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Evidence Based Librarianship

Virginia Wilson

Coordinator, Saskatchewan Health Information Resources Partnership

University of Saskatchewan

May 26, 2008

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Outline Background of EBL The EBL Framework The EBL Toolkit—The Steps EBL Support and Resources

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Evidence Based MedicineReasons for the spread of EBM

Daily need for valid information Traditional sources:

Textbooks Experts Didactic continuing medical information Medical Journals

Up-to-date knowledge diminishes Time pressures

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (U. Toronto) http://www.cebm.utoronto.ca/intro/interest.htm

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Other Types of Evidence Based Practice Evidence Based Crime Prevention Evidence Based Policy Development Evidence Based Software Engineering Evidence Based Scheduling Evidence Based Social Work Evidence Based Nursing Evidence Based Management Evidence Based Dentistry Evidence Based Policing Evidence Based Business Evidence Based Conservation

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Evidence Based LibrarianshipAka…

EBL Evidence Based Library and Information

Practice (EBLIP) Evidence Based Information Practice (EBIP)

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EBL: Definitions Three definitions came into being in the early

2000s. Jonathan Eldredge, USA Andrew Booth, UK Denise Koufogiannakis and Ellen Crumley,

Canada

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“Evidence based librarianship (EBL) seeks to improve library practice by utilising the best available evidence in conjunction with a pragmatic perspective developed from working experiences in librarianship. The best available evidence might be produced from either quantitative or qualitative research design, depending on the EBL question posed, although EBL encourages using more rigorous forms over less rigorous forms of evidence when making decisions.”

(Eldredge, 2002)

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Hierarchy of Evidence

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

(Booth, 2002)

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"Evidence-based librarianship (EBL) is a means

to improve the profession of librarianship by asking questions as well as finding, critically appraising and incorporating research evidence from library science (and other disciplines) into daily practice. It also involves encouraging librarians to conduct high quality qualitative and quantitative research."

(Crumley and Koufogiannakis, 2002)

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Commonalities among the definitions: A context of day to day decision making An emphasis on improving the quality of the

professional practice A pragmatic focus on the “best available evidence” Incorporation of the user perspective Acceptance of a broad range of quantitative and

qualitative designs(Booth, 2002)

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EBL combines:

Professional Expertise

User PreferencesResearch Evidence

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So what?Q: Why should law librarians care about the

growing evidence based movement?

A1: Enhance your own practice

A2: Empirical Legal Research

A3: Evidence Based Law?

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Enhance your practice Improve decision making, streamline

services, implement the optimum procedure, etc.

Provide more opportunities for collaboration and communication

Increase credibility among library patrons and funding organizations

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Empirical Legal Research Based on observation and experience Traditional methods enhanced by using a

solid base of up to date empirical information Purpose: the help legal scholars determine if a

law or process is actually doing what it has set out to do

(Ridley,

2006)

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Evidence Based Law “Following the trend in healthcare, the legal

market will adopt ‘evidence based law.’ General counsels will finally put bite behind the bark for lower costs and better service. They or their agents will systematically analyze how lawyers work [. . . ]and develop best practice.”

(Friedman, quoted in Lerdal, 2006)

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EBL: The FrameworkEvidence Based Librarianship: combines a conceptual framework with

practical tools enables librarians to do their jobs more

effectively and in a more informed fashion is a way of systematizing the decision-making

process in order to achieve more reliable results

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Barriers1. Where to find the evidence? Lack of pertinent

evidence; narrow evidence base; lack of good indexing

2. Lack of time

3. Management that doesn't support this approach

4. Lack of research skills; or, lack of confidence in research skills

5. Access to resources

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http://ebltoolkit.pbwiki.com/

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The EBL ProcessStep 1: Formulate a Question

Step 2: Find the Evidence

Step 3: Appraise the Evidence

Step 4: Apply the Evidence

Step 5: Evaluate the Results

Step 6: Disseminate the Results

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Step One: Formulate a Question The most important step The foundation of the EBL process The question needs to be answerable: not too

broad, yet not too narrow. Multi-faceted questions need to have a focus

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PICOFocus Concept Question Root

Population Among, in (who, what)

Among students who search the catalogue

Intervention Does (how) does help from a librarian

Comparison Intervention

Versus versus no help

Outcome Impact (affect) impact the time it takes to find material?

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SPICEFocus Concept Components

Setting Where? In law libraries,

Perspective For whom? do patrons

Intervention What? who use the internet

Comparison As opposed to… as opposed to the print collection

Evaluation How well? What result?

perceive they have found comparable information?

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Step Two: Finding the Evidence What kinds of evidence? Where is the evidence? What if there’s no evidence?

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What Kinds of Evidence?

Qualitative research Quantitative research

The concept of the “best available” evidence

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Where is the Evidence? For fee resources Open source resources Library literature In the literature of other

disciplines

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Domains of Inquiry It’s been suggested that every LIS practice

question falls within one or more of the following domains:

collections education management professional issues information access and retrieval reference/enquires

(Crumley and

Koufogiannakis)

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Sources of EvidenceOpen Access Database

LISTA: http://www.libraryresearch.com

From Ebsco publishing. Open access. A free bibliographic database providing coverage on subjects such as librarianship, classification, cataloging, bibliometrics, online information retrieval, information management, and more.

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Open Access Journals Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

http://www.doaj.org/ Evidence Based Library and Information Practice

http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information

Practice and Researchhttp://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/index

LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal http://libres.curtin.edu.au/

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Open Access Archives E-LIS http://eprints.rclis.org/  

dLIST http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/

OCLC Research Publications Repository http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/search.htm

The Directory of Open Access Repositories-OpenDOAR http://www.opendoar.org/

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The Committee to Promote Research—a SIG of CALL

Research Resources for Law Librarianshttp://www.callacbd.ca/index.php/publisher/articleview/

frmArticleID/293/

On the CALL/ACBD website A mix between open access and for fee

resources

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What If There’s No Evidence? Take the question you’ve formulated by using

PICO or SPICE and design some research around it.

Consider publishing your findings to increase the body of evidence.

Don't be intimidated by the idea of "research": projects can be small and practical.

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Step Three: Appraise the Evidence Critical appraisal is the process of assessing

and interpreting evidence by systematically considering its relevance, validity and reliability.

Relevance Validity Reliability

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Step Four: Apply the EvidenceApplicability: "whether a study is generalizable

or relevant to your situation" (Koufogainnakis and Crumley, "Applying Evidence to your Everyday Practice." in Booth and Brice, 2004, 120)

The evidence will usually be one of three things:1. directly applicable2. needs to be locally validated (i.e. replicate the study at the local level)3. improves your understanding of the situation

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Determining ApplicabilityVariables to consider when determining

applicability: User group Time lines Cost Politics Severity

(Koufogiannakis and Crumley, 121-123)

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Step Five: Evaluate the ResultsEvaluate the success of your use of the evidence

on two levels: Practitioner - were all the steps of EBL

followed successfully? Practice implications - was the decision you

made after consulting the research a good one?

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Step Six: Disseminating the ResultsWays of dissemination: Workshops, continuing education,

conferences, training, journal club discussion groups

Organizational policy/guidelines, meetings Publishing/writing, the internet Word of mouth, focus groups, leadership,

sharing articles, e-mail, list-serv, networking, mentoring

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EBL Support and Resources EBL Toolkit http://ebltoolkit.pbwiki.com/ To give feedback on the toolkit contact

Virginia Wilson: virginia.wilson@usask.ca

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http://eblibrarianship.pbwiki.com/

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Give it a try…

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