Acronyms
Continuing Education (CE); Curricula Vitae (CVs);
Early Career Librarians Initiative of the South Central Chapter of the Medical
Library Association (ECLI); Library and Information Science (LIS);
Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM); Research Electronic
Data Capture (REDCap); South Central Chapter of the Medical Library
Association (SCC MLA).
Background
The onboarding process presents a significant investment
of resources for organizations seeking to effectively integrate new members. In
their article on identifying best employee onboarding practices in ACRL
libraries, Graybill et al. [1] found that onboarding programs could vary
between one week to six months. Novice health science librarians have more
expansive onboarding needs. In addition to typical organizational training and
office logistics, these librarians may need support with navigating health
information resources, tenure and promotion procedures, and understanding the
complex world of academia. Within this time frame, employers strive to equip
new hires with a comprehensive knowledge base and essential job-related skills.
This can necessitate the introduction of a substantial volume of information
and the completion of tasks with established deadlines. Consequently, a recent
study by Allen et al. [2] about utilizing lived experiences to improve
onboarding in an academic library documented a phenomenon of “information
overload,” where new employees felt overwhelmed due to the multifaceted demands
placed upon them during this introductory period.
Despite an organization’s efforts to optimize the volume
and nature of disseminated information, often, a gap remains. This situation is
especially true for early-career professionals, who not only lack institutional
knowledge but are also unsure of ways to organize obtained information or how
to discover resources that can help them fill those gaps. This challenge is
particularly acute in specialized fields like health sciences librarianship.
Frequently, library school is not enough to adequately
prepare new graduates to take on the nuanced professional roles within health
sciences librarianship. “I didn’t learn that in library school” is an
unfortunate common refrain among new or early career librarians. In a 2023
survey conducted by the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries
(AAHSL), 17.8% of library staff had less than five years of experience [3].
Additionally, there are so many paths and variables in librarianship that it’s
impossible to learn it all, and health science information tracks aren’t
available in every Library and Information Science (LIS) program [4]. More
experienced professionals with diverse backgrounds, such as public, school, or
academic librarianship, also notice a steep learning curve during their initial
forays into biomedical sciences.
Myers and Rodriguez [5] surveyed health science
librarians with less than five years of experience and asked them about their
self-perceived career preparedness and professional competencies, and how they
acquired that knowledge. The results of that survey indicated that early career
professionals rely heavily on Medical Library Association (MLA) and Continuing
Education (CE) opportunities to obtain professional competencies [5]. MLA
offers a plethora of training opportunities and specialization tracks, such as
Consumer Health Information, Systematic Reviews, and Data Services [6], but not
every librarian has access to the funding needed to participate. Regardless,
early career librarians still lack sufficient guidance to navigate the many
training and education opportunities available.
While academic universities may have hundreds of
employees, health sciences libraries typically have smaller staff, often only
employing an average of 12 full-time librarians [3]. When looking for a peer
with similar professional interests, goals, and career trajectories, it may be
hard for early professionals to find role models or colleagues encountering
similar obstacles. Connecting with other librarians across institutions, or
even states, can help build people’s professional networks and gives them insight
into experiences they might not have access to otherwise.
Recognizing the need for a general space where resources
could be shared and where early career professionals can engage and grow, Laura
Wright and Laura N. Haygood co-founded the Early Career Librarians Initiative
(ECLI) [7], a group geared toward providing information and opportunities for
health sciences library students and early-career librarians. This group was
initially formed within the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library
Association (SCC MLA) but quickly grew to include groups in other chapters.
Beyond its initial focus on providing information and opportunities, ECLI
fosters professional networking and creates a shared space for librarians to
build community, explore, and grow their careers.
While traditional learning opportunities like library
school and continuing education programs address essential competencies, they
often do not adequately prepare librarians for the practical realities, or
"soft skills" necessary to navigate their careers. Cultivating a
network of peers, as advocated by Bartley, Simuel, and Williams [8], can be
crucial for professional success, as many of these interactions offer a space
for colleagues to offer guidance and best practices for soft skills, like
managing one’s time, organizing information, and understanding the important,
unspoken nuances of workplace wellness [9]. ECLI recognizes these needs by
fostering a community where early career professionals can connect with
colleagues who share similar interests and aspirations. This sense of community
is further enhanced through their webinar series, which offers guidance and
instruction from experienced professionals on topics specifically requested by
ECLI members.
Formal and informal mentoring, continuing education, and
self-teaching are all ways that health science librarians build competencies
and skills [4]. The ECLI webinar series seeks to combine these facets of
professional development by gathering feedback from ECLI members about topics
of interest, offering guidance and instruction from experienced professionals,
and then sharing the information widely. This article analyzes survey feedback
collected from the webinar series.
Case Presentation
ECLI aims to create more opportunities for new and
early-career librarians and to grow as health information professionals. To
address the identified shortage of professional development resources tailored
to LIS students and early career health sciences librarians, the ECLI undertook
a collaborative initiative to develop a webinar series. A rigorous planning
process ensued, with biweekly meetings held to determine the schedule, roles,
and responsibilities for the webinar series. Key considerations included topic
selection aligned with identified knowledge gaps, speaker recruitment
strategies, and developing a robust evaluation framework.
ECLI formed a collaborative relationship with the Network
of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM). The partnership aligned with
NNLM’'s goals of expanding outreach and engaging the next generation of health
science librarians [10]. NNLM Region 3 provided the platform to host the
webinars, the infrastructure to create a registration page and track
registration and attendance, and standardized surveys to solicit feedback from
attendees. ECLI was responsible for finding and recruiting speakers, coordinating
and marketing the events, and facilitating the webinars.
Participants were
encouraged to complete a short evaluation survey at the end of each webinar
(see Appendix B). The survey was a part of a quality assurance/improvement and
program evaluation project from the NNLM. The Extramural Program of the
National Library of Medicine approved it for this use and deemed it exempt from
IRB approval. NNLM National Evaluation Center located at the Galter Health
Sciences Library and Learning Center, Northwestern University, Feinberg School
of Medicine in Chicago created the survey using Research Electronic Data
Capture (REDCap) [11]. The survey questions were based on a 5-point Likert
scale, and respondents were asked if they agree or disagree with each
statement. Aggregated data were exported from Redcap into an Excel file to be
analyzed.
An inductive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke) [12]
was done on the free-text responses. Responses to the question “What was the
most useful aspect of this training and why?” and “Please tell us more about
how you plan to use the information gained in this training” were reviewed and
coded. Codes were grouped into four main themes: practical tips, resources,
encouragement, and real-life experience were reviewed and refined through an
iterative process.
Results
ECLI has offered a series of six webinars, featuring
twelve guest speakers. All webinars were free and open to anyone interested in
attending. Each webinar lasted an hour and a half, with speakers encouraged to
reserve the last thirty minutes for questions, creating ample time and space
for attendees to ask in-depth questions and learn from the perspective of more
experienced, impartial professionals. At the end of each session, attendees
were asked to complete a feedback survey. A total of 981 people registered for
the webinars, with 567 attending at least one session. Among these, there were
446 unique attendees. In the first year of the webinar series, 240 people
registered, and 212 attended; in the second year, 741 registered, and 355
attended. All webinars were recorded and shared on NNLM’s YouTube page. As of
January 27, 2025, the webinar recordings have been viewed 2,149 times. Please
see Appendix A for full webinar details and attendance.
The webinar 2.1 “Integrating Research, Publishing, and
Presenting Into Your Career,” had the highest engagement, with 143 attendees.
The webinar 1.2 “Goal Setting (And Success in Achieving Them!) had the lowest
engagement, with only 48 attendees.
The ECLI and NNLM Region 3
are both regional chapters of larger organizations with overlapping coverage
areas. Together, they cover eight states (AR, LA, KS, MO, NE, NM, OK, and TX).
The first year of the webinar series reached 35 states, including D.C., with
the most attendees from Texas (24), Louisiana (13), and Arkansas (10); the
second year reached 43 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., with the
most attendees from Texas (51), California (29), and New York (13).
Figure 1 Attendance and
registration for both years of the webinar series.
Figure 2 Geographic map of
attendance.
Figure 3 Survey Responses.
Note: There were no “strongly disagree” responses.
An evaluation survey link was
shared by the session hosts at the end of each webinar. The overall survey
response rate was 28.73% with 154 completed surveys, with 64 completed in the
first year and 90 completed in the second. We combined data from all surveys
for analysis. No demographic information was collected from attendees, but the
series was shared through targeted marketing to LIS schools and faculty,
medical library directors, and groups aimed at serving early career librarians.
Most survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that
the webinars were engaging, informative, well-paced, and led by a knowledgeable
instructor.
Themes
Overall, four themes were identified as most substantive
from the open-ended questions “What was the most useful aspect of this training
and why?” and “Please tell us more about how you plan to use the information
gained in this training.” These themes align with the mission of ECLI to engage
new library professionals and help them grow professionally.
Practical Tips
Practical tips focused on quick, actionable advice or
guidance that attendees could readily implement in their own professional
lives. Such tips often included basic information that more seasoned
professionals take for common knowledge, like how long a cover letter should
be, layout of a research poster, and how to get involved with professional
organizations.
“The session provided great suggestions and advice
about how to engage him/herself and connect with others in MLA.”
In the library profession, collaborations, mentorships,
and colleagues often span multiple institutions. People benefit from guidance
on how to seek out and foster those relationships as well as more practical
tips for dealing with day-to-day job responsibilities. Connecting with
coworkers and colleagues at other institutions can help combat burnout and
feelings of being overwhelmed [13].
Resources
Attendees benefited from sharing resources with each
other through the chat and the speaker presentations. People said that the
shared links, recommended books, speaker slides, job postings and salary
databases were useful.
Encouragement
“The most useful aspect of this webinar was hearing
about all of the opportunities we have to grow in our careers as health science
librarians and knowing that we are supported.”
Starting a new career can be daunting. Librarians often
face imposter syndrome, especially in the first few years of their career [13,
14]. Imposter syndrome can affect confidence and willingness to try new things [14,
15, 16]. Reaching out to people and building a supportive network are ways to
combat imposter syndrome [15].
“I am attempting to start a new program within my
library and this presentation helped me stay encouraged for the task at hand”
Sometimes all people really need is a little
encouragement. Library leadership can support new librarians to participate in
groups such as ECLI as a way to expand professional networks and mature
professionally.
Real-Life Experience
Respondents appreciated the opportunity to see “real
life” examples of other people’s Curricula Vitae (CVs), their work processes,
and methods for publishing and presenting. This behind-the-scenes look
doesn’t take the place of mentorship or formal guidance, but it shows early
career professionals’ different ways to approach problems and opportunities.
Hearing other people’s success stories and how they built their careers can
light the way for others to follow in their footsteps.
“LIS research can be so unique in the way we conduct,
perform, and present as compared to "hard" sciences that I really
appreciated hearing straight from peers.”
Libraries often have smaller staff sizes [3]. When
looking for a peer with similar professional interests, goals, and career
trajectories, it may be hard for early professionals to find role models or
comrades encountering similar obstacles.
Discussion
The webinar series was well-attended and quickly
attracted an audience. While the webinar series was offered by SCC’s ECLI and
NNLM Region 3, the need for interprofessional support, advice, and guidance is
not limited to early career professionals in their regional states. People
across the nation attended the webinars, and ECLI continues to form and grow
across other MLA chapter organizations.
Attendance dipped in April, possibly because of
co-occurring academic and conference events such as MLA, ACRL, TLA, and final
exams. When asked informally during regular ECLI meetings, members agreed that
April was a busy month and made it challenging to attend webinars.
The ECLI selected topics relevant to its members,
focusing on career beginnings and early success. These topics differed from
other professional development opportunities by focusing on soft skills, hiring
and promotion processes, and professional reputation building rather than hard
skills like literature searching, evidence synthesis, collection development,
or other library-specific skills. At 90 minutes long, the sessions were longer
than a traditional webinar to allow more time for discussion and questions.
This format allowed participants to ask more anecdotal questions and solicit
advice. One participant summed it up nicely when they said, “It was nice to
almost be in conversation with the two speakers as they shared information but
also personal examples and advice.”
These more informal conversations were a crucial part of
the webinars and provided a learning opportunity that might not otherwise be
available to early career librarians.
Conclusion
Onboarding is a resource-intensive process, especially
when it involves introducing large amounts of information to employees new to
specialized fields. New and transitioning health sciences librarians, for
example, are particularly susceptible to “onboarding overload.” This phenomenon
encompasses learning how to handle all the relevant information pertaining to
their job. Nuanced soft skills that allow them to function more effectively and
fulfill all the requirements of becoming an essential liaison to their
respective school or hospital. Unfortunately, most library school programs do
not fully equip graduates with the tools and knowledge necessary to be
successful in all these endeavors, which may lead to librarians feeling
overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, and underprepared.
Moreover, experienced librarians may not always recall
the challenges they faced early in their careers, especially as information and
resources continue to evolve. Novices learn differently than experts and
approach problems differently. [17]. Hence, it’s crucial to encourage new and
transitioning librarians to build networks of peers with shared interests and
similar experience levels through groups like the ECLI, which offer a space for
resource sharing and professional development.
Mentorship, continuing education, and self-teaching are
all valuable resources that can help enhance soft skills and deepen
understanding of core competencies. This webinar series aimed to combine these
elements by offering guidance and instruction from experienced professionals,
and it successfully reached a large audience and interest in both the series
and initiatives like the ECLI. Results from the survey support the conclusion
that the webinar series is helpful and addresses a topic of need and interest.
To meet the strong demand for career development and professional skills among
new LIS professionals, ECLI will continue its commitment to providing this
valuable service for years to come.
The NNLM National Evaluation Center created the feedback
survey and its use was required as part of the partnership with NNLM. The
survey could not be altered, but it had some inherent limitations. The survey
did not capture demographic data such as years of experience, library type, or
job titles. This limited our ability to verify if the people attending the
webinar series reflected the intended audience.
The survey was designed for educational offerings aimed
at evaluating and using biomedical resources. As a result, several survey
questions were unrelated to the webinar series content. Over half the
respondents put “not applicable” or left the question blank for questions
related to an increase in skills for finding, using, and evaluating health
information resources and datasets.
Participants self-selected to attend the webinar series,
which could lead to a bias of more positive results. Respondents reported that
the webinar helped advance their careers, but we lack a reliable way of
measuring that outcome. Evaluating the long-term impact of informal training
was beyond the current scope of the project.
Implications for Future Practice & Policy
Library managers and directors should encourage early
career librarians to participate in groups, such as ECLI, which help new
professionals establish wide support networks. Mentors and leaders should be
aware that in addition to training focused on technical skills, early career
professionals can also benefit from guidance on soft skills, career planning,
and hiring practices.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to extend their sincerest
gratitude to the webinar speakers: Julie Bolin, Katie Prentice, Brenda Linares,
Lindsey Blake, Rachel R. Helbing, Susan C.Steelman, Adela V. Justice, Tara
Malone, Shannon D. Jones, Brian D. Leaf, Melissa De Santis, and Emily Vardell.
They would also like to thank each of the ECLI members who made this webinar
series possible.
This work was
supported by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health,
under Cooperative Agreement number
UG4LM01234-09 with the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Ft.
Worth, TX. The content
is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent
the official views
of the National Institutes of Health.
Authorship Contributions
Laura Haygood: Conceptualization;
validation; writing-review & editing. Sandra Desjardins: Conceptualization;
formal analysis; validation; writing - original draft; writing - review &
editing. Katie Pierce Farrier: formal analysis; methodology; data curation;
visualization; writing- original draft; writing - review & editing.
Data Availability Statement
Data associated with this article cannot be made publicly
available because they contain personally identifiable information. Access to
the data can be requested from the NNLM National Evaluation Center located at
Galter Health Sciences Library and Learning Center, Northwestern University,
Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago which facilitates the survey and
corresponding data. https://www.nnlm.gov/about/centers/nec. Email nec@northwestern.edu.
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Supplemental Files
Appendix A
Appendix B
Authors’ Affiliations
Laura Haygood, MLIS,
AHIP, laura_haygood@brown.edu, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4336-8203,
Brown University Library, Health Sciences Librarian for Public Health,
Providence, RI
Sandra Desjardins, PhD,
MLS, CHIS, sandra.desjardins@library.tmc.edu,
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4137-1014,
Texas Medical Center Library, Research & Instruction Librarian, Houston, TX
Katie Pierce Farrier, MIS,
katie.pierce@uta.edu, https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8559-0223,
University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Received January 2025; accepted July 2025
