TRANSFORMING THE PRESENT - DISCOVERING THE FUTURE - THE UNIVERSITY-OF-PITTSBURGH NLM GRANT ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF HEALTH-SCIENCES LIBRARIANS

Background: The University of Pittsburgh was awarded a grant by the Na tional Library of Medicine to study the education and training needs o f present and future medical librarians and health information special ists through a collaboration of the university's School of Information Sciences and Health Sciences Library System. Goals and objectives for the year-long project included (1) assessment of education and traini ng needs of medical librarians, (2) development of a master of library science curriculum and an internship program that would prepare gradu ates to take leadership roles in medical librarianship or information management, (3) development of continuing education programs for medic al librarians in different formats, and (4) development of targeted re cruitment efforts to attract minority group members and individuals wi th undergraduate science majors. The importance of this project, prese nt practice, and success factors far programs seeking excellence in th e preparation of health sciences information professionals are reviewe d, A needs assessment involving a national advisory panel and a follow -up study of individuals who have participated in previous specialized training programs in health sciences information, compared with a pee r group of medical librarians who did not participate in such programs , is described. This paper presents the goals and objectives of the pr oject, describes the methods used, and outlines a curriculum, continui ng education initiatives, and recruitment activities.