UIC Library of the Health Sciences receives Medical Library Association award
UIC’s recently renovated Library of the Health Sciences. Photo: Vibhu S. Rangavasan
The University of Illinois at Chicago’s Library of the Health Sciences has earned the Medical Library Association’s 2018 Research Advancement in Health Sciences Librarianship Award.
The award recognizes health sciences libraries that have made significant contributions to the clinical, educational, research or administrative outcomes at their institutions by fostering a culture of research among health science librarians. In addition to UIC, the University of Saskatchewan was a recipient of the award.
“This award acknowledges the institutional responsibility that UIC fulfills to advance research in health sciences librarianship and celebrates the contributions to knowledge that scholars here have made for decades,” said Associate Dean of the University Library and Associate University Librarian for the Health Sciences Kathryn Carpenter.
The University Library consists of the Library of the Health Sciences in Chicago with locations in Peoria, Rockford, Urbana and the Richard J. Daley Library at UIC. The University Library supports health sciences colleges, including applied health sciences, dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health and social work.
The University Library also supports all other colleges at UIC, all administrative units, student services functions and members of the campus community.
Recently, the UIC Library of the Health Sciences became a partner institution in the MLA Research Training Institute and will provide the venue for the initiative for the next three years. The institute will enable practicing librarians to develop research skills through immersion in instruction, mentoring and work on an individual project. It will encourage them to better assess users’ needs and develop library services to meet those needs, as well as enhance the quality of research to support evidence-based practice.
“The library has worked hard over the years to provide our faculty with the support they need to balance exceptional service with exceptional scholarship,” according to University Librarian and Dean of Libraries Mary Case. “It is an honor to be acknowledged by the MLA for meeting those goals and for the contributions to the field our faculty have made.”
Carpenter will accept the Research Advancement in Health Sciences Librarianship Award at the 2018 Medical Library Association Annual Meeting on May 22 in Atlanta.
