MDConsult Forgetting the Librarians?
I have heard from people how Elsevier is reaching out to librarians trying to improve their reputation with us. But it seems not everyone is on the same page.
This morning I was surprised to receive an email from my MDConsult rep detailing a trial to a product that I had not set up nor had the other librarians in the entire hospital system. I emailed my MDConsult reps and the other librarians to try and clear up my confusion. I also emailed a person (who I didn't know) whose address clearly indicated they were within the hospital system and was also listed on the trial email. I quickly heard back from one of the librarians and she was just as confused as I was. I then heard back from the other person who was indeed knowledgeable about the trial.
This is what I learned. It turns out that some people within the hospital system administration had been given a demo of Mosby's Nursing Skills and Mosby's Nursing Consult. Subsequently they decided to set up a trial of the two products. I find it very odd that my reps did not contact me about this demo. I didn't even know they had been in town. I have had other vendors stop by the library just to say hi while they are on business in the area. You would think in a situation such as this they would have gotten in touch with the usual primary contacts for MDConsult. Those who had viewed the demo were also unaware that the libraries had already looked at Mosby's Nursing Consult.
Perhaps I am overly sensitive, and our reps just forgot to invite one of the 14 medical librarians within the system to the demonstration. Regardless, oversights like this do not help and only add to the frustration librarians feel toward Elsevier.
4 Comments:
I've had the same experience and I believe I've figured out what's going on. In the wake of Nursing Magnet program, MDConsult set up a sales force to target nursing administrators and nursing educators in hospitals. They hired people who could use nursing jargon and push, not only Nursing Consult, but a special nursing education tools they're marketing....nursing procedures, I believe. It is operating separately from the sales people who market to libraries. Frankly I don't care if the hospital buys this out of nursing funds or my budget. It's all the same pocket. While Nursing consult is a nice addition it doesn't replace CINAHL which nurses will still need for evidence based searching nor does it have as many nursing journals as would be ideal. Adjunct but not a primary source for nursing information in my opinion. Be sure to let Nursing know that this will not replace the collection and tools in the library.
I've heard of this marketing direct to nursing as I teach MLA CE. The previous comment is an argument for going direct to nursing leadership to promote library services. What value you can add to nurses' information seeking and learning experiences? The Magnet program values interdisciplinary collaboration, and what you do with nursing is just as valuable as the resources you provide.
I've heard of this marketing direct to nursing as I teach MLA CE. The previous comment is an argument for going direct to nursing leadership to promote library services - what value you can add to nurses' information seeking experience. The Magnet program values interdisciplinary collaboration, and what you do with nursing is just as valuable as the information resources.
Same thing happened in our institution. I have a feeling they are trying to preempt the new EBSCO product. I viewed a demo of the EBSCO product at MLA and it is very nice.
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