Personalized Service

Society librarians offer a special gateway to library resources

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As today’s libraries evolve to meet the needs of a digital generation of students, the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard Medical School is adopting a uniquely personalized approach.

HMS students are now able to get one-on-one assistance from individual librarians who are assigned to each of the HMS academic societies—Cannon, Castle, Holmes, Peabody and London.

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“We’re piloting this program this year as a way to increase visibility of the library within the medical school curriculum and to become a more integral part of the academic societies,” said Meredith Solomon, outreach officer for Countway and the librarian assigned to the Peabody Society.

These society librarians are available to help students with research and support them as they seek scholarly publication by providing small group and hands-on instruction and more. The Pathways curriculum requires students to complete a scholarly project before graduation.

“We were involved in discussing the way in which the program would unfold and how it particularly interacts with the graduation requirement—a scholarly project—which often starts with a literary review,” said Anthony D’Amico, advisory dean for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Society and HMS professor of radiation oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Society advisors expect students to take advantage of the help offered by the librarians as they tackle this major requirement.

“For some students this will be a major independent research undertaking, which will involve understanding the background of the medical literature in the field, learning new methods and techniques, and analyzing the context of what’s out there to understand their own work. That will be an intensive use of the society librarians,” said Bernard Chang, advisory dean for the Francis Weld Peabody Society and HMS associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

“It seemed like a good opportunity to integrate the new vision of Countway with our students needs within the new curriculum,” Chang added.

“This program offers an opportunity for students to have access to what's been done before them and to learn how and why medicine is the way it is today. Having that background, and understanding the community they’re in, will make them better professionals,” said Jessica Murphy, reference archivist in the Center for the History of Medicine at Countway and society librarian for the Holmes Society.

Even though students are accustomed to living in a digital world, faculty have found many still need to develop their information-searching skill sets.

“Sometimes we in the faculty assume that because this generation of students is so familiar with digital access to things that they will also be familiar with searching the medical literature online and accessing the nooks and crannies of medical information easily, and I think that’s not true. That’s where the society librarians can have a big role,” said Chang.

“We’re able to direct you where to look, how to look, or even do the searching for you in some cases. There is so much information available out there, but it’s hard to find. That’s a really good skill set to have and to develop, and that’s what we’re doing now,” said Murphy.This program is also a part of the library’s efforts to become more involved in the students’ learning.

“Libraries are integral parts of any university community, but the people inside them usually are not as close knit with the student body as we librarians would like to be,” said Solomon.

“Libraries get a little lost in the dark because students and faculty don’t know how to use them anymore. What we’re trying to do now is branch out and make Countway more approachable and interactive for students,” said Murphy.

To work with a society librarian, students can visit the Countway website or contact them directly.

  • Cannon Society

Paul Bain, PhD

Biology resources, search and discovery, systematic reviews and evidence-based practice

  • Castle Society

Jaki Cellini, MLIS, MPH

Public Health, research design and management support

  • London Society (HST)

Reddy Gali, MS, PhD

Bioinformatics support

  • Holmes Society

Jessica Murphy, MLS

History of medicine, biosciences, public health and research support

  • Peabody Society

Meredith Solomon MLS

Search and discovery and evidence-based practice