Abstract
<p><strong>Introduction:</strong> A benchmarking survey of Canadian health facility libraries was conducted to provide statistical data to support health librarians in the anagement of their libraries. The objectives were to determine the status of<br />hospital libraries in Canada and to evaluate whether libraries meet the 2006 CHLA/ABSC Standards for Library and Information Services in Canadian Healthcare Facilities.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> An online survey of 63 questions, with headings of institutional profile, administration, staffing, environment, resources, and services, was created and distributed to 250 heads of hospital libraries and to Canadian library email listservs.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Many libraries are meeting some aspects of the Standards for administration and organization, management, traditional promotion, and accessibility. Areas of improvement include services, nontraditional promotion, library environment, and staffing.</p><p><strong>Discussion:</strong> There are no current benchmarking data available for Canadian hospital libraries and there have been many political, economic, and technological changes in past years that have had a substantial impact on libraries. Anecdotal data suggest that librarians have responded to these changes through library closures, mergers, consortial affiliations, and modifications to services. Librarians will be able to use the collected data to compare services, establish best practices, make management decisions, and prepare self-studies for accreditation purposes.</p>
Highlights
A benchmarking survey of Canadian health facility libraries was conducted to provide statistical data to support health librarians in the management of their libraries
The survey consisted of 63 questions under the headings of institutional profile, administration, staffing, services, resources, and environment, which corresponded to the CHLA/ABSC standards
The data will reside with CHLA/ABSC and be made available to libraries wanting to compare their current situation with the data available
Summary
A benchmarking survey of Canadian health facility libraries was conducted to provide statistical data to support health librarians in the management of their libraries. The last full snapshot of the status of Canadian health sciences libraries was provided in 1997 [1], followed more recently by a report on the Canadian subset of benchmarking data from the 2007Á 2008 Medical Library Association Benchmarking Survey [2]. The current standards for Canadian health sciences libraries were produced in 2006 [6], but rapid changes in library environments could necessitate their updating to support current and future practice. It is with these factors in mind that we decided to conduct a benchmarking survey of Canadian health facility libraries. The Medical Library Association’s Vital Pathways: the Hospital Libraries Project [25] makes it evident that health sciences librarians need to identify and fully embrace current and future roles that will support the parent organization’s goals [26]
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