The goal of The Grace and Harold Sewell Memorial Fund, Inc. (the Fund) is to increase librarians’ identification with medical and health care professionals. Medicine for the 21^st Century underlines the key role of information resources in raising the quality of health care.⁽¹⁾ Librarians experienced in managing knowledge and teaching informatics can supply quality information by becoming ongoing members of the health care team. Immersion in the health care environment is necessary for librarians to understand how health care professionals solve problems individually and through consensus.

Learning Partnerships: Toward New Information Perspectives
 

"Wonderful program. There are not enough such immersion opportunities for librarians."  
                                        – Neil Rambo, UW Health Sciences Libraries, 9/22/06

The Grace and Harold Sewell Memorial Fund plans to fund two, paid, 12-month, Learning Partnerships placing experienced librarians within leading health care organizations for the purpose of both partners gaining a greater understanding of how best information sciences can be effectively applied in each environment. Host organizations will provide a learning environment, a series of activities, and access to organizational leaders which will allow the fellow to more fully understand the nature of the organization’s work, its decision-making processes, the clients served and the health care issues addressed. The fellow will participate in team settings designed to utilize the librarian’s skills and knowledge in non-traditional ways, resulting in a tangible and valuable contribution to the host organization. Immersion is the goal and expanded knowledge the anticipated result for both partners.   

The application deadline was April 15, 2007.  We are currently finalizing the selection of the 2007 Sewell Learning Partnerships.  Keep reading for information on the host organizations that were available for applicants.  The process for our next round of Learning Partnerships will begin in the fall of 2008.

Anticipated Outcomes from our Learning Partnerships

2007 Host Organizations

Five eminent health organizations, based in the Pacific Northwest and , have been selected for the 2007 Sewell Learning Partnerships program. These host organizations are leaders respectively in health-related research, direct care, and public health programming. Not only do they provide a dynamic, cutting edge environment in which to learn and contribute, but they also each will benefit significantly from the placement of a skilled and well-educated librarian.  Note that additional detailed information from the host's proposal is available by clicking on the link at the end of each description below. For additional information about each host, go to each organization’s website.  

1.  Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (www.sbri.org) is the largest independent, non-profit research institute in the United States focused solely on researching the world’s most devastating infectious diseases. The collaborative nature of SBRI links scientists and staff members in a unique and highly productive environment with one common goal: making breakthrough discoveries to lift the burden of global infectious disease. The Learning Partnership project will design a system to collect, synthesize and share research information among the Institute’s scientists.

The ideal candidate for the SBRI Learning Partnership is a mid-level career librarian who has mastered the basics of their trade and is able to share best practices in a setting where independence, initiative and technical competence describe the employees who excel. A librarian who is versed in health sciences is required; familiarity with life sciences and research preferred. Also desired is a candidate who has experience implementing information technology to support library sciences, with either off-the-shelf products or in the design of custom, in-house written solutions.  <For more information on the detailed Learning Partnership proposal, click here.>

2.  Washington State Department of Health (DOH)  Washington State Department of Health (DOH) works with its federal, state and local partners to help the 6.5 million people in Washington stay healthier and safer. Our programs and services help prevent illness and injury, promote healthy places to live and work, provide education to help people make good health decisions and ensure our state is prepared for emergencies.

The DOH addresses a wide range of responsibilities and topic areas - from zoonotics, to radiation, early childhood development and learning, newborn and genetic screening, laboratory science, health education, tobacco policy, chronic disease prevention, communicable disease prevention and control, health care facilities and health care provider licensing, health systems and primary care planning, trauma system planning, and more.  We collect, analyze, and monitor information on this large range of topics and provide information, policy, and services.  Across the nation, public health in Washington State is viewed as progressive.  The decade-long approach to collaboration between state and local public health agencies that forms the foundation of the Public Health Improvement Partnership is considered a model. 

The DOH is partnering with the University of Washington Health Science Library (UW HSL) and the Washington State Libraries (WSL) for this Learning Partnership.  The purpose is to develop a systematic, agency-wide plan for improving DOH’s use of “current best evidence” in public health decision-making and practice at all levels of the state health department on an ongoing basis.  This plan will well position and guide our agency and our partners in working together most effectively.  In order to develop this plan, we are proposing three areas of focus for this Learning Partnership.

      The ideal candidate would be an experienced master’s level librarian.  We require an interest in public health; demonstrated experience in any capacity of public health or health sciences librarianship is desired.  Also someone who is experienced in or interested in accessing, evaluating and using gray literature.

We need someone who is interested in the ethnographic or anthropological aspects of information science, someone who is a keen observer and can understand what a public health worker’s professional questions and concerns are.  The ideal candidate can observe and probe for a person’s real information needs and understand how that person actually uses information (and how they are not likely to use it).  We need someone who prefers to work closely with public health workers as a team member rather than with other librarians.  We need someone with a well-developed sense of curiosity.

The ideal candidate will also have an understanding of and appreciation for systems and can interpret organizational culture in order to design an agency-wide, systematic plan for increasing our use of current best evidence.  Self-directedness is essential although the individual will be accountable to a supervisor when necessary. <For more information on the detailed Learning Partnership proposal, click here.>
 

3.  Department of School Health Services, Multnomah Education Service District  (http://www.mesd.k12.or.us/shs/)  School Health Services (SHS), provides vital health services to over 75 public schools in Multnomah and Clackamas counties.  SHS school nurses provide health services to ill and injured students; promote wellness through counseling and classroom instruction; perform health screenings and assessments; identify students at risk for physical or psycho-social health problems; serve as liaison between home and school; facilitate access to health care providers; and serve as a resource for the school community.

Through these services, School Health Services promotes optimal wellness for students and school communities to assist students in readiness for learning and developmental achievements.  SHS works in concert with an advisory committee (representatives from each school district) to identify goals and priorities for its service delivery. All students enrolled in Multnomah County public schools are eligible for health services at no cost to student or family.

School Health Services is a program of Multnomah Education Service District (MESD), a regional cooperative agency that caters to the unique needs of Multnomah County public schools in areas such as: school health, special education, alternative education and outdoor education, and program fundraising through its foundation.  The MESD Foundation raises financial support for MESD programs exclusively. Through the MESD Foundation, School Health Services has implemented student health based programs that go beyond the four walls of the school building.

The ideal candidate for this fellowship is a mid-career librarian with an interest in public health and skills in information needs assessment. An interest in public health is required. Demonstrated experience in health sciences librarianship, digital library service planning and implementation, and public health, is desired. Also preferred is an individual who is interested in the ethnographic aspects of information science, a keen observer who can understand the questions and concerns of public health professionals. The successful candidate will observe and probe for staffs’ real information needs and achieve an understanding of how information will actually be used.  <For more information on the detailed Learning Partnership proposal, click here.>

4.  Healia, Inc. (www.healia.com) the creator of a health-optimized search engine that uses patent-pending algorithms and content assessment to generate high-quality, highly targeted and personalized results for consumers and healthcare professionals. Although the Healia search engine was only officially launched in mid-September 2006, it has already won industry awards and has been cited widely by the media and by health and search industry reports. In addition, numerous independent experts have written extremely positive reviews. Leveraging the initial R&D funding by the National Cancer Institute, Healia strives to become the highest quality and most effective health search engine for consumers looking for high quality and personalized health information. Healia technology can be integrated with any Web site or application including portals, interactive tools, and electronic health records. Its licensees include the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the nation's largest integrated health care system. Healia was founded as a socially oriented enterprise and is located in Bellevue, WA.

      Healia technology was developed over a span of more than four years. During that period, seven health librarians were consultants to Healia. Most of these librarians were trained at the Masters level and were directly involved in product R&D, Web and market research, usability testing and QA. Past health librarians have had tremendous impact on Healia’s success as a company and have gained useful skills for their own professional development.

     The ideal candidate is an individual with a passion for creating novel ways to help consumers and health professionals find better information. The candidate should be an “early-adopter” and “out-of-box” thinker who thrives on tackling difficult challenges with limited resources.

      Experience, skills, and qualities expected of the ideal candidate include:

5.  Johns Hopkins University  The Bloomberg School of Public Health, the first of its kind in the country, ranks first among public health schools in federal research support. The school teaches 2005 students a year from 83 different nations, both on-campus and through a nationally recognized distance education program. There are 485 full-time faculty working across departmental lines in alliances of research and action aimed at solving society’s most pressing health problems.

Dr. Lynn Goldman, the Chair of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Interdepartmental Program in Applied Public Health (BSPH IPAPH), is leading a team that strives to create and sustain lasting partnerships with the public health practice community by utilizing the resources and efforts of various centers throughout the School.  As a portal to professional development and academic training programs, the APH program provides practitioners with access to the most current public health research and information available that can immediately be applied to their public health careers.  IPAPH’s affiliated Centers include the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness, Maryland Association of County Health Officers (MACHO), Mid-Atlantic Health Leadership Institute, and the Mid-Atlantic Public Health Training Center. The Program and its affiliates offer avenues for project-based services and training.   This learning partnership will extend training and expert reference services to the broader public health practice community served by BSPH IPAPH and in the process capture the questions typically posed by that community to build a knowledge base linking questions with the resources best suited to answer them.

The ideal candidate will bring experience in librarianship, project management, and informatics to the partnership.  He/she must have a healthy bias in favor of excellent customer service. The candidate should be a team-player with outstanding people skills. He/she should be naturally curious, always seeking a better way to do the job. The candidate should be technologically advanced, capable of doing research, and a creative thinker. Some background in public health, program planning and/or evaluation would be useful.  <For more information on the detailed Learning Partnership proposal, click here.>

(1) Institute of Medicine. Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century. [Web document]. Washington, DC; Natiional Academy Press, 2001. http://www.nap.edu/books/0309072808/html/).

(2) Davidoff E, Florance V. The informationist: a new health profession? [editorial] Ann Int Med 2000 Jun 20;132(12):996-8.

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Last modified: 06/07/08