Abstract
Introduction - Previous research suggests that Canadian academic health sciences librarians value knowledge of the health sciences and spend a considerable amount of time gaining and maintaining it. The current study replicates the earlier Canadian survey but employs a larger American sample to address three questions: Do academic health sciences librarians working in the United States find knowledge of the health sciences to be important, and if so, how do they acquire it? Do the attitudes of Canadian and American academic health sciences librarians differ with respect to subject knowledge? Methods - An invitation to participate in a Web-based survey was sent to 711 academic health sciences librarians working in the US; 154 participated. Results - Academic health sciences librarians in the US felt that keeping up with the scientific and medical literature was important to doing their jobs, although only 50% of respondents felt that a degree in the health sciences was somewhat or very useful. Discussion - Participating in professional organizations, visiting Web sites, and reading or browsing journals or magazines were rated by respondents as the best ways to become informed about the health sciences. Findings were similar to those of an earlier survey of Canadian academic health sciences librarians.
Highlights
Watson 11Some librarians claim that little or no subject knowledge is required to work in science librarianship or in any field of librarianship, arguing that is in large part librarians’ knowledge of librarianship that determines their competence, rather than their knowledge of the disciplines they serve [1]
While the need for subject knowledge in sciences and health sciences librarianship has been debated for some time, it has received renewed attention in the discussion of required competencies for health sciences liaison librarians
Once prospective participants had been identified, an e-mail was sent inviting them to complete an online survey, which was essentially the same as that sent to Canadian academic health sciences librarians in 2004, references to Frenchlanguage programs and organizations were removed, and the wording of a few questions was clarified
Summary
Some librarians claim that little or no subject knowledge is required to work in science librarianship or in any field of librarianship, arguing that is in large part librarians’ knowledge of librarianship that determines their competence, rather than their knowledge of the disciplines they serve [1]. Others have claimed that the sciences are best served by those holding science degrees [2]. While the need for subject knowledge in sciences and health sciences librarianship has been debated for some time, it has received renewed attention in the discussion of required competencies for health sciences liaison librarians. A recent survey of clients of health sciences liaison librarians found that 89% felt it was “very important” or “somewhat important” that liaison librarians have a background in the discipline they serve [4]
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