Integrating information literacy into the education of public health professionals: roles for librarians and the library

Development and validation of the Information Literacy Measurement Scale (ILMS-34) in Chinese public health practitioners

BACKGROUND

Public health professionals (PHPs) have increasing information needs to inform evidence-based public health decisions and practice, which requires good information literacy. A comprehensive and reliable assessment tool is necessary to assess PHPs' literacy and guide future promotion programs. However, there is a lack of measurement tools specifically for the information literacy of PHPs.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to develop an information literacy assessment tool for PHPs and test its psychometric properties among PHPs.

METHODS

A 34-item Information Literacy Measurement Scale (ILMS-34) for PHPs was developed based on an extensive literature review, the Delphi method, and pilot testing. The ILMS-34 was further validated among 526 PHPs recruited from four cities in Guangdong Province, China, using convenience sampling. The sample was randomly divided into two equal groups for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. Other psychometric testing included item analysis, Cronbach's α coefficient, three-week test-retest reliability, and known-group validity.

RESULTS

EFA yielded four dimensions for the ILMS-34: information consciousness, information knowledge, information ability, and information ethics. Subsequent CFA showed a good model fit of the four-factor structure (χ2/df = 1.485, RMSEA = 0.043, SRMR = 0.038, TLI = 0.977, CFI = 0.979). There were significant differences in each item between the high and low-scoring groups (p < 0.001), indicating good item discrimination. The ILMS-34 demonstrated good internal consistency with a Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.97 for the total scale (four subscales: 0.92, 0.92, 0.98, and 0.91, respectively). It also showed good test-retest reliability after three weeks with an ICC coefficient of 0.67. The DSE-MS scores varied by various sample characteristics, verifying the known-group validity.

CONCLUSION

The ILMS-34 is a multidimensional instrument with good psychometric properties and can be used as an effective tool to measure information literacy among PHPs. Further validation in other samples across various cultures is needed to test its broad application.

Development and validation of the clinical information literacy questionnaire

BACKGROUND

Clinical Information Literacy (CIL) seems to be a prerequisite for physicians to implement Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) effectively. This study endeavors to develop and validate a CIL questionnaire for medical residents of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study employs sequential-exploratory mixed methods in 2019. The participants were 200 medical residents in different specialties; they are selected through the convenience sampling method. In the first (qualitative) phase, an early CIL questionnaire was designed by reviewing literature and performing complementary interviews with health professionals. In the second (validation) phase, the questionnaire's face validity and content validity were confirmed. In the third (quantitative) phase, the construct validity was examined via Item-Response Theory (IRT) model, and the factor loading was computed. The gathered data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, two-way ANOVA, as well as two-parameter IRT model in R software.

RESULTS

In the qualitative phase, the concept of CIL is initially described in seven main categories and 22 subcategories, and the items were formulated. An initial 125-item questionnaire was analyzed by the research team, leading to a 43-item. Through the content validity and face validity examination, we removed 11 and 4 items in the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI), respectively. Throughout the face validity analysis, none of the items were removed. According to the construct validity results, difficulty coefficient, discriminant coefficient, and factor loading were confirmed, most of the other questions achieved a proper factor loading value that is higher than 0.30, and a value of 0.66 was achieved for the reliability via the Kuder-Richardson method. Ultimately, the real-assessment 28-item CIL questionnaire was developed with four components.

CONCLUSIONS

The CIL questionnaire could be employed to examine the actual CIL basic knowledge. Because of using the real-assessment approach rather than self-assessment in the design, it can be claimed that this instrument can provide a more accurate assessment of the information literacy status of medical residents. This valid questionnaire is used to measure and train the skills needed by healthcare professionals in the effective implementation of EBM.

Information literacy in the legal workplace: Current state of lawyers’ skills in Pakistan

This study investigated the current state of information literacy (IL) skills among lawyers practicing at the District Bar Association of Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey using a questionnaire was conducted to collect data from 297 lawyers. The questionnaire comprised 20 statements related to information literacy along with certain demographic variables. Each lawyer was personally visited in the assigned chamber by one of the researchers to record responses. Both descriptive (frequencies, percentages, mean scores, standard deviations) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance) were applied for data analysis in SPSS. The results showed that a large majority of lawyers participating in the survey never received any formal training concerning information literacy. However, most of these lawyers perceived IL skills as important in the context of their workplace especially in conducting legal research. These lawyers were more competent in the basic IL skills and less competent in advanced IL skills. In addition, the lawyers’ age, practical experience, practicing levels, computer proficiency, and English Language proficiency predicted their levels of IL skills. There was a critical need for the development of IL instruction programs for not only practicing lawyers but also for law students to improve their skills since these lawyers felt less competent with advanced levels of IL skills. It is hoped that the present study contributes to the existing body of WIL literature focusing especially on the role of IL in the context of legal work and outlining the current state of lawyers’ IL skills in Pakistan as no such study has appeared so far.

Library or iSchool Involvement in Health-Related Informatics Education

Objective: An underexplored area in Library and Information Science (LIS) is the development of educational offerings and partnerships in Health-Related Informatics (HRI) (e.g., bioinformatics, clinical informatics, health informatics). The purpose of this study is to identify which disciplines are collaborating in HRI education and how partnerships developed. Methods: This study was conducted in two parts: a website review and survey. Seventy-seven North American ALA-accredited and iSchool member websites were searched between November 2019-March 2020 for HRI-related educational offerings and which academic units were involved. Two hundred sixteen individuals involved in LIS and/or HRI education were contacted for a 40-question survey that included: their roles and responsibilities regarding HRI education; the alignment of this education with strategic plans or competencies; and how HRI partnerships developed. The survey also asked those who were not currently partnering in HRI education which factors influenced their circumstances. Results: 352 HRI educational offerings existed within ALA-accredited or iSchool programs. A total of 38 (17.5%) responded to the survey. For almost two-thirds of these, there was no indication of partnership in that education (213/352, 60.5%). LIS or iSchool involvement in HRI is just under one-third of all offerings (111/352, 31%). “Health or healthcare” informatics (35) or “biomedical or bioinformatics” were the most common types of HRI offered from the website review and survey. Conclusions: Opportunities exist for LIS programs to form HRI educational partnerships that will provide richer educational offerings for LIS students and health sciences librarians.

The importance of public libraries in education for health literacy: A case study on diabetic patients

Public libraries can play a major role in improving health literacy of clients by offering special services. Educating diabetic patients through public libraries can improve the dissemination of health information. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of education on the level of health literacy among diabetic patients referring to a public library, and the relationship between health literacy level, age and gender of patients. This research is a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test. The study population included 48 diabetic patients referring to the public library. The research tool is a nationalized adult health literacy questionnaire in Iran. Results showed that 14.5% of samples had the maximum access to the required information in terms of accessibility. In terms of reading skill, 20% of samples had the maximum skill needed to read the information resources. In terms of information comprehension, 27% of samples had a maximum comprehending of the information they needed. In terms of evaluation, 13.5% of samples had completely correct evaluation of the information they needed. In terms of decision making, 24.5% of the people made decisive decisions about their information demands. The mean health literacy of diabetic patients before and after education showed a significant difference. In addition, no significant relationship was found between the level of health literacy and the age of diabetic patients referring to the public library before and after education (r <0.05). The health literacy level of diabetic patients increased before and after education in both males and females. It was concluded that as one of the tasks of public libraries is teaching citizens, the use of educational capacities in public libraries in the health sector can improve community health.

The new roles of medical librarians in medical research

Purpose

This study aims to highlight the role of librarians as an essential element in medical research. For this purpose, the primary research process was divided into three phases: before, during and after. Then, the roles of librarians associated with each phase were separated and the viewpoint of researchers and librarians on the importance of these roles were considered and compared.

Design/methodology/approach

This comparative, descriptive-causal research was conducted using the census method. Birjand University, a type-2 university in the field of Medical Sciences according to the rating of the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, was selected for the study. The participants were all faculty members and all librarians working in the university’s libraries. The data collection tool was a questionnaire made by authors. Its validity was confirmed by four professors of Library Science, and questionnaire design expert and its reliability was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.89. Data were analyzed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, using descriptive statistics.

Findings

From the perspective of researchers, awareness-raising for open access resources, determination of standard subject keywords on the basis of Medical Subject Headings for articles and scientific texts and using scientific research findings as a basis for preventing duplicate studies in future research are the most important roles for librarians in the three stages of medical research. From the perspective of librarians, the use of knowledge management skills, searching scientific information as review of the literature and also selecting standard keywords to search the databases and providing health-care professionals with the findings of latest scientific research have the highest place in the different stages of the research lifecycle.

Originality/value

The difference between the viewpoints of librarians and researchers about the role of medical librarians at the various stages of the research lifecycle shows that there are significant gaps between the librarians’ services and users’ expectations. It is expected that through learning modern professional skills, medical librarians can assume new roles in medical research and make their capabilities known and available to researchers.

Developing occupational therapy students' information and historical literacy competencies: an interprofessional collaborative project

OBJECTIVE

The study examined the efficacy of an interprofessional information and historical literacy project implemented by an occupational therapy educator and a librarian.

METHODS

A graduate course was revised to include information and historical literacy objectives and instruction. A course-specific questionnaire administered on the first and last day of class, assignment grades, and course evaluations provided measures of project outcomes for six years. Differences between questionnaire pre- and post-test means were determined using t-tests. Course evaluation comments were analyzed to obtain qualitative perceptions.

RESULTS

A significant difference (p<0.0001) was found between pre-test (M=3.93, SD=0.48) and post-test (M=4.67, SD=0.30) scores of total information and historical literacy competence across all years (n=242). Responses to individual items also differed significantly (p<0.0001). Student ratings (n=189) from the course evaluation historical literacy objectives were high (M=4.6 on a 5-point scale). Assignment quality and grades improved, and course evaluation comments reflected student satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings supported the hypothesis that students' self-reported information and historical literacy competencies would increase after project participation. Acquired skills were evident in students' assignments. Research to determine if these capabilities were used post-graduation is needed. Because this was a course-specific project, findings are not generalizable; however, the instructional methods developed for this project can serve as a model for effective interprofessional collaboration. The broadening of information literacy instruction to include discipline-specific historical literacy provides a unique opportunity for health sciences librarians and educators. Developing students' historical literacy in their chosen fields can help them understand their profession's present status and be informed participants in shaping its future.

NExT: creating an interdisciplinary alliance to diminish informational barriers for public health nursing

BACKGROUND

Public health nurses (PHNs) are challenged in obtaining opportunities to learn evidence-based practice (EBP). An interdisciplinary alliance was created between health sciences librarians and nurse educators to create a continuing education (CE) opportunity.

OBJECTIVE

To measure the effectiveness of CE training for PHNs on the knowledge gained about the EBP process and information resources.

METHODS

Ten in-person CE workshops were offered to 69 attendees in rural and urban areas. A pre-test/post-test survey was administered immediately before and after the training that asked participants to rate their perceived knowledge and comfort levels with EBP concepts and resources.

RESULTS

Ninety-seven per cent of participants reported the training was a good use of their time. Based on a 5-point Likert scale self-assessment, participants developed new skills (m = 4.06, SD = 0.968) and were able to find evidence-based literature (m = 4.16, SD = 0.980). Participants reported increasing their understanding of EBP concepts and familiarity of information resources. All data were statistically significant at P < 0.001 (95% CI).

DISCUSSION

With the interdisciplinary collaboration capitalising on the instructors' disciplinary skill sets, the team was able to create a new effective EBP education intervention for PHNs.

CONCLUSION

Public health nurses were able to increase knowledge of EBP concepts and information resources to utilise in practice or grant development.

Developing an evidence-based public health informatics course

OBJECTIVES

This study assessed the need to develop a public health informatics (PHI) introductory course and determine contents of such a course.

METHODS

Community assessments employing focus group interviews and an online survey were utilized to determine course need and content.

RESULTS

Results revealed a need to provide PHI training to graduate public health students and suggested broad course content requirements. Results indicated lack of awareness of libraries and librarians as sources of public health information.

CONCLUSIONS

A graduate PHI course was developed and delivered. Additionally, implementation of a subject guide increased the library's profile.

Information needs of public health students

BACKGROUND

The number of public health degrees and programmes is growing rapidly. This means that a diverse and multidisciplinary group of students are in need of expert library services to navigate the complicated world of public health information.

OBJECTIVE

To better understand the information needs of public health students, a group that has not previously been studied in the information needs literature.

METHODS

An online survey.

RESULTS

Of the 153 students, 38 responded (25% response rate). Their responses indicated a strong need for more tailored library instruction sessions at the point of need as opposed to general stand-alone sessions offered at the beginning of a term. It was also found that many students were unaware of public health specific resources available that could greatly aid them in their information needs. Suggestions were made on how to improve the library subject guide, specifically in the areas of more instructions related to locating hard to find resources (e.g. statistics, grey literature), and direct linking to resources (e.g. databases and relevant articles).

CONCLUSION

The information needs of public health students are diverse and complex. It is imperative that the library has a solid understanding of their needs and is able to offer them targeted and relevant library services.

Information literacy: perceptions of Brazilian HIV/AIDS researchers

BACKGROUND

Information literacy has evolved with changes in lifelong learning. Can Brazilian health researchers search for and use updated scientific information?

OBJECTIVES

To describe researchers' information literacy based on their perceptions of their abilities to search for and use scientific information and on their interactions with libraries.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews and focus group conducted with six Brazilian HIV/AIDS researchers. Analyses comprised the assessment of researchers as disseminators, their interactions with librarians, their use of information and communication technology and language.

RESULTS

Interviewees believed they were partially qualified to use databases. They used words and phrases that indicated their knowledge of technology and terminology. They acted as disseminators for students during information searches. Researchers' abilities to interact with librarians are key skills, especially in a renewed context where libraries have, to a large extent, changed from physical spaces to digital environments.

DISCUSSION

Great amounts of information have been made available, and researchers' participation in courses does not automatically translate into adequate information literacy. Librarians must help research groups, and as such, librarians' information literacy-related responsibilities in Brazil should be redefined and expanded.

CONCLUSIONS

Students must develop the ability to learn quickly, and librarians should help them in their efforts. Librarians and researchers can act as gatekeepers for research groups and as information coaches to improve others' search abilities.

Tecnologia e informação em saúde: modelo de ensino-aprendizagem transdisciplinar

Considerando conceitos básicos sobre tecnologia, informação e saúde; a observação de propostas curriculares; a análise de softwares e hardwares destinados ao campo da saúde, e a análise crítica da literatura, esta pesquisa focou-se na questão de como formar profissionais do campo da informação e do campo da informática que possam melhor solucionar as problemáticas relacionadas ao contexto da saúde. Para tanto, elaborou-se como hipótese inicial um modelo de ensino-aprendizagem transdisciplinar que abarca quatro aspectos: interação entre docentes e discentes de diferentes áreas; integração entre o contexto externo e o contexto da instituição educacional; condições institucionais; sistematização de um projeto de ensino-aprendizagem. Para analisar tal hipótese, adotou-se um método qualitativo, qual seja, a pesquisa-ação, durante o período de ano, no qual foram ofertados dois cursos, com duração de 60 horas cada um e participação de 35 alunos. Como resultado da pesquisa, o modelo proposto se mostrou adequado para o ensino-aprendizagem em tecnologia e informação em saúde, sendo enfatizados parâmetros do contexto educacional transdisciplinar, como a competência linguística, a harmonizacao conceitual, os padrões éticos, a linguagem dos textos selecionados, e a relação entre as problemáticas discutidas no contexto externo e interno.

Information behaviour and information literacy: The ultimate in transdisciplinary phenomena?

This article investigates transdisciplinarity in relation to information behaviour and information literacy. It demonstrates how these areas are especially suited to transdisciplinarity thought, notes the potential that transdisciplinarity offers in these contexts and presents the key components of transdisciplinarity in two complementary breakdowns designed to help academics and information professionals recognize the value of the concept to their own work. The article considers how transdisciplinarity may be understood in terms of transferable skills, collaboration across different areas, phenomena that affect various disciplines and the use in one field of ideas associated with another. It concludes with reflections on the overall strengths and weaknesses of transdisciplinarity.

The role of veterinary medical librarians in teaching information literacy

This qualitative study seeks to determine the nature of the instruction librarians provide to veterinary medical students at all 28 United States veterinary colleges. A secondary goal of the study was to determine in what ways and to what extent librarians participated in other instructional activities at their colleges. Over half of the librarians formally taught in one or more courses, predominantly in the first two years of the veterinary curriculum. One presentation per course was most common. Over half of the librarians interviewed stated that evidence-based veterinary medicine was taught at their colleges, and about half of these librarians collaborated with veterinary faculty in this instruction. Many librarians participated in orientation for first-year veterinary students. The librarians also taught instructional sessions for residents, interns, faculty, graduate students, and practicing veterinarians. This study found that librarians teach information literacy skills both formally and informally, but, in general, instruction by librarians was not well integrated into the curriculum. This study advances several recommendations to help veterinary students develop information literacy skills. These include: encourage veterinary faculty and administrators to collaborate more closely with librarians, incorporate a broader array of information literacy skills into assignments, and add a literature evaluation course to the curriculum.

Vital pathways for hospital librarians: present and future roles

OBJECTIVES

The research objectives were to (1) describe the current and future roles of hospital librarians and the challenges they face and (2) find evidence supporting the hypothesis that librarians are essential to hospitals in achieving the organizations' mission-critical goals.

METHOD

The authors used results from a previous research study that identified the five organizational mission-critical goals important to hospital administrators and then searched the literature and solicited examples from hospital librarians to describe the librarian's role in helping hospitals achieve these goals.

RESULTS

The literature supports the hypothesis that hospital librarians play important roles in the success of the hospital. Librarians support quality clinical care, efficient and effective hospital operations, continuing education for staff, research and innovation, and patient, family, and community health information needs.

CONCLUSION

Hospital librarians fulfill many mission-critical roles in today's hospital, providing the right information at the right time in a variety of ways to enhance hospital and medical staff effectiveness, optimize patient care, improve patient outcomes, and increase patient and family satisfaction with the hospital and its services. Because hospital librarians and their services provide an excellent return on investment for the hospital and help the hospital keep its competitive edge, hospital staff should have access to the services of a professional librarian.

Using blogs and wikis in a graduate public health course

Blogs and wikis are examples of Web 2.0 technology that facilitate collaboration in the online world. In the health sciences, the emergence of these social tools potentially increases the risk of generating harmful or biased information. Therefore, it is the health professional's responsibility to have the skills to critically appraise Web content that has not undergone traditional peer review. This was the focus in a three-credit graduate Urban Public Health course taught by a librarian and was addressed with assignments using blog and wiki technology within the course management tool Blackboard. The assignments fostered comprehension of the issues surrounding blogs and wikis as they relate to public health.

Leveraging change to integrate library and informatics competencies into a new CTSC curriculum: a program evaluation

This program evaluation reports on the curricular development and integration of library, biomedical informatics, and scholarly communications (LBS) skills into a required informatics course for a new graduate degree program in the University of New Mexico's Clinical and Translational Sciences Center (CTSC). The course built on the opportunity presented by the new degree program to integrate LBS competencies rarely included in most traditional clinical research training programs. This report tracks the experiences and evaluations of two cohorts of graduate students who have completed the course. This article presents lessons learned on curricular integration and offers thoughts for future work.