Rita B. Smith, MLIS, AHIP

Michael E. DeBakey Medical Librarian Award 2010

Rita B. Smith, MLIS, AHIP has been active as a professional librarian for thirteen years, and has spent much of that time developing and managing innovative projects to meet the health information needs of rural and underserved healthcare professionals and consumers. Following a BS in elementary education from Auburn University, Rita earned a Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama in 1997.

Her experiences as a Science and Medicine Librarian at Jacksonville State led to an interest in health sciences librarianship, and she joined the Mercer University Medical Library in Macon, Georgia, as the Rural Health Information Clearinghouse (RHIC) Librarian in April 2000. Chief among her efforts as Outreach and Education Coordinator is the Georgia Interactive Network (GaIN) for Medical Information, a consortium of small member institutions who rely on the Mercer Medical Library to supply health information resources and services. Ms. Smith coordinates services and activities for the GaIN network, which includes over fifty institutions around Georgia. Additional statewide outreach efforts Rita has been involved with include the PHOENIX Project and Georgia Health - Go Local, an NLM initiative to link consumers to health resources in their local areas.

Ms. Smith has been a frequent contributor at library association meetings at all levels, and has presented at the National AHEC Workshop as well. In 2008, she was awarded Distinguished Member status in the Academy of Health Information Professionals, the credentialing arm of the Medical Library Association, as a result of her service and professional development activities.

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