23
This article was downloaded by: [The UC Irvine Libraries] On: 17 December 2014, At: 23:55 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK New Review of Information and Library Research Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rilr20 Bridging the Research-Practice Gap? The Role of Evidence Based Librarianship Andrew Booth a Senior Lecturer in Evidence Based Healthcare Information, School of Health and Related Research , University of Sheffield , Regent Court, 30 Regent Street, S1 4DA, Sheffield E-mail: Published online: 12 Jul 2010. To cite this article: Andrew Booth (2003) Bridging the Research-Practice Gap? The Role of Evidence Based Librarianship, New Review of Information and Library Research, 9:1, 3-23, DOI: 10.1080/13614550410001687909 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13614550410001687909 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

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Page 1: Bridging the Research-Practice Gap? The Role of Evidence Based Librarianship

This article was downloaded by: [The UC Irvine Libraries]On: 17 December 2014, At: 23:55Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK

New Review of Information andLibrary ResearchPublication details, including instructions for authorsand subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rilr20

Bridging the Research-PracticeGap? The Role of Evidence BasedLibrarianshipAndrew Bootha Senior Lecturer in Evidence Based HealthcareInformation, School of Health and Related Research ,University of Sheffield , Regent Court, 30 RegentStreet, S1 4DA, Sheffield E-mail:Published online: 12 Jul 2010.

To cite this article: Andrew Booth (2003) Bridging the Research-Practice Gap? The Roleof Evidence Based Librarianship, New Review of Information and Library Research, 9:1,3-23, DOI: 10.1080/13614550410001687909

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13614550410001687909

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all theinformation (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform.However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, orsuitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressedin this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not theviews of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content shouldnot be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions,claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilitieswhatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connectionwith, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

Page 2: Bridging the Research-Practice Gap? The Role of Evidence Based Librarianship

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expresslyforbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

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Bridging the Research-Practice Gap? TheRole of Evidence Based LibrarianshipAndrew Booth

Senior Lecturer in Evidence Based Healthcare Information, School of Health

and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 30 Regent

Street, Sheffield, S1 4DA, UK

e-mail: [email protected]

Librarianship has had a long preoccupation with the research-practice gap. Practitioner-ledresearch is criticised for its lack of rigour, academic research for its lack of relevance. Evidencebased practice is a pragmatic approach to bridging this gap. This review starts by charting thedevelopment of evidence based practice from its origins in medicine through healthcare toother disciplines. It then examines the context for the development of evidence basedlibrarianship, focusing on examples from the wider library literature and on the healthinformation literature from 2002 onwards.

The review examines each stage of the evidence based practice process, examining the legacyfrom the wider paradigm as it specifically relates to information practice. Tools and methodsdeveloped within evidence based information practice are briefly summarised. The reviewconcludes by outlining the challenges that remain if evidence based information practice is tobe adopted within the profession at large.

1. INTRODUCTION

Librarianship shares with social work (1) and education (2), among

other professions, a longstanding preoccupation with the research-

practice gap (3, 4). Published research typically originates from

academic institutions and is criticised for a perceived lack of relevance to

day-to-day practice (5). Turner (6) examined information professionals’

perceptions concerning their use of research, why they consult research,

how often they do so and personal factors affecting usage. She found that

applied research (addressing operational concerns and consistently com-

prising about 50% of published output (7, 8)) is most widely used. She

observes that most research is not consulted because it seems divorced from

the real concerns of practice or is presented in ways that impair

understanding and application (6). Practitioners, on the other hand, are

frequently accused of failing to engage with the findings from research that

might shape their future practice (9). Cullen describes practitioners’ innate

suspicion of research concluding that ‘‘we do not make enough use of

research to improve services or practice’’ (10).

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# 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd

DOI: 10.1080/13614550410001687909

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Straddling this divide, with an uncertain foot in both camps, are the

practitioner-researchers. Practitioner-researchers tend to use such designs

as survey research, action research and secondary data analysis (11) which

are more likely to struggle for acceptance by bona fide academic

researchers. Time spent in acquiring research skills and conducting the

research itself may be at the expense of their continuing to be viewed by

colleagues as ‘‘real’’ practitioners.

Over the years proposed solutions to bridge the research-practice gap have

included mentors, secondments and collaborative research networks (12).

Such measures seek to address the organisational and structural barriers

while doing little to challenge the prevailing culture of librarianship.

Achieving a real difference requires a paradigm shift. Over recent years

many have claimed that that paradigm is ‘‘evidence based practice’’:

Evidence-based librarianship represents something different: a deliberate approach to change.(13)

This review is believed to be the first in the general library literature to

survey developments and outputs from that specific branch of evidence

based practice labelled, not uncontroversially, as ‘‘evidence based librarian-

ship’’ (14). It focuses primarily on literature produced since a health-

specific review appeared in Medical Reference Services Quarterly in 2002

(15), augmented by a wider survey of materials targeted at audiences

outside the health domain.

2. EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE

Evidence based practice advocates the collection, interpretation, and

integration of valid, important and applicable evidence (16). Such evidence

may be reported by a user/patient/client/parent, observed by a librarian/

clinician/social worker/teacher, or derived from rigorously conducted

research. Irrespective of its origin, the best available evidence, moderated

by sensitivity to a user/client/patient’s values and preferences, is harnessed

to improve the quality of day-to-day decision-making (17, 18).

This model of knowledge management promotes the use of research in

making decisions that benefit individuals or whole populations. In doing

so, evidence based practice seeks to address information overload (19),

information delay (20) and information entropy (21). These particular

problems are particularly manifest in, and indeed critical to, the field of

medicine from within which evidence based practice first appeared as

‘‘evidence based medicine’’.

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Evidence based medicine emerged from McMaster University, Canada, inthe early 1990s (22). Having previously enjoyed a modest incarnation as

clinical epidemiology (23) (literally the application of results gained from

the study of populations to the care of an individual patient) evidence

based medicine demonstrated both a greater relevance and increasing

sophistication in applying research at the bedside. It is no accident that its

growth coincided with revolutionary developments in information and

communications technologies (24). The paradigm soon encompassed

specific branches of medicine such as psychiatry (25) and dentistry (26)and related domains such as nursing (27), pathology (28) and pharma-

cotherapy (29). By the mid-1990s a broader term, evidence based

healthcare (30), was a portmanteau for wide ranging activities promoted

within and outside medicine.

The late 1990s saw evidence based healthcare spread to contiguous fields

such as education (31), social work (32, 33), human resource management

(34) and criminology (35). An even broader term evidence based practice

captures the commonality of approaches across a broad spectrum of

professional endeavour (36).

Ford and colleagues (37) have proposed a number of characteristics thatidentify a discipline as suited to an evidence based practice model. These

include a substantive knowledge base and a requirement for informed

decision-making. Library and information science seems to possess all

these purported characteristics.

3. THE POLICY CONTEXT

While evidence based practice has a fundamental appeal for any practi-

tioner who wishes to develop skills for lifelong learning in pursuit of

professional excellence, it is the political imperative that has added

significant weight to adoption of the paradigm. This growing interest in

using research evidence to inform policy and practice is reflected in

documents from such sources as the Cabinet Office (38, 39), with anemphasis on the identification, synthesis and application of rigorous

evidence to problem-solving (40). The main tool for such evidence

synthesis is the systematic review (41). Unlike traditional reviews,

systematic reviews of the literature include a detailed appraisal of the

research studies identified (42). In healthcare, an emphasis on evaluating

evidence of effectiveness for inclusion in systematic reviews has led to the

emergence of distinct critical appraisal criteria, embodied in checklists.

Booth and Haines (43) were among the first to highlight the value of thesystematic review for the general library practitioner.

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4. EVIDENCE BASED LIBRARIANSHIP

With their increased participation within multidisciplinary teams involved

in critical appraisal and methodological assessment of clinical articles (44),

librarians and information specialists have become increasingly adept at

recognising and critiquing experimental studies of drugs, operations and

similar interventions. From here it is a natural progression to applying suchtechniques to their own professional literature in seeking to uncover

enduring, generic truths that form the foundations of evidence-based

librarianship (45). Respondents to the CILIP-funded study The LIS

research landscape: a review and prognosis (46) have observed, with regard

to evidence based librarianship, that

as this practice was being adopted by an increasing number of professions, LIS should take asimilar approach to improve its image and professional standing. (47)

The immaturity of the paradigm is reflected in the absence of a consensual

definition of evidence based librarianship (EBL). At least four published

attempts at defining EBL currently exist. Three of these originate from the

diverse health librarianship communities of the US, the UK and Canada

while the fourth derives from the school librarianship sector. Each

definition has characteristics by which to recommend itself.

Eldredge emphasises the pragmatic context for EBL, emphasising the

multiplicity of important research designs:

Evidence-Based Librarianship (EBL) seeks to improve library practice by utilising the bestavailable evidence in conjunction with a pragmatic perspective developed from workingexperiences in librarianship. The best available evidence might be produced from quantitativeor qualitative research designs, although EBL encourages more rigorous forms over lessrigorous forms of evidence when making decisions. (48)

Booth adapts a pre-existing definition of Evidence Based Healthcare,

coined by Anne McKibbon from McMaster University (17):

Evidence-based librarianship (EBL) is an approach to information science that promotes thecollection, interpretation and integration of valid, important and applicable user-reported,librarian observed, and research-derived evidence. The best available evidence, moderated byuser needs and preferences, is applied to improve the quality of professional judgements. (49)

A recent online poll on the competing health sector definitions of EBL,

part of an international EBL continuing education course, assigned this

definition an overwhelming majority of votes, primarily because of its focus

on the user (seen in ‘‘user-reported’’ evidence and the requirement for

evidence to be ‘‘moderated by user needs and preferences’’).

Crumley and Koufogiannakis populate their definition by itemising thestages of the evidence based practice process:

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Evidence-based librarianship (EBL) is a means to improve the profession of librarianship byasking questions, finding, critically appraising and incorporating research evidence fromlibrary science (and other disciplines) into daily practice. It also involves encouraginglibrarians to conduct research. (50, 51)

Within the context of research utilisation the emphasis on the librarian as

practitioner-researcher is perhaps the most noteworthy contribution of this

definition.

Todd (52), a US academic working within school librarianship, identifies

two dimensions to evidence based librarianship:

First . . . it focuses on the conscientious, explicit and carefully chosen use of current bestresearch evidence in making decisions about the performance of the day-by-day role. Second,evidence-based practice is where day-by-day professional work is directed towards demon-strating the tangible impact and outcomes of sound decision making and implementation oforganizational goals and objectives.

Todd’s second dimension (53), wherein the local librarian gathers ‘‘mean-ingful and systematic evidence of the impact of the librarian’s instructional

initiatives on student learning outcomes’’ echoes, albeit in connection with

evaluation rather than research, Crumley and Koufogiannakis’ emphasis

on the practitioner researcher.

Recently Booth and Brice (54) have attempted, hitherto unsuccessfully, to

hasten the adoption of the term ‘‘evidence based information practice’’ in

preference to ‘‘evidence based librarianship’’ (55). This term, has its early

origins in a statement by the then NHS Libraries Adviser, Margaret

Haines, in the newsletter Evidence Based Purchasing :

What I find particularly appealing about the [Anglia and Oxford Librarian of the 21st

Century] programme is that it will not only help librarians to support evidence-based practiceof their users but it will also develop their own evidence-based information practice [italicsadded] which should result in more cost-effective and higher quality information support tothe NHS. (56)

Evidence based information practice exhibits several advantages such as itsfacility to include the wider context of informatics, information literacy and

information systems (57, 58). It capitalises, by association, on the evidence

based practice movement offering the flexibility to include the role of

information workers in supporting the practice of others (59) together with

their role in incorporating the evidence base of their own practice (55).

Opponents of the term ‘‘evidence based information practice’’ counter that

these two distinct roles should remain separate. Others manifest a dogged,

albeit understandable, attachment to the ‘‘librarianship’’ label. Add to this

debates about whether information practice is ‘‘based’’, ‘‘supported’’ or‘‘informed’’ by evidence, offensives already waged unsuccessfully within the

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wider arena (60, 61), and it becomes clear that there is far to be travelledbefore consensus is reached.

5. THE PROCESS OF EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE

Evidence based practice emphasises four requisite information management

processes: problem specification (focusing the question); searching the

literature, filtering search results and critical appraisal (assessing retrieved

items for validity, reliability and applicability). These are then followed by

two implementation -related tasks �/ applying the results and evaluating

performance. The classical model of evidence based practice conflates the

searching and filtering processes but as the former focuses on subjectrelevance and the latter accentuates considerations of quality it is more

accurate, within an information management context, to consider these

separately. Significantly the original adherents of evidence based medicine

have been forced to acknowledge the inherent impracticality of performing

the entire process when encountering an information need. Recent years

have seen an emphasis on practitioners (users of evidence) benefiting from

the preappraised (preassessed) products of others (62).

Proponents of evidence based librarianship have contributed to all stages

of the process, taking the techniques of the wider paradigm and replicatingor modifying them before applying them to their own practice.

5.1. Focusing the Question

The first stage of evidence based practice is to convert information needs

from practice into ‘‘focused, structured questions’’ (63, 64). The goal of this

primary stage, variously called focusing or formulating your question (65), is

to convert a precise, yet possibly vaguely expressed, information need into

an ‘‘answerable question’’. Advocates of evidence based healthcare have

given this stage considerable attention (66, 67) and this is increasingly being

mirrored within information practice. Eldredge (68) comments:

Questions drive the entire EBL process. EBL assigns highest priority to posed questions withgreatest relevance to library practice. The wording and content of the questions will determinewhat kinds of research designs are needed to secure answers.

A foreground question, featuring a decision between two competing

choices of action (in contrast to an unspecified information need),

commonly contains up to four elements (65):

. A Population �/ those who are recipients or potential beneficiaries

of a service or intervention;

. An Intervention �/ the service or planned action that is beingdelivered to the population;

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. The Outcomes �/ the ways in which the service or action can bemeasured to establish whether or not it has had a desired effect, and,

optionally

. A Comparison �/ an alternative service or action that may or may

not achieve similar outcomes.

Such focused questions have been shown to lead to elicit more information

from requesters thereby yielding more precision in specifying search

requests (69, 70). This PICO model from evidence based practice has been

adapted as ECLIPSE (Expectation, Client Group, Location, Impact,

Professionals, SErvice) for use by librarians in specifying managers’

information needs (71). Of more general applicability, however, is a

corresponding SPICE framework (55) for specifying the questions of

evidence based information practice:

. SETTING

. PERSPECTIVE

. INTERVENTION

. COMPARISON

. EVALUATION

In this case Population from the PICO model has been subdivided into the

Setting or context of the service and the Perspective (User, manager, carer,

information professional etceteras) which combine to moderate the impact

of any intervention. This recognises that, unlike a drug intervention with

pharmacodynamic properties that generally apply across multiple settings

and populations, library and information science is a far more complex

human-mediated discipline. So, from the perspective of an undergraduate

student (PERSPECTIVE) in a University Library (SETTING) is provision

of a short term loan collection (INTERVENTION) more effective than a

general collection (COMPARISON) in terms of the percentage availability

of recommended texts (EVALUATION).

Another contribution of evidence based practice has been in characterising

question types thereby making it easier to map such questions to

appropriate study designs to answer them (72, 73). Similarly Crumley

and Koufogiannakis have attempted to characterise those domains that

typify library activity (50, 51). Initially they proposed six such domains

(51):

. Reference/Enquiries

. Education

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. Collections

. Management

. Information Access and Retrieval

. Marketing/Promotions

Following a systematic content analysis of the library and information

studies literature published in 2001, Koufogiannakis, Crumley and Slater

(74) suggest revising their categories with the addition of Library History

and Professional Issues. Further research is needed to look at how optimal

search strategies might be developed to retrieve articles for each domain.

5.2. Finding the Evidence

As indicated by the breadth of evidence based librarianship domains above,information practice draws on an evidence base that covers an almost

unparalleled range of disciplines. This observation is supported by a

Library Association Health Libraries Group funded study which looked at

the feasibility of systematic reviews of the library literature (75�/77).

Literature searches on a sample topic of end user searching found relevant

evidence not just in obvious sources (Library Literature, Information

Science Abstracts and Library and Information Science Abstracts) but also

in the three main biomedical databases MEDLINE, EMBASE andCINAHL, the computing databases INSPEC and COMPENDEX and

the multidisciplinary indices, Science and Social Science Citation Indexes.

Given evidence based practice’s focus on research methodology it is not

surprising to see the practitioners of evidence based librarianship calling

for the use of structured abstracts (78) as already widely provided in

medical journals (79). Such abstracts are structured around such pre-

specified sections as, subjects, intervention, outcomes, methods, results and

conclusions. They have been shown to improve retrieval (80) and to enable

rapid assimilation. Research commissioned by the British Library (81)

suggests that structured abstracts are feasible for the research literature ofsocial sciences, including librarianship. Whilst not necessarily more

accurate than traditional abstracts, they are significantly longer, more

readable and more informative (82, 83). Fears that they take up too much

space appear misplaced (84) and there is growing support for their more

widespread introduction (85, 86).

5.3. Filtering Search Results

Growing interest in evidence based practice, encouraging practitioners to

base decisions on sound research evidence, has stimulated the developmentof so-called ‘‘methodological filters’’ (87). Such methodological search

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filters initially arose out of researchers’ concerns in locating ‘‘RandomizedControlled Trials’’ (RCTs) to avoid publication bias, associated with flawed

results and invalid conclusions. The term ‘‘methodological search filter’’

was coined by Wilczynski et al. (88) to signify ‘‘a search term or terms

(such as ‘random allocation’ for sound studies of medical intervention) that

select studies that are at the most advanced stages of testing for clinical

application’’. White and colleagues define them further as: ‘‘collections of

search terms intended to capture frequently sought research methods’’ (89).

Methodological search filters have risen to prominence over the last 20years (90). They are distinguished from hedges, lists of terms designed to

retrieve information on selected subjects, in that they focus on the design of

a study, not its subject content. They are therefore combined with subject

terms to increase precision, not as subject permutations or variants to

increase recall. McKibbon and colleagues (91) have identified terms to be

used for retrieving different study designs from the major health biblio-

graphic databases. Beverley (92) has briefly suggested some corresponding

terms for use with the library and information science literature.

5.4. Appraising the Literature

In order to ask the all-important questions is this research valid, reliable

and applicable to my practice librarians need to be able to appraise each

study. Mirroring early developments in EBM, whereby a series of Users’

Guides to the Medical Literature was produced (93) to address particularquestion types, Booth and Brice (94) initiated a Critical Skills Training in

Appraisal for Librarians (CriSTAL) programme to develop similar guides

to address common types of questions asked by librarians (95). The first

two guides, prioritised according to the prevalence and importance of their

topics, cover Use Studies and Information Needs Analyses. Although such

guides are well-established for quantitative research designs such as clinical

trials and cohort studies, it is comparatively recently that qualitative

research has been similarly served. For example, within informationsystems Atkins and Sampson (96) have suggested guidelines to appraise

case study research, a commonly occurring research design within

information practice. Clyde (97) has conducted a small-scale empirical

study to look at how evaluation of research evidence might be operatio-

nalised among school librarians.

5.4.1. Hierarchy of Study Design

Central to selection and assessment of research studies is the concept of the

hierarchy of evidence. A not uncontroversial concept, this idea is criticised

as being ‘‘discipline centric’’ with ‘‘research methodologies employed bysocial scientists . . . ranked at the bottom of the hierarchy’’ (98). In actuality

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the supporters of evidence based practice are not advancing a quantitative

hegemony having previously acknowledged that it is the question that

ultimately should determine the chosen design (99).

One way of reconciling these paradigm wars is to consider the hierarchy

illustrated in Figure 1 as more properly representing a hierarchy of

effectiveness. Other question types, for example, user views require a

markedly different hierarchy. A variant of this approach is advocated by

Eldredge who divides questions into those dealing with Prediction,

Intervention and Exploration (100).

In contrast, Edwards et al. (101), circumventing the acknowledged

limitations of such hierarchies, suggest the superiority of a ‘‘signal to

noise’’ approach. Here the strength of a research signal or message is

ranged against the possible noise resulting from inadequacies of research

design.

At the top of the hierarchy of effectiveness is the systematic review.

Systematic reviews address sharply defined questions, use explicit and

rigorous methods to identify, critically appraise and synthesize studies

meeting explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria. Increasingly such reviews

offer a synthesis of messages from research to date, spelling out the

implications of these for practitioners and highlighting the future research

agenda. Examples from recent information practice include those by

Winning and Beverley (102), Beverley et al. (103), Brettle (104), and

Tenopir (105). Weller (106), for example, extends the evidence based model

to scientific publishing, providing a systematic review of empirical studies

on the editorial peer review process from 1945 to 1997. Other reviews, while

not necessarily accommodating a full systematic reviews approach, employ

increasingly systematic literature searching and/or appraisal techniques.

Such reviews, with information as both subject and object, offer many

FIG. 1: Hierarchy of evidence (101).

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opportunities for librarians. Beverley and colleagues (107) map the stagesof the systematic review process to the varying competencies that

information professionals can contribute to a review team.

Meanwhile Eldredge has initiated a process of identifying, documenting

and illustrating occurrences of more rigorous designs in librarianship

starting with randomised controlled trials (108) and cohort studies (109).

5.5. Applying the Results in Practice

While finding and appraising the evidence base for information practice

carry their own challenges it is implementation that poses a greater

challenge to the evidence based practice movement. In his previous review

(15) Booth contrasts individual approaches to using research findings,

based on enthusiasm and personal motivation, with organisational

mechanisms, harnessing systems and resources. Individual enthusiasm

may drive the establishment of journal clubs (110) such as those described

by Koufogiannakis and Crumley (111) and Doney and Stanton (112).However, such approaches lie outwith the organisational agenda. In

contrast, guidelines specifying best practice, based on research evidence,

usually receive organisational endorsement without any guarantee that

they will be read and used by practitioners. More recently, Younger (113)

has opened up the prospect of a ‘‘third way’’ by extending thinking on the

organisational contribution beyond obvious ‘‘bolt-on’’ evidence based

approaches to full integration with existing activities. For example she

observes that

performance evaluation criteria do not include the expectation that university librariansshould be using their research, or that of others, in carrying out their responsibilities . . .academic libraries should be looking at rewarding individuals not just for producing researchbut also for incorporating research into operational decisions when warranted. (113)

Another suggestion, made by the same speaker at the 2nd Evidence Based

Librarianship Conference is the inclusion of an explicit requirement to

practise EBL within job advertisements and their corresponding job

descriptions (113). Oberg (114) identifies how teacher librarians canmake a difference in terms of measurable gains in student achievement,

both by using research findings of others and by generating research

findings (first, analysing the results of national, provincial or local testing

programmes and then using locally available statistical data that is available

or easily obtained). Perhaps the greatest contribution to evidence based

librarianship can come, not from the comparatively thinly-populated

library and information science evidence base itself but rather from the

increasing body of reviews that address organisational change anddissemination of good practice (115).

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5.6. Evaluating Your Performance

Although benchmarking and performance indicators have developed

outside evidence based librarianship it is clear that there are many

synergies to be enjoyed (116). Objective means of measurement are

required to evaluate whether the introduction of an evidence based

intervention has made the anticipated difference (10). Indicators selectedmust themselves be based on evidence. For example, accreditation check-

lists may have the ‘‘ring of truth’’ in terms of a practitioner’s assessment of

their validity but are the criteria that are being assessed derived from the

research evidence? As Scott (117) remarks:

By using Performance Indicators it is possible to judge what the LRC [School LibraryResource Centre] is doing well; to identify where improvements are needed to raiseeffectiveness; to develop the service and to justify funding bids for these developments andimprovements. Importantly, using PIs is objective not subjective �/ not ‘‘I think’’ but ‘‘Theevidence shows’’.

Plutchak (118) warns, however, that:

The evidence-based movement pushes us in the direction of measurable goals and objectives.We need to be careful, however, not to confuse measurement with efficacy.

Notwithstanding such cautions it is appropriate to see that interest in

evidence based librarianship comes at a time when the attention of theprofession at large is moving from inputs and outputs towards outcomes.

In this respect recent work attempting to quantify the benefits of library

services using contingent valuation heralds a new focus on cost effective-

ness (119).

6. CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

For a movement in its infancy the achievements of Evidence BasedInformation Practice to date are impressive. Having featured at health

information conferences, and even general library association conferences,

the movement has already produced two conferences with international

speakers and delegates in Sheffield, UK (120, 121) and Edmonton, Canada

(98). Discussion and debate has been serviced via a Jisc-mail electronic list-

server ([email protected]). Add to this evidence

based librarianship workshops, a special supplement on evidence based

health information practice and a multi-author publication entitledEvidence based practice for information professionals and the impact of

the paradigm is apparent (122, 123).

6.1. Issues to be Resolved

One issue generating considerable heat at the 2nd Evidence BasedLibrarianship conference was whether those present should focus on

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advancing evidence based librarianship as a health information movementor aspire to influence the wider profession (124). The issue here was not

one of inclination but rather one of opportunity costs. This conference

included delegates from outside health librarianship although the speakers

were predominantly drawn from the health sector. Some present felt that

the challenge confronting the handful of opinion leaders in impacting upon

the health information profession was great enough without diffusing

energies to the wider information community. A practical way forward

involves the opportunistic use of relatively ‘‘high impact, low energy’’interventions such as publications and conference platforms to spread the

principles abroad more widely in the hope that local product champions

will, in turn, cascade them within their own sector. In this regard the

presence within other sectors of librarianship, such as special librarianship

(125), public librarianship (126, 127) and school librarianship (128), of

significant movements to stimulate the use of research in practice suggests

that it is the label, not the philosophy that needs to be the focus of our

efforts.

7. THE WAY FORWARD

A priority for the evidence based information practice movement has to be

an authoritative consensus statement capturing progress to date andoutlining a shared vision and values. While the ‘‘fission’’ brought about

by juxtaposing the individual energies of evidence based librarianship

communities across several continents has led to several exciting collabora-

tions this can only come a poor second best to the ‘‘fusion’’ resulting from

agreed objectives and priorities. Parallels with the Cochrane and Campbell

Collaborations, international networks of researchers systematically iden-

tifying, analysing and synthesising the evidence, have been drawn on

several occasions but remain tantalisingly elusive (44).

Much remains to be learnt about the characteristics of the informationpractice evidence base. Mainstream studies characterising the types of

outputs produced by the information science research community have yet

to be analysed for their implications with regard to such mechanisms as the

hierarchy of evidence and critical appraisal checklists. Experience with

those few checklists to emerge to date suggests that they have a valuable

role in supporting the conduct of systematic reviews in information topics.

In a recent article in Vine, Booth (55) posits the idea that moves to make

practitioners more responsive to the messages from research are actually

just one contribution to an overarching theme of reflective practice. Thisperspective on evidence based information practice, where research is

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merely one stimulant for reflection (as compensation for previous neglect),finds welcome echoes in the following comment from Todd:

A profession without reflective practitioners willing to learn about the advances in research inthe field is a blinkered profession, one that is disconnected from best practice and bestthinking, and one which, by default, often resorts to advocacy and position as a bid forsurvival. (52)

Todd’s focus on the concept of the ‘‘reflective practitioner’’ (129, 130), as

originally proposed by Schon (131), might allay the concerns of those who

favour dropping the term evidence based for a term with less of a medicalconnotation. This step is seen by West (98) as ‘‘prerequisite to eliciting

greater acceptance by the profession as a whole of the idea of basing

professional decisions and actions on best available evidence’’.

Schmidt (132) offers an optimistic vision of the route by which the

research-practice might be bridged in the future:

Library practitioners can improve their research and contribute to good practice and goodresearch by developing skills, publishing and communicating results, developing soundproposals and seeking funds imaginatively. Academic researchers can benefit from the resultsof good practice through collaborative involvement in real projects.

Will the next few years witness enough evidence of such an outcome

becoming a reality (133)? The jury is still out!

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