Background: In early 2020, an experienced academic writing coach developed a 10-week Manuscript Writing Intensive to support the dissemination efforts of the health researchers in our consortium of eight local institutions. The objective of this hands-on small group course was for participants to use the weekly two-hour sessions and 4 hours of homework to support each other in completing a publishable research report within the span of the course. The instructor contacted me, a medical librarian, for assistance and to explore opportunities for collaboration. This was exciting as there was growing interest to expand the library’s support for scholarly communications.
Description: The instructor met with me for an orientation to the library resources and staff expertise available for participants. We then met again to brainstorm segments of the course that I could lead. The planned in-person course pivoted to online when the COVID 19 epidemic emerged. I developed one-hour virtual presentations for the first two sessions that covered ORCID, citation managers, finding the right journal, and literature searching. Each presentation was followed by a discussion period where participants shared their publishing experiences and asked questions. I repeated this for all four cohorts. Overall course feedback highlighted the value of these librarian-led sessions. Even the course instructor commented that my presentations brought her up to speed on available resources to guide the manuscript writing process.
Conclusion: With the first iteration of the course deemed a success, plans were made to offer the series quarterly and expand the number of cohorts. To accommodate the increased number of sessions, I produced videos of my presentations as foundational information for assigned homework. The instructor also designed a worksheet based on my presentation on finding the right journal. These videos are posted on YouTube and our LibGuides, and are included in the course materials. Library collaboration on this dissemination initiative accelerated the development of the course, promoted participant learning, and showcased the expertise of librarians. With a call to develop a Grant Writing Intensive later this year using this same model, the instructor has contacted me to continue our collaboration.