Ellen Gay Detlefsen

This is a review of the master's-level curricula of the fifty-eight America Library Association-accredited library and information science programs and iSchools for evidence of coursework and content related to library instruction. Special emphasis is placed on the schools and programs that also offer coursework in medical or health sciences librarianship. Fifty-eight school and program websites were reviewed. Course titles and course descriptions for seventy-three separate classes were analyzed. Twenty-three syllabi were examined. All North American library education programs offer at least one course in the general area of library instruction; some programs offer multiple courses. No courses on instruction, however, are focused directly on the specialized area of health sciences librarianship. Master's degree students can take appropriate classes on library instruction, but the medical library profession needs to offer continuing education opportunities for practitioners who want to have specific instruction for the specialized world of the health sciences.

The article describes an innovation in MLIS education for medical librarianship, with an introduction to the FastTrack, the distance education program at the University of Pittsburgh's library and information science school, together with an overview of a model program linking the biomedical library at Vanderbilt University with the School of Information Sciences in Pittsburgh. Admissions requirements and specific curriculum for the distance education master's degree are detailed in an FAQ format.

In a literature-based discussion of research on the information behaviors of life and health scientists and health care practitioners, the problem of characterizing this complex literature is discussed. The issue of terminology for this interdisciplinary area is raised. The paucity of models for information seeking behavior that have been tested in a health care population is discussed, as are the frequently used methods of investigation and data collection methods. By analyzing a large number of information behavior research studies, the questions of who does the research and where the research is published are answered. The characteristics of this research are discussed. Studies are cited that investigate the information behavior of physicians, multidisplinary groups of health professionals, medical students and faculty, nurses and other allied health personnel, life scientists, and basic science researchers. Two short case studies--on the diffusion of medical knowledge and on drug information and physician behavior--are used as examples of information behavior research. The importance of studying the information behavior of health and life scientists and health care providers is underscored by a discussion of the implications for further study.