Health Sciences and Medical Librarianship Commons^™

The Relation Of Archival Repair, Black Communities, And The American Healthcare System, Aaisha Haykal, Tabitha Y. Samuel

MUSC Conference Presentations

Historians and genealogists depend on records preserved in archival repositories and special collections libraries to provide the foundation of their research and scholarship. Systemic inadequacies in archival practice, including bias in the development of collections and the pitfalls of engagement, outreach, and advocacy to actively document and promote the work of archives and special collections libraries among potential stakeholders and interest-group communities, often contribute to archival silences, or gaps in the documentary record relating to historically marginalized communities. This is particularly significant in documenting the history of the ways Black communities have engaged with the American healthcare system as patients, …

Recruitment As Care: Building Trust With Hard-To-Reach Populations In Sensitive Health Research, Alexander N. Vera

MUSC Conference Presentations

Recruiting participants for sensitive health research on social media presents unique ethical and methodological challenges. This session shares lessons learned from a qualitative study examining how young adults in South Carolina use TikTok to seek sexual health information. The presentation highlights creative and trauma-informed recruitment strategies that successfully engaged a hard-to-reach population while maintaining participant trust and privacy. Attendees will learn how recruitment language, social media algorithms, and transparency practices shape engagement, and why building trust matters more than technology alone. The session also considers how these lessons can inform future research in health sciences librarianship, especially for librarians supporting …

"Social Media Is Imperfect, But It's The Best We Have": Understanding And Addressing Sexual Health Information Seeking Challenges Among Young Adults, Alexander N. Vera

MUSC Conference Presentations

Objective:

Young adults in South Carolina face increasing challenges when seeking accurate sexual health information due to limitations in traditional and authoritative sexual health education and healthcare access. This paper investigates the future of libraries and health science librarians by exploring how young adults use social media platforms to seek sexual health information. It identifies the primary barriers young adults face and investigates opportunities for developing innovative digital health literacy resources.

Methods:

This study employed a dual-method qualitative approach, utilizing 90-minute semi-structured interviews and digital walkthroughs with 20 young adults aged 18-25 from across South Carolina. The interviews explored participants' …

Resiliency Strategies For Brightly Burning Librarians, Christine Andresen, Irene Lubker

MUSC Conference Presentations

Purpose: Librarianship is a helping profession which means caring is one of our superpowers, yet also makes us more likely to cross our own boundaries in our efforts to support our users, leaving us vulnerable to burnout. Our best intentions, fears of missing out, and need to prove our value often drive us to the limits of our abilities to sustain the levels of service we provide. This presentation will prepare librarians with strategies to promote overall well-being and foster resiliency.

Description: Health sciences librarians often happily agree to new, exciting opportunities, only to find that our best intentions end …

Student Engagement Interest Group: Preparing Students For The Library And Health Information Workforce, Heather Holmes, Samantha Nunn

MUSC Conference Presentations

BACKGROUND

The purpose of the Network of the National Library of Medicine’s (NNLM) Student Engagement Interest Group (SEIG) is to advance the mission of NNLM by sharing participating regional offices and center's (ROCs) student engagement-related activities and prioritizing those appropriate for national coordination. Additionally, the SEIG prioritizes students, high school age and older, from traditionally marginalized communities and those underrepresented in biomedical research when conducting student engagement activities.

Since the creation of the SEIG, the group has explored how NNLM can support students in acquiring experience in a professional setting, gaining access to mentors who can guide them in preparation …