Document Type
Poster
Abstract
2023 SCC & SC Joint Chapter Meeting, New Orleans, LA, September 21-26, 2023
Publication Date
9-24-2023
College or School
UAB Libraries
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Backer, Alan, "Building a VR Program in a Regional Medical Campus Library" (2023). Libraries Professional Work. 19.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/libraries-pw/19
Comments
Purpose: The poster examines the steps taken to build a Virtual Reality program at a regional medical campus by a solo medical librarian with no prior VR experience. Setting/Participants/Resources: The Sparks Medical Library at the UAB Huntsville Regional Medical Campus, in partnership with UAB Huntsville campus administration and IT support, as well as the Lister Hill Library VR Lab on the main UAB campus. Brief Description: The VR project is funded by The Comprehensive Urban Underserved and Rural Experience (CU2RE) Program for the Primary Care Physician Shortage in Alabama, as well as by UAB Libraries through resource sharing with Sparks Library. To align the Huntsville campus with the latest trends in medical education, the Dean elected in May 2022 to bring VR technology to students and faculty on campus through Sparks Medical Library, after observing the service provided the Lister Hill VR Lab. Sparks Library was chosen to host the program due to precedence from other academic medical libraries providing VR technology as an educational resource. This poster will outline the steps performed by the medical librarian to establish the goals for the project, assemble an implementation team, overcome obstacles to implementation, build the required infrastructure, and train in VR technology in order to carry out trusted stewardship of the program. Results/Outcome: As of June 2023, the Virtual Reality Space in the Sparks Medical Library is live and available to all students, residents, faculty and staff at the UAB Huntsville campus. Usage data will be tracked and evaluation methods will be undertaken in the coming year to monitor the impact of the program.