Building a DREAM: Medical Librarians Collaborating in the Creation of an Assessment Database

Abstract

Program Objective: The DREAM (Directory and Repository of Educational Assessment Measures) project built a repository of peer-reviewed assessment measures used in health sciences education. Program: Librarians collaborated with the school of medicine’s educational department, the Educational Innovation Institute (EII), to create a medical assessment database, DREAM. The DREAM database is hosted within the MedEdPORTAL on the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) website. Librarians tailored searches to the six main Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies. The librarians worked closely with the DREAM project coordinator to craft PubMed searches that would find a variety of assessment tools for students and residents clustered around the six competencies. The searches were combed for Psychometrically Evidenced, Appearing Repeatedly in a Literature Search (PEARLS). PEARLS were sent out to reviewers, who prepared a critical analysis. A Critical Synthesis Package, which includes librarian created indexing, is then placed on the DREAM site. Main Results: The DREAM initiative launched online officially in October 2013. The six ACGME searches will be expanded to cover the entire health sciences arena and social science databases. Librarians have become full-partners with the EII team on the DREAM project, designing not only searches, but providing feedback, participating in monthly meetings, and assisting as needed. DREAM has gained national attention and led to further Librarian involvement in projects on campus and for other organizations. Conclusion: The collaboration between the EII and the medical library is mutually beneficial. The medical librarians have gained national recognition for their inclusion in the DREAM project. The project has been presented at medical education and library conferences. Librarians are collaborating on an article with the EII DREAM team for publication in the medical education literature. Librarians have also improved on their searching skills in PubMed by expanding their knowledge of both MeSH and indexing. This has helped them to become more efficient and productive searchers.