Skills for the Future: Informatics Skills for Information Professionals
Jillian M. Ketterer1, Nora Smith2, MSLIS, Prudence W. Dalrymple, PhD3
Center for Innovation, National Board of Medical Examiners1, Johns Hopkins University2,
Institute for Healthcare Informatics, iSchool, Drexel University3
Library and Information Science:
An Evolving Paradigm
New Opportunities for Information Professionals
Competitive Intelligence Analyst
•Help business gain advantage over competitors via
environmental scanning
•Information/evidence used in strategic planning
Health Information Systems Analyst
•Bridge the gap between information users and computer
programmers to improve information systems
Informaticist
•Apply computers and information technology in field of
choice
The Necessary Skills :
What Can Informatics Classes Teach YOU?
Systems thinking
•Understand the underlying pattern and structure of the
information organization and technical databases
•Information needs and underlying psychology of the user
population
•Uncover the underlying relationships between the library
and the patron population
Human computer interaction
•Bridge gaps between developers and users
•Design more intuitive and user-friendly interfaces
Information Analyst
•Plan, scope, and manage business projects through
analysis of relevant data and information
•Monitor and interpret trends of interest
Knowledge Manager
•Help organization gain value from its knowledge and
intellectual assets
•Ensure that institutional knowledge flows appropriately
throughout the organization
What is Informatics?
from http://informationr.net/ir/12-4/colis/colis29fig2.JPG
Information science:
•“…is a field that cuts across …the conventional academic
disciplines.” (Bates, 1999)
•encompasses both traditional and emerging information
paradigms such digital libraries, librarians-in-context, and
online social networking
Informatics is a field of study focused on the optimal use
of information, often aided by the use of technology, to
improve individual health, health care, public health, and
biomedical research (Hersh, 2009)
Informatics studies the representation, processing, and
communication of information in natural and engineered
systems. It has computational, cognitive and social aspects.
(http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/about/vision.html)
•incorporates both social and technical aspects of
information
TEMPLATE DESIGN © 2008
www.PosterPresentations.com
From Hersh (2009)7
Information retrieval skills
•Particularly from online or electronic databases
•Knowledge and familiarity of print resources
•Gain a different perspective on information storage,
management, and retrieval
Interdisciplinary Skills
•Connect seemingly disparate concepts across knowledge
domains
•Identify opportunities for innovation and systems
improvement
Lifelong Learning
•Continuous professional development is crucial to keep up
with the state of the art
Health Informatics Specialist was named one of the top “ahead
of the curve” careers in U.S. News & World Report
(http://www.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2008/12/11/ahead-of-the-curvehealth-informatics-specialist-2009.html)
•deals with the transmission of human knowledge
Informatics may mean many things to many people, but it
always involves: computers, information, information
users, and a context/discipline.
INFO648 - Healthcare Informatics
This course is an introduction to Healthcare Informatics, broadly construed.
Healthcare Informatics studies the organization of medical information, the effective
management of information using computer technology, and the impact of such
technology on medical research, education, and patient care.
INFO731 - Organization & Social Issues in Healthcare Informatics
Presents an overview of sociotechnical issues in healthcare informatics, focusing on
patient care and biomedical research settings. Deals with human, social, and
technological aspects of healthcare IT. Focuses on the role of information
professionals in applied healthcare IT settings.
INFO780 - Advanced Issues in Healthcare Informatics
Bates, M. J. (1999). The invisible substrate of information science. Journal of the
American Society for Information Science, 50(12), 1043-1050.
Your Future in Informatics
•focuses on the underlying structure of information use,
storage, and retrieval
(http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/ihi/)
References and Further Reading
…and more!
•focuses on the information itself rather than the subject
matter (art history, medical anthropology, electrical
engineering, literary analysis, molecular biology, etc.)
Certificate in Healthcare Informatics - 3 Core Courses
This course is intended to provide a broad overview of the concepts, terminology and
strategies needed to design and evaluate projects in healthcare informatics. Through
online lectures, readings and discussion of case studies, students will acquire a basic
familiarity with various approaches to planning and evaluation. The major projects,
which will be developed over the duration of the course, will provide students with an
opportunity to develop a proposal for a potential implementation in a setting of their
choice, and select an evaluation approach that is appropriate.
Informationist or Information Specialist In Context (ISIC)
•Connect patrons with information/evidence
•Physical proximity to patrons (work outside of the library)
•Integrate into the research team
Crossing Traditional Boundaries
What Does Drexel Have to Offer?
The American Medical Informatics Association also estimates that
the nation will need 10,000 professionals trained in informatics
by the year 2010.
(http://www.amia.org/10x10)
Friedman, C.A. (2009). A 'fundamental theorem' of biomedical informatics. Journal
of the American Medical Informatics Association, 16, 169-170.
Giuise, N.B. (2008). Riding the waves of change together: are we all paying
attention? Journal of the Medical Library Association, 96 (2), 85-87.
Hersh, W. and Wright, A. (2008) What workforce is needed to implement the health
information technology agenda? An analysis from the HIMSS Analytics™
Database. AMIA Annu Symp Proc, 303-307.
Hersh, W. (2009). A stimulus to define informatics and health information
technology. BMC Medical Informatics & Decision Making, 9, 24.
Perry, G.J., Roderer, N.K., and Assar, S. (2005). A current perspective on medical
informatics and health sciences librarianship. Journal of the Medical
Library Association, 93 (2), 199-205.
Rankin, J.A. Grefsheim, S.F., and Canto, C.C. (2008). The emerging informationist
specialty: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of the Medical
Library Association, 96 (3) 194-206.
Contact Us
Jillian M. Ketterer
Information Analyst, Center for Innovation
Lead Graduate Peer Mentor, iSchool, Drexel University
jketterer@nbme.org
http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/PS/gradmentors/find/mentordetails/?ID=3
Nora N. Smith, MSLIS
Basic Science Informationist Trainee, Johns Hopkins University
nora.n.smith@gmail.com
Prudence W. Dalrymple, PhD
Director, Institute for Healthcare Informatics, iSchool, Drexel University
pwd28@drexel.edu
http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/ihi/faculty.htm