Editor’s Note: On a regular basis, we publish the profile of a member of Doody’s Library Board of Advisors (LBA). The LBA has guided the development of our company’s library services since our inception. With gratitude, this month we present the profile of Nadine Dexter of the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library at University of Central Florida College of Medicine.

Where do you currently work and what is your position?

I am the founding director of the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library at the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Medicine in Orlando, Florida. I am also co-director of the Medical Informatics Longitudinal Curriculum Theme (LCT). I have been in my current role for 12 years.

Provide a one sentence description of your library and its services.

To provide UCF College of Medicine students, staff, faculty, and community with evidence-based information resources using the latest innovative technology, and to foster a warm, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all library users by providing excellent customer service.

When did you start in medical librarianship? What was your position? With what institution?

I started in 1994 at the Florida State University Program in Medical Sciences (PIMS), located in Tallahassee, Florida, as the coordinator of media services and medical librarian. In 2000, the PIMS program was approved by the Florida Legislature to become our nation’s first new medical school since Mercer School of Medicine was created in 1988. FSU College of Medicine was the first medical school since the invention of the internet, and I was charged with creating a 100% online medical library from scratch, as mandated by the new Florida law creating the medical school and signed by Governor Jeb Bush (Florida Statute section 240.2997).

Name two of the most important issues facing medical librarianship today.

Budget constraints are impacting our ability to provide relevant, up-to-date resources and maintain our current list of important library subscriptions. This includes keeping well-trained librarians, providing instruction to patrons, and offering relevant and timely reference services.

Finding qualified, well-trained medical librarians is key to maintaining excellent services and remaining relevant to our institutions.

Why have you volunteered to serve on Doody’s Library Board of Advisors?

Doody’s is always providing the latest information needed for important library resources. This important resource is essential for medical libraries to keep up to date.