Outreach News

SPOTLIGHT:
AHEC Library - Texarkana

This column continues the spotlight on Arkansas’ AHEC Libraries that have a long tradition of providing library services to AHEC faculty, staff and students. They also provide a tremendous benefit to the surrounding medical community by providing library services to health professionals in their region.

In the second part of this series we place the spotlight on Robin Layne, Librarian for the Area Health Education Center/SW Library in Texarkana, Arkansas.

History:
The AHEC and its library opened their doors in 1975. They currently reside at 300 E. 6th St. in Texarkana. Over that time there have been four librarians who have manned the post: Dena Plaisted [1975-1990], Emily Oglesby [1990-1996], Brenda Keays [1996-2001] and Robin Layne [2001 – present].

The librarian at AHEC SW must deal with a variety of responsibilities which include conducting mediated literature searches for health care professionals, providing document delivery and interlibrary loan services, and conducting orientations plus database training. The AHEC SW Library also serves as a JCAHO resource for two major hospitals.

Grants Received:
Four-State InfoSystems AHEC-SW Health Information Network grant was funded by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health [2002 – 2005]. The aim of this project is to provide health information access to rural and/or underserved areas in the region. The Texarkana AHEC Library currently has 28 participating Network Members. This grant enabled us to obtain Ariel and establish a Consumer Health Library.

Librarian:
Robin Layne began at the AHEC SW Library in 1995 as a Library Tech and became the librarian in 2001.

Personal Info:

Born:  Fort Hood, TX
Hobbies:  Reading and enjoying time with her two sons and husband
Volunteer Groups:  Robin volunteers with the American Cancer Society and the Alzheimer’s Association
Favorite part of the job:  Searching
Professional Memberships:  Medical Library Association
South Central Chapter/Medical Library Association
Hospital Library Interest Section (SCC/MLA)
NHF
Arthritis Foundation

What has been your strangest request?
- Can caring for iguanas during pregnancy cause birth defects?

Quotes from Patrons:

“The AHEC library has been a very valuable tool for me as a busy clinician. I can request literature searches & get immediate results. I also enjoy getting the weekly table of contents for select journals from which I can ask for only topics which interest me. This saves me from going through the huge stacks of prof. journals that used to pile up on my desk”. Jean K. Thomas, M.D.

“I worked in the library when I was in medical school at UAMS. I remember being fascinated that the entire world of medical knowledge was right there at my fingertips. Now I am at AHEC Southwest in Texarkana and that world is much bigger but still right here at my fingertips at the AHEC Southwest Medical Library.” Russell Mayo, M.D.

Groups Served:
Health Professionals
UAMS nursing students
Students from 5 other college nursing programs
Allied Health students
Consumers

Services Provided:
Mediated searches done by the librarian for health professionals
Loansome Doc – for health professionals
Document Delivery
Interlibrary Loans
Reference – for anyone
Database Training – for health professionals and students in the health professions.
JCAHO Resource for 2 major hospitals

Technology:
AHEC librarians are provided with training and support for technology by the UAMS Library. They are included in UAMS Library’s licensing agreements for databases and other selected electronic resources. With this assistance, the AHEC librarians have been able to increase their technology quotient and move many services and resources online. Using DOCLINE, OCLC and Ariel they can initiate and receive requests for articles quickly thus enabling a faster turn around.

The AHEC SW Library brought up their Ariel system in 2003 after receiving a grant. They also have the Innovative Innopac Online Catalog System Including the Millennium Circulation Module

Special Collections:
The AHEC SW Library’s consumer health collection was begun in 2003. The collection includes books, pamphlets, VHS tapes, and a computer based video kiosk. These items are available for use by the general public.

They also have a collection which supports the Texarkana Regional Center on Aging. This collection includes books, pamphlets, and videos and items in this collection are available for use by the public.

Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Photo:

Contact Information:
AHEC - TEXARKANA
Robin Layne, Librarian
Area Health Education Center/SW Library
Univ. of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
300 E. Sixth St.
Texarkana, AR 71854
ph: 870-779-6023 / fax: 870-779-6050
e-mail: laynerobinl@uams.edu

Counties Covered: Clark, Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada, Pike, Sevier.

If you would like additional information regarding services available at the AHEC SW Library, please contact Robin Layne.

Susan Steelman, MLIS
Coordinator of Outreach Services