Developing a generic tool to routinely measure the impact of health libraries

Background

Health libraries contribute to many activities of a health care organisation. Impact assessment needs to capture that range of contributions.

Objectives

To develop and pilot a generic impact questionnaire that: (1) could be used routinely across all English NHS libraries; (2) built on previous impact surveys; and (3) was reliable and robust.

Methods

This collaborative project involved: (1) literature search; (2) analysis of current best practice and baseline survey of use of current tools and requirements; (3) drafting and piloting the questionnaire; and (4) analysis of the results, revision and plans for roll out.

Findings

The framework selected was the International Standard Methods And Procedures For Assessing The Impact Of Libraries (ISO 16439). The baseline survey (n = 136 library managers) showed that existing tools were not used, and impact assessment was variable. The generic questionnaire developed used a Critical Incident Technique. Analysis of the findings (n = 214 health staff and students), plus comparisons with previous impact studies indicated that the questionnaire should capture the impact for all types of health libraries.

Conclusions

The collaborative project successfully piloted a generic impact questionnaire that, subject to further validation, should apply to many types of health library and information services.     

Peer teaching and information retrieval: the role of the NICE Evidence search student champion scheme in enhancing students’ confidence

Background

This research reports on the NICE Evidence search (ES) student champion scheme (SCS) first five years of activity (2011–2016) in terms of its impact on health care undergraduate students’ information search skills and search confidence.

Objectives

A review of students’ evaluation of the scheme was carried out to chart the changes in attitude towards NICE Evidence search as an online health care information source and to monitor students’ approach to information seeking.

Methods

This study is based on the results of questionnaires distributed to students before and after attending a training session on NICE Evidence search delivered by their own peers. The exercise was implemented in health related universities in England over a period of five consecutive academic years.

Results

(i) Students’ search confidence improved considerably after the training; (ii) ES was perceived as being an increasingly useful resource of evidence based information for their studies; (iii) the training helped students develop discerning search skills and use evidence based information sources more consistently and critically.

Conclusions

The NICE SCS improves confidence in approaching information tasks amongst health care undergraduate students. Future developments could involve offering the training at the onset of a course of study and adopting online delivery formats to expand its geographical reach.     

Integrating evidence-based practice and information literacy skills in teaching physical and occupational therapy students

Background: To ensure that physical and occupational therapy graduates develop evidence‐based practice (EBP) competencies, their academic training must promote EBP skills, such as posing a clinical question and retrieving relevant literature, and the information literacy skills needed to practice these EBP skills. Objective: This article describes the collaborative process and outcome of integrating EBP and information literacy early in a professional physical therapy and occupational therapy programme. Methods: The liaison librarian and a faculty member designed an instructional activity that included a lecture, workshop and assignment that integrated EBP skills and information literacy skills in the first year of the programme. The assignment was designed to assess students’ ability to conduct a search independently. Results: The lecture and workshop were successful in their objectives, as 101 of the 104 students received at least 8 out of 10 points on the search assignment. Conclusions: The teaching activities developed for the students in this course appear to have achieved the goal of teaching students the EBP research cycle so that they might begin to emulate it. The collaboration between the faculty member and the librarian was integral to the success of this endeavour. Future work will include the evaluation of students’ long‐term retention of information literacy objectives.     

New Directions in Health Sciences Libraries in Canada: Research and Evidence based Practice Are Key

This article is the second in a new series in this regular feature. The intention of the series is to look at important global developments in health science libraries. These articles will serve as a road map, describing the key changes in the field and exploring factors driving these changes. The present article by two Canadian librarians identifies important national developments which are shaping the profession such as the centralisation of health care services, the challenge of providing consumer health information in the absence of a national strategy, government recognition of the need to recognise and respond to the health needs of indigenous peoples and the growing emphasis on managing research data. Although their profession is strong, health science librarians must find ways of providing enhanced services with fewer staff and demonstrate value to organisations. JM     

Medical and health informatics services during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic should be virtual,tailored, responsive and interactive: a case study in Belgium

This is part of a new series in this regular feature regarding trends in the provision of information by health science libraries. By sharing expertise and drawing together relevant trends the series intends to serve as a road map for both health science librarians and health informatics professionals. This article shows how a medical and biomedical research library changed practices, and reassessed user needs for the COVID‐19 emergency. Discusses changes to online education (and collaborative working) to provide user‐friendly services, researcher support tailored to need and re‐visioning library space. J.M.     

Opportunities for faculty‐librarian collaboration in an expanded dentistry curriculum

With the increased emphasis on evidence based practice, developing information literacy skills earlier in health care education programmes is widely accepted. However finding opportunities for relevant teaching can present challenges, often leading to a lack of integration. In this paper, guest writers Sean Stone and colleagues from Indiana University discuss their involvement with an expanded dental hygiene curriculum in the University School of Dentistry. This expansion has provided the opportunity to plan integration of information and oral health literacy instruction and evidence based practice across the new curriculum, and provide transferable skills for any major. In particular, the paper addresses the developmental work the health librarian team engaged in from course design, delivery and assessment to improve student preparedness for evidence based practice. H.S.     

Context and learning: the value and limits of library‐based information literacy teaching

This month's regular feature will discuss some of the implications for library‐based information literacy teaching that have emerged from a HEA‐funded research project conducted at De Montfort University. It is argued that information literacy teaching as it has evolved in a university setting, while having a greater degree of relevance and value than ever before, nevertheless has inherent limits when it comes to its transferability beyond the academy and into a workplace setting. HS