Preston Medical Library

Martha F. Earl, MSLS, AHIP, CHIS

Associate Professor
Director, Preston Medical Library

Biography

Martha Earl received her Master of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Tennessee. She is a native Knoxvillian and obtained her undergraduate degree from UTK. Prior to assuming her position at GSM, she served as Head of Reference/Associate Professor at East Tennessee State University College of Medicine Library where she was involved in the Medical Student Education Committee, the Committee on Women and Gender Issues, and outreach to health professionals in rural and underserved areas.   Before ETSU, she worked at Meharry Medical College as a Clinical Medical Librarian and also organized information services for the Institute on Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved. At Preston, she serves on the Foundational Curriculum Committee and the IRB. Martha teaches a myriad number of classes for health professionals, students, consumers, and other librarians; and is involved in grant funded outreach to consumers and health professionals. She also teaches as adjunct faculty for the UT School of Information Sciences. She has published numerous articles in library and information science journals and co-authored a book chapter and a book.  She served on the editorial board of Hypothesis and currently serves on the editorial board of Tennessee Libraries. She presents regularly at professional meetings.  She chaired the Southern Chapter/Medical Library Association Research Committee and is a past chair of the Medical Library Association Books Panel. Martha is a Distinguished member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals and winner of the UT School of Information Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award for 2006.

Research Focus

Impact of library instruction and involvement related to clinical decision making, quality of care, and the information seeking habits of health care professionals; impact of consumer health information on patient attitudes and interactions with healthcare professionals; impact of library involvement in how nurses seek and use information in a magnet environment; impact of consumer health information training on public library staff; evidence-based medicine/practice; impact of medical library training and mentoring on career paths of School of Information Sciences graduate students

Mentoring Interests

How to practice and teach evidence-based medicine
Impact of knowledge-based information on clinical decision making
Communicating with health consumers
Library and information sciences related to science, particularly health sciences, librarianship
Interrelatedness of health sciences, public, and academic librarianship

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Published Book Chapters

Oelschlegel SI, Earl M, Leonard, K. Consumer health information services and programs: Best practices. London: Rowman & Littlefield; 2016. Chapter 2, The University of Tennessee Medical Center’s Preston Medical Library and Health Information Center; p. 19-34.

Current Publications

Wheeler JS, Wu L, Heidel RE, Earl M.
Assessing pharmacy students drug information skills and perceptions using the critically appraised topic approach. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning. 2021 Jun 19. [Epub ahead of print]

Petersen D, Grabeel KL, Lindsay LM, Watson C, Dixon M, Kirkpatrick N, Earl M.
Providing consumer health information to the underserved public at remote area medical events in east Tennessee. Journal of Hospital Librarianship. 2021 Apr 20. Available in Scopus: May 2021. [Epub ahead of print]

Lindsay JM, Petersen D, Grabeel KL, Quesenberry AC, Pujol A, Earl M.
Mind like water: Flexibly adapting to serve patrons in the era of COVID-19. Medical Reference Services Quarterly. 2021 Jan-Mar;40(1):56-66.

Current Presentations

Lindsay JM, Petersen D, Pujol A, Earl M. Analyzing point of care tools through faculty, resident, and stakeholder buy-in: A cautionary tale. Presented at 2023 Charleston Conference: Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition ; 2023 Nov - 6; Charleston,SC.

Lindsay, JM, Earl M. Exploring links in the library value chain: Does collection use lead to scholarly output? Presented at 2023 Charleston Conference: Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition; 2023 Nov - 6; Charleston,SC.

Lindsay JM, Petersen D, Pujol A, Earl M. Analyzing point of care tools through faculty, resident, and stakeholder buy-in: A cautionary tale. Presented at 71st Annual Meeting of the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association; 2021 Oct 4-7; Virtual.

Petersen D, Earl M, Wilson AQ. Medical resident resource use trends: Looking at the past to inform future decisions. Presented at 71st Annual Meeting of the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association; 2021 Oct 4-7; Virtual.