Learning Partnerships
"This fellowship was a transformational experience for us! In this era of exploding knowledge, understanding and implementing strategies for knowledge management is essential for all kinds of organizations."
– Executive Vice President and CEO, Lucinda Maine AACP, 2/2016
The purpose of the Learning Partnerships is to place experienced librarians and information professionals within leading health or research organizations in order for both partners to gain a better understanding of how best information sciences can be effectively applied in each environment. The Fund believes that this experience will facilitate a bridging of cultures resulting in a more creative and effective application of information science in the health care arena. The Sewell Fund support covers salary and incidental expenses for these twelve-month Learning Partnership fellowships.
It's our pleasure to announce the host for the 2024-25 Learning Partnership: The Planetary Health Alliance!
The Planetary Health Alliance (PHA) is at the forefront of Planetary Health, a new, rapidly growing global field focused on the human health impacts of our disruption and transformation of Earth's natural systems. Never before has humanity's footprint on the natural world been so large or so threatening to human health and well-being. The PHA secretariat, based at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, supports a coalition of more than 400 organizations from 70+ countries with a focus on rapidly expanding our understanding of, and ability to address, these threats. To learn more about the Planetary Health Alliance, please visit: https://www.planetaryhealthalliance.org/
As part of the Sewell Fund Learning partnership, PHA is seeking a Planetary Health Library Science Technician who will apply their knowledge of library science or informatics to develop systems to most effectively curate resources to our global network. During the one-year fellowship, PHA will provide ample opportunities for the individual to gain additional understanding of Planetary Health by interacting with PHA staff, members of our global community, and staff and affiliated faculty at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health (https://planetaryhealth.jhu.edu/). Major projects will include: curating a library of articles and resources; compiling examples, case studies, and lessons learned; and helping to integrate Planetary Health within education with a focus on Library Science/Informatics. To learn more and apply, visit: https://jobs.jhu.edu/job-invite/114816/
The Sewell Fund Learning Partnership program has been designed to provide funding for a medical or health sciences librarian or information scientist to spend approximately a year in the environment of a host organization.
Host organizations will present a learning environment, a series of activities, and access to organizational leaders which will allow the librarian or information scientist 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 selected applicants will participate in team settings designed to utilize the librarian's skills and knowledge in non-traditional ways. Immersion is the goal and expanded knowledge the anticipated result for both partners. Given the current COVID-19 restrictions, we are open to a partnership that takes place in a remote work environment.
As they come to identify with the host clients in a work setting, librarians will broaden their perceptions and deepen their understanding of the clients' goals, thinking, knowledge base and methodology. Client hosts will receive assistance from a skilled librarian capable of helping in both non-traditional and traditional library activities. The host will also gain insight into information management techniques and librarian capabilities. The partnership will also inform the librarian partner about health sciences topics and current research methodology or practice protocols. Both partners will learn how their skills and knowledge can be more effectively integrated to increase the quality of research or health care.
To read about past Learning Partnerships, click here.
Thinking about applying in the future? Read about the application process below! (Updated applications, etc. should be available in early 2025!)
Download Host Requirements Document
Download Host Application for Learning Partnership
Anticipated Outcomes from our Learning Partnerships
(1) Institute of Medicine. Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century. [Web document]. Washington, DC; National Academy Press, 2001. http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25057539/).
(2) Davidoff E, Florance V. The informationist: a new health profession? [editorial] Ann Int Med 2000 Jun 20;132(12):996-8.
(3) Rankin JA, Grefsheim SF, Canto, CC. The emerging informationist specialty: a systematic review of the literature. J Med Libr Assoc 2008 Jul;96(3):194-206.
– Executive Vice President and CEO, Lucinda Maine AACP, 2/2016
The purpose of the Learning Partnerships is to place experienced librarians and information professionals within leading health or research organizations in order for both partners to gain a better understanding of how best information sciences can be effectively applied in each environment. The Fund believes that this experience will facilitate a bridging of cultures resulting in a more creative and effective application of information science in the health care arena. The Sewell Fund support covers salary and incidental expenses for these twelve-month Learning Partnership fellowships.
It's our pleasure to announce the host for the 2024-25 Learning Partnership: The Planetary Health Alliance!
The Planetary Health Alliance (PHA) is at the forefront of Planetary Health, a new, rapidly growing global field focused on the human health impacts of our disruption and transformation of Earth's natural systems. Never before has humanity's footprint on the natural world been so large or so threatening to human health and well-being. The PHA secretariat, based at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, supports a coalition of more than 400 organizations from 70+ countries with a focus on rapidly expanding our understanding of, and ability to address, these threats. To learn more about the Planetary Health Alliance, please visit: https://www.planetaryhealthalliance.org/
As part of the Sewell Fund Learning partnership, PHA is seeking a Planetary Health Library Science Technician who will apply their knowledge of library science or informatics to develop systems to most effectively curate resources to our global network. During the one-year fellowship, PHA will provide ample opportunities for the individual to gain additional understanding of Planetary Health by interacting with PHA staff, members of our global community, and staff and affiliated faculty at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health (https://planetaryhealth.jhu.edu/). Major projects will include: curating a library of articles and resources; compiling examples, case studies, and lessons learned; and helping to integrate Planetary Health within education with a focus on Library Science/Informatics. To learn more and apply, visit: https://jobs.jhu.edu/job-invite/114816/
The Sewell Fund Learning Partnership program has been designed to provide funding for a medical or health sciences librarian or information scientist to spend approximately a year in the environment of a host organization.
Host organizations will present a learning environment, a series of activities, and access to organizational leaders which will allow the librarian or information scientist 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 selected applicants will participate in team settings designed to utilize the librarian's skills and knowledge in non-traditional ways. Immersion is the goal and expanded knowledge the anticipated result for both partners. Given the current COVID-19 restrictions, we are open to a partnership that takes place in a remote work environment.
As they come to identify with the host clients in a work setting, librarians will broaden their perceptions and deepen their understanding of the clients' goals, thinking, knowledge base and methodology. Client hosts will receive assistance from a skilled librarian capable of helping in both non-traditional and traditional library activities. The host will also gain insight into information management techniques and librarian capabilities. The partnership will also inform the librarian partner about health sciences topics and current research methodology or practice protocols. Both partners will learn how their skills and knowledge can be more effectively integrated to increase the quality of research or health care.
To read about past Learning Partnerships, click here.
Thinking about applying in the future? Read about the application process below! (Updated applications, etc. should be available in early 2025!)
Download Host Requirements Document
Download Host Application for Learning Partnership
Anticipated Outcomes from our Learning Partnerships
- Librarians should identify with their clients rather than look at clients’ needs merely intellectually from the library/information services perspective.
- Librarians should be advocates for end users to the traditional library staff, assisting the latter in identifying with the clients and gaining a “We” rather than a “They” perspective.
- Librarians should be prepared to improve or extend their services in a variety of ways such as: a) Developing, promoting, and administering programs to satisfy the client’s needs in libraries or information centers, b) as experienced intermediaries, providing improved services directly to the client in any appropriate setting, c) doing research or development on methods of satisfying those needs, e.g. through artificial intelligence in advanced search engines for the client’s use, and d) becoming more comfortable with the familiar specialty could lay excellent groundwork for showing the import of having an information specialist as a member of the client’s team.
- Becoming an “informationist” in a particular area is valid for those librarians whose personalities and training are “more specialist than generalist.”(2,3)
- Hosts, besides gaining from the improved perceptions and services of the librarians, should have gained a better understanding of the many ways the librarian can facilitate their work.
- Hosts should be more facile with the newer information technologies,
- Hosts should be better able to formulate queries or analyze problems that require a search for information in their solution.
- Hosts should better understand how to analyze their own information needs as a first step in satisfying them. They should then be aware of when the next step will be turning to the library and/or a librarian.
(1) Institute of Medicine. Crossing the quality chasm: a new health system for the 21st century. [Web document]. Washington, DC; National Academy Press, 2001. http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25057539/).
(2) Davidoff E, Florance V. The informationist: a new health profession? [editorial] Ann Int Med 2000 Jun 20;132(12):996-8.
(3) Rankin JA, Grefsheim SF, Canto, CC. The emerging informationist specialty: a systematic review of the literature. J Med Libr Assoc 2008 Jul;96(3):194-206.