(from IHSLA News blog)

The Medical Library Association (MLA), the MLA Hospital Libraries Section, and MLA's Vital PPathways Task Force are conducting a joint survey concerning the state of hospital libraries and librarianship. No national survey of this kind has been done since 1990. The survey is designed to gather data regarding the number of hospitals that have professional librarians on their staffs and the types of library services that are available hospital and medical staff, patients, and consumers.

This survey is part of a larger initiative by MLA to determine the current status of health sciences librarians who work in hospitals. About 550 librarians have already provided us with data; a listing, by state/territory and by city.

Please take the short 10 minutes survey. If you aren't sure whether you have already taken the survey, a list of institutions that have already responded is available at http://www.mlanet.org/survey/hlsr.html.

Please submit only one report for your library. Institutional and library statistical information will be kept confidential and used for aggregate statistical reporting only.

Survey deadline is October 30, 2006

The survey results will be made available to survey respondents, the health sciences library field, and other interested parties and will be used for future strategic initiatives. Thank you very much in advance for your participation in this important survey!

TAKE THE SURVEY NOW: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB225NCSFRUDJ