Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian
101 Burrill Hall
407 South Goodwin Ave
Urbana, IL 61801
217.333.7461
mmalliso@uiuc.edu
Previous Position(s)
- 1998-2002: Information Services/Monographic Cataloging Librarian (Assistant Librarian), Cunningham Memorial Library, Indiana State University.
Education
- 1998 - Master of Science in Library and Information Science: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL.
- 1987 - Bachelor of Science in Nursing: Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX.
- 1975 - Associate of Arts in Nursing: Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, IN.
Research Interests
The majority of my research relates to biomedical literature. Incorporating research findings into practice is a challenge in most professions, and there are few that have more of a challenge than the health sciences professions. My experience as a registered nurse in very dynamic healthcare settings for over twenty years provides me with insights on how difficult it is to find and utilize current research in practice for nurses and physicians. My interest lies in how librarians can help healthcare professionals to connect with knowledge from current biomedical and nursing research so that these research findings can be incorporated into clinical practice.
Areas of research interest includes:
The identification and organization of important literature sources
The identification and evaluation of important information resources
Literature use studies
Translation of nursing and biomedical research findings into clinical practice
Librarians as social entrepreneurs, especially regarding gender-specific biomedical research
Awards and Distinctions
Awards
- Medical Library Association, Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section, NAHRS Award for Professional Excellence (2009)
- Certificate of Distinguished Service to the Medical Library Community, Doody's Enterprises, Inc., (2006).
- Certificate of Distinguished Service to the Medical Library Community, Doody's Enterprises, Inc., (2005).
- Certificate of Distinguished Service to the Medical Library Community, Doody's Enterprises, Inc., (2004).
Grants Awarded
- 2002: Information Seeking Behavior of Registered Nurses in an Online Environment, UIUC Scholars Travel Fund Award.
Recent Publications
Articles
- Allison, Melody M. "Women's health: Librarians as social entrepreneurs." Library Trends, 56/2 (2007).
- Allison, Melody M. "Mapping the literature of nephrology nursing." Journal of the Medical Library Association, 94/2 Suppl (2006): E74-9.
- Allen, Margaret (Peg), Melody M. Allison, and Sheryl Stevens. "Mapping the literature of nursing education." Journal of the Medical Library Association, 94/2 Supple (2006): E122-E127.
- Allison, Melody M. "Comparison of CINAHL vis EBSCOhost, Ovid, and ProQuest." Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries, 3/1 (2006): 31-50.
- Allison, Melody M. "The benefits of NMRT [American Library Association's New Members Round Table]." NMRT Footnotes, 33/4 (2004): 3.
- Allison, Melody M. "U.S. government statistics on the World Wide Web." Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 22/1 (2003): 39-55.
- Allison, Melody M. "Non-governmental health statistics on the World Wide Web." Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 22/3 (2003): 39-51.
- Allison, Melody M. " Lights! Camera! Action!" Info Career Trends - Lisjobs.com's Professional Development Newsletter, 3/5 (2002).
- Allison, Melody M. "NMRT President's Program 2002 report: 'The successful 21st century librarian.'" NMRT Footnotes, 32/1 (2002): 6.
- Allison, Melody M. " Review of Quick Look Nursing: Legal and Ethical Issues, by Susan Westrick Killion, and Katherine Dempski." E-Streams, 5/1 (2002).
- Allison, Melody M. " Review of Lippincott's Critical Care Drug Guide by Marla J. DeJong and Amy M. Karch." E-Streams, 5/1 (2002).
- Allison, Melody M. " Review of Nursing Diagnosis Reference Manual, 5th edition, edited by Sheila M. Sparks, Cynthia M. Taylor." E-streams, 4/8 (2001).
- Allison, Melody M. " Review of Handbook of Dementia Caregiving: Evidence-Based Interventions for Family Caregivers, edited by Richard Schulz." E-Streams, 4/4 (2001).
- Allison, Melody M. " Review of Historical Encyclopedia of Nursing, by Mary Ellen Snodgrass." E-Streams, 3/9 (2000).
- Allison, Melody M. " Review of Handbook of Infusion Therapy, edited by Andrew T. McPhee." E-Streams, 3/5 (2000).
Books
- Schmidt, Diane, Melody M. Allison, Kathleen A. Clark, Maria A. Porta, and Pamela Jacobs, 2005. Guide to Reference and Information Sources in Plant Biology, Libraries Unlimited.
- Schmidt, Diane, Melody M. Allison, Kathleen A. Clark, Maria A. Porta, and Pamela Jacobs, 2005. Guide to Reference and Information Sources in Plant Biology: Web Resources, Libraries Unlimited.
Book Chapters
- Allison, Melody M., forthcoming. "U.S. government documents and technical reports." in Introduction to Reference Sources in the Health Sciences.
Recent Presentations
- Allison, Melody M, "Women's Health Beyond OB/Gyne [Gender-Specific Medicine]." Coles County League of Women Voters Annual Meeting, Charleston, IL: May 2005.
- Allison, Melody M, "Women's Health: History in the Making." Indiana Library Federation (ILF) Annual Conference, Division on Women in Indiana Libraries program, Women and History, Indianapolis, IN: 23 March 2005.
- Allison, Melody M, "Information Seeking Behavior of Registered nurses in an Online Environment." Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN: 20 September 2002.
- Allison, Melody M, "Mapping the Literature of Nursing." Medical Library Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver, B.C., Canada: May 5-10, 2000.
Web Projects
Professional Service
- American Library Association.
- Medical Library Association.
- Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section
- Doody's Core Titles in the Health Sciences.
University Library