¶¶Òõpro

April Hobbs, MLIS

Research and Data Science Strategist

¶¶Òõpro Libraries
Region 2, Network of the National Library of Medicine
¶¶Òõpro Main Library 4th Floor, Room 415L
hobbsap@musc.edu | 843-792-5721

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April Hobbs is the Research and Data Strategist for Region 2 of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) headquartered at ¶¶Òõpro. In this role, April develops, plans, and provides services related to data collection and management, assessment and evaluation, and quality improvement. She also leads the development and implementation of regional outreach and education strategy for research data services (RDS). April comes with experience in both public and academic libraries. She has been involved in research relating to disaster and emergency preparedness for librarians since 2017 and has an active research interest in how it intersects with public health and health literacy.

Education

• MLIS, Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (2019)
• BA, Communication Studies, Young Harris College, Young Harris, GA (2015)

Selected Publications

• Tu-Keefner, F., Hobbs, A., & Bricker, A. (2022). Is the authoritative online COVID-19 consumer health information intelligible to adults of the general public? A COVID-19 information analysis. Journal of Consumer Health Information on the Internet, 26(4), 373-395. DOI:
• Tu-Keefner, F., Hobbs, A., & Bricker, A. (2022, March). Is your COVID-19 health information understood by adults in the general public? A content analysis of online resources published by the CDC and the WHO. In Proceedings of the International Congress of Medical Librarianship (ICML) and the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA) Joint Conference.
• Tu-Keefner, F., Liu, J., Lyons, D., Hobbs, A., Smith, J. C. & Corbo, M. (2020). Health Information Access and Public Libraries' Situation-Specific Information Services: What Public Librarians and Library Users Said. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet, 24(3), 201-227. DOI:
• Tu-Keefner, F., Liu, J., Lyons, D. R., & Hobbs, A., Hull, C. (2019, August). Preparing future librarians and current information professionals to lead libraries in times of crisis. In Proceedings of the 85th World Library and Information Congress of IFLA. Athens, Greece. Retrieved from

Selected Presentations

• Tu-Keefner, F., Lyons, D. R., & Hobbs, A. (2024, April 5). Library resilience from coast to coast: Lessons learned from disaster research. Presented at the Public Library Association Annual Conference, Columbus, OH.
• Tu-Keefner, F., Lyons, D. R., & Hobbs, A. (2024, January 21). Libraries catalyze communities in times of crisis: A participatory workshop. Presented at the American Library Association LibLearnX Conference, Baltimore, MD.
• Tu-Keefner, F., Lyons, D. R., & Hobbs, A. (2023, October 21). Library resilience from coast to coast: Lessons from disaster research to engage your community and empower your staff. Presented at the American Library Association CORE Forum, New Orleans, LA.
• Tu-Keefner, F., Hobbs, A., & Bricker, A. (2022, July 26-29). Fighting an infodemic through accurate, intelligible COVID-19 information: An analysis of the readability level of authoritative online consumer health information. Presented at the 87th IFLA World Library and Information Congress, Dublin, Ireland.
• Tu-Keefner, F., Hobbs, A., & Bricker, A. (2022, May 2-7). Do your general public users understand the COVID-19 health information you have provided? A content analytical study. Presented at the Medical Library Association Annual Meeting & Exhibition, New Orleans, LA.
• Tu-Keefner, F., Hobbs, A., & Bricker, A. (2022, March 15-19). Is the COVID-19 health information that you provided understood by your general public users? A content analytical study. Presented at the International Congress of Medical Librarianship (ICML) and the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA) Joint Conference, Pretoria, South Africa.