cataracts, corneal dystrophy, amblyopia, astigmatism and generally poor eyesight; it would truly be a blessing. Imagine what I could find if I could really see! Or maybe that is my super power; I search harder because I can’t see well.