The US' National Library of Medicine (NLM), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and three other institutions in Maryland are forming a new partnership. They will work together to enhance the training of librarians and improve the public's access to, and understanding of, health information.
Representatives from the NLM; the Health and Human Services Library at the University of Maryland at Baltimore; the University of Maryland at College Park; and the Universities at Shady Grove signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines their collaboration.
The partner institutions share an interest in health and medical education, advanced training, and information dissemination. They will develop and participate in curriculums and courses, training and internship opportunities, and other educational initiatives. They also will explore areas of mutual interest for research, and will develop initiatives to increase access to careers in medicine and health, with a particular interest in reaching students who are under-represented in the fields.
As an initial effort, the partners will work with the University of Maryland, College Park, College of Information Studies (iSchool) to design a specialisation in health sciences information for the iSchools Master of Library science programme to be offered by the iSchool at the Universities at Shady Grove. Additionally, they will assess the feasibility of a series of regular internship placements for iSchool students at the partner libraries and also identify areas of mutual interest for research or other collaboration.
The initiatives outlined in the agreement will be carried out to the extent funds are available. The partners will collaborate to secure external funding for the efforts where possible.
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