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MLA Benchmarking Network

Data Definitions

The following definitions cover terms appearing in the various benchmarking questionnaires.

The listings below (alphabetical under questionnaire section headings) may be printed and are also instantly available while you fill out the questionnaires. Terms are not repeated for each questionnaire; they are defined only once here.

Special Feature: When you move your mouse over a specific underlined term within a questionnaire, you'll instantly see the definition for the term. This feature requires a JavaScript-enabled browser.

GENERAL DATA AND PROFILE INFORMATION
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24-Hour Access
The library or hospital provides some means (security guard entry, key-card entry, etc.) to allow staff to enter and use the library at other than normal operational hours.

Allied Health (Professional)
A health professional qualified by training and frequently by licensure to assist, facilitate, or complement the work of physicians, dentists, podiatrists, nurses, pharmacists, and other specialists in the health care system. (JCAHO:11)

AHA
American Hospital Association

AHA Guide
AHA Guide to the Health Care Field; a directory of hospitals, multihospital systems, health-related organizations, and AHA members published annually by Health Forum, a subsidiary of AHA. It includes hospital-specific data, including accreditation information, facilities and services, utilization data, expenses, personnel, etc.

Bed Count
The total number of staffed beds regularly maintained by a health care organization for inpatients (JCAHO:24)

Branch Library
A branch library is an auxiliary unit of an administrative entity which has at least all of the following: separate quarters; an organized collection of library materials; paid or volunteer staff; and regularly scheduled hours for being open to relevant user groups.

Modified version of the NISO Z39.7-2002 Draft Standard for Trial Use, 2.1.4 Branch Library, version 2002a, cited September 30, 2003 at <www.niso.org/emetrics/current/category2.1.html>

Calendar Year
The full 12-month period beginning January 1 and ending December 31.

Fiscal Year
Any 12-month period for which an organization plans the use of its funds.

Full-Time Employee, Full-Time Worker
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a person employed at least 35 hours per week.

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
A work force equivalent of one individual working full-time for a specific period, which may be made up of several part-time individuals or one full-time individual (JCAHO:97)

Health Association or Health Society Library
An association or society that serves members of encompassing medical, nursing, dental, allied health, and health care administration professionals and/or organizations. Health association libraries perform a range of services for two major groups of clientele: administrative staff, and members. Services generally include, but are not limited to, research, information delivery, and information management. [From the Health Association Libraries Section, MLA Website, www.hals.mlanet.org/.]

Health System, Health Care System
A network of organizations and individuals who provide health services in a defined geographic area. A health system is established, according to the AHA, when a single hospital owns, leases, or contract-manages non-hospital, preacute, and/or postacute health-related facilities (for example, wellness services, mental health services, outpatient services, employer health services, long term care); or two or more hospitals are owned, leased, sponsored, or contract managed by a central organization. In the latter case, a single holding company board of directors has the programmatic and fiscal responsibilities to promote the health of the community (JCAHO:112)

To determine how you should fill out health care system data, click here.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement Campaigns
Developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the 100,000 Lives Campaign reduced inpatient deaths by an estimated 122,000 in 18 months through overall improvement in care, including improvement associated with six interventions recommended by the initiative. This initiative concluded in 2006 and the new 5 Million Lives Campaign builds upon this success. It promotes the adoption by hospitals of up to 12 improvements in care that can save lives and reduce patient injuries in order to protect patients from five million incidents of medical harm over a 24-month period, ending Dec. 9, 2008.

Magnet Status
The Magnet Recognition Program® was developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to recognize health care organizations that provide nursing excellence. The program also provides a vehicle for disseminating successful nursing practices and strategies. The Magnet Recognition Program is based on quality indicators and standards of nursing practice as defined in the American Nurses Association\'s Scope and Standards for Nurse Administrators (2004).

Medical School Clerkships
Medical students working with patients, usually in their third year.

Open for Service
Include only those hours the library is staffed and provides all normal services.

Outpatient
An individual who receives health care services in a clinic, emergency department, or other health care facility without being lodged overnight in that facility as an inpatient. (JCAHO:191)

Outpatient Visit
A visit by a patient who is not lodged in the hospital while receiving medical, dental, or other services. Each appearance of an outpatient in each unit constitutes one visit regardless of the number of diagnostic and/or therapeutic treatments that a patient receives. (JCAHO:191)

Part-Time Employee (PTE)
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a person who works less than 35 hours per week. Part-time employees usually do not receive the same health insurance, retirement, or other benefits full-time employees receive.

[Patient] Discharge
The point at which a patient's active involvement with an organization or program is terminated and the organization or program no longer maintains active responsibility for the care of the patient. Types of discharge are discharge by death, discharge by transfer, and discharge to home. (JCAHO:73)

Physician
A doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy who, by virtue of education, training, and demonstrated competence, is fully licensed to practice medicine and may be granted clinical privileges by a health care organization to perform specific diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. (JCAHO:204)

Post Graduate Training Position
Includes any physician in supervised practice of medicine among patients in a hospital or in its outpatient department with continued instruction in the science and art of medicine by the staff of the facility. Also includes clinical fellows in advanced training in the clinical divisions of medicine, surgery, and other specialty fields preparing for practice in a given specialty. These physicians are engaged primarily in patient care.

School of Nursing Students
Your library provides services to nursing students who are affiliated with your hospital: AA program, RN, BSN program/MSN, or doctoral level.

Senior Management
The term "senior management" refers to the administrative level. In a large teaching hospital [for example], the director of medical education may be considered senior management. [Hospital Library Standards 2002 (J Med Libr Assoc 2002 Oct; 90(4):466.)

Specialty Hospital
 A hospital that serves a specific population (e.g., children) or provides treatment for specific conditions or diseases (e.g., cancer).

Teaching Hospital
A medical school-affiliated or university-owned hospital with accredited programs in medical, allied health, or nursing education. Hospitals that educate nurses and other health personnel but which do NOT train physicians, or that have only programs of continuing education for practicing professionals, are not considered to be teaching hospitals. (JCAHO:257)

Tertiary Hospital
Tertiary hospitals provide highly specialized services for more severe illnesses and conditions. Tertiary hospitals may have specialty units, such as coronary intensive care, trauma or perinatal/neonatal intensive care units. They are usually teaching hospitals.

ADMINISTRATION
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Audiovisual/Media Resources
Includes video tapes, audio tapes, slide sets, microforms, and appropriate equipment; includes any of these resources dedicated to special activities (e.g., CME).

Computer/Network Expenses
Includes expenses for computer networks or their components, new, or replacement, for staff OR public use. Includes costs for hardware maintenance or purchases, integrated library system expenses, cataloging utilities, operating systems, network wiring, network management, general software maintenance/purchase (EXCLUDE specific software included in questions A31 and A32d), printers, hubs, peripherals, etc.

Delivery Services
In this context, include document delivery expenses, public information services such as current awareness services or table of contents distribution, literature alert services, daily news services, copyright clearances, etc. EXCLUDE cataloging utility services.

Electronic Information Resources
Includes electronic versions of journals and monographs, databases, CD-ROMs, software, DVD, and laser disks, as well as any single-, health system, or consortial licensing agreements.

Fee-Based Services
Any library services for which you charge the user a separate fee. Examples include photocopying services, search services, ILLs, fax services, etc.

Medical Staff Financial Support
Your library receives funds from your medical staff on a regular recurring basis, apart from and in addition to hospital funds.

Operating Expenses
Monies paid over a period of time to maintain a property, operate a business, or provide services. In this survey, do NOT include capital expenses for new buildings, furniture, etc.

Other Sources of Funding
Your library has access to alternate sources of funding (e.g., endowments, grants, donations, etc.).

Serials
 A publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals, newspapers, annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.), the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc., of societies, and numbered monographic series. [ALCTS: 41]

Staff Development
For this survey, include all funds expended for staff professional development, including meeting registration fees, lodging expenses, travel expenses, books or journals that remain the property of the staff member, or any tuition reimbursement expenses that come from the LIBRARY's budget.

PUBLIC SERVICES
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Educational Programs
Education service to GROUPS that includes FORMAL INSTRUCTION in some subject, such as the structure of the literature, techniques of information management, or research methodology appropriate for a discipline. Includes sessions sponsored by the library or given as part of a class in a formal curriculum. (Shedlock)

Interlibrary Borrowing
Your library borrows materials from other institutions for your users.

Interlibrary Loaning
Your library loans materials from your collection to other institutions.

Library Orientation
Educational services to individual users or groups designed to introduce new or potential library clients to the facilities, organization, and services of the library. (Shedlock)

Mediated Literature Searches
Your library provides a library staff-mediated search service for your users. Mediated searches usually involve a reference interview with the client to determine appropriate resources and construction of the search. Count a single topic as one search, no matter how many databases were used.

Patient
An individual who receives care or services. Similar terms used by various health care fields include client, resident, customer, individual served, patient and family unit, consumer, or health care consumer. (JCAHO:195)

Reference Question
An information request that requires knowledge, use, recommendations, interpretation, or instruction in the use of one or more information sources by a member of the library staff. Does NOT include routine direction requests, even though answered at a reference desk.

SPECIAL SERVICES
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Clinical Medical Librarian Program
You or your staff perform the function of a clinical librarian by accompanying clinical staff on rounds and providing literature for specific patient charts.

Consumer Health Information Services
Your library provides materials for patient and family health education either to staff for teaching in a formal presentation or in a separate patient education resource center; OR your library provides information services on an appropriate level to patients, families and/or is open to your community.

Institutional Archives
The historical archives for your institution (excluding patient records).

Continuing Medical Education (CME)
Continuing education as it applies to physicians. CME may be gained via formal coursework, medical journals and texts, teaching programs, and self-study courses (JCAHO:55)

Wi-Fi
A wireless local area network or "Wi-Fi" (short for "wireless fidelity") is a popular term for a high-frequency wireless network (also known as WLAN), The Wi-Fi technology is gaining acceptance in many companies as an alternative to a wired LAN [although security concerns are still being addressed]. From the TechTarget Network. <http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/
0,,sid40_gci838865,00.html>

TECHNICAL SERVICES
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Title
A separate bibliographic whole, whether issued in one or several volumes, reels, disks, slides, or other parts. Titles are defined as in the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. A monograph or serial title may be distinguished by its unique International Standard Book or Serial Number (ISBN/ISSN). The term applies equally to print or non-print materials.

DEFINITION SOURCES
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The Benchmarking Task Force used the following resources for defining terms. All materials are copyright by the respective institutions.

  • Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Lexicon: dictionary of health care terms, organizations, and acronyms. 2d ed. Chicago, IL: JCAHO, 1998.
  • Shedlock, J, ed. Annual Statistics of Medical School Libraries in the United States and Canada Survey instrument. Chicago, IL: AAHSL, various years.
  • Association for Library Collections and Technical Services: Serials Section Serials Acquisitions Glossary, 3d edition revised. [Web document]. Chicago, IL: ALA, 2005 [cited 18 Sep 2007]. <http://www.ala.org/ala/alctscontent/alctspubsbucket/webpublications/
    alctsserials/serialsacquisiti/05_serials_glossary.pdf    >.

 

For updates or changes, contact the Benchmarking Network Editorial Board staff liaison, Kate Corcoran, 312.419.9094 x12.

 

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