How developing a point of need training tool for evidence synthesis can improve librarian support for researchers.

Medical and health sciences librarians who are involved in evidence synthesis projects will know that systematic reviews are intensely rigorous, requiring research teams to devote significant resources to the methodological process. As expert searchers, librarians are often identified as personnel to conduct the database searching portion and/or are approached as experts in the methodology to guide research teams through the lifecycle of the project. This research method has surged in popularity at our campus and demand for librarian participation is unsustainable. As a response to this, the library created self-directed learning objects in the form of roadmap to assist researchers in learning about the knowledge synthesis methodology in an expedient, self-directed manner. This paper will discuss the creation, implementation and feedback around our educational offering: Systematic & Scoping Reviews: Your Roadmap to Conducting an Evidence Synthesis.

Scholarship of Drug Information and Library Sciences Instruction in North American Pharmacy Education: A Systematic Review of English-Language Research.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to characterize the scholarship of teaching and learning specific to drug information and library sciences (DILS) in pharmacy education and provide a comprehensive, evidence-based resource for faculty, detailing published practices for content delivery and scholarly research gaps. FINDINGS: Systematic searches of PubMed, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Educational Resources Information Center, Scopus, Library Literature & Information Science Full Text, and Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts were conducted from January 1997 through early February 2022. Included studies were published in English, involved DILS content, were specific to pharmacy education, were original research, and were conducted in North America. The review excluded abstract-only records and studies that did not include learners (ie, pharmacy students and residents) as participants. Duplicate records were removed. After screening and review, 166 articles met the eligibility criteria, 60% of which (n = 100/166) were published in the last 10 years. Most studies focused on literature evaluation (45/166, 27%), fundamentals of drug information (43/166, 25%), evidence-based medicine (21/166, 13%), and resource utilization (21/166, 13%). Studied learners were mainly pharmacy students (77%), and 82% of research included authors who were pharmacists, whereas 14% included librarians. Assessment techniques used primarily focused on student perception (61/166, 37%), followed by summative assessment (46/166, 28%), other (25/166, 15%), and formative assessment (18/166, 11%). SUMMARY: This article presents a systematically identified collection of North American literature examining the education in DILS of pharmacy learners. Areas for continued research of DILS content include evaluating underrepresented educational domains (ie, systematic approach, response development and provision, literature searching, study design), using librarians more in scholarship of teaching and learning research, and using formative and summative assessments as outcomes.

Mapping the pathways to health sciences librarianship: reflections and future implications from an immersion session.

Objective: Many health sciences librarians enter the profession without specific health sciences training. Some LIS programs have health sciences courses or tracks, but health sciences training within an LIS program is only one path to entering health sciences librarianship. To develop a map of pathways into health sciences librarianship, an immersion session at the Medical Library Association conference in 2022 asked health sciences librarians to share how they entered the profession. Methods: The immersion session was structured in three parts: facilitator introductions, small group discussions, and a whole group summary discussion. Guided by questions from the facilitators, small groups discussed what pathways currently exist, how to promote existing pathways, what new pathways should be created, and how to develop and promote pathways that make the profession more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Results: Through in-the-moment thematic analysis of the small group discussions, the following emerged as key pathways: library school education; internships and practica; the Library and Information Science (LIS) pipeline; on-thejob training; mentoring; self-teaching/hands-on learning; and continuing education. Themes of equity, diversity, and inclusion arose throughout the session, especially in the concluding whole group discussion. Conclusion: Small group discussions in a conference immersion session showed the value of community building in a profession that has multiple pathways for entrance, highlighting the importance of unearthing hidden knowledge about avenues for exploring and enhancing career pathways. The article seeks to address barriers to entry into the profession and adds to the literature on strengthening the field of health sciences librarianship.

Themes in Health Sciences Librarianship Literature, 2016-2020: A Keyword and Subject Analysis.

Previous investigations into trends in Library and Information Science literature have revealed changes in the topics librarians publish on over time, with older studies highlighting classification and indexing, and information retrieval and more recent studies highlighting keywords such as Internet, information technology, digital libraries, and again, information retrieval. No similar investigation has been conducted on current publication trends by health sciences librarians. This study analyzes the top themes on which health sciences librarians published from 2016 to 2020 by examining the frequency of keywords. Keywords and subject headings were analyzed from The Journal of the Medical Library Association, Medical References Services Quarterly, The Journal of Hospital Librarianship, and The Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries. A total of 8,806 keywords were downloaded for analysis and organized into 292 categories during taxonomy creation. The ten most frequent themes were: libraries, information, education, humans, demography, librarian, geographical locations, research, electronic resources, and technology. The study also found that data, psychiatry and psychology, informatics, and publishing were other key themes, indicating that health sciences librarians are publishing on a wide range of topics. Some keywords that appeared only once, such as telecommuting and flexible staffing, suggest emerging areas of research for librarians.

Integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion principles into instruction: Case studies from the University of Florida's Health Science Center Libraries.

Librarians at the University of Florida Health Science Center Libraries have begun to intentionally incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles into teaching during design, implementation, and evaluation. This article uses four case studies to provide an overview of the librarians' approaches to inclusive teaching (1) an annual workshop for Physical Therapy students on the intersection between DEI, health literacy, and patient education; (2) a librarian-taught one-credit course for public health students, which was revised to create a more inviting syllabus and integrate elements of universal design; (3) an annual project for first year medical students highlighting health disparities and community resources; and (4) piloting the application of critical librarianship principles in library standalone sessions on database searching and reference management. Suggestions are provided for other librarians who are interested in developing a culture of inclusive teaching in their own libraries.

An analysis of ALA-accredited MLS curricula indicates deficiencies in the initial training provided for public librarians.

BACKGROUND: Public librarians often address patron inquiries regarding health concerns. However, prior research indicates that public librarians may be unprepared to meet the health information requests of patrons. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the availability of health-themed courses in American Library Association (ALA) accredited Master of Library and Information Studies/Science (MLIS) programs. METHODS: Accredited MLIS programs were identified using the ALA directory. Curricula were reviewed for health content and public librarianship, children's, and young adult concentrations. Descriptive and bivariate analyses assessed the percent of programs that offered various health-related course content and the differences in availability of such content. RESULTS: Of the 59 accredited MLIS programs, only 35 (59.32%) listed at least one health elective and none listed a required health course. No MLIS programs that had a public library concentration (n = 21) listed a required or elective health course, two programs with a children's concentration (n = 25) listed health course electives, and one program with a young adult concentration (n = 25) listed a health course elective. CONCLUSION: ALA-accredited MLIS programs should consider increasing their offerings or requiring health-related courses to improve the training of public librarians to meet the health information needs of communities.

Training needs of medical librarians in Nigeria: A survey.

BACKGROUND: Health library and information professionals need continuing professional development to update their skills and knowledge. There is very limited evidence on the training needs of medical librarians in Nigeria. OBJECTIVES: To identify the training needs of medical librarians in Nigeria, principally the content topics required, preferred formats of training, and barriers to training. METHODS: An online questionnaire was distributed to 94 registered members of the Medical Library Association of Nigeria. RESULTS: The majority of the 64 medical librarian respondents wanted training in information systems and technology usage. The respondents also indicated that they prefer participating in seminar/workshops and being involved in face-to-face courses. Very few of the respondents have attended any specialist training aimed at their work in the medical field. The foremost challenge identified is the high cost of training. DISCUSSION: This study confirmed that the librarianship degree acquired from library schools only serves as a foundation for medical librarians, and it does not provide the specific subject training required to work successfully as medical librarians. CONCLUSION: There is a gap in knowledge base of medical librarians in Nigeria that needs to be filled by specific on-the-job training and courses which are affordable.

Reference Revamp: A 1-2 Model for Training and Tiered Services.

The UCLA Science Libraries improved upon our single service points by creating a team-based, tiered research assistance model to foster student employee skill development. This model was further developed to expand training for public services staff, enabling librarians and student research assistants to move beyond desk-based services. This multi-phased approach involved restructured training and the development of collaborative, tiered services. Librarians utilized train-the-trainer sessions, detailed documentation toolkits, and a robust outreach plan to ensure success. After initial implementation of this new model, librarians observed above average use of the service and excellent user feedback. Its versatility has also played a direct role in the successful transition from physical to virtual services in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Benefits of a joint health sciences practicum for students in library and information sciences: a case report.

BACKGROUND: A joint practicum gives library and information science (LIS) students the opportunity to compare two health sciences libraries' structures and workflows. The goal of this case report is to describe how a joint health sciences practicum can help LIS students and recent graduates develop skills that may be beneficial for their future positions in health sciences or other libraries.Case Presentation: Six participants in a joint health sciences library practicum underwent two interviews: the first interview focused on their practicum experiences, and the second interview sought to determine whether the participants had found employment and were using any skills in their new positions that they acquired during their practicums. Participants gave mostly positive feedback regarding their practicum experiences and expressed openness to applying for health sciences library positions. Although the participants who found employment did not work in health sciences libraries, their practicum projects served as supporting materials for their job applications, and they were using the skills they had gained from their practicums in their new positions. CONCLUSIONS: While most joint practicum participants were not working in a health sciences library, the practicum was beneficial to their new careers. This case report highlights that a joint health sciences practicum program can be beneficial in showing LIS students different approaches to health sciences librarianship.

Extending medical librarians' competencies to enhance collection organisation.

BACKGROUND: Like many health library associations, the Medical Library Association (MLA) developed competencies guiding lifelong learning and competence for medical librarians. Medical librarians should be able to develop skills in identified areas. One MLA indicator of organising resources defines expert skill as the ability to develop classification and metadata schemes for unique collections. OBJECTIVES: This manuscript reviews available curricula for selected library programmes in the United States and Canada, along with professional development and informal opportunities for skill development to identify how medical librarians, who are not experts in cataloging or metadata and not employed as cataloging or metadata librarians, can progress in competency. METHODS: The authors reviewed library school and continuing education programming around metadata, along with answers from a pre-existing informal poll regarding cataloging and metadata roles in health sciences libraries. Data were collected and examined using descriptive statistics. DISCUSSION: Gaps and opportunities for education around organising resources are discussed, including library school courses, formal continuing education opportunities and informal learning (e.g. peer support networks, on-the-job learning). CONCLUSION: Education in organising resources should be created throughout the educational journey of librarianship. Continuing educational opportunities in organising resources should be created by professional organisations that expect competency in this area.

Biblioteconomia: passado e presente de uma profissão / Library science: past and present of a profession

Biblioteconomia: passado e futuro de uma profissão' é um livro comemorativo, lançado após exatos 80 anos da criação do curso de Biblioteconomia que, em 1940, foi acolhido pela então Escola Livre de Sociologia e Política, num momento em que a cidade vivia uma expansão populacional, industrial e cultural e as bibliotecas se destacavam como polos de conhecimento. A presente obra se inicia com um panorama sobre o surgimento das bibliotecas no Brasil, descortinando aspectos históricos do nosso País de maneira instigante, culminando com a trajetória dos primeiros bibliotecários brasileiros, cuja imagem ainda estava muito ligada a guarda e preservação de acervos. No começo do século XX, a Biblioteca Nacional, sediada no Rio de Janeiro, começou a promover a capacitação de profissionais para organizar os acervos que proliferavam no País e em São Paulo. Duas personalidades são marcantes para o início dos cursos de Biblioteconomia: Rubens Borba de Moraes e Adelpha Figueiredo, cujo pioneirismo marcou profundamente a nossa história. E, falando em história, a obra apresenta a participação de Mário de Andrade no nascimento da biblioteconomia paulistana e o acolhimento pela Escola Livre, iniciando a longa e profícua formação de bibliotecários e bibliotecárias, com relatos das várias fases de formação, sempre acompanhando as necessidades da sociedade e os desafios que ela apresentava. O curso, ao longo de oito décadas, vem preparando profissionais capazes de atender às demandas informacionais da sociedade, seja nos ambientes mais tradicionais, seja em sistemas e serviços ligados à tecnologia e, nas últimas décadas, dos inúmeros desafios que a sociedade da informação e do conhecimento descortinam. E por falar em desafio, uma figura que representa muito bem essa palavra é Laura Russo. Uma mulher à frente do seu tempo, que foi responsável por muitas conquistas da profissão, dentre elas, sua regulamentação na década de 1960. Como nos relembra o presente livro "Junto com Rubens Borba de Moraes e Adelpha Figueiredo, Laura Russo forma a tríade fundadora da Biblioteconomia brasileira". Biblioteconomia essa que evoluiu e cujo mercado de atuação vem se ampliando e diversificando, do mais tradicional ao não explorado, como é muito bem descrito nesta obra, com destaque para o excelente panorama apresentado sobre o papel da biblioteca no século XXI.

Development and implementation of an LGBT initiative at a health sciences library: the first eighteen months.

BACKGROUND: The University of Louisville School of Medicine is the pilot site for the eQuality project, an initiative to integrate training for providing care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) patients into the standard medical school curriculum. Inspired by and in support of this School of Medicine initiative, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library staff have developing our own initiative. Because of past and current lack of competent provider training and the resulting need for patients to be knowledgeable self-advocates, however, our initiative was broadened to include the goal of providing LGBT individuals in our communities-both on campus and in the broader public-with the resources and tools that they need to access information about their own health. CASE PRESENTATION: This paper describes the development of that twofold initiative and the tangible methods used in its implementation, including collection development, interdepartmental collaboration, electronic resource guide creation, and community engagement through outreach. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes of the initiative to date will also be discussed, along with plans for further development.

Demonstrating the impact of your teaching: benefits of Higher Education Academy Fellowship for librarians.

This feature suggests that health librarians who teach or support Higher Education (HE) students can and should gain accreditation and recognition for their teaching by the route of HEA Fellowship. We outline the process by which Fellowship could be attained by those working within HE and those in NHS libraries who work with HE students, suggesting which aspects of librarianship practice could provide the necessary evidence for Fellowship. The synergies between Fellowship and Chartership are examined and the criteria for HEA (UK Professional Standards Framework or UKPSF) are mapped against those for Chartership (Professional Knowledge and Skills Base (PKSB). D.I.

Humor in library instruction: a narrative review with implications for the health sciences.

OBJECTIVE: The review sought to gain a better understanding of humor's use and impact as a teaching and learning strategy in academic library and health sciences instruction and to determine if the most common techniques across both disciplines can be adapted to increase engagement in medical libraries' information literacy efforts. METHODS: This narrative review involved retrieving citations from several subject databases, including Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts; Information Science & Technology Abstracts; Library & Information Science Source; PubMed; and CINAHL. The author limited her review to those publications that explicitly addressed the use of humor in relation to some form of academic library or health sciences instruction. Studies examining use of humor in patient education were excluded. RESULTS: Scholars and practitioners have consistently written about humor as an instructional strategy from the 1980s onward, in both the library literature and health sciences literature. These authors have focused on instructors' attitudes, benefits to students, anecdotes, and best practices summaries. Overall, both librarians and health sciences educators have a positive opinion of humor, and many instructors make use of it in their classrooms, though caution and careful planning is advised. CONCLUSIONS: Commonalities between the library and information science literature and health sciences literature provide a cohesive set of best practices and strategies for successfully incorporating comedy into library instruction sessions. Health sciences librarians can adapt several of the most commonly used types of instructional humor (e.g., silly examples, cartoons, storytelling, etc.) to their own contexts with minimal risk.

A partnership between academic and public librarians: "What the Health" workshop series.

BACKGROUND: Public librarians are in a unique position to assist the general public with health information inquiries. However, public librarians might not have the training, detailed knowledge, and confidence to provide high-quality health information. CASE PRESENTATION: The authors created and delivered three workshops to public librarians in Suffolk County, New York, highlighting several National Library of Medicine resources. Each workshop focused on a different topic: general consumer health resources, genetics health resources, and environmental/toxicology resources. At the end of each workshop, participants were asked to complete the Training Session Evaluation form provided by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM). All participants reported that they learned a new skill or about a new tool, that their ability to locate online health information improved, and that they planned to use the knowledge they gained in the future. Online tutorials covering the major resources from each workshop were created and made accessible to the public on several organizations' websites. Virtual reference services were initiated for public librarians who need further assistance with these resources and will continue to be provided on an ongoing basis. Financial support for the equipment and software utilized in each of these tasks was awarded by NNLM. CONCLUSIONS: Based on attendance and participant feedback, this model of health information outreach appears to have been successful in furthering the educational needs of public librarians and may be useful to others in creating a similar program in their communities.

Emerging roles of health information professionals for library and information science curriculum development: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: This scoping review identified the emerging and evolving roles of health information professionals (HIPs) in a range of tasks and settings, as they adapt to varied user needs, while keeping up with changing medical landscapes to provide evidence-based information support in grand rounds and scholarly research. The review aims to inform library school students about expected entry-level job qualifications and faculty about adaptable changes to specialized HIP curricula. METHODS: The authors examined 268 peer-reviewed journal articles that concentrated on evolving HIP roles, professional settings, and contexts by retrieving results from several multidisciplinary databases. RESULTS: HIPs, who generally serve as "embedded librarians," are taking on more active roles as collaborators, research experts, and liaisons, replacing more passive and exclusive roles as information providers and outreach agents or research assistants. These evolving roles in the reviewed literature were broken into nine categories in approximate order of prominence. CONCLUSIONS: A new model linking these evolving roles to the Medical Library Association (MLA) fundamental professional competencies was developed to provide an operational examination and research-based evidence for adapting HIP continuing education curriculum learning outcomes, course content and delivery, and student career pathways for existing graduate HIP specialization courses in library programs. The model indicates each role's connection to the MLA professional competencies, based on MLA's detailed description of each competency. A better understanding of HIP demands and expectations will enhance the capacity of library programs to prepare students in HIP specializations.

Preparing for Practice: Strengthening Third-Year Medical Students' Awareness of Point-of-Care Resources.

This column describes the development and implementation of a responsive library course designed to train third-year medical students as they begin their clerkships. The course design consisted of a brief face-to-face introduction during third-year orientation and an online course developed in Canvas, an online learning management system. The objective of the course was to not only introduce students to the resources but also to teach them how to effectively use those resources at the point-of-care. Students evaluated the course to assess the overall effectiveness of the instruction. Course development and content, feedback provided by students, as well as suggestions for improvement are discussed.

Medical Information Literacy Q-Bank: A Collaborative and Developing Project.

With the inclusion of medical informatics and information literacy skills in required core competencies, medical librarians are teaching courses in medical informatics and information literacy that require formal assessment. Librarians from three osteopathic universities surveyed osteopathic medical libraries to find out how many librarians are teaching formalized courses in the curriculum, how many librarians are writing formal medical test questions on medical informatics and/or information literacy topics, and whether there is any interest in creating a shared question bank of medical library test questions.

Health information practice: integrating, inspiring and innovating.

The 2017 virtual issue of the Health Information and Libraries Journal (HILJ) is published to link to the 12th International Congress on Medical Librarianship and the 2017 EAHIL Workshop taking place in Dublin, Ireland on 12-16 June 2017. The conference title is Diversity in Practice: integrating, inspiring and innovative and it is exploring how health science librarianship, in all its diversity, is integrating, inspiring and innovating practice. These themes have been used to compile this virtual issue, which contains published articles selected from HILJ from the June 2014 issue through to September 2016. The virtual issue mirrors the format of a regular issue of HILJ, namely a review article, six original articles and our three regular features: 'Dissertations into Practice', 'International Perspectives and Initiatives' and 'Teaching and Learning in Action'. All articles included in this virtual issue are available free online.

International trends in health science librarianship part 20: Russia.

This is the last in a series of articles exploring international trends in health science librarianship in the 21st century. The focus of the present issue is Russia. The next feature column will initiate a new series entitled New Directions in Health Science Librarianship. The first contribution will be from Australia. JM.