Practice Settings

Health sciences librarians practice in a wide variety of settings including academic medical centers, hospitals, pharmaceutical and other health-related corporations, public health agencies and federal agencies such as the National Library of Medicine, the CDC and the FDA. Large public library systems also employ librarians specializing in consumer health information.

Primary Responsibilities

Reference & Research (especially health professional literature as well as the literature in the social sciences); Collection Development (including electronic licensing agreements); Bibliographic Instruction; Organization of Information; Competitive Intelligence & Marketing (especially related to health services).

“Medical librarians provide health information about new medical treatments, clinical trials and standard trials procedures, tests, and equipment to physicians, allied health professionals, patients, consumers, and corporations. They help physicians provide quality care to patients, help patients find information, answer consumers’ questions, and provide information to the health care industries. Medical librarians become Web managers, medical informatics experts, and chief information officers as well as catalogers, instructors, and reference librarians.”

Recommended Information Studies Electives

Students should consult with their advisors to select electives that best support individual intellectual interests and career goals. The electives listed here are not meant to represent the complete listing of all relevant courses that a student may take within Information Studies, at other units on campus, or as part of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. In addition, the Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) Consortium may offer College-approved courses that are relevant. The URL is http://www.wiseeducation.org/home_p-home.aspx, user name: md-student, password: test.

Course Number        Course Title
762                  Abstracting and Indexing Sources in the Health Sciences
621                  Library Service to the Disadvantaged
723                  Libraries and Information Services in the Social Process
725                  Library Services for Client Groups with Disabilities
734                  Seminar in the Academic Library
737                  Seminar in the Special Library and Information Center
736                  Designing Information Products and Services
702                  User Instruction
705                  Seminar in Information for Decision Making
790                  Building the Human-Computer Interface
707                  Field Study in Library Service
713                  Planning and Evaluating Information Services

INFM
Course Number        Course Title
INFM 702                   User Interaction with Information Systems
INFM 611                   Principles of Competitive Intelligence
INFM 614                   Visual Information for Decision Making
INFM 706                   Project Management

Professional Associations
Medical Library Association
Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MAC/MLA)
Maryland Association of Health Sciences Librarians (MAHSL)
Virginia Council of Health Sciences Librarians (VaCOHSL)
American Medical Informatics Association
Special Libraries Association – Biomedical and Life Sciences Division

Specialized Scholarships/Interest Free Loans

MLA Scholarship
A scholarship for up to $5,000 is granted to a student who is entering an ALA-accredited library school or who has yet to finish at least one half of the program's requirements in the year following the granting of the scholarship.

MLA Scholarship for Minority Students
A scholarship for up to $5,000 is granted to a minority student who is entering an ALA-accredited library school or has yet to finish at least one half of the program's requirements in the year following the granting of the scholarship. African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or Pacific Islander American individuals who wish to study health sciences librarianship are eligible.

MLA/NLM Spectrum Scholarship
The Medical Library Association (MLA) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) jointly sponsor one scholarship through the American Library Association (ALA) Spectrum Initiative Scholarship program. The two organizations make a total annual donation of $5,000 each year to support minority students in their goals to become health sciences information professionals. African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, or Pacific Islander individuals attending ALA-accredited library schools are eligible.

Thomson Scientific/MLA Doctoral Fellowship
Thomson Scientific sponsors a fellowship in the amount of $2,000 to foster and encourage superior students to conduct doctoral work in an area of health sciences librarianship or information sciences and to provide support to individuals who have been admitted to candidacy. The award supports research or travel applicable to the candidate's study within a twelve-month period. The award is given every other year and may not be used for tuition.

Key Geographic Areas for Employment
Washington, DC and other major metropolitan areas
Communities with academic health sciences centers

Specialized Placement Services
InfoCurrent
C. Berger Group, Inc.
Library Associates