FY 22 Annual Report

Health Sciences Library System

Collaboration and Partnerships

Homewood Community Engagement Center

HSLS librarians taught students enrolled in the Learn and Earn program about using MedlinePlus for authoritative consumer health information. Librarians also supported the Black Maternal Health Forum by identifying and promoting MedlinePlus resources relating to maternal health.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

HSLS librarians taught a five-week course for Pitt’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute: Surviving an Infodemic: Finding and Evaluating Health Information Online

FY 22 HSLS Osher Course Data

33 students (on average) per class session

22 out of 23 agreed “the course was satisfying.”

Global Health Case Competition

The HSLS liaison to the School of Public Health assisted the Pitt Global Health Case Competition teams by developing a LibGuide to help with their research on the topic. One team took up the offer to meet individually to receive librarian assistance, and this team eventually went on to win the Pitt competition and compete at the national level. Pitt came in third out of 53 teams.
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Genomics Research Core

The HSLS MolBio Information Service established a teaching collaboration
with the Genomics Research Core (GRC) at the University of Pittsburgh. GRC instructors presented in several HSLS workshops on bioinformatics topics.

Institute for Precision Medicine

In partnership with HSLS MolBio, the Institute for Precision Medicine, a joint collaboration of the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, sponsored and promoted the use of genomics software, as well as offered financial support to aid the ongoing deployment of the CLC Genomics Workbench and other software from QIAGEN.

Junior Health Care Explorers Program

HSLS librarians participated in the School of Public Health’s sessions for middle and high school students as part of the JHCE program, a partnership of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh. Approximately 60 students attended two virtual interactive two-hour sessions that introduced them to public health careers and fundamental concepts in the field.

Health Career Scholars Academy

HSLS librarians taught 90-minute classes on the basics of scholarly research and finding reliable health information in PittCat, MedlinePlus, and PubMed for 80 high school students attending the Health Career Scholars Academy at the University of Pittsburgh. These were followed by 60-minute working sessions in which the students formulated research questions and conducted online research with the assistance of a librarian. Additionally, the librarians created a LibGuide to support the students through the research and writing phases of their research projects.

Public Health Science Academy

Pitt’s Public Health Science Academy enrolled approximately 12 high school students who engaged in research through six different projects. HSLS librarians led sessions on scholarly research and locating reliable health information, as well as provided resources on plagiarism and finding and evaluating websites and resources.

Pitt Day of Caring

Members of HSLS leadership worked with Operation Better Block and other community groups to tidy up a community garden in Homewood.

Medical Alumni Association

HSLS librarians were featured during two social media takeovers of Pitt’s Medical Alumni Association’s Instagram and Twitter. These HSLS-produced videos spotlighted the many services HSLS offers such as liaison librarians and search consultations. HSLS also collaborated with the Medical Alumni Association for Pitt Day of Giving and the Medical Treasures video series.

University Library System (ULS) and Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)

Librarians from HSLS Data Services and Scholarly Publishing Services collaborated with Pitt’s ULS and OSP to plan and secure funding for the 2022 Open Scholarship and Research Impact Challenge. This two-week event included a wide range of learning opportunities and activities to give researchers the practical tools to make their research more accessible, more reproducible, more connected to the public welfare, and more in line with their personal values. Funding paid for participant incentives and the Make Metrics Meaningful kickoff workshop given by the HuMetricsHSS Initiative.