How to train the Clinical Librarian

Presentation at the 9th EAHIL conference in Santander, 2004

by Suzanne Bakker

Chair Continuing Education Committee of the Biomedical Information Group of the Dutch Library Association

Clinical Librarians in Amsterdam

• 1991: project summary in Bulletin of med. libr. http://www.kb.nl/infolev/bmi/biomeditaties/bm24/clinical.html

• 1992: publication in the Dutch Medical Journal (Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd)

• 1995: presentation at 7th ICML Washington • 2001: differentiation: clinical librarians in context

(account managers and/or as part of the clinical team)

• 2004: how to educate/train the next generation

NTvG 1992;136(16):797-800

The medical library at the desk top

Nowadays at Leicester

Postgraduate education

which degree(s) what level(s) LIS biomedical sciences competences experience domain / culture diplome / certificate / qualification system

Medical/hospital librarianship

• Basic education in librarianship (college-level in the Netherlands)

• on the job training / experience– terminology / classification / descriptors– journal collection management– bibliographic databases – search & retrieval– personal database management systems– user groups & context

Continuing education courses

• 1992: program of short courses (1/2/3 days)– Medical terminology & classification (incl. MeSH)

– Medline/PubMed (CD/online) – end-user training

– Health care system

– National providers of health information

– International health information resources

– Quality management

– Marketing

Clinical librarianship

• On ward rounds & clinical teams• Student & medical staff training in end-user

searching• Patient education• EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE• Outside the clinical context?

– research teams– educational teams– management teams

• Account management

Clin. Libr. supporting EBM

• Ward rounds

• Part of clinical teams

• EBM– structured searches (PICO)– search filters– research methodology– finding & selecting best evidence

Clinical librarian – a specialty?

• Medical knowledge

• Library & information knowledge

• Information technology skills

• Metadata systems

• Research methodology (EBM)

• EBM information resources

• User groups, behavior & information needs

Postgraduate training

• One year (bi)weekly with on the job training

• Assessment on entry level & competences

• Individualized program, personal coaching– (para)medical background– LIS background– bio/medical informatics background

Towards a Master’s degree?

• Professional recognition: how & by whom?

• Which professional bodies:– medicine / library / informatics

• Who’s responsibility: – higher education / government / profession /

health care management

Current projects

• Vanderbilt Medical Center – the Eskind Biomedical Library– Information Specialist In Context– Clinical Informatics Consult Service

• University Hospitals of Leicester– NHS Trust Clinical Librarian Service Strategy

2004-2006

• …. and many more in UK, Australia, USA