HSLS and the University’s School of Information Sciences (iSchool) recently enrolled our first cohort of students in a newly created Certificate of Advanced Study in Health Sciences Librarianship (HealthCAS) program. This online post-Master’s degree program, funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, allows librarians to expand and enhance their knowledge of the theory and practice of health sciences librarianship. The HealthCAS program is a unique collaboration between faculty in the Department of Library and Information Sciences at the iSchool and practicing faculty librarians at HSLS.
Over the course of the year-long program, HSLS faculty librarians will teach classes on topics such as understanding the current health care environment, management of health sciences resource collections, and provision of information services and instruction to health care providers. In addition to taking these courses, students will complete a 3-credit research project relevant to the topic of health sciences librarianship. Librarians in this first cohort will graduate from the HealthCAS program with a firm understanding of current trends in health sciences research and education, an enhanced awareness of the information needs of clinical care providers, and the skills needed to manage and provide access to the expanding knowledge base in health care and the health sciences.
For more information about HealthCAS, contact Ester Saghafi, reference librarian and project manager, at 412-648-1973 or esaghafi@pitt.edu.
~ Mary Lou Klem