Reference Service in
Health Science Libraries
April Younglove
Anna Huber
LI813XO Emporia State University
What is a “Health Science” Library?
Specialty medical library Hospital library Academic library associated with a
teaching hospital or medical college Community health library Public library Rural library
What community does a Health Science Library serve? Doctors: GP’s, PCP’s, Specialists, Surgeons, Residents,
Interns Nurses Physician’s Assistants Medical Assistants/Aids Faculty Students Patients Community Members Volunteers
Reference Issues in Health Science Libraries Privacy: HIPAA Safety/Legal: Errors may have fatal
consequences Paraprofessionals: Academic vs. Hospital Time Technology: PDA’s
Trends in Health Science Libraries
Evidence based MedicineDefined as: practicing medicine from the
perspective of applying current best evidence from clinical research
Increased need for literature reviews and primary sources
Trends in Health Science Libraries
Clinical Medical Librarianship (Informatics) Introduced in 1974 by G. LambLibrarian functions as part of the medical
teamLibrarian has training in both information
science and medical science
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