Handouts No More: Increasing Access and Saving Paper by Using del'icio'us Mary J' Markland, MA, AHIP

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Handouts No More Increasing Access and Saving
Paper by Using del.icio.us Mary J. Markland, MA,
AHIPLibrary of the Health Sciences, University
of North Dakota School of Medicine Health
SciencesFargo, ND 58102 undmedlibrary.org
Project 3
Abstract
Project 1
The third project was to create a page that our
staff could use as we identified resources for
our Go Local project.

• Educational materials on paper are labor
  intensive to prepare, impossible to update, and
  wasteful of resources.
• Paper is the only lasting record of a lecture or
  outreach session that is by nature fleeting.
• A more dynamic solution was needed that could be
  edited, updated, and accessible from wherever the
  Internet is found.

The first project that was adapted to the
del.icio.us format was devoted to evidence-based
practice. The page contains links to many more
resources than would fit on the traditional one
page handout, and users can track additions by
using the RSS feature. It was immediately a hit
with both students and librarian.
The project was expanded to include a second,
more general library page that includes more
medical general interest links along with
subjects tied to lectures and exhibits.
Continued

• The social bookmarking site, del.icio.us, seemed
  the perfect solution.
• Information is kept current and new links are
  easily added.
• People can access it from anywhere so the page
  remains a constant point of contact with the
  library.

Conclusions

• Anecdotally, using del.icio.us as a resource to
  provide dynamic information for library users has
  been a success.

Current Plans

• Improve access to other lecture materials by
  using social networking sites such as SlideShare
• Continue to edit tags and bundles for consistency
• Explore ways to track usage of the pages