Employers’ Perspectives on Future Roles and Skills Requirements for Australian Health Librarians

Abstract

Objective -This study, which comprises one stage of a larger project (ALIA/HLA Workforce and Education Research Project), aimed to discover employers' views on how (or whether) health librarians assist in achieving the mission-critical goals of their organizations; how health librarians contribute to the organization now and into the future; and what are the current and future skills requirements of health librarians.Methods -Each member of the project group approached between one and five individuals known to them to generate a convenience sample of 22 employers of health librarians. There were 15 semi-structured interviews conducted between October and November 2010 with employers in the hospital, academic, government, private, consumer health and not-for-profit sectors. The interview schedule was sent to each interviewee prior to the interview so that they had time to consider their responses. The researchers wrote up the interview notes using the interview schedule and submitted them to the principal researcher, who combined the data into one document. Content analysis of the data was used to identify major themes.Results -Employers expressed a clear sense of respect for the roles and responsibilities of library staff in their organizations. Areas of practice such as education and training, scientific research and clinical support were highlighted as critical for the future. Current areas of practice such as using technology and systems to manage information, providing information services to meet user needs and management of health information resources in a range of formats were identified as remaining highly relevant for the future. There was potential for health librarians to play a more active and strategic role in their organizations, and to repackage their traditional skill sets for anticipated future roles. Interpersonal skills and the role of health librarians as the interface between clinicians and information technology were also identified as critical for the future.Conclusions -Interviews with employers provided valuable insights into the current and future roles and skills requirements of health librarians in Australia, enriching the findings of the earlier stages of the research project. The next step is to work with the stakeholder groups in this project and use the research project's findings as the evidence base on which to develop a structured, modular education framework comprising a postgraduate qualification in health librarianship and a continuing Evidence Based Library and Information Practice 2011, 6.4 59 professional development structure supporting a three-year cycle of certification and revalidation.

Information work of hospital librarians: Making the invisible visible

“…In other words, there appears to be a discrepancy between the information needs of health professionals and the relatively high amount of health professionals that do not use—or know of—the services provided by hospital libraries, that exist primarily to support information seeking and use of scientific results within the mother-organization. This recent survey reflects two related problems identified in previous literature on hospital libraries that warrant further investigation: visibility of hospital libraries within hospital organizations (Lewis et al, 2011), and how services offered by hospital librarians for medical information seeking are underused (Egeland, 2015), despite demands for evidence-based practice. The problem of invisibility corresponds with findings from previous research showing how the work of information mediators, such as librarians, often is invisible to users (Ehrlich and Cash, 1999).…”

“…This perceived lack of interest and status is also reflected when librarians engage in clinical librarianship: experiences of resistance toward librarians taking part in discussions directly connected to healthcare practice can be related to both structural invisibility, and to invisible activity as the information work of librarians is not ascribed definite value in the often hierarchical healthcare environment. Lewis et al (2011) describe the disparity between the hospital library and the parent organization as an important factor contributing to invisibility, including differences in organizational policies, decision-making, and the clinical environment.…”

“…Previous studies (e.g. Lewis et al, 2011) discuss new opportunities for collaboration, for example in research groups, that may enhance both use and the strategic importance of hospital librarians. HTA is arguably one example of such an opportunity that overall may help to increase the visibility and legitimacy of hospital librarians within the hospital organization.…”

“…Clinical librarianship gives librarians a more direct role in patient care as hospital librarians work in teams with clinicians, such as doctors and nurses (Chaturvedi, 2017; Hallam et al, 2010). Other forms of collaboration can include participation in research groups together with health professionals where librarians not only search for information but also work with researchers in other ways (Lewis et al, 2011). This type of collaboration will be discussed in greater detail when we analyze the HTA-practice below.…”

“…One of the main issues discussed in the literature on hospital libraries is related to visibility and outreach and why healthcare staff do not use the support from hospital librarians when seeking medical information. Lack of time and wanting to avoid finding conflicting information could partly explain this (Egeland, 2015), but possibly even more important is the relationship between hospital libraries and the parent organization with its organizational policies, decision-making and the clinical environment (Lewis et al, 2011). The visibility of hospital librarians can increase when librarians meet patients on the clinical floors and when interaction between patients, librarians, clinicians, and nurses is promoted (Willis and Gassaway, 2018).…”