Abstract
ObjectiveThis scoping review identified the emerging and evolving roles of health information professionals (HIPs) in a range of tasks and settings, as they adapt to varied user needs, while keeping up with changing medical landscapes to provide evidence-based information support in grand rounds and scholarly research. The review aims to inform library school students about expected entry-level job qualifications and faculty about adaptable changes to specialized HIP curricula.MethodsThe authors examined 268 peer-reviewed journal articles that concentrated on evolving HIP roles, professional settings, and contexts by retrieving results from several multidisciplinary databases.ResultsHIPs, who generally serve as “embedded librarians,” are taking on more active roles as collaborators, research experts, and liaisons, replacing more passive and exclusive roles as information providers and outreach agents or research assistants. These evolving roles in the reviewed literature were broken into nine categories in approximate order of prominence.ConclusionsA new model linking these evolving roles to the Medical Library Association (MLA) fundamental professional competencies was developed to provide an operational examination and research-based evidence for adapting HIP continuing education curriculum learning outcomes, course content and delivery, and student career pathways for existing graduate HIP specialization courses in library programs. The model indicates each role’s connection to the MLA professional competencies, based on MLA’s detailed description of each competency. A better understanding of HIP demands and expectations will enhance the capacity of library programs to prepare students in HIP specializations.
Highlights
Health information professionals (HIPs), as a group of library specialists, often include “information professionals, librarians, or informaticists who have special knowledge in quality health information resources” [1]
It is arguable that current master’s of library science (MLS) and master’s of library and information science (MLIS) programs in North America offer insufficient academic preparation for students who wish to work in health information Journal of the Medical Library Association
Library and information science (LIS) educators might fail to equip those students with sufficient understanding of evidence-based medicine (EBM) practice and updated HIP activities through their library science course learning [2, 3]
Summary
Health information professionals (HIPs), as a group of library specialists, often include “information professionals, librarians, or informaticists who have special knowledge in quality health information resources” [1]. They serve educators, students, health care providers, researchers, and the public at a time when information needs for instruction, clinical practice, research, and personal health management vary broadly. Health information services provision has become a rapidly evolving, specialized library professional field, and with this evolution comes the imperative to focus on creating and updating the cross-disciplinary curricula of professional education [2, 3]. The disconnect between the general knowledgebase of librarianship and the specialized competency requirements for HIPs compounds the problem of inadequate guidance and instructional support for library students who are pursuing a career as an HIP and later transitioning to continuing professional development [6]
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