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The Shared Library Services Partnership (SLSP) has been established and will soon be operational! With the SLSP, selected health units with existing libraries act as hubs to provide access to library services and resources for health units without libraries. Each hub library will support a predetermined group of client health units. This model is designed to build on the existing capacity of public health library services in Ontario and utilize the active community of practice of the Ontario Public Health Libraries Association (OPHLA). The SLSP was developed in collaboration with Public Health Ontario and the field through an environmental scan, conducted in March and April 2011, of health unit access to library resources and services, as well as through the work of the SLSP Working Group, which met from June to September 2011. For details about the hub libraries, the services they will provide, and their designated client groups, please go to the What’s New announcement. Virtual Library training complete Public Health Ontario’s Virtual Library training initiative is now complete. From mid-October to early December, five public health librarians traveled across the province to provide on-site training to all 21 health units that do not have in-house library services. More than 600 health unit staff attended these half-day workshops on the effective use of the Virtual Library. Evaluation forms from each session are currently being analysed and a report will be ready in February. The reactions from our health unit partners have been overwhelmingly positive and Public Health Ontario extends its thanks to all who attended and provided feedback. A webinar for health unit staff who were unable to attend their on-site sessions will be held in the coming months. Information about upcoming sessions will be made available closer to the dates. Library environmental scan report now available Access to Knowledge Ontario Resources All full-text Knowledge Ontario journals that are relevant to public health are in the process of being added to the Virtual Library. These will be accessible soon through an easy-to-use A-Z listing search feature.
Access to scientific resources and the best available evidence is essential to guide evidence-based decision-making and interventions and to fulfill the requirements of the Ontario Public Health Standards. Library services play a key role in advancing knowledge transfer. Health information professionals are the bridge between people, information and technology. Access to tools such as databases and journals is equally important in advancing knowledge transfer. Building on and complementing the existing public health library infrastructure, a variety of library services will be made available to public health units including:
Library services are currently being developed and will be launched in a phased approached throughout 2011. Public health units, associations, and interested individuals are being consulted to help develop and refine these services.
Access to skilled library professionals and resources will be enhanced through a shared library services partnership. Public health units with existing libraries will be invited to join this partnership. Staffing capacity for the libraries in the partnership will be supplemented to allow them to provide services to a group of health units without a library. Consequently, health units without a library will be able to request literature searches, article delivery and other supports to a library within this partnership. Through the shared library services partnership, all 36 health units will have access to skilled library professionals and resources. Those health units with libraries that partner as a service provider will receive additional resources to hire skilled library professionals and purchase additional items for their collection.
The Virtual Library is a suite of bibliographic databases that indexes thousands of peer-reviewed scientific journals. In addition to bibliographic records, the Virtual Library links to full-text public health journals which are considered core resources in public health. All staff working in public health units have access to the Virtual Library. While the Virtual Library provides access to a number of databases, some subjects and public health disciplines are underrepresented. The Virtual Library will be reviewed to identify additional databases to acquire in order to better serve the needs of public health units. Funds will be provided to purchase annual subscriptions to the additional databases. An annual subscription to a web-based tool that organizes and provides links to all of the public health library’s e-resources will be purchased for all public health units.
This tool offers users a “one-stop” search of all the public health units’ e-collections, with easy navigation to full-text content. It will maximize the access and exposure of e-resources by integrating subscriptions from public health units and the Virtual Library to:
Knowing where and how to retrieve, evaluate, and organize information is critical to evidence-informed practice and decision-making. Library awareness and training will be offered to public health professionals working in health units to provide them with information on what resources are available and how best to use these resources (e.g., using the Virtual Library to conduct literature searches and using reference organizing tools). Other training tools may include a newsletter and a distribution list for emailing practice tips.
Over the last few decades, the Public Health Research, Education and Development (PHRED) program has generated a wealth of documents containing valuable information on a variety of public health related topics. To preserve and maintain the rich information contained within these documents, they will be catalogued and stored in an easily searchable and accessible electronic warehouse. Until the electronic warehouse is created, a number of the PHRED documents can be found on the PHRED website.
For more information about the library services and the new program, read the paper A New Program Model for Supporting Applied Research and Program Evaluation, Education and Professional Development, and Knowledge Exchange in Public Health.Questions can be sent to feedback@oahpp.ca. |
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