Research? Who, me? Addressing research confidence in health library, information and knowledge practitioners.

Description

Research is important to the library, information, and knowledge (LIK) sector as it has the potential to demonstrate professional value and impact, raise the profile of library and information science (LIS) as a discipline and contribute evidence for professional decision making. The Knowledge for Healthcare Strategy 2021-2026 (NHS England, 2022) recognises and supports the expertise of knowledge and library specialists in identifying and providing relevant research evidence to staff in the NHS. Whilst the Quality and Improvement Outcome Framework (Edwards and Gilroy, 2021) includes using research and conducting research or evaluation as one of the drivers of a high-quality library service. The wider question needs to be asked: how confident are LIK practitioners in the UK in conducting and contributing to the research and evidence base?

Summary
The Library and Information Research Group (LIRG) are undertaking a collaborative project to gain a baseline understanding of this issue. The findings will help develop strategy, identify training needs and interventions that could be used to encourage practitioners across all sectors to inform and transform their professional practice through research. Data collection through a national survey and in-depth interviews is currently ongoing. Initial survey responses indicate that the majority in the LIK sector hold a Master’s qualification but not a research qualification. Respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their qualifications prepared them to read, understand and conduct research. However, when asked about research experience the majority were experienced in undertaking the literature searching and review element of research but not in writing proposals, applying for funding, ethics, methods, or data analysis. Librarians tend to disseminate research at conferences and meetings rather than write for publication. A total of 28% responses were from the health sector. This workshop will explore the responses of health librarians in more detail and compare these to the experiences of those in the audience and the wider profession. The second part of the workshop will be based around discussions of the study findings and suggestions on how these could be related to health library practice.

Conclusion
This workshop will share the findings from the LIRG project, providing an overview of the health sector’s experience and confidence in engaging with research. The findings of the health sector will be presented in connection with the wider profession and other sectors, and solutions and recommendations explored.

References:
Edwards, C. and Gilroy, D. (2021), "Quality outcomes in NHS library and knowledge services", Performance Measurement and Metrics, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 106-116. https://doi.org/10.1108/PMM-07-2020-0040

NHS England (2022) Knowledge for Healthcare, NHS England [online]. Available from: https://library.hee.nhs.uk/about/knowledge-for-healthcare [Accessed 12/12/23].

Period	20 Jun 2024
Event title	Health Libraries Group Conference 2024
Event type	Conference
Location	London, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International