Annual reports

At the Health Sciences Library, we power curiosity, discovery, and connection. We take a collaborative approach, bringing our expertise, engagement, critical content, and cutting edge technologies to prepare the next generation of health care providers. Together we make the difference. 

Catalyst report Impact and Initiatives of the Health Sciences Libraries | July 2024-June 2025

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Information matters

In my role, I regularly see the transformational power of information in the work of our librarians and curators as they partner with our broad community.
  

  • We are in classrooms—teaching critical Evidence-Based Practice skills so students can not only find the right answers, but ask the right questions.
  • We integrate cutting edge technologies that help students understand the patient experience so they can learn what they want to do, and consider who they want to be.
  • We connect 600 years of global health information to teaching, research, and care to deepen our understanding of past practices so we can shape a positive future of care.

As we close out this year of meaningful work, I am heartened to know that our Health Sciences Libraries empower all of us to be curious, find connection, and discover new paths.

In continued partnership,

Erinn Aspinall, MSI
Senior Director, Health Sciences Libraries

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Exhibits at the Wangensteen

  • Disembodied Reembodied: we joined printmaker Jenny Schmid and bioethicist Jaime Konerman-Sease to explore medical depictions of women's bodies across history (RIO Artist-in-Residence funding; image, above). 
  • Tools of the Trade: we demonstrated broad applications of our medical artifacts across history, including use in amputations, obstetrics, and quackery (MNHS funding).
  • Student & Community Showcase: we highlighted creative works inspired by the Wangensteen collections—from poems to paintings and everything in-between.
  • The ABCs of Animals (student led): our love of animals shined in this exhibit that highlighted our natural history collection, with inspiration from children's literature.
  • Mapping Plant Histories at the Arboretum (online): our collections take center stage in this self-guided tour of the MN Landscape Arboretum. 

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Powering discovery through strong partnerships

Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies celebrates 10 years

November 2014 marked the first issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Partnership Studies (IJPS). Ten years later, Nursing Librarian and Production Editor Liz Weinfurter joined founder Riane Eisler and Inagural Executive Editor Teddie Potter (image, above) in celebration of its 24 issues and 230 open access articles—all focused on improving our society through the principles of partnership.

Applying Evidence-Based Practice

The Medical School’s new curriculum includes the Becoming a Doctor course series. It is in this setting that the Health Sciences Library’s team of Medical School Librarians met with every first year student to provide a session on searching the literature during their initial week of school. This collaboration adds to their longstanding integration into the Family Medicine Clerkship, where librarians teach Evidence-Based Practice skills—skills that course co-director Dr. Cathy McCarty recognizes as “crucial at every step of their education.”

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Powering connection through outreach and engagement

We’re connecting people to people, and everyone to good health information.

  • We continued a decade+ long partnership with PharmD students, incorporating active learning across three sessions to build information literacy skills into pharmacy practice.
  • We welcomed NextGen practitioners into conversations about applied technologies andinformed care through our partnership with Go4Brains and the Center of American Indian and Minority Health programs.
  • Thanks to a partnership with CHIP, we expanded our study session so all health sciences students can prepare for finals, backed by librarian expertise!
  • We’re home to the three Outstanding Library Student Employee Award recipients, with Dheya Amer (image, above), Joseph Stoll, and Dyllon Lohmann honored for their excellence. 
  • We joined Minitex to offer Consumer Health Information training to public librarians statewide.
  • We launched a refreshed website, featuring design, accessibility, and usability improvements for streamlined information access.

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Powering curiosity through state-of-the-art collections

Collections from the Visible Heart® Laboratories now in circulation

We expanded access to the Visible Heart Laboratories’ (VHL) exceptional 3D models. Our collection now includes a hyper-realistic heart model (image, above) as well as the online Atlas of Human Cardiac Anatomy and its hundreds of videos and still images from the inside and outside of the heart. Through this partnership, students can learn cardiac anatomy from a broad representation of health histories—all based on scans of real human anatomy. 

Other notable additions to our collection

These resources expand the boundaries of curiosity—ready to integrate into courses, or to advance individual learning and research goals.

  • Anatomy.TV is upgraded to include real-time embryology (3-8 weeks) and physiopedia to support prenatal care and physical therapy.
  • Virtual reality additions allow users to improve interpersonal skills in Bodyswaps and practice complex procedures with less risk in SimX.
  • Taking the Waters (1774-1960) is a collection of 545 items of global ephemera related to medicinal waters that help scholars at all levels think more broadly about approaches to healthcare.
  • A Global History of Epidemics (1800-1970) offers primary source materials on disease management and the spread of major epidemics across the globe to inform present-day public health practices.

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By the numbers

Courses taught

231
Our librarians and curators reached 5,776 students in 231 courses across the health sciences, with NEW integration into Politics of Reproduction and Intro to Epidemiology.

Visitors

340K
Our spaces welcomed 340K visitors last year, enough to fill Huntington Bank Stadium 4.24 times. Ski-U-Mah!

Student savings

$1.27 Million
We provided electronic access to required textbooks and saved students money. That’s $183 of savings for each health sciences student.

Supported study

45K Hours
Students booked our 19 group study rooms for 45,205 hours (5.1 years), with ready access to library expertise, technology-rich spaces, and state-of-the-art collections.

Systematic reviews

43
We collaborated with researchers across UMN, the US and 15 countries worldwide to conduct studies that advance practice on broad topics—from complementary medicine in pediatric oncology to companion animal welfare.

3D printer filament

48 Miles
Our 3D printers used 48 miles of filament (enough to reach from Minneapolis to Red Wing), creating everything from dental anatomy models to assistive devices.

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