Effectiveness and efficiency — new roles and new skills for health librarians

Palmer, Judith

doi:10.1108/eb051433

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The development of CD‐ROM and then Internet services, accompanied by an imperative for evidence‐based health care, 1 encouraged health professionals to perform their own literature searches. A new role emerged for librarians as trainers in, and enablers of, the use of literature search facilities 2,3 . Libraries provide support on a one‐to‐one basis, offer training courses, employ specialist library trainers and continue to offer mediated search services in order to provide information for patient care 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A new role emerged for librarians as trainers in, and enablers of, the use of literature search facilities. 2,3 Libraries provide support on a one-to-one basis, offer training courses, employ specialist library trainers and continue to offer mediated search services in order to provide information for patient care. 4 Clearly there is an opportunity cost if resources for mediated literature searching are utilized for training, (or indeed vice versa).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The costs and effectiveness of information‐skills training and mediated searching: quantitative results from the EMPIRIC project

Brettle

Hulme

Ormandy

2006

Health Info Libraries J

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Objectives : To compare the effectiveness and costs of providing information for patient care via librarian-mediated searches and information-skills training. Methods : A questionnaire survey to library staff and health professionals in the North West. Data was collected on perceptions of services, satisfaction and service usage, allowing a cost analysis to be undertaken. Statistical data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (  ). Results : Using satisfaction and use of skills as outcome measures, both mediated searches and information skills training are effective. A breakdown of costs per type of training session and literature search is provided. Cost-effectiveness is dependent on whether costs are viewed from a library or trust point of view. Providing information skills training does not reduce the volume of mediatedsearch requests. Conclusions : No one method of providing information for health professionals is more effective or cost-effective than another. A decision about which services to provide cannot be made on the basis of effectiveness or costs alone; the views of library staff and the health professionals they serve should also be taken into account. A proactive approach and targeting training towards those who are most likely to benefit may be an appropriate way forward.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The costs and effectiveness of information‐skills training and mediated searching: quantitative results from the EMPIRIC project

Brettle

Hulme

Ormandy

2006

Health Info Libraries J

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“…There is an increasing body of literature describing the role of the information specialist in supporting the process of evidence‐based health care 1,2 . Evidence‐based health care is a multi‐faceted process by which the best available evidence for a clinical problem is identified, either by a thorough and systematic search and critical appraisal of the research literature to answer focused clinically relevant questions, 3 or via the identification of pre‐appraised sources, such as evidence‐based summaries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of the information specialist in the systematic review process: a health information case study

Beverley

Booth

Bath

2003

Health Info Libraries J

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There is an increasing body of literature on the information specialist's role in supporting evidence-based health care. In particular, the information component in systematic reviews has received considerable attention in recent years. Information professionals have evolved from simply acting as 'evidence locators' and 'resource providers' to being quality literature filterers, critical appraisers, educators, disseminators, and even change managers. This paper describes ten possible roles for information professionals in the systematic review process, using a case study of a review of the health information needs of visually impaired people carried out by the Centre for Health Information Management Research (CHIMR) at the University of Sheffield. This health information review was undertaken entirely by a team of information professionals. The ten roles identified are: project leader, project manager, literature searcher, reference manager, document supplier, critical appraiser, data extractor, data synthesiser, report writer and disseminator. This review has also identified an eleventh possible role for information professionals; that of primary researcher. Finally, the implications for evidence-based health care and evidence-based health informatics are discussed.

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“…Without doubt one of the most important developments has been the emphasis in healthcare on evidence-based decision making, supported and promoted by government policy. It has led to librarians reviewing their role in information handling and information skills, especially to support systematic reviews and critical appraisal (Palmer, 1996(Palmer, , 2000.…”

Section: Changes In Nhs Structuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Libraries as Joint Use Libraries: Serving Medical Practitioners and Students

Dorrington¹

2006

lib

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Libraries, whether medical or healthcare, in higher education (HE) institutions or the National Health Service (NHS), provide services to all types of healthcare students and professionals. Many of these are delivered through contracts, in the form of service-level agreements, between the two key organizations. The challenge to librarians is ensuring that users are provided with access to the resources they need and the skills to use those resources to the benefi t of a patient-centered environment. External drivers such as developments in education, a continuously modernizing health service, and new technology have infl uenced the development of services. Issues regarding the access to electronic information for the different user groups still exist. Librarians have to support the differing user groups, who may have varying levels of computer and library skills, and provide skills training on a wide variety of resources from their own institution and from nationally provided content.

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Effectiveness and efficiency — new roles and new skills for health librarians

Cited by 6 publications

References 3 publications

The costs and effectiveness of information‐skills training and mediated searching: quantitative results from the EMPIRIC project

The costs and effectiveness of information‐skills training and mediated searching: quantitative results from the EMPIRIC project

The role of the information specialist in the systematic review process: a health information case study

Health Libraries as Joint Use Libraries: Serving Medical Practitioners and Students

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