New and Emerging Roles for Medical Librarians

Abstract

In this current environment, where fiscal uncertainty seems to be a constant and budget and personnel cuts are a frequent concern, librarians are exploring new and exciting ways to help their patrons and institutions. Although traditional services-the swift and timely delivery of up-to-date and accurate information-should continue to be performed with the uniform excellence on which library patrons depend, librarians can add value to these core services by seeking out additional functions applicable to their patrons' needs, and embracing these new and emerging roles.

An Exploration of Systematic Review Publication Trends in Conservation Biology Journals

“…In other SRs where no search was reported, it appeared that the authors used "systematic review" not to refer to a specific research methodology, but rather as a way of indicating that they undertook a measured, step-by-step, or otherwise carefully planned approach to a literature review. Heimlich (2014) and Gore and Jones (2015) mention similar conclusions. Still other articles seemed to refer to the research methodology described by guidelines both within and outside the discipline, but simply failed to adequately report a search.…”

“…Anecdotally, colleagues have reported receiving requests for assistance with "systematic reviews" that turn out to simply be thorough literature reviews. Both Gore and Jones (2015) and Heimlich (2014) note that there may be some confusion on the part of researchers as to what constitutes a systematic review and point to a role for librarians in elucidating the methodology. Fournier and Ghezzi-Kopel (2016) observe that this may be especially true for fields other than medicine, and the comprehension, or lack thereof, of the phrase "systematic review" has also been described by environmental researchers (Haddaway et al 2017).…”