© Health Libraries Group 2003

Health Information and Libraries Journal

,

20

(Suppl. 1), pp.1–2

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Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Editorial

‘and even evidence-based librarianship?’

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With these words a recent medical journal articleattempts to epitomise the almost improbable spreadof evidence-based practice to other domains. Forlibrarians such as ourselves, involved in support-ing the evidence-based practice of others for manyyears, such a migration from apparent improbabilityto reality is, on the contrary, a logical extension ofsuch activities. In fact, as long ago as 1997, inde-pendently and on opposite sides of the Atlantic,we (along with kindred minds) recognized that thetime was opportune to render more than mere lipservice to such a paradigm.

That it has taken so long to produce an issuedevoted to evidence-based health informationpractice attests to the fact that, as pronouncedelsewhere, ‘Evidence-based Librarianship requiresinternational collaboration’.

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The catalyst, in theliteral sense of the word, for the progress of evidence-based librarianship from national enthusiasms tointernational movement, was an individual, BruceMadge, simultaneously international representa-tive for the Medical Library Association and chairof the Health Libraries Group Research WorkingParty. In this guise Bruce engineered the vitalinitial contact between the two co-editors of thisissue. It is doubly appropriate therefore that Brucewent on to chair HELICON (Health Librariesand Information Confederation) under whosegenerous auspices we have been able to producethis complimentary special issue.

In addition to a catalyst, however, impetusrequires prime movers. The HELICON ResearchTask Finish Group assembled many individualswho have helped, directly or indirectly, to shape thisissue. Their support for the First ever Evidence-based Librarianship conference organized byAndrew Booth and held in Sheffield in September2001 led to Jonathan Eldredge being invited todeliver a keynote address. The Call for Papers

identified Ellen Crumley and Denise Koufogian-nakis who, along with colleagues at the Universityof Alberta, had made initial steps towards imple-mentation of EBL. Bringing together individualsfrom three different countries has led to consider-able productivity, including collaborative articles,reciprocal publishing and, to coincide with thepublication month of this special issue, a secondEvidence-based Librarianship Conference inEdmonton, Alberta on June 4th

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6th 2003. Finally,it has spawned production of a multi-authoredbook to be published by Facet Publishing (for-merly Library Association Publishing) in Autumn2003.

It is particularly instructive to review distinctfeatures of the evolution and current practice ofEBL in the United States. EBL began to emergein the US well before the concept and phrase‘Evidence-Based Librarianship’

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actually tookhold. It not only

evolved

within the MLA and itsaffiliated chapters but, more importantly, hasbecome

embodied

within this organization. TheMLA-sponsored continuing education course onEBL, for example, has been conducted no lessthan 14 times.

The Research Section of the MLA has becomea ‘spiritual home’ for EBL in the US. Indeed theMLA Research Policy ‘Using Scientific Evidenceto Improve Information Practice’

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(1995) antici-pated the EBL movement. The journal

Hypothesis

under its former editor, Jan LaBeause, and currenteditor, Andrea Ball, has been the locus for muchEBL discussion and debate, of untapped interestto the international community. The ‘Inter-national Research Reviews’ column edited by AnneBrice keeps US librarians aware of EBL activitiesoverseas as a corrective to any peculiar Americantendency for insularity. The MLA ResearchSection encompasses 13 standing committees, ofwhich eight are, directly or indirectly, concerned withEBL activities. The fact that only some of these,

Editorial

© Health Libraries Group 2003

Health Information and Libraries Journal

,

20

(Suppl. 1), pp.1–2

2

such as the Evidence-Based Librarianship Imple-mentation Committee, the International ResearchCollaboration Committee, Practice Guidelines Advi-sory Committee or the Research Results Dissemi-nation Committee, have names to reflect their strongEBL focus masks the full extent of this activity.

The coveted MLA Research Award in recent yearshas honoured EBL-orientated forms of research.The MLA South Central and Southern Chaptershave sponsored Research Award contests, therebyreflecting strong interest in EBL amongst chaptermembers. Although MLA has championed EBLin the US, it is noteworthy that the Special LibrariesAssociation too released an EBL orientated researchpolicy during 2001.

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Library and informatics schoolsare becoming keen on EBL—the University ofNorth Texas School of Library and InformationSciences includes it in its Health Sciences Informa-tion Management course under the leadership ofProfessors Ana Cleveland and Gale Hannigan.

EBL gains great advantages from its MLAinstitutional base but with a correspondingdisadvantage—as a large organization MLA has anincredibly diverse agenda. Issues such as technologymay distract many MLA members from pursuinga more focused course of EBL implementation.Some MLA members, though referencing EBLfrequently, are not always well versed in its coreprinciples. Such a tendency may be true of anylarge movement, however. Nevertheless, fragmen-tation of efforts means that EBL still has great, yetunrealized potential, within the US. We sincerelyhope that this joint issue will contribute towardsunlocking such potential.

In seeking to bring the most relevant, highest-quality evidence to bear in making practical deci-sions within our field, it is fitting that EBL shouldreflect the different environments and, indeed,countries where librarians face distinct challenges.For example, the editors have contributed articlesto epitomise a US concern with the quality of theevidence base, particularly randomized controlledtrials (the article by Jonathan Eldredge), and a UKemphasis on interpretation and critical appraisalof the evidence (the article by Andrew Booth andAnne Brice). Yet, the international EBL move-ment remains consistent in its core characteristicsand strongly united in a common purpose. This

issue contains two historic systematic reviews (byCatherine Beverley and Alison Winning; and byAlison Brettle) that will, no doubt, interest knownEBL practitioners in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europeand Latin America, as well as those already men-tioned in Canada, the UK and the US. A majorrandomized controlled trial from Hong Kong (thearticle by Grace Cheng) further acknowledgesthe potential contribution from Asia. This inter-national flavour is also exemplified by a briefcommunication (by Steve Pritchard and AlisonWeightman) on the Cochrane Collaboration’sInformation Retrieval Methods Group and bycomparison, and indeed contrast (see commentaryby Maria Grant), of parallel initiatives in Canada(Ellen Crumley and Denize Koufogiannakis) andthe UK (Liz Doney and colleagues). However,there remains a predominantly UK focus to thisissue as evidenced by real and very practical examplesfrom Graham Haldane and Michelle Kirkwood.

This special supplementary issue attests to thehealthy state of our parent journal, now enjoyinga regular supply of high-quality contributions.Most importantly, however, it pays homage tothe vision of our sponsors, HELICON, who haverecognized that it is not enough to respond totrends—one must shape and fashion them. Infunding this issue they have contributed a majorlandmark in the progress of our profession towardsbecoming truly evidence based.

Andrew BoothJonathan D. Eldredge

References

1 Landry, M. D. & Sibbald, W. J. From data to evidence: evaluative methods in evidence-based medicine.

Respiratory Care

2000,

46

, 1226–35.

2 Eldredge, J. International research reviews. Evidence-Based Librarianship (EBL) needs international collaboration.

Hypothesis

1999,

13

(2), 14–6.3 Eldredge, J. Evidence-Based Librarianship.

Hypothesis

1997,

11

(3), 4–7. Available from: http://gain.mercer.edu/mla/research/hypothesis.html.

4 Medical Library Asssociation.

Using Scientific Evidence to Improve Information Practice

. Chicago: MLA, 1995. Available from: http://mlanet.org/research/science2.html.

5 Special Library Association.

Putting OUR Knowledge to Work: A New SLA Research Statement, June 2001

.

The Role of Research in Special Librarianship

. Available from: http://www.sla.org/content/memberservice/researchforum/rsrchstatement.cfm.