Identifying research support needs of members of the canadian health libraries association / association des bibliothèques de la santé du canada

Introduction: The CHLA/ABSC Special Committee on Research undertook this project to identify potential ways in which the Association could support its members in undertaking research. The goal was to inform future CHLA/ABSC research-related service and program offerings. A literature review revealed limited publication related to health librarians\u27 research needs. Method: The Committee developed and distributed an online survey to CHLA/ABSC’s membership. The questions related to demographics, previous research engagement or experience, current research support, work-related research requirements and expectations, barriers and enablers for conducting research, desired research support (topic and format) from CHLA/ABSC, and types of programs that would benefit members the most. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collated and analysed. Data from open ended questions were examined to identify relevant themes. Results: Survey participants (45) were nearly equally divided between academic health libraries and hospital libraries. Forty-three members responded to the English survey, while two responded to the French version. Results showed that the barriers to research, and the research supports needed are similar for both academic health librarians and hospital librarians. Results showed a strong desire for methodological and statistical training. Conclusion: Through this study CHLA/ABSC members identified several kinds of preferred research support. CHLA/ABSC can use these findings to guide the selection and delivery of further continuing education products, as well as the development of specific research support services such as a peer-review program, a research question and answer blog and research mentorship; and also improve communications around CHLA/ABSC’s research services

Librarians on You Tube: using online tutorials to teach various aspects of the information search process

Librarians spend a great deal of time working with students. This could occur on the reference desk, during an in-person consultation, or in the classroom. However, with the shift towards e-learning and a growing number of students completing research and assignments off-campus, librarians are constantly looking for new ways to reach a wider diversity of users. Librarians at Western Libraries have used various methods for reaching out to students to enhance learning. One of the newer methods involves creating online video tutorials. These short videos are created, mounted onto YouTube, and then added to the library website. Western Libraries, and the following several groups have been involved in the creation of video tutorials: the Western Libraries wide Web Tutorials Working Group, the Allyn & Betty Taylor Library’s Web Modules Group, and the D.B. Weldon Library’s Instruction Portfolio. These groups worked separately and therefore the experience in creating videos, and the look and feel of the videos themselves, differed somewhat from group to group. This has led to a greater understanding of best practices and has given Western Libraries a certain level of expertise. This paper will provide background information on the video tutorials work at Western Libraries, and will describe the various purposes for which they were created. It will also describe the various approaches used, best practices and assessment. Finally, this paper will address challenges and discuss future directions

Provision of pandemic disease information by health sciences librarians: a multisite comparative case series.

Objective: The research provides an understanding of pandemic information needs and informs professional development initiatives for librarians in disaster medicine. Methods: Utilizing a multisite, comparative case series design, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews and examined supplementary materials in the form of organizational documents, correspondence, and websites to create a complete picture of each case. The rigor of the case series was ensured through data and investigator triangulation. Interview transcripts were coded using NVivo to identify common themes and points of comparison. Results: Comparison of the four cases revealed a distinct difference between “client-initiated” and “librarian-initiated” provision of pandemic information. Librarian-initiated projects utilized social software to “push” information, whereas client-initiated projects operated within patron-determined parameters to deliver information. Health care administrators were identified as a key audience for pandemic information, and news agencies were utilized as essential information sources. Librarians\u27 skills at evaluating available information proved crucial for selecting best-quality evidence to support administrative decision making. Conclusions: Qualitative analysis resulted in increased understanding of pandemic information needs and identified best practices for disseminating information during periods of high organizational stress caused by an influx of new cases of an unknown infectious disease

Not Your Mother’s PDA: The Transition from PDA Pilot to Full Acquisitions Integration

Western Libraries and Ingram Content Group worked together to establish a Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA) program that has been incorporated into the regular acquisitions workflow at Western. Some features of the program include: all titles selected for addition to the PDA collection are filtered through the approval profiles established by the librarians, the library’s holdings are uploaded to Ingram weekly so that duplicate titles are avoided, invoices for purchased PDA titles are sent weekly, and holdings for un-purchased and purchased PDA records are updated weekly. A PDA Working Group established the program at Western by meeting with collections librarians to assist with profile adjustments and ease concerns of how this method of acquisition would impact the collection. The Working Group is monitoring the program and gathering data to assess the impact of PDA. In addition to collecting information about titles loaded and titles purchased, an online survey to assess user response to e-books is continuing. Western and Ingram have continued to work together closely to ensure the program is successful and to make profile adjustments as necessary

Not Your Mother\u27s PDA: The Transition From PDA Pilot to Full Acquisitions Integration

Western Libraries and Ingram Content Group worked together to establish a Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA) program that has been incorporated into the regular acquisitions workflow at Western. Some features of the program include: all titles selected for addition to the PDA collection are filtered through the approval profiles established by the librarians, the library’s holdings are uploaded to Ingram weekly so that duplicate titles are avoided, invoices for purchased PDA titles are sent weekly and holdings for un-purchased and purchased PDA records are updated weekly. A Patron Driven Acquisitions Working Group established the program at Western by meeting with collections librarians to assist with profile adjustments and ease concerns of how this method of acquisition would impact the collection. The Working Group is monitoring the program and gathering data to assess the impact of PDA. In addition to collecting information about titles loaded and titles purchased, an online survey to assess user response to e-books is continuing. Western and Ingram have continued to work together closely to ensure the program is successful and to make profile adjustments as necessary

A Needs-Driven and Responsive Approach to Supporting the Research Endeavours of Academic Librarians

In this article, the authors describe a grassroots model for research support and explore the success and evolving directions of this model based on three iterative needs assessments administered by the Librarian and Archivist Research Support Network (LARSN) Steering Committee at The University of Western Ontario. Needs assessments were identified as a critical tool to ensure that LARSN programming is relevant to librarians’ and archivists’ changing research needs. In the first four years of LARSN, three needs assessments were administered: in fall 2007, fall 2009, and spring 2011. The iterative needs assessments aimed to capture how the environment and research needs were evolving over time and the ways in which LARSN might continue to support a healthy and productive research environment. LARSN is faced with challenges that include a diversity of needs within its community, inconsistent participation levels in LARSN initiatives, and the inability to be all things to all people at all times. Still, LARSN is well received overall and rated positively by its community members. This is, in large part, because it has stayed true to its original mission to be needs-driven and responsive