Evidenced- based Evidenced- based Librarianship : A Proposal for Librarianship : A Proposal for

Philippine LibrariesPhilippine Libraries

Corazon M. NeraCorazon M. NeraDirector of Libraries, Lyceum of the Philippines UniversityDirector of Libraries, Lyceum of the Philippines University

Chairman, Board for Librarians, PRCChairman, Board for Librarians, PRC

Background / Rationale

1968 - Medical Schools started teaching students using problem based learning

-Journal reading or critical appraisal skills became more readily known

-Question formulation and searching skills were added and “evidenced-based medicine” was coined

History of Evidenced Based Practice (Cont.)

1980 - Medical librarians teach various health care professionals how to search Medline

-Began to produce abstract journals such as the ACP Journal Club and Evidenced Based Medicine

- developed resources to identify high quality, clinically important studies

-Evidenced based movement was taken up by nursing profession

- The result, Evidenced Based Nursing abstract journal.

History of Evidenced Based Practice (Cont.)

1991 - Evidenced based medicine appeared and was defined as the best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.

International Conferences on Evidenced-based Librarianship

• 4th EBL May 2007, North Carolina, USA

• 3rd EBL, 2004 Queensland, Australia

• 2nd EBL, 2003 Edmonton, Canada

• 1st EBL, 2001 Sheffield, U.K.

• IFLA, 2005 & 2007, EBL for Social Science

Requirements for the evolution of evidence based practice including library science:

1. Building the research evidence

• strong research methodologies

• publishing the results

• accessibility of results

Requirements for the evolution of evidence based practice (Cont.)

3. Defining the terms and the process

4. Developing tools to facilitate the process

5. Getting the research into practice

2. Identifying and incorporating the need to use research in practice

Evolution of evidenced based Librarianship1. Building the research evidence (Bayley & McKibbon)

Ideas, Opinions Pieces, e.g. editorialsDescriptive Studies e.g. "what we did in our libraries”

Rich Descriptive Qualitative, Case Studiese.g. focus group

Total Development & Validatione.g. questionnaires, outcome measures

Historical Controls(before/after studies)

Concurrent Critical Studiese.g. benchmarking

Fully ControlledStudies

"randomized controlled trials"

Figure 1:

The publishing wedge in librarianship

Current State of Research in Philippine Librarianship (UPILS Sampling)

Automation 7

Collection 20

Education 4

Information Searching 2

Information Access Retrieval 3

Information Science Theory 2

Information Storage & Retrieval 1

Library Administration 3

No. of Research

Current State of Research in Philippine Librarianship

No. of Research

Library History 1

Library Science 15

LIS Analysis 4

LIS Education 4

LIS Service Activities -

Management 1

Methodology -

Materials 4

No. of Research

Current State of Research in Philippine Librarianship

Professional Issues 2

The professions 2

Publishing & Book Listing 3

Reference / Inquiries 8

Scientific & Professional Communication -

Technical Process 7

Others __-_

Total 93

The evolution of evidenced based Librarianship (Cont.)

2. Identifying the need to use research in practice

1997 - First described in Medical Libraries Association in the USA & Canada

-Jonathan Eldredge and Andrew Booth --Founding fathers of EBL (Medical and Health Group)

The evolution of evidenced based Librarianship (Cont.)

3. Defining the terms and process

2001 - EBL as a means to improve the profession of Librarianship by :

•asking questions

•finding research evidence

•critically appraising

•incorporating research evidence into daily practice.

•encouraging librarians to conduct research.

EBL entails 5 steps

1. Construct a relevant, answerable question from practice Example:-What makes students noisy inside the library?

-How do we evaluate the potential impact of introducing critical reference?

-Does weeding increase subsequent circulation of a collection?

-How can we best measure usability of our library’s web pages?

-What is the best way to implement access to electronic prints?

EBL entails 5 steps (Cont.) EBL entails 5 steps

2. Search for the evidence

3. Evaluate the evidence

4. Apply the evidence to make a decision

5. Evaluate the process

Defining the terms

1. Entails usable research for practical solutions

2. Search for the evidence thru published & unpublished literature or research or evaluation study

3. Evaluate the evidence for quality and usability

4. Apply to make a decision

5. Evaluate the whole process

The evolution of evidenced based Librarianship (Cont.)

4. Developing the tools to facilitate the process

Systems

Synopses of Synthesis

Syntheses

Synopses of Single Studies

Single Studies

-Clinical practice guidelines; evidenced based textbook

-Evidenced based abstract journal

-Evidenced based journals

-Filtered searches using study type

- Systematic reviews

Fact:

-90% of librarian in Canada & USA read at least 1 research journal

-62% read research based articles

-50% occasionally apply research

-52% occasionally produce research related to the job

Reasons to use research evidence in library practice

1. To make the most efficient and effective use of services and resources

2. To help us plan and evaluate

3. To base funding proposals & ensure funding success

4. To produce usable evidence after the process

5. Publish our findings to gain credibility

6. Evidence of greater respect - best way is to ensure that we are practicing EBL

Barriers and Challenges

1. Lack of time

2. Limited access to resources and poor searching skills in an electronic environment (not true to libraries)

3. Lack of value in practice

Challenge - Do we really value and believe in research in our practice?

1. shortage of valid, useful research evidence in librarianship

2. encourage and support library research

3. present and publish more internal studies

4. continue to use methodologies

Challenge (Cont.)

5. develop new skills specifically in statistics and data analysis

6. simplify the research application process to make it less academic and more practical

7. develop tools such as database of library related research evidence-based journals, systematic reviews

9.spread the concept of EBL beyond the health librarianship

8. practice guidelines

Obstacles to conducting research

1. Funding2. Experience3. Time & Support4. Access to research

Solutions

1. Graduate library and information science programs

2. Professional associations

3. Administration and management

4. Individual libraries

5. Research publications

Conclusions

1. There is a need to establish a solid evidence base within our profession

2. EBL provides the best evidence into making important decisions

3. EBL use the best research evidence developed from working experiences in librarianship

4. EBL supports the preparation applied research studies for making informed decisions

“Evidenced-based librarianship (EBL) is an approach to information science that promotes the collection, interpretation, and integration of valid, important and applicable user-reported, librarian-observed, and research-derived evidence. The best-

available evidence moderated by user needs and preferences, is applied to improve the quality of

professional judgements” (Andrew Booth)

Recommendation:

PRACTICE EVIDENCED-BASED

LIBRARIANSHIP AND WIN RESPECT

References:

1. Eldridge, Jonathan D. Evidence-based librarianship : an overview. Bull Med Libr. Assoc. 2000. October ; 88(4).

2. Liz Bayley, Ann McKibbon. 2006. Evidenced-based librarianship : A personal perspective from the medical/nursing realm. Library Hi Tech. Vol. 24 No. 3, Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.

3. Sackett, David L. Et al. 1997. Evidence-based medicine : How to practice and teach EBM. New York : Churchill Livingstone.

4. Webography of Evidence Based Librarianship. www.eblib.net (42 ref.)