Dataset Information

Health sciences librarians' awareness and assessment of the Medical Library Association Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship: the results of a membership survey.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The Medical Library Association (MLA) Board of Directors and president charged an Ethical Awareness Task Force and recommended a survey to determine MLA members' awareness of and opinions about the current Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship.

Methods

THE TASK FORCE AND MLA STAFF CRAFTED A SURVEY TO DETERMINE: (1) awareness of the MLA code and its provisions, (2) use of the MLA code to resolve professional ethical issues, (3) consultation of other ethical codes or guides, (4) views regarding the relative importance of the eleven MLA code statements, (5) challenges experienced in following any MLA code provisions, and (6) ethical problems not clearly addressed by the code.

Results

Over 500 members responded (similar to previous MLA surveys), and while most were aware of the code, over 30% could not remember when they had last read or thought about it, and nearly half had also referred to other codes or guidelines. The large majority thought that: (1) all code statements were equally important, (2) none were particularly difficult or challenging to follow, and (3) the code covered every ethical challenge encountered in their professional work.

Implications

Comments provided by respondents who disagreed with the majority views suggest that the MLA code could usefully include a supplementary guide with practical advice on how to reason through a number of ethically challenging situations that are typically encountered by health sciences librarians.

SUBMITTER: Byrd GD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4188053 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Health sciences librarians' awareness and assessment of the Medical Library Association Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship: the results of a membership survey.

Byrd Gary D GD Devine Patricia J PJ Corcoran Kate E KE

Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA 20141001 4

<h4>Objective</h4>The Medical Library Association (MLA) Board of Directors and president charged an Ethical Awareness Task Force and recommended a survey to determine MLA members' awareness of and opinions about the current Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship.<h4>Methods</h4>THE TASK FORCE AND MLA STAFF CRAFTED A SURVEY TO DETERMINE: (1) awareness of the MLA code and its provisions, (2) use of the MLA code to resolve professional ethical issues, (3) consultation of other ethical cod ...[more]

PMID: 25349544

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Project description:ObjectiveWhile many librarians have been asked to participate in systematic reviews with researchers, often these researchers are not familiar with the systematic review process or the appropriate role for librarians. The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges and barriers that librarians face when collaborating on systematic reviews. To take a wider view of the whole process of collaborating on systematic reviews, the authors deliberately focused on interpersonal and methodological issues other than searching itself.MethodsTo characterize the biggest challenges that librarians face while collaborating on systematic review projects, we used a web-based survey. The thirteen-item survey included seventeen challenges grouped into two categories: methodological and interpersonal. Participants were required to indicate the frequency and difficulty of the challenges listed. Open-ended questions allowed survey participants to describe challenges not listed in the survey and to describe strategies used to overcome challenges.ResultsOf the 17 challenges listed in the survey, 8 were reported as common by over 40% of respondents. These included methodological issues around having too broad or narrow research questions, lacking eligibility criteria, having unclear research questions, and not following established methods. The remaining challenges were interpersonal, including issues around student-led projects and the size of the research team. Of the top 8 most frequent challenges, 5 were also ranked as most difficult to handle. Open-ended responses underscored many of the challenges included in the survey and revealed several additional challenges.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the most frequent and challenging issues relate to development of the research question and general communication with team members. Clear protocols for collaboration on systematic reviews, as well as a culture of mentorship, can help librarians prevent and address these challenges.

Dataset Information

Health sciences librarians' awareness and assessment of the Medical Library Association Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship: the results of a membership survey.

Objective

Methods

Results

Implications

Publications

Health sciences librarians' awareness and assessment of the Medical Library Association Code of Ethics for Health Sciences Librarianship: the results of a membership survey.

Similar Datasets

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