Building capacity for librarian support and addressing collaboration challenges by formalizing library systematic review services

A realist synthesis of dementia education programmes for pre-registration nurses

AIMS

The escalating prevalence of dementia globally highlights the urgency for effective nursing care and dementia education. The aim of this review was to synthesize evidence on dementia education programmes for pre-registration nursing, exploring the types implemented, the contexts in which they operate, the mechanisms influencing their success, and their intended and unintended outcomes.

DESIGN

A realist synthesis approach was employed to explore the functioning of complex interventions within specific contexts, acknowledging the intricate nature of dementia education programmes and the diverse settings in which they are implemented.

DATA SOURCES

A rigorous search strategy was implemented across databases including Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, and ProQuest Health and Medical, supplemented by hand searching and citation searching. Preliminary screening and refinement processes ensured comprehensive coverage of relevant literature.

REVIEW METHODS

A systematic and iterative approach was adopted, involving quality assessment under the headings of relevance, rigour, and richness. Data extraction and synthesis processes were focused on identifying contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes relevant to dementia education in nursing.

RESULTS

A total of 25 studies were reviewed. Key findings highlight the effectiveness of narrative-based learning, varied educational methods, and experienced providers in improving nursing students' knowledge, attitudes, and confidence. These approaches influenced care priorities and increased interest in working with people living with dementia. However, there is a noted gap in understanding the long-term benefits and academic impact of these programmes.

CONCLUSIONS

Dementia education programmes are pivotal in preparing nursing students for effective dementia care. The co-production and design involvement of people living with dementia in curricula development is recommended to enhance relevance and applicability. We call for further research into the long-term benefits of dementia education, the impact of academic recognition, and the alignment of programmes with nursing curricula.

Effect of librarian collaboration on otolaryngology systematic review and meta-analysis quality

Objective

To determine if librarian collaboration was associated with improved database search quality, search reproducibility, and systematic review reporting in otolaryngology systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Methods

In this retrospective cross-sectional study, PubMed was queried for systematic reviews and meta-analyses published in otolaryngology journals in 2010, 2015, and 2021. Two researchers independently extracted data. Two librarians independently rated search strategy reproducibility and quality for each article. The main outcomes include association of librarian involvement with study reporting quality, search quality, and publication metrics in otolaryngology systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Categorical data were compared with Chi-Squared tests or Fisher's Exact tests. Continuous variables were compared via Mann Whitney U Tests for two groups, and Kruskal-Wallis Tests for three or more groups.

Results

Of 559 articles retrieved, 505 were analyzed. More studies indicated librarian involvement in 2021 (n=72, 20.7%) compared to 2015 (n=14, 10.4%) and 2010 (n=2, 9.0%) (p=0.04). 2021 studies showed improvements in properly using a reporting tool (p<0.001), number of databases queried (p<0.001), describing date of database searches (p<0.001), and including a flow diagram (p<0.001). Librarian involvement was associated with using reporting tools (p<0.001), increased number of databases queried (p<0.001), describing date of database search (p=0.002), mentioning search peer reviewer (p=0.02), and reproducibility of search strategies (p<0.001). For search strategy quality, librarian involvement was associated with greater use of "Boolean & proximity operators" (p=0.004), "subject headings" (p<0.001), "text word searching" (p<0.001), and "spelling/syntax/line numbers" (p<0.001). Studies with librarian involvement were associated with publication in journals with higher impact factors for 2015 (p=0.003) and 2021 (p<0.001).

Conclusion

Librarian involvement was associated with improved reporting quality and search strategy quality. Our study supports the inclusion of librarians in review teams, and journal editing and peer reviewing teams.

Large-scale systematic review support for guideline development in diabetes precision medicine

Background

Involving librarians as team members can lead to better quality in reviews. To improve their search results, an international diabetes project involved two medical librarians in a large-scale project planning of a series of systematic reviews for clinical guidelines in diabetes precision medicine.

Case Presentation

The precision diabetes project was divided into teams. Four diabetes mellitus types (type 1, type 2, gestational, and monogenic) were divided into teams focusing on diagnostics, prevention, treatment, or prognostics. A search consultation plan was set up for the project to help organize the work. We performed searches in Embase and PubMed for 14 teams, building complex searches that involved non-traditional search strategies. Our search strategies generated very large amounts of records that created challenges in balancing sensitivity with precision. We also performed overlap searches for type 1 and type 2 diabetes search strategies; and assisted in setting up reviews in the Covidence tool for screening.

Conclusions

This project gave us opportunities to test methods we had not used before, such as overlap comparisons between whole search strategies. It also gave us insights into the complexity of performing a search balancing sensitivity and specificity and highlights the need for a clearly defined communication plan for extensive evidence synthesis projects.

Why do researchers co-author evidence syntheses with librarians? A mixed-methods study

Librarians and information specialists are experts in designing comprehensive literature searches, such as those needed for Evidence Syntheses (ES). The contributions of these professionals to ES research teams have several documented benefits, especially when they collaborate on the project. However, librarian co-authorship is relatively rare. This study explores researcher motivations for working with librarians at the co-author level through a mixed methods design. Interviews with researchers identified 20 potential motivations that were then tested through an online questionnaire sent to authors of recently published ES. Consistent with previous findings, most respondents did not have a librarian co-author on their ES, though 16% acknowledged one in their manuscript and 10% consulted one but did not document the contribution. Search expertise was the most common motivation both to and not to co-author with librarians. Those that had or were interested in co-authoring stated that they wanted the librarians' search expertise, while those who had not or were not interested stated that they already had the necessary search expertise. Researchers who were motivated by methodological expertise and availability were more likely to have co-authored their ES with a librarian. No motivations were negatively associated with librarian co-authorship. These findings provide an overview of the motivations that influence researchers to bring a librarian into an ES investigatory team. More research is needed to substantiate the validity of these motivations.

A review of the factors influencing adoption of digital health applications for people living with dementia

Objective

Researchers have used various theories and models to understand technology adoption, however, with the growing interest and availability of mobile applications (apps) for people living with dementia, it is desirable to have a broader insight into how technology adoption may be further improved. This paper aims to explore the factors influencing the adoption of digital health applications for people living with dementia and add to the current literature on this topic.

Methods

Searches were conducted in CINHAL, Web of Science, Psych Info, ProQuest Health and Medical, IEEE Xplore and Scopus. Citation searching and handsearching were used in the identification of other studies.

Results

Following an assessment of relevancy, nine studies remained and are included within this review. Methodological quality was assessed using The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). A thematic analysis was used for the data synthesis of included studies. Each study reported on different types of apps.

Conclusion

From the synthesis of included studies, four analytic themes were identified; Theme 1: Personal and contextual factors; Theme 2: Perceived value and benefit; Theme 3: Design and content of app; and Theme 4: Digital Literacy and Confidence. People are diverse and so are their reasons for the adoption of apps. These findings provide an insight into the range of factors that impact the adoption of apps for people living with dementia. Understanding the factors that impact the adoption of mobile applications is critical to their success. These findings can be beneficial for app developers and for people living with dementia and their carers.

Needs assessment of nurse researchers through a research lifecycle framework

Objective

Health sciences librarian roles are evolving to better meet the needs of faculty. This study explores nursing faculty needs at the University of British Columbia through the research lifecycle framework of planning, conducting, disseminating, and assessing the impact of their research.

Methods

A mixed methods survey study with Likert scale, multiple-choice, or ordinal ranking-scale questions and six open-response questions was conducted. The format was a web-based Qualtrics survey; participants had approximately three weeks to respond.

Results

Nursing faculty identified the dissemination phase as benefiting most from library support prioritizing reference management and archiving research data as the top needs in that phase. Assessing impact skills such as citation analysis and Altmetrics training was ranked second. The Planning phase was ranked third with systematic review and literature review support most needed. The Conducting phase was identified as the phase where they needed the least support.

Conclusion

Understanding the needs of researchers and enhancing scholar productivity is vital to offering responsive library research services. Across the research lifecycle, nursing faculty identified reference management, data management, metrics evaluation, systematic reviews, and literature reviews as the key areas for which they need support.

Systematic review support received and needed by researchers: a survey of libraries supporting Ontario medical schools

Introduction

Finding efficient ways to meet the growing demand for library systematic review support is imperative for facilitating the production of high-quality research. The objectives of this study were threefold: 1) to ascertain the systematic review support provided by health sciences libraries at Ontario medical schools and their affiliated hospitals, 2) to determine the perceived educational needs by researchers at these institutions, and 3) to assess the potential usefulness of freely available, online educational modules for researchers that discuss all stages of the systematic review process.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional survey in June and July of 2020. Data was analyzed and presented using median and interquartile range (IQR) for continuous measures, and in proportions for categorical measures.

Results

13 of 19 libraries invited provided usable data. Most libraries spent more time supporting systematic reviews via collaboration and participation than by providing educational support. The perceived needs of library users were contrary to the perceived gaps in researcher support provided by the library/institution. All libraries reported they would find freely available, online educational modules useful for training researchers.

Discussion

The next steps for our inter-professional research team will be to develop freely available, online education modules that introduce researchers to all stages of the systematic review process. These modules cannot replace the value that direct support from librarians, biostatisticians or methodology experts can provide, however, they may offer a more efficient way for libraries to familiarize researchers and trainees with best practices and universally accepted reporting guidelines for performing a high-quality review.

An environmental scan of librarian involvement in systematic reviews at Queen's University: 2020 update

Introduction

Systematic reviews are a growing research methodology in the health sciences, and in other disciplines, having a significant impact on librarian workload. In a follow up to an earlier study, an environmental scan was conducted at Queen's University to determine what has changed, if anything, since the introduction of a tiered service for knowledge synthesis by examining review publications where at least one co-author was from Queen's University.

Methods

A search was conducted in PubMed and the Joanna Briggs database to find systematic reviews and meta-analyses with at least one author from Queen's University for the five-year time since the last environmental scan. Reviews were categorized by the degree of involvement of the librarian(s) regardless of their institutional affiliation: librarian as co-author, librarian named in the acknowledgements, no known librarian involvement in the review.

Results

Of 453 systematic reviews published in the five-year time frame, nearly 20% (89) had a librarian named as co-author. A further 24.5% (110) acknowledged the role of a librarian in the search, either in the acknowledgements section or in the body of the text of the article. In just over half of reviews (235 or 51.8%) a librarian was either not involved, or was not explicitly acknowledged. More librarians and more institutions were represented in the period of 2016-2020 than in 2010-2015.

Conclusion

In the five years since the last environmental scan, an increasing number of reviews recognized the role of the librarian in publishing systematic reviews, either through co-authorship or named acknowledgement. This also suggests that as more librarians have become involved in systematic reviews, librarian capacity for this work has increased compared to five years ago.

Examining the Reach and Impact of a Systematic Review Service

This case study describes the process librarians at a large research university used to evaluate a systematic review searching service. PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Scopus were searched for studies with a local, health sciences author. Data on librarian involvement, search quality, and standards adherence were recorded. Results of the assessment indicate a gradual increase in librarian authorship or acknowledgement over time, a moderate improvement in adherence to reporting standards over time, and insight into which departments better adhere to standards. Ideas for improving the quality and reach of the service while ensuring sustainability are discussed.