Title: Impact of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, South Central Region, express outreach awards 2011-2013

Authors: Gayle Prybutok; Ana D. Cleveland

Addresses: Department of Disability and Addiction Rehabilitation, College of Public Affairs and Community Service, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #311456, Denton, TX 76203, USA ' Health Informatics Program, College of Information, University of North Texas, 1155 Union Circle #311068, Denton, TX 76203-5017, USA

Abstract: Annually, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) funds Express Outreach projects in eight US regions to improve public and professional access to NLM databases. In 2000, NLM published Measuring the Difference: Guide to Planning and Evaluating Health Information Outreach (Burroughs and Wood, 2000) to guide outreach award recipients in effective planning, implementation, evaluation, and outcome reporting that would document project value and improve reproducibility. The National Network/Library of Medicine, South Central Region funded 11 Express Outreach projects, 2011-2013, and was charged with assessing outcome reporting improvement for these projects. Using content analysis of interim/final reports and semi-structured interviews with project managers to validate data, authors evaluated outcome reporting against Measuring the Difference (Burroughs and Wood, 2000) guidelines to assess reporting status. The publication of these general guidelines was inadequate for the funding organisation to obtain the desired outcome reporting by Outreach Award recipients. The assessment identified the need to provide and require a standard, highly structured, and measureable outcome reporting format for awardees to obtain the desired improvement in outcome reporting.

Keywords: medical library outreach; National Library of Medicine; NLM databases; outcome reporting; project evaluation; project planning; USA; United States; outreach awards; project value; reproducibility; health information.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSS.2016.080051

International Journal of Services and Standards, 2016 Vol.11 No.3, pp.221 - 241

Received: 31 Mar 2016
Accepted: 06 Jul 2016
Published online: 30 Oct 2016 *

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