How Good Is Survey Design in Medical Libraries? A Systematic Review of User Surveys

<p>Introduction: Medical libraries very often base the decisions they make about library services on information gathered from user surveys. Is the quality of information obtained in this way sufficient to enable evidence-based practice? Aim: To determine what aspects of user survey design and presentation obtain the best response rates and therefore high external validity. Also to provide guidance for medical librarians who may wish to carry out user surveys. Methods: Library and information studies databases and Medline were searched to identify studies that reported the results of library user surveys that measured user perceptions of an existing library service or potential service. Studies that evaluated information skills training or clinical librarianship interventions were excluded as they have been looked in separate systematic reviews. Also studies that reported the results of LibQUAL or SERVQUAL were excluded. Results: 54 studies were included. The quality of the majority of the surveys was not clear as the reporting of the methodology of the user surveys was poor. However, it was determined that, as demonstrated in previous research, paper format surveys reported higher response rates than online-only surveys. It was not possible to extract any relevant data from the identified studies to draw any conclusions relating to presentation of the survey instrument. Conclusions: Unless survey methodology is reported in detail it is not possible to judge the quality of the evidence surveys contain. Good survey design is key to obtaining a good response rate and a good response rate means the results can be used for evidence-based practice. A Reporting Survey results Guideline (Resurge) is recommended to help improve the reporting quality of medical library survey research.</p>

How Good Is Survey Design in Medical Libraries? A Systematic Review of User Surveys

<p>Introduction: Medical libraries very often base the decisions they make about library services on information gathered from user surveys. Is the quality of information obtained in this way sufficient to enable evidence-based practice? Aim: To determine what aspects of user survey design and presentation obtain the best response rates and therefore high external validity. Also to provide guidance for medical librarians who may wish to carry out user surveys. Methods: Library and information studies databases and Medline were searched to identify studies that reported the results of library user surveys that measured user perceptions of an existing library service or potential service. Studies that evaluated information skills training or clinical librarianship interventions were excluded as they have been looked in separate systematic reviews. Also studies that reported the results of LibQUAL or SERVQUAL were excluded. Results: 54 studies were included. The quality of the majority of the surveys was not clear as the reporting of the methodology of the user surveys was poor. However, it was determined that, as demonstrated in previous research, paper format surveys reported higher response rates than online-only surveys. It was not possible to extract any relevant data from the identified studies to draw any conclusions relating to presentation of the survey instrument. Conclusions: Unless survey methodology is reported in detail it is not possible to judge the quality of the evidence surveys contain. Good survey design is key to obtaining a good response rate and a good response rate means the results can be used for evidence-based practice. A Reporting Survey results Guideline (Resurge) is recommended to help improve the reporting quality of medical library survey research.</p>

Telling lives in medicine: the impact of biography collections in medical education

This article briefly discusses the value and impact of biography collections in medical education by illustrating the case of the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome (UCBM) Library. The UCBM Library collects, curates, and provides access to a special biography collection with the purpose of documenting the history of men and women who contributed in the field of medicine and related sciences. This article highlights the importance of academic medical libraries collecting biographical works in order to transmit knowledge and values in medical school curriculum.

The Ukrainian medical libraries network digital services development strategy

The relevance of the study. The digital revolution has had a significant effect on the functioning of libraries. Successful operation in the digital environment requires the improvement of the competitiveness of library services provided: libraries must be able to rethink their role, justify the value of their services for their own customers. Due to the increasing level of the Internet use among scientists, medical professionals, students, patients, community, medical libraries web-presence is of crucial importance. Websites serve as a digital gateway for library services and resources. The aim of the article is to study and present the current state of Ukrainian medical libraries service and to propose the digital services development strategy. The methodology. A content analysis was conducted over 21 Ukrainian and 5 foreign medical library websites. All data were collected within a month. Research data are presented in the form of tables and figures and analyzed using a simple method of percentages. The results. The findings show that many researched Ukrainian medical libraries are yet to exploit the full potential of the digital technologies in library service. The most common services: online public access catalog, virtual references services, identification UDC index, repository, electronic document delivery service (EDDS). Less than half (43%) of medical library sites in Ukraine are adapted to mobile devices. The most popular social media among medical libraries in Ukraine: Facebook (57%), Instagram (33%) and YouTube (29%). Over the last 5 years, libraries have become more active in offering web-based services and resources: plagiarism testing services, repositories, EDDS, virtual references services, identification UDC index. The main strategic objectives of the digital services development for medical libraries in Ukraine should be: increasing the web and social media presence, introducing mobile technologies, improving communication between the library and users, developing services to support research lifecycle, interdisciplinary partnership, support for information literacy of biomedical professionals and medical literacy of the community, developing competences of the medical librarians, corporate cooperation of the Ukrainian medical libraries system. The scientific topicality. The current state of Ukrainian medical libraries digital service was analyzed and compared with the state of five years ago and foreign academic medical libraries. Digital services development strategy was proposed. The practical significance. The study can be very interesting and important for medical librarians for upgrading, creation and support of relevant medical library services.