The path to leadership: the career journey of academic health sciences library directors.

Objective: The authors examined the career journeys of academic health sciences library directors to better understand their leadership development and what led them to their leadership positions in libraries.

Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was employed due to its focus on exploring and understanding the meaning that individuals ascribe to a particular phenomenon or experience. Eleven library directors from academic health sciences libraries at public universities with very high research activity agreed to participate in the study.

Accepting the challenge: what academic health sciences library directors do to become effective leaders.

Objective: This study sought to better understand effective leadership through the lived experiences of academic health sciences library directors.

Methods: Phenomenological interviews were conducted with eight academic health sciences library directors to capture the essence of their shared leadership experiences. The research question that guided the study was: How do academic health sciences library directors understand their leadership effectiveness? The interviews were transcribed and coded, and the data were analyzed thematically.

Adding a Feature: Can a Pop-Up Chat Box Enhance Virtual Reference Services?

Online users seek help from virtual reference services via email, phone, texting, and live chat. Technologies have enabled new features in library websites to help make this service more accessible and effective. This article is an evaluation of an experimental pop-up live chat box on the website of a health sciences library to see whether the feature would enhance virtual reference services.

Breaking inertia: increasing access to journals during a period of declining budgets: a case study.

Beginning in January 2012, a 1-year pilot pay-per-view (PPV) service was implemented. Twenty-four journal subscriptions were canceled to fund the service, and through the PPV service, the library was able to offer patrons access to over 700 previously unavailable biomedical journals. At the end of the pilot period, the total PPV cost for each journal accessed was compared to the subscription cost to determine if PPV was an effective use of library money.

Predictors of antipsychotic withdrawal or dose reduction in a randomized controlled trial of provider education.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of an educational program to reduce antipsychotic use in nursing homes that had high use rates post-OBRA-87 and to identify factors that predicted antipsychotic withdrawal or 50% or greater dose reduction.

Design/setting: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the educational program (nursing home the unit of randomization and analysis) was conducted in 12 Tennessee nursing homes (6 education/6 control). Cohort analysis in baseline antipsychotic users identified factors predicting withdrawal or dose reduction.