Health science librarian develops digital source for all COPHS research
Kayce Gill, new librarian brings valuable research to health science students’ fingertips.
Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078 |
Kayce Gill works directly with health science students to develop the skills to evaluate primary biomedical literature and then discuss with patients the relevant information they need.
Practicing health care professionals know that quite often a patient’s positive outcome is directly dependent on the information a provider has in their head, but also at their fingertips in digital library databases making it quick and easy to look up the latest research and best practices to treat the presenting condition.
That’s what makes Kayce Gill’s job as the new health sciences librarian designated for the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences so important.
“With the explosion of research information in health care mostly accessible electronically, being able to stay current in practice and research throughout their career is a prime skill our students need to know,” said Dr. Roger Davis, vice provost for health affairs. “We must prepare our students to adapt and be able to access information digitally throughout their lifetimes. So we felt it was important enough to have a dedicated person to do that.”
In January 2019, Gill moved from the Beaman Library faculty, where she had worked since 2012, to the college faculty. She works directly with health science students, undergraduate and graduate, to make sure they have the literacy skills to evaluate primary biomedical literature and then discuss with patients the relevant information they need to know to address their condition.
Gill is available to work with students one-on-one, to provide perspective for curriculum development and to teach entry level classes, where students learn how to use health science resources, including PubMed, one of the largest medical databases in the world that includes 30 million citations.
“It’s not easy to navigate that without training and practice,” Gill said. “Students have to learn how to quickly find and evaluate information. I teach them to identify the relevant facts about the patient, possible interventions for treatment and the desired outcome. Then we use those elements to develop search strategy to use in PubMed and other health science resources.”
Her job also involves supporting faculty conducting research. She provides perspective on good lines of research to pursue and works one-on-one with faculty to make sure they have access to all the research available in the relevant area.
New website compiles all health science college published research
Kayce Gill, COPHS health science librarian
As part of her work with faculty, Gill is building a new database of all Lipscomb COPHS faculty research, open to the public. On Dec. 1 the Lipscomb College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Scholarship website launched on the SpringShare platform and will include all published works by Lipscomb COPHS faculty, with more to come.
Plans are in the works to add faculty conference presentations. Resources will include faculty research where students are also listed as authors.
“I discovered that the only way to learn about faculty members' research and scholarship was by contacting a specific faculty member,” Gill said. “We needed a digital platform to promote the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences’ faculty scholarship as a whole.
“Creating a central webpage provides a way to highlight faculty research for collaboration across departments, connect current and prospective students to faculty and showcase faculty research to a global audience.”blockchain
On the site, at libguides.lipscomb.edu/cophsscholarship, research is searchable by department, author or year, Gill said. Article citations link either to PubMed or the journal publisher’s website. Books and book chapters include the cover images and links to Amazon when available.
Gill completed a bachelor’s in psychology at Lipscomb and her master’s in information science from the University of Tennessee. She first joined Lipscomb University as the serials and electronic resources librarian and went on to serve as the library services coordinator and electronic resources librarian.
In that role, she coordinated the implementation of a discovery service, research guides and research tools as well as developed the Information Literacy Module for Lipscomb Experience, the university’s freshman courses focused on critical thinking.