Assessing the National Library of Medicine's Informationist Awards.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the experience of the informationist recipients of NLM-funded Administrative Supplements for Informationist Services and gather evidence for their impact on NIH-funded biomedical research.

METHODS: A mixed methods approach consisting of a survey of principal investigators and a focus group of informationists.

RESULTS: Informationists appeared to have a positive impact on their team's research, especially in the areas of data storage, data management planning, data organization, and literature searching. In addition, many informationists felt that their involvement had increased their research skills and made them true research partners. Assessing their own impact was a challenge for the award recipients, and questions remain about the best evaluation methods. The overall experience of the informationists and researchers was mixed but largely positive.

CONCLUSION: The NLM-funded informationist supplement award appears to be a successful mechanism for immersing informationists into research teams and improving data management in the supported projects.