New UNMC students soon will grab their “passport” to explore the resource-rich world of the McGoogan Library of Medicine.
The library’s “Passports to Information” campaign recently won “Best in Show” at the Medical Library Association’s (MLA) 2005 national conference. The passport concept plays off a compass logo the library has used since 1990, which highlights its central role in knowledge organization and navigation. The passport campaign was launched in 2004 and will be used again in August during new student orientation.
“We liked the idea that information access is an adventure and this is the passport for it,” said Teresa Hartman, head of education/assistant professor, McGoogan Library of Medicine. “It’s important to show people how to access what’s available because it’s not always evident to users.”
Medical librarians from across the country submitted promotional items at the MLA’s sixth annual public relations Swap and Shop booth in San Antonio, Texas. The booth showcases medical librarians’ creativity and innovation in marketing their library’s services and provides a venue for exchanging public relations ideas. This year’s items ranged from bookmarks to brochures to CDs to squeezable peaches.
The UNMC library staff captured top honors for its “Passport to Information,” a self-directed orientation for new students. Staff developed a booklet resembling a U.S. State Department passport to serve as a guide to the library and its resources. Patrons received travel-related items as prizes, including compasses and luggage tags, after participating in a sight-seeing tour of the library’s ports of entry and having their visas “stamped.”
“We remember what it was like to be students and to be exploring new worlds,” Hartman said. “This is a creative way to educate library users on what they’ll find at the McGoogan Library.”
The entries were categorized and judged by representatives of the public relations company Public Communications Inc. for creativity, accomplishment of stated goals, and best use of available budget and resources.
In May 2004, the McGoogan staff placed first in Academic Libraries category when it entered a McGoogan Library baseball card that was designed to deliver general information about the library in an easy to carry format. In 2003, it placed second with its “Got Information?” posters, which featured medical center faculty with an information-filled “milk moustache.”
MLA, a nonprofit, educational organization, is comprised of health sciences information professionals with more than 4,500 members worldwide. Placing in its annual marketing competition three years in a row identifies McGoogan as one of the libraries that is helping shape and define best practices in library public relations and marketing.