Call for Papers

Health and Biosciences Libraries Section

Theme:
The future of health information

Date

10 August 2012

Location

Biomedicum Helsinki (Lecture Hall 2)
Haartmaninkatu 8, 00290 Helsinki, Finland

Background

The establishment of health librarianship as a discrete profession is historically relatively recent. Its early development coincided with, and was in response to, the enormous increased public investment in health in the post-war era. Alongside the expansion in health services came the rapid expansion in medical and health services education and training and the consequent emergence of health libraries as a specialist resource to meet new information demands. Spectacular advances in information technology, the capacity of the internet and the increasing emphasis on scientific rigour and research-based evidence have both spurred and challenged health information professionals to develop the dynamic, scientific and innovative resources we see today.

Health librarians have both adapted to and helped to shape changes in their environment: managerialism has informed the emergence of new evaluation tools and communication techniques; librarians are core to the problem-based learning approach prevalent in health and medical education; and, librarians are essential to preservation agenda of digital repositories and to promoting the open access principles which underpin it. Throughout this change the core values of information delivery, literacy and preservation have remained constant. While our capacity to predict changes in the environment over the next generation is limited, we can be certain that these values will inform our responses to it.

Recent commentary has highlighted the rich body of literature examining the trends and patterns impacting on health science librarianship. We hope that this session will contribute to this conversation and, by identifying the patterns in our environment, both past and emerging, we can make informed predictions about the future of our profession, the trends which will shape it and the steps we need to take to prepare for it.

Papers may cover some of the following topics:

  • What will be the impact of the increasing overlap of the work of health science librarianship and those working in health informatics?
  • What can trend analysis, scenario planning and other approaches to future proofing contribute to our understanding of the profession's development?
  • Will there still be health science librarians in 2020, or will the work of managing, delivering and analysing health information and data be part of a broader, more generic 'knowledge management' role profile?
  • As the role of health libraries as repositories of print material diminishes, where will the more mobile, less library-bound, health information professional work?
  • Access to knowledge is no longer the preserve of health professions and those seeking to enter them; how will our contribution to consumer health information, health literacy and patient safety affect how we analyse and communicate the knowledge we manage?
  • Economic realities and political imperatives will drive an increased emphasis on the application of research to patient care. Librarians are well placed to spearhead this translational work but what new skills and tools must we learn to consolidate our role in this project?
  • Librarians have contributed to the gains made possible by open access through their work in developing research repositories and other OA resources. Proposed legislation in the US may be the beginning of a reversal of these gains. Should librarians become more politically active in this and other information policy areas to secure the maximum possible availability of research evidence?

Proposals should include:

  • A structured abstract (Objectives/Project Scope; Methods; Results; Conclusions/Implications) of 350 - 400 words.
  • Summary of the author(s) details (name, institution, position) and briefbiographical statement of no more than 50 words.

Submission Guidelines

  • Submit proposals electronically no later than March 30, 2012 to: Brian Galvin bgalvin@hrb.ie.
  • Selected presenters will be notified by May 01, 2012.

Papers or presentations

Presenters will be expected to submit final versions of their papers or presentations by June 01, 2012. The language of the session will be English. Presenters will have up to 30 minutes at the programme to deliver their presentations, and time will be allowed for an open forum to allow audience interaction.

Contacts

For more information, please contact:

Brian Galvin
E-mail: bgalvin@hrb.ie

or

Terhi Sandgren
E-mail: terhi.sandgren@helsinki.fi

Submissions

All proposals must be in before 30 March 2012.

Please note

All expenses, including registration for the conference, travel, accommodation etc., are the responsibility of the authors/presenters. No financial support can be provided by IFLA, but a special invitation can be issued to authors.

Congress Attendance Grants

The Finnish National Committee and IFLA have worked hard to secure funds for Conference Participation Grants. Up-to-date information is available on our Conference Participation Grants webpage.

Last update: 7 February 2012