Expanding the evidence base for health sciences librarianship

The Medical Library Association's Research Section is calling for volunteers to work on systematic reviews of the most important research questions facing the profession. They welcome international volunteers. This is the announcmednet that appeared on Medlib-L

Are you interested in expanding the evidence base for Health Sciences Librarianship? MLA Research Section invites you to share your time and expertise. We are coordinating the MLA-wide effort to characterize the literature that informs the 15 questions MLA members identified in 2011 as the most important research questions facing health sciences librarianship. With your help, we will identify several teams of librarians with varied research experience to conduct systematic reviews for the questions using a standard protocol with results stored in a centralized database.

We envision that each team will have at least one member with systematic review experience. However, this is also an opportunity for those seeking to learn more about systematic reviews to grow their knowledge through hands-on practice.

Please consider volunteering for one of the systematic review teams being assembled to review our literature. One tangible outcome for each contributor will be the opportunity for co-authorship on a published article; additional ways to build skills and share knowledge will arise throughout the process.

Apply online by Friday, January 25, 2013 at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?pli=1&formkey=dGkzSDJoRkNwcW9fZmVoWXplVGZRc3c6MQ#gid=0

For more information on how the questions were identified, see the JMLA article at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3411260/

Questions about applying can be directed to Jon Eldredge, Chair of the Research Agenda Committee, at [email protected]. Details of the plans for the systematic reviews and processes will be shared with the medical library community broadly once teams are finalized and workflows are developed. Thank you for your consideration!

Kristine Alpi, Chair, Research Section Director, William R. Kenan, Jr. Library of Veterinary Medicine North Carolina State University [email protected]