HSLG Virtual Journal Club, 1 December 2022, 11:00 – 11:45am

Data tracking in research: aggregation and use or sale of usage data by academic publishers (DFG, German Research Foundation) 28 October 2021: Click to access detentracking papier PDF

Hosted by Caitriona Lee, Health Research Board

For a PDF of Caitriona’s presentation, including some very useful references and sources for further information please click the following link: HSLG_Journal_Club-Data_Privacy_in_our_libraries

Questions to ponder

• What level of awareness do we individually and collectively as a profession have of the issues of data privacy described in this report?
• What level of awareness do we need to have, and how much IT knowledge do we need to understand what is in question?
• What choice can health librarians realistically have on this issue given that 1) we usually have little control over many IT-related questions, and 2) we have to supply e-journals and e-books to our readership.
• We probably trust our vendors with our data, but do we know what they do with it?
• There has been quite a lot of coverage of this topic in the literature from public and academic librarians but not much from health – are there reasons that health librarians might not write about this?
• Is there an expectation that privacy is in practice a thing of the past – that to use any online resources, a person must accept being tracked not just by the library and the vendor but by third parties who purchase the data. Is the philosophy of privacy as a right a fading idea – that as long as purchasers of user data do not leak the data or harm the user directly, they are entitled to track users around the net?
• We typically give library users information about data protection and use of cookies on our library websites – do we think the users read the notices, understand what is implied and perhaps change their cookie settings, or do we all just click OK to all and go straight to what we want?
• This paper is from Germany but a lot of the work on this topic has been published by American librarians – are we less at risk in Europe with our data protection laws, or do we assume we are?
• If this is the current state of play, what data will the publishers/vendors/conglomerates look for next?

HSLG Virtual Journal Club, 16 September 2021, 11am – 11.45am

Niamh O’Sullivan will be presenting on fake news, guided by the following two open access articles:

The Covid-19 ‘infodemic’: a new front for information professionals
Salman Bin Naeem and Rubina Bhatti (2020) Health Information and Libraries Journal doi:10.1111/hir.12311

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?

Niamh’s presentation – Fake News presentation for HSLG Journal Club 16 Sept 2021

Useful websites and tools for evaluating health information (Source, Trish Patton article):
• Informed Health Choices: https://www.informedhealthchoices.org/
• iHealthFacts: https://ihealthfacts.ie/
• Be Media Smart: https://www.bemediasmart.ie/
• CRAP: https://sites.google.com/site/crapcraaptest/
• SPAT: http://www.spat.pitt.edu/
• DISCERN: http://www.discern.org.uk/

The recordings from this year’s LIR seminar series ‘Shining a light in a post-truth era’ have been added to the LIR website https://lirgroup.heanet.ie/index.php/2021/04/01/shining-a-light-in-a-post-truth-era/. The talks are also available on the LIR You Tube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRxbx2KELUTuV5ot_kv1Frw

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:

1. 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?
2. 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?
3. 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?
4. 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’?
5. 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?