The HSLG conference will take place in the Ashling Hotel on Thursday 24 March 2022, 09.15–16.00. You can register here.
The theme of our conference is Open to change and is aimed at people working or interested in library or information services in Ireland.
Our keynote is physicist, cancer researcher, and author Doctor David Robert Grimes. David’s presentation is called ‘Situation critical’. He tells us how we can be lured into making critical mistakes or drawing false conclusions, and how to avoid such errors. Given the power of modern science and the way that movements can unite to protest a cause via social media, we are in dangerous times. But fortunately, we can learn from our mistakes, and by critical thinking and scientific method we can discover how to apply these techniques to everything from deciding what insurance to buy to averting global disaster.
Our invited speaker is Library Association of Ireland president Cathal McCauley. Cathal will speak to us about current and future initiatives of the LAI.
Nikita Burke, Evidence Synthesis Ireland and Richard Hollis, Cochrane, will present the pilot findings of an evaluation of using Cochrane Interactive Learning modules in blended online learning for Evidence Synthesis Ireland in a presentation entitled: How to integrate Cochrane Interactive Learning to deliver systematic review training for early-career stage healthcare researchers.
Of course, we are delighted to showcase the knowledge and work of health librarians and information specialists in Ireland. We have the following presentations from members:
Aoife Lawton, Health Service Executive – A national eHealth Library for Ireland: the story so far.
Liis Cotter, Health Service Executive – Nursing journal club for mental health nurses – it will never work, will it?
Caitriona Lee, Health Research Board – Showing our workings: The new PRISMA 2020 and the use of search summary tables.
Louise Farragher, Health Research Board – Citation tracking: tools and approaches.
Trish Patton, Irish College of General Practitioners – An action research study on the design and development of an e-learning module on information skills to empower general practitioners.
Niamh O’Sullivan, Irish Blood Transfusion Service – Connections that count: credit to the crew.
Join us and meet members from a range of health and academic settings including hospital (HSE and voluntary) libraries, academic health libraries, state agencies, and NGOs. Please email contacthslg@gmail.com for details of registration.
Please note: HSLG members have a specially reduced registration rate of €10. Members can also apply for the Bernard Barrett bursary which is a special award specifically to enable members from across Ireland to attend the HSLG annual conference or other relevant HSLG events. Members may apply for funds to cover the registration fee and/or travel expenses (if travelling a significant distance by public transport). Details are available on: https://hslg.ie/about/hslg-bursary/
The InterTASC Information Specialists’ Sub-Group (ISSG) search filter resource is a website which identifies and provides access to search filters for finding specific methods. Search filters, to find studies of a specific design, are an essential tool in searching for evidence. Broader, more sensitive search filters are useful in identifying studies for evidence syntheses such as systematic reviews and in guideline development and more precise, specific search filters are useful for answering clinical questions.
The ISSG website has undergone recent development and a webinar, presented by Julie Glanville and hosted by the HSLG on 20 January 2022, gave a tour of the site and described existing and new features.
Julie Glanville is a qualified librarian who has worked in systematic reviews for more than 25 years and is an independent consultant focusing on information retrieval for systematic reviews. From 2008 to June 2020, Julie was Associate Director of York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) and coordinated its information and review services. Before 2008, Julie was Associate Director and Information Service Manager at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), University of York, for fourteen years. Julie is a co-convenor of the Cochrane Information Retrieval Methods Group and a co-author of the Cochrane Handbook chapter on searching for evidence.
Membership of the HSLG is open to all LAI members. It entitles you to attend CPD events and the annual conference at a reduced rate. Members can also apply for funds to cover travel expenses to CPD events.
The HSLG conference was due to take place in November 2021, but due to high COVID-19 figures, a number of delegates and speakers were unable to attend. We postponed until March 2022. https://hslg.ie/2022/02/07/hslg-conference-2022/
Infodemic in a pandemic – critical thinking needed By Trish Patton, Assistant Librarian/Information Office, Irish College of General Practitioners
Feature article in Forum Journal for GPs, December 2020, ICGP.
Additional reading (not for discussion): An exploration of how fake news is taking over social media and putting public health at risk Salman Bin Naeem, Rubina Bhatti, Aqsa Khan (2020) Health Information and Libraries Journal https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12320
At the journal club, Niamh plans to discuss the following topics:
• infodemics, types of mis/dis information and the consequences of all three.
• The role health sciences librarians can play to stem the flow.
• The best tools and resources to combat fake news and mis/dis information.
And ask the following questions:
• How much impact can health sciences librarians realistically have on the spread of fake news?
• What resources and tools do you currently use to help users find authoritative information?
• How can we, in the HSL community, better prepare ourselves for the next infodemic?
HSLG Virtual Journal Club, 24 June 2021, 11am – 11.45am
Main article: Miller JM, Ford SF, Yang A. Elevation through reflection: closing the circle to improve librarianship. J Med Libr Assoc. 2020;108(3):353-363. doi:10.5195/jmla.2020.938 http://jmla.pitt.edu/ojs/jmla/article/view/938/
Secondary article: Miller JM. Reflective practice and health sciences librarians: engagement, benefits, and barriers. J Med Libr Assoc. 2020;108(1):17-28. doi:10.5195/jmla.2020.777 http://jmla.pitt.edu/ojs/jmla/article/view/777
Breeda Herlihy’s suggested questions:
Reflective practice is practiced by many medical and health services professionals. Have you applied reflective practice in your work or if not, do you think there is value in applying reflective practice to health librarianship?
Is reflective practice something best applied to a project e.g. collaboration on a systematic review rather than repetitive tasks e.g. sourcing journal articles?
Three models are outlined in the article as useful frameworks for those new to reflective practice. Does anyone have experience with these or any others suggested in the supplemental appendix?
The authors suggest that “talking with a colleague or mentor” or “talking with a group of people” are possible formats for reflective practice. Are these formats feasible in health libraries where librarians are often working on their own or leading up a unit unlike any others in the organisation? Could we explore establishing a reflective practice group or is the HSLG the manifestation of talking your practice through with a ‘group of people’?
The article outlines four ways in which reflective practice can be used in health libraries. Can you envisage other scenarios where it might be useful?
