Pathfinders good research tool for resource centers to implement
Provides list of reliable books, Web sites and other materials on health topics
A time-honored library tool, called a pathfinder, can be a good resource for patients and families visiting consumer libraries at health care facilities. Designed to help people find information on specific topics, they are a starting point for research, says Mary L. Gillaspy, MLS, MS, manager of the Health Learning Centers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
"One of the most important jobs of a resource center is to point users toward the best information available for their specific need, and pathfinders are an important part of that process," says Gillaspy.
Patients and family members can see what is available to them on a subject matter without having to use an Internet search engine or go to Web sites such as Amazon.com, says Elaina J. Cundiff, MPH, manager of The Learning Center at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
"When we hand out a pathfinder, we can feel confident that the material is the latest and greatest," she adds.
The direction librarians give with the use of a pathfinder is far from generic. Instead of directing patients to a book section or showing them to a computer station, they are given a list of resources to look at first.
Although pathfinders are specific to the family resource centers from which they are distributed, they are helpful to people in general. They identify good Web sites and the names of books that pertain to the health problem or treatment experienced by the patient.
The patient and his or her family members benefit from good pathfinders, yet these tools are beneficial to the resource center as well. They help to draw people into the facility to search for the books, journal articles and audiovisual materials available onsite.
However, the tools are valuable only when they are carefully crafted and monitored. Managers of learning centers recommend that policies and procedures be established for the development and oversight of pathfinders.
This policy should include criteria for the selection of topics.
"We develop pathfinders for a host of reasons," says Gillaspy.
Often, they accompany programs and classes at Northwestern Memorial. Currently, the institution is conducting a prevention program for osteoporosis, and a pathfinder was created to direct people to up-to-date resources on this disease. A pathfinder developed for a class on clinical trials is very comprehensive, it supports the class curriculum. Another pathfinder was developed to accompany a class on herbal supplement safety, which is taught by a medical librarian and registered pharmacist.
Sometimes a pathfinder is developed as a marketing tool to attract a specific practice or group of patients to the Health Learning Center, says Gillaspy. For example, there are more stem cell transplants for autoimmune diseases done at Northwestern Memorial than any place in the world, as one of the physicians at the institution pioneered this treatment. Therefore, a pathfinder on autoimmune diseases treated at Northwestern was developed that includes active trials. It is sent to patients who are coming to the hospital for treatment to attract this group to the Health Learning Center.
Topics patients ask about at The Learning Center at M.D. Anderson are tracked, and pathfinders are often developed for those frequent requests. For example, a pathfinder was developed for male breast cancer because it is an uncommon type of cancer, yet more patients were asking for information, and their needs are unique, says Cundiff.
"Because we were getting more requests on male breast cancer, that means in turn we were getting more resources on that topic. Once we get enough requests on a subject matter and once we start adding resources to the collection, then that would warrant a pathfinder as long as we have an adequate number of books that we feel comfortable putting on the list," she explains.
Also important to have before a pathfinder is developed are strong Web sites, audiovisual resources and several pamphlets on the topic.
Another trigger for the development of a pathfinder at M.D. Anderson is institution-wide performance improvement initiatives, such as cancer survivorship, or hot topics at clinics, such as fatigue. A health education specialist might ask to collaborate with a librarian to create a pathfinder when he or she has discovered a multitude of resources for a particular patient population.
Creation simple, upkeep not
Usually, creating a pathfinder is a one-person job. Cundiff says the people who work in The Learning Center are so familiar with the resources it is easy for them to assemble a current list. In addition, they frequently use Web sites throughout each day and can look at a homepage and quickly determine whether or not the site will be good.
Both M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Northwestern Memorial Hospital use templates to create pathfinders so all are standardized. (To learn where to view these pathfinders, see web address at end of this article.) The resources are organized in categories, as well.
"I believe pathfinders should be more than Internet links, because I like users to have a full picture of what is available, at least at the starting level," says Gillaspy.
Also, it is important for people to see that there is information available in many different formats. It is often the books, journal articles and audiovisual materials that will attract them to the learning center.
While the library may have 25 books on a topic, only five to six would be listed, usually the most current ones, says Cundiff. Two senior librarians are responsible for the book collection at M.D. Anderson, therefore each time they place an order it may impact a pathfinder.
To keep pathfinders current, a review process must be established. Each person in The Learning Center is responsible for five or six pathfinders. The number of times they are reviewed each year depends on the subject. For example, the breast cancer pathfinder might be updated three times a year because of the amount of new information generated on the topic, while the nutrition pathfinder may only be updated once a year because information is static, says Cundiff.
Gillaspy agrees that there must be a schedule for updating pathfinders, and the resources on the list must be assessed whenever there is breaking news on a topic. With 130 pathfinders in stock, this task is difficult, she adds.
To help keep the task on track, the librarian who oversees the collection development in a particular area is the one responsible for updating the pathfinders pertaining to her expertise. For example, the librarian in the women's pavilion oversees all the women's health pathfinders.
"We are trying to keep the most used pathfinders or at least the ones that change the quickest updated every six months; that is our aggressive goal," says Gillaspy.
Because pathfinders must be kept current, the collection must be manageable. To help keep the inventory under control, Gillaspy will sometimes broaden a pathfinder rather than create a new one. For example, the Alzheimer's disease pathfinder now includes related dementias.
The Learning Center at M.D. Anderson tries to keep the number of pathfinders at 30, therefore the use of each selection is monitored so those that are not being requested can be archived. In addition, when clinicians ask for the creation of a pathfinder, staff look into what is available. Often there are not enough resources available to support the creation of a content-rich pathfinder, says Cundiff.
Pathfinders are very helpful for busy librarians. Kept in the front desk at The Learning Center, it provides an easy method for helping patients find resources. They are also attached to e-mails sent through an online reference service when appropriate.
Gillaspy says pathfinders give people a place to start looking for credible, authoritative information, which supports the mission of a learning center.
SOURCES
For more information on creating pathfinders, contact:
- Elaina J. Cundiff, MPH, manager, The Learning Center, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 312, Houston, TX 77030-4009. Telephone: (713) 745-8064. E-mail: [email protected]. To access The Learning Center pathfinders: http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/tlc/dIndex.cfm?pn=577AC6B9-6431-4434-B11C9A739BA1A98B
- Mary L. Gillaspy, MLS, MS, manager, Health Learning Centers at Northwestern memorial Hospital, Galter 3-304, 251 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Telephone: (312) 926-0693. E-mail: [email protected]. To access the health Learning Center pathfinders: http://www.nmh.org/nmh/hlc/references/main.htm.
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