Enhancing Systematic Review Support: Insights from Library Services
The demand for systematic review support in academic libraries has been steadily increasing. This trend is driven by the growing number of graduate programs requiring systematic reviews as part of their curriculum and the rising interest among faculty and students in conducting high-quality research. A recent study titled "Building capacity for librarian support and addressing collaboration challenges by formalizing library systematic review services" highlights strategic approaches to enhance librarian support for systematic reviews.
Formalizing Systematic Review Services
The study conducted at Queen's University’s Bracken Health Sciences Library outlines a structured approach to developing a systematic review service. This approach involves several key steps:
- Defining Roles and Models: Librarians defined their roles and developed a service model that included advisory consultation and collaboration. This model helps differentiate between providing guidance and actively participating in systematic review teams.
- Building Expertise: To support the increasing demand, librarians were encouraged to build their expertise through mentorship, peer reviews, and group training sessions. This helped distribute workload evenly among librarians.
- Creating Documentation: A work plan document was created to guide librarians during initial meetings with researchers. Additionally, a LibGuide was developed to provide comprehensive resources for both librarians and researchers engaged in systematic reviews.
- Piloting and Revising the Service Model: The two-tiered service model was piloted for a year, allowing librarians to refine the service based on feedback and evolving needs.
- Marketing the Service: The library actively promoted the service through newsletters, social media, and presentations to faculty and students. This helped increase awareness and utilization of the service.
- Evaluating Service Usage: Tracking consultations and collaborations provided valuable data to assess service demand and advocate for additional resources if necessary.
Tackling Collaboration Challenges
Librarians at Bracken Health Sciences Library also addressed collaboration challenges associated with student-led systematic reviews. By implementing a judicious approach to collaboration decisions, librarians could ensure that their time was used effectively while maintaining research quality. Key considerations included assessing the preparedness of research teams and the potential impact of their work before agreeing to collaborate.
The Benefits of a Structured Approach
The structured approach described in the study offers several benefits:
- Maximizing Librarian Expertise: By clearly defining roles and responsibilities, librarians can focus on activities that leverage their expertise most effectively.
- Improving Research Quality: Engaging librarians in systematic reviews enhances research quality by ensuring rigorous search strategies and adherence to best practices.
- Sustainable Workload Management: A formalized service model helps distribute workload evenly among librarians, preventing burnout and ensuring consistent support for researchers.
The insights from this study can serve as a valuable framework for other libraries looking to enhance their systematic review services. By adopting similar strategies, libraries can build capacity for increased librarian support, address collaboration challenges, and ultimately improve the quality of research produced within their institutions.
If you are interested in learning more about this study and its findings, I encourage you to read the original research paper.
