NJ-Based Healthcare Nonprofit Celebrates 45 Years; Impacts Healthcare in 20-State Region
PRINCETON, N.J., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The impact of a New Jersey-based, non-profit organization formed 45 years ago is touching hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the Garden State—reaching the surrounding Middle Atlantic Region and beyond.
Founded in 1972, Health Sciences Library Association of New Jersey (HSLANJ) is a non-profit organization encouraging professional development and advancement of librarianship to improve the quality of library services provided by health care organizations.
"Medical librarians are specialists in locating and accessing vital medical and healthcare information for physicians, clinicians, and medical personnel, as well as the general public, from the hospital or medical facility in which they work," says Robert T. Mackes, HSLANJ executive director since 2013.
"During the organization's 45 years, the profession has evolved tremendously. Librarians, who were adept at searching printed textbooks, journals, and bound volumes of Index Medicus, are today searching databases and accessing collections that are primarily digital," Mackes says.
"HSLANJ's stellar reputation of service to the medical community in New Jersey is only matched by their consistent sharing of their expertise with all the libraries in New Jersey," says Kathy Schalk-Greene, executive director of the non-profit LibraryLinkNJ.
HSLANJ has been hailed as "innovative" for its role in providing digital (electronic) resources to hospitals and medical facilities throughout the Middle Atlantic, Southeastern Atlantic, and New England Regions. While HSLANJ celebrates its 45th year in 2017, an offshoot of the organization known as its Group Licensing Initiative (GLI) marks its 15th year.
The GLI is a consortium in which all hospital librarians within a 20-state region can participate, by purchasing licenses to access digital resources together—in effect, leveraging group purchasing power. The 20-state region extends from Maine to Florida.
"The Group Licensing Initiative has a big impact on hospital libraries' ability to continue to provide subscription resources in times of increased cost. HSLANJ is an important partner in the mission of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region (NNLM/MAR), to provide health professionals and the public with access to health information," says Kate Flewelling, Executive Director, NNLM/MAR.
For more information, see www.hslanj.org.
The HSLANJ GLI expansion into the New England Region is funded in part with Federal funds from the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Cooperative Agreement Number UG4LM012347 with the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester.
CONTACT:
KAREN HENDRICKS
HENDRICKS COMMUNICATIONS
717-253-3553
SOURCE Health Sciences Library Association of New Jersey
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