A Librarian’s Passion for Student Success - Theodosia Adanu, Principal Librarian and Head at University of Ghana

Lindsey Smith: I'm Lindsey Smith, Director of Engagement at Osmosis from Elsevier. In this special episode, we'll be talking to one of the winners of the 2022 Osmosis Raise the Line Faculty Awards. Osmosis asked for nominations of our top faculty members globally. We received over 1,000 faculty nominations from 377 institutions around the world which our panel combed through to select just a handful of educators. The winners received many nominations with their students and colleagues submitting videos and testimonials telling us how they embody the Osmosis values. 

Today, I have the privilege of interviewing Theodosia Adanu, our winner for the Librarian category. First of all, congratulations. 

Theodosia Adanu: Thank you very much, Lindsey. It's a pleasure to be here.

Lindsey: Thank you so much. Before we jump in, I would love for you to give just a little bit of background on you. 

Theodosia: I'm Theodosia, and as Lindsey has already said, I'm a librarian, and I work at the University of Ghana in West Africa. I'm currently the acting university librarian of the university, but previously, I was the librarian for the College of Health Sciences. My whole career has been in librarianship and just finding information and helping people -- mainly students, faculty, researchers, clinicians -- to do well in their research practice, teaching, and learning. So, that's basically what I do. 

Lindsey: Amazing. Thank you for that. How did you get started in your career as a librarian? 

Theodosia: I finished school, and then I asked myself what next? My first degree was not in librarianship. At the time, there was no degree in librarianship in Ghana. It was a postgraduate degree. So I finished my first degree in languages. I asked myself what next. I wanted to be in a quiet career and impact students. I just thought, “OK, library studies would be one to consider.” Then I entered librarianship, and I've never looked back. 

Lindsey: That's incredible, and clearly, you've inspired a lot of students, colleagues, and researchers along the way. You received lots of nominations from students and colleagues. Can you speak about who or what maybe inspired you to get into education?

Theodosia: Let me say it's more of a “what” than a “who.” But if you're looking at who, both of my parents were in education, so maybe that indirectly inspired me. Hard to tell. But as to what, it's just my desire to impact and see change and I thought doing it through library studies would achieve it. Not only that, but in librarianship, you don't just sit and look at books, as people think. We go out there and instruct. I think I had a passion for instructing, just to see the difference this instruction made in the lives of the students and researchers and their research, their practice, and their learning. That's what inspired me. The desire to bring a change and realizing that the things that I thought should be known were not known. That was a big inspiration for me. There can be a difference made in this area. That's basically it. 

Lindsey: And a true difference, it sounds like, that you are making in your current field. So, in order to win this award, you did receive many nominations and what I want to do is give you a little snapshot of one of those, and then I would love to understand how that makes you feel. “I am nominating Theodosia because she is deeply committed to the students at the University of Ghana and the future of medicine in her community. In addition to her role as a librarian, she also serves as a fierce advocate for evidence-based teaching practice. She's championed the use of evidence-based digital tools at University of Ghana, encouraging students to habituate to consulting the evidence in practice. Overall, she's an ideal candidate for the Osmosis Raise the Line Award due to her dedication to improving the capacity of the next generation of health care professionals.” How does that make you feel?

Theodosia: I still have goosebumps when I hear that. I'm completely at a loss for words. I didn't realize that what I was doing was having such an impact. This is exciting. It is encouraging. It is... what do I say? I mean, it's nice to know that in the line of your work, you are appreciated and it's good to know that you are making a difference. And that, for me, is mind-blowing. I didn't think it was such a big difference. That's mind-blowing for me. 

Lindsey: Yes, absolutely. So at Osmosis, we have our core values that we kind of incorporate into our day-to-day interactions, how we work and really, there's some really meaningful ones that carry over even to my personal life, I would say. Of all the Osmosis values, does one in particular resonate with you? And if so, why? 

Theodosia: For me, it's the heart. When I think of the heart, I think of passion. I think for anyone to be able to make a difference, you ought to be passionate about things. I think this is one thing I'm passionate about. Beyond that, I think another one that resonates with me is spreading joy. The difference you make in a person's life, and even the joy that comes to them, brings joy to you also. So, those two values, I do resonate with them very much. Not as though I don't with the rest, but these two really stand out. 

Lindsey: I couldn't agree more. So, moving forward, what would you say is next for you or for your institution? 

Theodosia: For me, the next is to become more acquainted with the Osmosis products, and we looked a bit at Complete Anatomy, but I'd like to look more at it for myself. Because before I carry it to the students and faculty, I'd like to know what is there myself. That's the next step for me: know what is there, look a bit at the Osmosis offerings because there's a lot to know. I'd like to look more into it, know it for myself. 

Then for the institution, to get this to them, promote these products to them, and help them see the value in using Osmosis and Complete Anatomy. Complete Anatomy because these days, we have large numbers of students, and there's a need for the students and faculty to move from cadavers to virtual. I think the Complete Anatomy is a good choice. I think I'd like to bring that to their attention and for them to take a look at so that students are not crowded around cadavers and in the comfort of their rooms, just take the Complete Anatomy and look at the anatomy of the human body. If funds are allowing, get a subscription of Osmosis and Complete Anatomy. That's the next step for this. 

Lindsey: Yeah, that sounds wonderful and we can certainly help. I know we've passed along access to everyone. But if we can help in that process at all, feel free to reach out to us at any time. 

Theodosia: Thank you.

Lindsey: What advice would you give to your students that are entering the medical field? 

Theodosia: For us, it's not a post-graduate course. They do medicine from the first year. They don't do a first degree before they do medicine. So, let me just say for those who are in the university and doing the medical course, my advice to them would be to take the information literacy courses seriously and then to make use of the online resources we provide for them, such as ClinicalKey, Science Direct, Mendeley, and then UpToDate. That's also an evidence-based tool. Take them seriously and to use them because medicine is changing, and there's more of a lean towards evidence-based practice and you should take it seriously from the beginning. 

The reason why I'd like them to imbibe the information literacy courses is because that is foundational. Once they understand it, within that course, they are taught so many things, including how to use these resources. So, I'd like them to take them seriously because they are a means to lifelong learning. It's not just when they are students, but even when they leave school. This is something that would be of use to them and to realize that evidence-based practice has come to stay, and it's going to be so for many, many years to come. It does make a difference and brings results in their patient-doctor relationship.

Lindsey: That ties in perfectly to our next question for you. As you know, Osmosis is a teaching company, and we love to fill in knowledge gaps. Is there any topic that you would like to educate us on that you think our audience should know about? 

Theodosia: Maybe what I'd like to say in that regard is I find a lot of gaps in the knowledge of both faculty of students when it comes to the whole area of information literacy. A lot of gaps. I think that's one thing I'd like to speak about. I think it's foundational to any research practice because the whole idea of information literacy is that it helps you know your information needs and then what you need to meet that information need, and then it also allows you to know how to incorporate this information in your life -- whether it's in research, learning, teaching, or practice. So I think this is basic, and it's my desire to see more people embrace it and imbibe

it and I do my best to make sure that everybody knows about it and is practicing the tenets of information literacy. That's a gap I'd like to see fille.

Lindsey: That's a great one. Thank you for sharing. Is there anybody you would like to thank for this award? Maybe peers, students, mentors, colleagues, family members? 

Theodosia: There are quite a few people I'd like to thank. First of all, I'd like to thank my library team who have allowed me to mentor them and carry on the aim of promoting evidence-based clinical care in research and practice and learning and making themselves available to their students and faculty when they come and introducing these resources to them. I'd also like to thank my husband, who is himself a medical practitioner, for how he's believed in me and presented me with opportunities to promote evidence-based research and consulted me when he's had to in his own research and career. I'd like to thank him for the opportunities he's given me and the confidence he's expressed in me. And then I'd like to thank all those who have believed in me to consult and ask me different things in the medical field related to teaching, research, and even asked me to take classes for their students. I'd like to thank them also. I'd also like to thank my students who have imbibed knowledge that I presented to them. Then last but not least, I'd like to thank all those who nominated me for this award, and to you, the Osmosis team, a big thank you for selecting me. Thank you very much to all of you. 

Lindsey: Well, congratulations again for that. It sounds like you have a really great community around you. So with that, we will go ahead and wrap it up. Thank you so much for joining us today. It was a true pleasure to get to know you a little bit more and congratulations again on receiving this award. Obviously, this is a very deserving award for you, and we are wishing you the very best in the coming year. We know that you'll be impacting lots more learners along the way. So, thank you again. 

Theodosia: Thank you, Lindsey. It's a pleasure to be here.