Catherine Clark

Information Skills Survey: Its Application to a Medical Course

Objective - To test if the Information Skills Survey(Catts Information Skills Survey for Assessment of Information Literacy in Higher Education) is suitable for the purpose of investigating the information literacy levels of a group of students in medicine. If not, the study was designed to determine the modifications that are necessary to make the Information Skills Survey a reliable instrument for investigating the information literacy levels of a group of students in medicine. Method - Administration of the Information Skills Survey to two groups of medical students. To confirm the validity of the results, follow up questions and interviews were also conducted. Statistical analysis was carried out to determine the internal consistency of the questions in relation to the Information Literacy Standards and also to determine the statistical significance of the results. Results - The two groups of students reported similar results for a number of the tested skills. However, several areas of difference were also identified. The main areas of difference between the two groups were the questions that can be interpreted as being related to clinical practice. This was also emphasised in the interviews. Conclusions - The Information Skills Survey is a useful tool to investigate the information literacy skills of groups of medical students who are in their early years of study. Further research needs to be done to develop valid questions for medical students in the clinical years. This would reflect the different information resources that are used in clinical practice.

Designing a Specialist Post-graduate Qualification and Continuing Professional Development Structure for the Health Librarian Workforce of the Future

Through a grant received from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), Health Libraries Australia (HLA) is conducting a twelve-month research project with the goal of developing a system-wide approach to education for the future health librarianship workforce. The research has two main aims: to determine the future skills, knowledge, and competencies for the health librarian workforce in Australia; and to develop a structured, modular education framework for specialist post-graduate qualifications together with a structure for ongoing continuing professional development. The paper highlights some of the drivers for change for health librarianship as a profession, and particularly for educating the future workforce. The research methodology is outlined and the main results of the second stage of the project are described together with the findings and their implications for the development of a structured, competency-based education framework.

Employers' perspectives on future roles and skills requirements for Australian health librarians

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 professional development structure supporting a three-year cycle of certification and revalidation.