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/
HSLG Virtual Journal Club 16 September 2021 – Fake news
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
HINT Summer 2021
Contents:
- A Message to the Future: Rotunda’s Time Capsule (Elaine Peppard)
- The Library Becomes a Place to ‘Spark’ and Make Ideas a Reality (Natasha Smith & Miriam Williams)
- HSLG Virtual Journal Club Report: Reflective Practice in Health Sciences Librarianship (Breeda Herlihy)
- Review of YHEC Zoom Training: Advanced Search Strategy Design for Complex Topics:
- Strategy Development, Text Analytics and Text Mining (Anne Madden)
- Research and Information Intersection (3): Creating a Research and Information Needs Analysis (Bernard Barrett)
- Tips for Writing in Plain English (Niamh O’Sullivan)
- Book Review: “The Adventures of China Iron” by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Elaine Peppard)
- LITE Reading (Library, Information, Technology & Evidence) (MaryDunne)
Call for speakers: HSLG conference – November 2021
The HSLG are planning an in-person* conference on Thursday 25 November 2021 in the Ashling Hotel, Dublin.
The theme of the conference is ‘Open to change’
Now that you have saved the date, we would like you to take an active part by giving a presentation of 10 or 20 minutes.
We have so much to learn from each other, and this is the perfect opportunity to share.
Please send a short description of your presentation to contacthslg@gmail.com by Friday 3 September 2021.
* Please note: if the event cannot be held in-person, we will have a virtual conference.
HSLG Virtual Journal Club 24 June 2021 – reflective practice
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?
HINT Spring 2021
HSLG Virtual Journal Club 21 April 2021 – Wikipedia Q&A
HSLG Virtual Journal Club, 21 April 2021, 11am – 11.45am
Wikipedia Q&A
Wikipedia version of “Librarian”, available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Librarian
Suggested questions by Anne Madden:
- Does this Wikipedia entry feel like it was written by a librarian? See also the “Talk” tab – any comments? Does it feel neutral or do pro or con librarian views come across? If you were considering librarianship as a career, would this piece encourage or deter you?
- Are librarians still “custodians” or keepers of knowledge or has this role now passed to publishers? If so, where does that leave librarians?
- Looking at the ownership or sponsorship of the earliest libraries, how much credence should we give any surviving texts from this era? What may have been the driving force for creating these libraries?
- In the 1870’s, librarian tasks were considered to be “”Eminently Suited to Girls and Women.” Do you think this was based on convenience or related to the position of women in society at the time? Or for some other reason?
- “The CDC had earlier named librarians as key public health staff to support COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing.” What librarian skills would have led them to that conclusion? What image does it seem to portray of librarians? Is it an image we should promote?
- Copyright isn’t mentioned either. In fact, in the 17th Century, a librarian was seen as a “scribe, one who copies books”. Do librarians need more legal skills to address copyright and publisher licencing issues, and should they be the first port of call for these issues?
- If you were to add a section on Health Librarians, what additional roles or skills would you include? What non-typical skills are you called on to provide in your service?
- Looking at the list of “additional responsibilities”, are the core roles of librarians still intact? What does this list suggest about assumptions on librarian values?
- When it comes to librarian education, there is very little consensus across the globe. Steve McKinzie argues that an academic qualification is required for e.g. reference interview and doesn’t rate “special training”. In our own experience, what has been the role of any academic qualification and of CPD/special training?
- Technology: “librarians must continually adapt to new formats”. Instead of adapting, should we be leading or collaborating in developments in this field?
- Librarian stereotypes – help! Is this seriously still true? Anyone have any personal experiences of any of this? Do we inspire fear – timidly??
HSLG AGM 2020
The AGM of the HSLG will take place online on Thursday, 26 November 2020 at 11am.
HSLG members can register to attend at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/hslg-agm-2020-tickets-122359292939
Nominations for new committee members takes place at every AGM (but may also be approved during the year). Download our nomination form here: HSLG_committee_membership_nomination_form
Regards
HSLG Committee
Wiley Cochrane Library training
Cochrane and Evidence Synthesis Ireland are providing training from Wiley on the Cochrane Library on 29 September (Introduction) and 20 October (advanced) at 2pm, online: https://evidencesynthesisireland.ie/training/
Introduction course (29 Sept)
- What’s in the Cochrane Library?
- What’s new in the Cochrane Library?
- How to run searches and browse content
- How to set up alerts
- Where to find help
Advanced course (20 Oct)
- How to run advance searches
- How to use the Search Manager
- New PICO search
- How to use MeSH
Also, from Evidence synthesis Ireland – Webinar, 12,00, 24 September 2020
In this webinar, the speakers will describe their approach to conducting mixed methods evidence reviews using two case studies. They will focus on how they design mixed methods search strategies, their use of machine learning via text mining for screening, and how they analyse and integrate qualitative and quantitative findings.
Speakers include:
– Louise Farragher, Senior Information Specialist, HRB Evidence Centre:
Louise Farragher is an information specialist in the Health Research Board’s Evidence Centre.
In the Evidence Centre, she leads a team of information specialists who work with researchers to design and implement appropriate search strategies to find published and grey literature evidence for evidence reviews of complex policy questions.
– Joan Quigley, Research Officer, HRB Evidence Centre:
Joan Quigley is a Research Officer in the Health Research Board’s Evidence Centre.
In the Evidence Centre she leads systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Previously, she worked as a health technology assessment consultant for UK and global pharmaceutical companies.
– Camille Coyle, Research Officer, HRB Evidence Centre:
Dr. Camille Coyle is a Research Officer in the Health Research Board’s Evidence Centre and an Adjunct Associate Professor in Trinity College Dublin’s Centre for Global Health.
In the Evidence Centre, she leads systematic reviews, and in the Centre for Global Health she teaches qualitative research methods and supervises dissertations. Previously, she worked as a health research consultant for various UN agencies and non-governmental organisations.
Research integrity seminar 2020 – presentations
The HSLG committee would like to thank all who attended and presented at HSLG 2020. It was a great opportunity to share ideas and network with library colleagues. Here are some of the presentations.
Michelle Dalton — Appearances can be deceiving – how to avoid “predatory” publishers
Emma Quinn — Imposter Syndrome
Prof Declan Devane, Evidence Synthesis Ireland Evidence for informed health choices
Prof Declan Devane, Evidence Synthesis Ireland the role of Evidence Synthesis Ireland