Moral Distress Among Consumer Health Information Professionals: An Exploratory Study

Objectives – In recent years, moral distress has become a topic of interest among health professionals. Moral distress is most commonly described in the nursing literature, and refers to a situation wherein an individual knows the correct action to take, but is constrained from doing so. While moral distress differs from the classic ethical dilemma, in recent years practitioners and theorists have advocated for a broadening of the definition of moral distress. To date, no study has examined another group of individuals who frequently interact with patients and who may be constrained by the confines of their role - Consumer Health Information Professionals (CHIPS). The objective of this study was to determine if CHIPS experience moral distress and/or ethical dilemmas, and to determine what, if any, coping strategies these individuals have developed. Methods – This study employed a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data were gathered via an online survey which was distributed to relevant consumer health information professional electronic mail lists. The survey contained demographic questions and a series of questions related to potential discomfort within the context of work as a consumer health information professional. Qualitative data were also gathered through phone interviews with CHIPS. Interview questions included the participant’s definition of moral distress, professional experiences with moral distress, and any coping strategies to manage said distress. Results – The authors received 213 survey responses. To test whether any of our demographic variables help to explain survey response, we used STATA to calculate Pearson correlation coefficients. Individuals who were more likely to experience discomfort in their occupation as CHIPS included individuals with less experience and individuals who identified as Black and Latinx. Interview data indicated that participants most commonly experienced ethical dilemmas related to censorship, providing prognosis information, and feeling constrained by institutional policies. Few interview participants described scenarios that reflected moral distress. Conclusions – CHIPS do not appear to experience moral distress, at least according to its most narrow definition. CHIPS do consistently experience distinct ethical dilemmas, and the most durable patterns of this phenomenon appear to be related to experience level and racial identity. In recent years, researchers have raised calls to broaden the definition of moral distress from its narrow focus on constraint to include uncertainty, and CHIPs do experience moral uncertainty in their work. Further study is needed to determine how to best address the impacts of discomfort caused by ethical dilemmas among these groups.

Role of Information Professional for the Growth of Altmetrics in the Digital Era

Any librarian in this field will need to continue not only filling these roles, but also ensuring that they themselves are part of the conversation as it moves forward and staying up-to-date with developments within this area. The concept of library involvement pertaining to metrics did not originate with altmetrics. Impact Factor was originally created primarily for use by librarians in making collection development and retention decisions. Libraries continue to bear primary responsibility for the acquisition of bibliometrics tools, most notably Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports, and Scopus, as well as the training of people in their use. As a result, librarians are already familiar with providing support for these tools, so it makes sense that librarians have expanded to support the variety of altmetrics sources and tools. Additionally, librarians serve as natural leaders when it comes to altmetrics, not only due to familiarity with resources, but also because of the relationships they maintain with several disparate groups. The article detailed about the various tools, section, evaluation methods in which libraries and librarians are supporting and interacting with altmetrics.

The ethics of regenerative medicine

Most developments in regenerative medicine have in common that there are many uncertainties and knowledge gaps. These features make the evaluation of long-term consequences of the available options difficult and have consequences for the ethical issues raised. This paper presents an overview of ethical issues raised in regenerative medicine, using as a starting point a list of stakeholders and their interests. Ethical issues are introduced via a simplified account of a project that focuses on several difficult problems, as well as a conceptual framework consisting of the following key concepts: present situation, goals, difficulties on the road toward the goals, and strategies for dealing with the difficulties. The list of ethical issues discussed includes safety and efficacy, patient consent, information, professional responsibilities, as well as equity and fairness. The issues and the underlying values need to be clarified, specified, debated, and ranked in order of importance. A particular problem is that values sometimes clash: Certain values can be achieved only at the expense of others. If and when values clash, principles are available that can guide the decision making. The paper comments on two such principles with implications for the particular issue of patient access to experimental treatments: the precautionary principle and the principle of proportionality. The paper ends with some conclusions for the future.

Structuring information in the system of training masters of natural sciences

The article analyzes the philosophical, psychological, pedagogical, educational, and methodological literature on the research problem; the essence of the concepts “structuring of educational information”, “professional and pedagogical training of masters of natural sciences for structuring educational information” is revealed, methods of structuring educational information are analyzed, forms of presenting educational information are revealed.

Mediação Cultural no contexto Francês trajetória histórica e evolução

In contemporary logics, the concept of mediation gains prominence by its centrality in social interactions and symbolic mediations, becoming understood as an inherent process in all the work of the information professional. In view of this, the goal is to describe the trajectory of cultural mediation in France, observing its emergence, historyand evolution. The study hasa qualitative approach, of descriptive type, adopting the bibliographical research method. At first, cultural mediation was associated with book mediators and museum environments. Currently, its emergence in the French context is associated tocultural and artistic issues between information and culture and public institutions in order to reduce social fractures marked by social exclusion.

AN EXPLORATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF MASTER OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE EDUCATION IN MAINLAND CHINA

This study first gave a brief bibliometrics analysis of Chinese literature regarding MLIS in Mainland China. The results showed that the quantity of literature published in the past decade has remained flat; Keywords “Master of Library and Information Science” and “Graduate education” are significant important; Five author collaboration groups have been found; The rate of institutional cooperation in literature is not high. Further, a tentative exploration for designing surveys on the current situation of talents’ cultivation of MLIS program in Mainland China was given for the actual investigation and research. KEYWORDS: Master of Library and Information Science; Competency skills; Bibliometrics; CNKI; Library and Information Professional; Mainland China

Ciência da Informação e o Mercado de Trabalho na Era Digital

Looks upon the characteristics of the present time and the challenges it represents to Information Science in what regards to the impacts of the technology and to professional education, also discussing the information professional´s competences and abilities on knowledge organization. The values that should permeate the professional performance in the digital era are emphasized, with special attention to issues related to creativity and ethics. It finishes with a consideration about aspects of the professional education in the informational environment, taking in account the informational and digital competences, as well as the need of the education organizations to prepare themselves to properly answer to those changes, improving their processes of education by the incorporation of the demands and expectations both from the organizations as the work market. KEYWORDS – Information Science; Digital Era; Information professional; Work market; Information Ethics.