Elizabeth “Beth” Whipple has been appointed as the Associate Director of Informationist Services at the Welch Medical Library. Beth will lead a team of thirteen informationists and will be responsible for conceiving, planning, and directing information services to faculty, staff, and learners at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Nursing and Public Health. Beth comes to Johns Hopkins from Indiana University where she has served in multiple roles since 2006. She became tenure track faculty in 2007 and held progressively responsible positions in the IU School of Medicine’s Ruth Lilly Medical Library in Indianapolis. Most recently she served as the Assistant Director of Research and Translational Sciences and held the faculty rank of Librarian. Beth and her team focused on supporting the growth of student research, developing and improving research impact services, and facilitating information management initiatives. Beth oversaw the required IUSM Data Management Plan in 2020 and facilitated the work for 100% compliance in 2022. She has been funded continuously by the Indiana Clinical and Translational Institute (CTSI) since its inception in 2008. Her work on information discovery included bibliometric analysis in supporting and analyzing the publication output of the Indiana CTSI. She has engaged with faculty, students, researchers, and clinicians across the IU School of Medicine, and she served as liaison to multiple departments and the CTSI.
in 2022-2023 she was selected as a fellow for the prestigious NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program, sponsored by the National Library of Medicine and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries. In 2023, Beth won the Estelle Brodman Award for the Academic Health Sciences Librarian of the Year from the Medical Library Association (MLA), one of the Association’s most notable awards. She is also a three-time recipient of the MLA President’s Award for contributions enhancing the profession and furthering the association’s objectives.
Beth has co-authored 39 publications including nine systematic reviews, and twelve publications utilizing bibliometric analyses to track publishing trends across medical journals as it relates to gender. She currently serves on the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Library Advisory Board through 2027, selected through a nationwide competitive process.
Beth started at the Welch Library on August 5, 2024, and can be reached at [email protected].