Search

There is substantial research on librarians' engagement with various social media platforms as part of their professional obligations. We were interested in examining librarians' use of Twitter outside of the context of a job-related, but still professional, context. To find out more, we invited health sciences librarians via Twitter to discuss the impact that the platform has had on their professional lives, offering this column as an opportunity to share their experiences. The case reports support the premise that Twitter can be an impactful communications tool and can benefit librarians in meaningful ways, both professionally and personally.

[I] want to single out one phenomenon that could be called the 'politics of sources'. It points to the extent to which the histories that both scientists and historians can write are artifacts of the available sources. The Rockefeller Foundation not only opened its archives very early on for historical work but also invested a lot in making the archives readily available for historical exploration. During the 1980s, many young historians took advantage of this opportunity. Thus, in a relatively early phase of the professional historiography of molecular biology, one could have gained the impression that the development of the new biology as a whole was a bio-politically directed enterprise of the Rockefeller Foundation sustained by the vision that social processes could ultimately be controlled by biological processes. © 2022 The Authors. Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Health science libraries have been using information technology since the late 1960s, shaping both the profession and the mission of these libraries. To explore the impact of technology, a series of articles has been commissioned for the HILJ Regular Feature, International Perspectives and Initiatives. This editorial sets the scene for this series of articles, which starts in this issue. These articles, written by health science librarians from around the globe, will explore the impact of technology on the way health science libraries provide information in the digital age. Some articles will look at national trends and others will focus on a particular library. A key theme is how technology is being used to support the mission of health science libraries and whether technology has altered that mission. This editorial provides a brief overview of the technologies libraries have adopted, from the 1970s to the present day. From this, it is clear that information technology has transformed the way health information is collected, catalogued, and disseminated to users. And it is certain that in the coming decade new technologies will be incorporated into health science libraries, which will pose challenges for both users and librarians. However, librarians will continue to find ways to adapt and use these tools to meet the needs of their users.

Health librarians have traditionally provided mediated searches to support patient care, education and research.This study aims to discover the types of search result formats used by health science libraries, determine current practice among health science libraries (types of requesters served, fees, deduplication, turnaround time and citation manager use) and uncover innovative methods for providing search results.An online survey was distributed to the MEDLIB-L, ExpertSearching, MidContinental Chapter of the Medical Library Association and ICON listservs and through direct email to selected Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries reference and education librarians.Librarians affiliated with 127 institutions from 11 countries (including the USS) and 36 USS states and territories responded. One hundred and forty-two of the total 150 analysed responses provided information on full-text access, and 81 of those 142 responses (57%) indicated that the institutions' link-resolver links were included in search results provided to the requester. The survey responses provide information on literature search services regarding turnaround time, use of a citation managers, fees and deduplication.With the developing landscape of citation managers and the tools offered, these data can be used as a benchmark for librarians who are considering evaluating or modifying their search service delivery.

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.This study examined the availability of health-themed courses in American Library Association (ALA) accredited Master of Library and Information Studies/Science (MLIS) programs.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.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.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.

When Donald A. B. Lindberg M.D. became Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine in 1984, trained searchers, primarily librarians, conducted less than three million searches of NLM databases. They paid for their fair share of the commercial telecommunications costs to reach NLM’s computer system. In 2015 when Lindberg retired, millions of scientists, health professionals, patients, members of the public, and librarians conducted billions of free searches of NLM’s greatly expanded electronic resources via the Internet. Lindberg came to NLM intending to expand access to biomedical and health information along multiple dimensions: reaching more users, providing more types and volumes of information and data; and improving the conceptual, technical, and organizational connections needed to provide information to users when and where it is needed. By any measure he and NLM were spectacularly successful. This chapter discusses some key decisions and developments that contributed to that success.

When Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D. was sworn in as Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in 1984, MEDLINE, NLM’s online database of citations and abstracts to biomedical journal articles, was searched primarily by librarians trained to use its command language interface. There were fees for searching, primarily to recover the cost of using commercial value-added telecommunications networks. Thirteen years later, in 1997, MEDLINE became free to anyone with an Internet connection and a Web browser. This chapter provides an insider’s view of how Dr. Lindberg’s vision and leadership - combined with new technology, astute handling of policy issues, and key help from political supporters and influential advocates - enabled a tremendous expansion in access to biomedical and health information for scientists, health professionals, patients, and the public.

This chapter describes how the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), under the leadership of Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D., promoted new and expanded roles for librarians and information specialists in response to advances in technology and public policy. These advances brought information services directly to all potential users, including health professionals and the public and stimulated NLM to expand its programs, policies, and services to serve all. Dr. Lindberg included librarians and information specialists in all of NLM’s new endeavors, helping both to recognize and establish new or expanded roles. The involvement of librarians and information specialists in multidisciplinary healthcare research teams, in underserved communities, and in research data management and compliance has helped to redefine the health sciences information profession for the 21st century.

Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D. was a strong proponent of self-improvement for all professions. He believed it was imperative for health sciences librarians to embrace lifelong learning as the Internet and networked information radically changed their work and opened new opportunities to increase their scope and impact. During Dr. Lindberg’s 1984–2015 tenure as its Director, the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) became an even more dominant influence on education and career development of health sciences librarians. This chapter focuses on the way NLM partnered with other institutions and organizations to ensure that education and training were consistently part of the roll-out of new NLM programs and services as they were implemented.

The US National Library of Medicine’s Biomedical Informatics Short Course ran from 1992 to 2017, most of that time at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Its intention was to provide physicians, medical librarians and others engaged in health care with a basic understanding of the major topics in informatics so that they could return to their home institutions as “change agents”. Over the years, the course provided week-long, intense, morning-to-night experiences for some 1,350 students, consisting of lectures and hands-on project development, taught by many luminaries in the field, not the least of which was Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D., who spoke on topics ranging from bioinformatics to national policy.

This study’s purpose is to systematically review the literature to identify the most recent library practices against fake news. Previous findings showed most studies emphasize academic libraries practices and are mainly focused on information literacy instruction. This article updates prior research aiming to acknowledge the tangible practices of libraries, discuss their efficiency, and continue a categorization of those practices. It was performed a systematic literature review of the last 12 months (October 2020-September 2021) to retrieve the most recent library practices. After the extraction, with a final set of 17 documents, a multi-step qualitative analysis, and a categorization were developed. The current debate is still around information literacy strategies that intend to reiterate an authority-based source evaluation versus the challenge to recognize an emotional-based reaction to fake news in a post-truth world. The role of libraries is cornered in an instructional framework, while disinformation is pervasive in several information ecosystems. The role of libraries in a Post-truth society is still an open debate, yet there is almost a consensus that libraries should engage in partnerships and be part of a multidisciplinary approach., O objetivo deste estudo é rever sistematicamente a literatura para identificar as práticas mais recentes das bibliotecas contra as fake news. Resultados prévios mostraram que a maioria dos estudos enfatiza as práticas das bibliotecas do ensino superior e estão principalmente centrados na formação em literacia da informação. Este artigo atualiza uma investigação anterior com o objetivo de reconhecer as práticas tangíveis das bibliotecas, discutir a sua eficiência, e continuar uma categorização dessas práticas. Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura dos últimos 12 meses (Outubro 2020-Setembro 2021) para recuperar as práticas mais recentes das bibliotecas. Após a extração, com um conjunto final de 17 documentos, foi desenvolvida uma análise qualitativa em várias etapas e uma categorização. O debate atual continua em torno de estratégias de literacia da informação que pretendem reiterar uma avaliação das fontes baseada na autoridade versus o desafio de reconhecer uma reação emocional a notícias falsas num mundo de pós-verdade. O papel das bibliotecas está encurralado num quadro formativo, enquanto a desinformação invade vários ecossistemas de informação. O papel das bibliotecas na sociedade da pós-verdade é ainda um debate em aberto, mas existe quase um consenso de que as bibliotecas devem envolver-se em parcerias e fazer parte de uma abordagem multidisciplinar.

Since the inaugural issue of ATLA, many changes within publishing have occurred, impacting when, where, and how researchers conduct literature searches for non-animal alternatives. Such changes include increased rate of growth in scientific publications, greater number of databases and online resources available to search, opportunities for open and almost immediate dissemination of research outputs such as preprints and method protocols, and the development of reporting guidelines for animal research. Here we offer a librarian's perspective on these changes and advice on how to manage them to enable robust and diverse alternatives to be implemented in future research.

The Reproducibility of Systematic Review Searches project site has a section of main files (described below) and two components, Search Reproduction Notes and Search Reproduction Screenshots.

Cet article rend compte du rôle des bibliothécaires de la Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) dans la classicisation des écrivaines. Plus précisément, il revient sur les trajectoires des bibliothécaires étudiées, qui déterminent en partie leur ethos professionnel, entre « neutralité » et promotion d’une littérature légitime. Ces pratiques professionnelles propres à la BnF se confrontent néanmoins à certains espaces de socialisation, notamment militants, que les bibliothécaires convoquent dans leurs politiques d’acquisition et de valorisation par la voie d’une double justification : suivre la demande du lectorat et les demandes universitaires concernant les œuvres féminines – à plus forte raison dans un contexte post-#MeToo. Ces politiques d’acquisition et de valorisation impliquent deux voies de classicisation des écrivaines : par la promotion de la littérature contemporaine, par la voie de la redécouverte d’auteures oubliées, à l’instar des pratiques militantes de la deuxième vague féministe en France. This article exposes the role played by librarians at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in rendering female authors classics. Specifically, it proposes to examine the trajectory of the librarians being studied in that it partly determines their professional ethos, caught between “neutrality” and the promotion of legitimate literature. These professional practices, specific to the BnF, are nonetheless confronted with certain social spaces, particularly that of activism, to which librarians may refer in their acquisitions policy as well as in the promotion of certain works by means of a twofold justification: to stay up to date with readers’ demands as well as those from academic spheres regarding literature by female authors, all the more so in a post-#MeToo era. These acquisition and promotional policies are carried out through two processes destined to make female-authored literature classic: namely the promotion of contemporary literature, and the rediscovery of forgotten female authors in the manner of activists in French second-wave feminism. Este artículo expone el papel de las bibliotecarias de la Biblioteca Nacional de Francia (BnF) en la clasicización de las escritoras. Específicamente, examina las trayectorias de las bibliotecarias estudiadas, quienes sitúan una parte de su ethos profesional, entre la “neutralidad” y la promoción de la literatura legítima. Estas prácticas profesionales propias de la BnF se confrontan, sin embargo, con ciertos espacios de socialización, particularmente militantes, que las bibliotecarias alegan como parte de sus políticas de adquisición y valorización mediante una doble justificación: acompañar la demanda de los y las lectoras y las exigencias académicas relativas a las obras femeninas -sobretodo en un contexto post#MeToo. Estas políticas de adquisición y valorización implican dos formas de clasicización de las escritoras: , mediante la promoción de la literatura contemporánea, y mediante el redescubrimiento de autoras olvidadas, según las prácticas militantes de la segunda ola feminista en Francia.

The article discusses the experiences of Italian librarians taking part in an institutional project to produce a new general-public-oriented health web portal. The web portal was set up to provide verified and easily understandable health information, and to debunk health-related fake news circulating on the internet. The different roles, knowledge and skills acquired in during the project this are discussed and show how the librarian's knowledge and skills were of fundamental importance for the success of the Web Portal. By collaborating with other professions new skills such as social media management, video creation and Search Engine Optimization were gained, which enhanced the information literacy role of the service.

In this article, Ms Yihang Chen with her supervisor, Prof Lihong Zhou, reports on her MA in Library Science study aimed to identify user requirements of library research support services (RSS) at the universities of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in China. This study adopted an inductive qualitative approach, employed as a case study and 14 TCM researchers and academic librarians using semi-structured interviews. The research findings point to 28 RSS requirements in five main themes: mastering, planning, project, publication and electronic preservation stages. Although this research is situated in China, it has implications for libraries worldwide in supporting research into holistic and indigenous medicine. F.J.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., Problem Value-added medical education (VAME) has been difficult to implement due to student and educator constraints. The COVID-19 pandemic caused mass transitions to online learning, removed students from clinical settings, and underscored students’ desires for meaningful VAME opportunities. The authors introduced the Stanford Frontline COVID-19 Consult Service (SFCS), through which off-service medical and physician assistant (PA) students provided assistance to clinicians in the form of rapid research regarding COVID-19 clinical questions. Approach The SFCS, a student-derived VAME initiative, was implemented from March to May 2020 by Stanford University medical students, PA students, and faculty. SFCS aligned with not only the interests of clinicians and students but also national accreditation standards. Students attended weekly editorial meetings, didactic sessions on literature reviews and information management, and they underwent rigorous training on the peer review process. After 2 months, the authors expanded the service to local community clinicians. Outcomes The SFCS enrolled 16 students, was supported by 13 faculty members, and produced 87 peer-reviewed evidence syntheses. Of the 16 SFCS students, 13 (81%) completed evaluations; of 128 Stanford Primary Care and Population Health clinicians, 48 (38%) completed evaluations. Overall student satisfaction with the SFCS was 4.9/5 (standard deviation [SD] 0.3). Self-assessed achievement of SFCS learning objectives exceeded 90% for all objectives. Overall faculty satisfaction with the SFCS was 4.4/5 (SD 0.8). Most faculty (40/46 [87%]) planned to use the database to answer future COVID-19 questions. Next Steps The SFCS is a novel, student-initiated VAME curriculum focused on increasing students’ meaningful contributions to patient care. The authors will track SFCS students throughout their clerkships to gauge clerkship performance/preparedness, and they will develop training for integrating VAME into preclerkship curricula at other institutions. Given its adaptive, student-driven design, the VAME framework used to develop the SFCS empowers students to create their own personalized, experiential learning.

Evidence syntheses that engage librarians as co-authors produce higher-quality results than those that do not. Trained as teachers, researchers, and information managers, librarians possess expert knowledge on research methodologies and information retrieval approaches that are critical for evidence synthesis. Researchers are under increasing pressure to produce evidence syntheses to inform practice and policymaking. Many fields outside of health science and medicine, however, do not have established guidelines, processes, or methodologies. This article describes how librarians led the creation of an interdisciplinary toolkit for researchers new to evidence synthesis. The implementation of the tools, including a protocol, supported eight evidence syntheses focused on effective agricultural interventions published in a special collection in Nature Research in October 2020. This article is a step-by-step overview of the tools and process. We advocate that librarian collaboration in evidence synthesis must become the norm, not the exception. Evidence synthesis project leads without access to a qualified librarian may use this toolkit as a point of entry for production of transparent, reproducible reviews.

A previous Informatics Education column argued that, while instruction is a competency defined by the Medical Library Association and is a job requirement for many public services librarians, little opportunity exists for learning how to teach in formal training venues, such as library school, relegating librarians to learn how to teach on their own. After examining some of the literature surrounding pedagogy for medical informatics librarians, a link to a brief, informal survey on pedagogical training needs was provided. This column follows up with results from that needs assessment.

An academic research institution and a corporate hospital system formed a new graduate medical education (GME) consortium. The consortium objectives were to increase the scholarly activity of the residents and fellows in a national hospital system's GME residency program to match the requirements set forth by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. A GME librarian position was created specifically to serve the GME research programs at Florida area hospitals to help with this objective. This paper describes the experience, activities, and lessons learned from the creation of an entirely new GME library program and librarian position for a nine-hospital region in Florida.

Author(s): Barr-Walker, Jill; DePineres, Teresa; Ossom-Williamson, Peace; Mengesha, Biftu; Berglas, Nancy F | Abstract: Misinformation about abortion abounds in the United States. This may be due, in part, to laws in 22 states that require health care providers to present medically inaccurate or misleading information to people seeking abortion. Such information can negatively impact both providers and patients, particularly vulnerable populations who already face considerable challenges accessing abortion services. Health sciences librarians are a professional group whose core values prioritize access to evidence-based health information for all people, with the goal of facilitating informed health care decisions. This professional imperative suggests a role for librarians in the provision of evidence-based information around abortion. Drawing on our collective expertise in library science, medicine and public health, we propose that health sciences librarians build partnerships with public health departments and abortion providers to develop authoritative resources, advocate for change through legislative action, and raise public awareness about abortion misinformation.

Objective The objective of this systematic review is to explore perceptions, experiences, and attitudes of health care professionals in teaching hospitals, academic health science centers, and health care professional colleges regarding the role of librarians in fostering the production of evidence-based research. Introduction Evidence-based health practice entails the use of the best research evidence, combined with knowledge and information gained through professional expertise as a practicing clinician, and consideration of patients' concerns and preferences to make the best possible decision for the care provided to those patients. With their extensive skills in literature searching, librarians and other information professionals contribute to the process of evidence-based health practice by locating and retrieving the most relevant information for clinical practice. Despite the importance of librarians in evidence-based health practice, little attention has been paid to the perceptions and attitudes of health care professionals toward the involvement of librarians in fostering evidence-based research and their participation in other evidence-based health practice activities. Inclusion criteria The population of interest is health care professionals working in teaching hospitals, academic health science centers, and health care professional colleges who make clinical decisions based on evidence, clinical judgments, and patient values. Methods The following databases will be searched from database inception till June 2021 for published and unpublished studies: CINAHL, PsycINFO, AMED, Academic Search Premier, Scopus, LISTA, MEDLINE, POPLINE, and Open Grey. Studies published in English will be considered for review. The selected studies will be critically assessed for methodological quality by two independent reviewers. Systematic review registration number PROSPERO CRD42019136749.

This project focuses on supporting librarians to meet the increasing needs of researchers (students/faculty) for support and guidance during all stages of the review process. It supports and supplements an already existing literature search service. This project additionally integrates a new approach to a team-based systematic review service model to demonstrate that all librarians can provide educational support for systematic reviews regardless of their experience or mastery of systematic reviews. The model also allows for those with the most advanced training or mastery of systematic reviews to serve as a team leader/mentor, spend more time on the literature search service and continue staying up to date on current trends related to systematic reviews. Note: I am no longer employed at Temple University Libraries. Please contact me via my website. For more information visit: www.systematicreviewlibrarian.com and subscribe to my newsletter for the latest updates. This project is licensed with a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-NC license. Attribution for the use of or any derivatives of all works contained here must be granted. These materials can't be sold or used for commercial use. Derivatives must contain the same license.

Many Health Sciences Librarians (HSLs) affiliated with academic health centers in the US have faculty status. Faculty status enables HSLs to collaborate with their health sciences faculty colleagues as peers. Translating HSL faculty responsibilities into terms their faculty counterparts can understand represents an ongoing challenge for HSLs. This translation process becomes crucial when HSLs with faculty status seek a promotion or wish to secure tenure. The authors used job analysis to clarify faculty roles for HSLs to create a "Crosswalk" that enables the reader to identify an HSL role and find an equivalent health sciences faculty role.

This video will introduce students to the USU Libraries, library services and resources, and research techniques., https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/elearning_all/1020/thumbnail.jpg

To mark the CILIP Health Libraries Group celebrations of their 75th anniversary, this year's Virtual Issue brings together Health Information and Libraries Journal manuscripts that have been particularly influential or generated most interest in our readers, or represent a significant event in the journal's own history, while still having relevance to contemporary health library and knowledge service practice.

This study investigates how Nigerian librarians are mitigating the infodemic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The entire population of Nigerian librarians in major social media platforms of the Nigerian Library Association and its sections were used for the study. An online survey administered through Google forms was used. A total of 186 librarians responded to the survey. The data was analysed with percentages and presented in charts. The findings show that: the majority (80%) agreed that there is infodemic in Nigeria. The major roles played by the librarians in mitigating the infodemic are: correction of misconceptions online (54.8%), posting of official information online(47.8%), and provision of authentic sources to COVID-19 guidelines (39.8%);the majority (91.1%) of the librarians played these roles as personal initiatives;majority (79%) of them believe their roles have been effective;and the major challenges facing their efforts are the issue of low bandwidth (59.1%), distrust for official information (31%) and regard for myths (29%). The implication of these findings is that most of the efforts made by Nigerian librarians to curb the spread of fake news associated with the corona virus were mainly personal initiatives. This further implies that a majority of Nigerian libraries do not have plans and policies in place to ensure service delivery in emergency situations. It was recommended, among others, that Nigerian librarians should go beyond online efforts to use traditional methods in order to reach a larger part of the populace without access to the internet. © 2021, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR). All rights reserved.

This article acquaints health science librarians with digital health interventions (DHIs) and suggests ways they can become involved with initiatives in their own organisations. Examples of DHIs are provided and the risks and benefits of these applications are examined, including increasing accuracy of diagnosis & treatment, and health care efficiencies within legal and ethical frameworks. The WHO Guideline on digital interventions for health system strengthening is a useful resource which highlights ways that countries can use digital health technology to improve people's health and essential services. JM proposes the creation of a road map to assist health science librarians in becoming involved in digital health, providing practical suggestions to inform the development of action plans within your local service provision. J.M.

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.

The Metadata 2020 initiative is an ongoing effort to bring various scholarly communications stakeholder groups together to promote principles and standards of practice to improve the quality of metadata. To understand the perspectives and practices regarding metadata of the main stakeholder groups (librarians, publishers, researchers, and repository managers), we conducted a survey during summer 2019. The survey content was generated by representatives from the stakeholder groups. A link to an online survey (17 or 18 questions depending on the group) was distributed through multiple social media, listserv, and blog outlets. Responses were anonymous, with an optional entry for names and email addresses for those who were willing to be contacted later. Complete responses (N = 211; 87 librarians, 27 publishers, 48 repository managers, and 49 researchers) representing 23 countries on four continents were analyzed and summarized for thematic content and ranking of awareness and practices. Across the stakeholder groups, the level of awareness and usage of metadata methods and practices was highly variable. Clear gaps across the groups point to the need for consolidation of schema and practices, as well as broad educational efforts to increase knowledge and implementation of metadata in scholarly communications.

The author presented at her employer's professional development event "Faculty Friday" in Spring 2020 to communicate issues surrounding information literacy and student success to faculty colleagues at Prairie View A&M University.

This study will measure how the level of librarian involvement in systematic reviews impacts the quality of reported systematic review search methods and how existing gaps in library service in Vancouver, BC may affect who accesses services for systematic reviews.

Research Data Management training opportunities for librarians as of Spring 2019.

Median survey findings and personal experiences presented by five participants in the Authenticity Project at the Digital Library Federation Forum in Tampa, Florida 2019.

Objective: While studies from the early 1990s show that library staff in nonlibrarian roles interpret the term “paraprofessional” as being demeaning to their roles, no recent research has been conducted on this topic. This study aims to investigate if health sciences library staff continue to have similar negative associations with the term “paraprofessional” and to determine if another term is preferred.Methods: The authors conducted a literature review to identify terms used to categorize library staff in nonlibrarian roles. Using these terms, we created an online Qualtrics survey asking participants to rank terms by preference. We distributed the survey via thirty-six professional email discussion lists, including MEDLIB-L, thirty-three MLA chapter and caucus email discussion lists, DOCLINE-L, and ACRL-HSIG-L. Survey participants included full-time and part-time health sciences library staff in any nonlibrarian position. Responses from librarians were not accepted.Results: Based on 178 completed surveys, “library staff” was the top choice of 49% of participants, over “other” (19%), “paraprofessional” (13%), “library support staff” (11%), “paralibrarian” (7%), and “nonprofessional” (1%). Although “library staff” was the top choice of participants across all ages, older participants (aged 45–75) preferred “library support staff” and “paraprofessional” to a greater degree than younger participants (aged 18–44), while younger participants preferred “other” to a greater degree. Out of 36 participants who specifically mentioned the terms “paraprofessional” or “paralibrarian,” 32 (89%) of those comments were negative, indicating that the “para” in “paraprofessional” and “paralibrarian” is either insulting, inapplicable, or unfamiliar.Conclusions: Our results suggest that although the term “paraprofessional” may not intentionally be used to demean library staff, many library staff interpret the term to be demeaning to their roles. Instead, “library staff,” a more inclusive and less divisive term, was preferred by survey participants. In accordance with our results, we believe the term “paraprofessional” should no longer be used in library and information scholarly literature or professional discourse.

Presentation at the 2021 ACRL Conference. "Col. Mustard, in the Library, with Learning Analytics: The Student Data Privacy Game" recounts efforts to deconstruct and reconstruct our view and practices with student data privacy. Outcomes: -Review ethical & scholarly foundations for student privacy and learning analytics (LA). -Explore the OK State Library's journey to incorporating LA. - Take home bite-sized steps for ethically incorporating LA locally.

This presentation was given by the author remotely as part of a Trending session guest speaking event to Stanford University Libraries to discuss past projects and future possibilities for increased collaboration between MSI, HBCU, and PWI libraries and library professionals.

A lightning talk on the speaker's 5-month embarkment into the inaugural cohort of the CLIR/DLF + HBCU Library Alliance's Authenticity Project.

Health sciences librarians may find it difficult to meet demands for in-person or online synchronous library orientations for various reasons, including short-staffing of librarians, expansion of online programs, and temporary campus closures caused by emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors discuss the development, implementation, and assessment of an asynchronous online orientation tutorial created for use across various health sciences degree, certificate, and training programs. The tutorial can either replace or supplement synchronous orientations, and the original tutorial can be copied and customized for specific programs.

Hospital libraries have a long and storied history in the United States. Since the 1700 s, they have provided vital resources to the medical community. Over time, hospital libraries have evolved regarding staffing, resources, and access, yet their mission has remained the same-they are expected to provide the best possible medical information to support patient care. Hospital librarians need to appreciate the history of their profession and the services they have provided in the past in order to sustain the value of their contributions well into the future. Looking at the history, as well as the present state of hospital libraries, helps hospital librarians shape their future. Advocacy is vital in a time when hospitals stretch their budgets as far as possible, hospitals consolidate and hospital libraries close.

Course materials

Health sciences librarians are becoming increasingly engaged with research reproducibility. To understand the nature of the engagement, we conducted 11 semi-structured interviews with health science librarians from different institutions across the United States who were doing the work. We used template analysis to summarize the results.

With international health challenges, there are opportunities for collaboration between nations on health issues, including developing and sharing resources for teaching and learning. This article outlines collaboration across Scotland and England to develop a core resource for eLearning on health literacy. It describes the development of the resource with case studies of the implementation in Scotland and England, demonstrating the balance between shared development and tailored implementation. The eLearning was developed to increase awareness of NHS workforce and community partners, supplemented by training for NHS librarians and public health specialists to enable them to provide more tailored training on health literacy techniques.

This study focuses on developing a scale that encompasses aspects of readiness to change by library management in dealing with the next normal in libraries. It investigates measuring change readiness in terms of library service operations, workflows, administration, programs, and spaces, which can give an overall view of a library institution's preparedness to meet new roles and expectations. While there were several readiness-for-change instruments constructed for various organizations and institutions, this study uses a two-phase approach, attempting to design an instrument and validate the items in this scale. The scale, referred to as Change-Readiness Instrument for Library Managers (CRILM), was derived from an original self-developed questionnaire and consists of a 20-item readiness-for-change attributes. CRILM was subjected to a verification process for its applicability, relevance, and clarity of the items. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of Sampling Adequacy and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity were conducted to validate the adequacy of data. The items were factor-analyzed to see the correlations using the Principal Component method of extraction with Varimax Rotation. Cronbach’s Alpha was employed to calculate reliability and verify the items’ consistencies of scale. Library managers who are head librarians from different types of libraries were the target sample identified via a self-selection non-probability sampling technique. The initial results yielded from the respondent sample indicate that the CRILM is deemed suitable for measuring change-readiness among library managers and libraries. However, it should be subjected to testing and use by a wider target group to further strengthen its usability. The results of the study offer help to library managers in assessing the readiness of their organizations to effectively manage change and be future-ready.

The establishment of an Evidence-based Practice (EBP) project repository for clinical nurses to access via a hospital intranet allowed for hospital librarians to collaborate with nurse scientists. This project resulted in not only a repository but also led to the involvement of librarians earlier in the research process and led to more options to track how the completed projects were utilized by clinicians. These two outcomes in particular allowed for further involvement of librarians in the Magnet reaccreditation process. Additionally, the contributions of the librarians raised awareness of the roles they can take in EBP and Magnet efforts.

Indications on the development of the health library and knowledge workforce (LKS) in England suggest that more staff may need to shift into clinical librarian (CL) roles. Anecdotal evidence suggested that CL roles have changed recently.To examine perceptions of CL tasks and required personal characteristics of CLs, amongst both practising CLs and other LKS staff in England.An online survey was followed by descriptive statistical and content analysis to identify any differences in perceptions between the CL and non-CL staff groups.Response rate: 10% (123/1181). Both staff groups identified literature searching as the top core task and agreed on the main CL roles. Perceptions on the necessary personal characteristics were also similar. Ranking differed for a few tasks: non-CL staff may ascribe more importance to some tasks (evidence synthesis, critical appraisal training and attending ward rounds/team meetings) than the CL staff state. CLs spent more time on staff management, and less time on study skills training than non-CL staff perceived.Results indicated that CL roles are continuing to develop, but that CLs are more integrated into library administration than some non-CL staff believe.Shared perceptions around CL roles should help workforce development.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the meaning of fake news in the digital age and on the debate on disinformation in scholarly literature, in the light of the ethics of library and information profession. Design/methodology/approach Revision of a keynote address at the BOCATSSS2020 conference, this paper offers an overview of current literature comparing it with a moment in the past that was crucial for information: post-Second World War time, when Wiener (1948) founded cybernetics and C.P. Snow advocated for “The two cultures” (1959). Findings The complex issue demands a multi-disciplinary approach: there is not one solution, and some approaches risk limiting the freedom of expression, yet countering the phenomenon is a moral obligation for library and information science professionals. Originality/value Comparing the present digital revolution with the past, this paper opens questions on the ethical commitment of information professionals.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mountain Area Health Education Center formed a response team with the goal of building capacity across Western North Carolina health systems to collectively identify needs, coordinate resources to fill gaps, and strategically manage the regional threats of the pandemic. The library team collaborated on interprofessional projects by gathering information and using LibGuides to quickly and easily organize and share resources. The team met challenges, including moving to telecommuting, balancing a growing workload, and navigating a changing information landscape, and in doing so, strengthened relationships across the organization and the region.