This is a temporary placeholder for the impact studies identified by the Medical Library Association (MLA) Research Training Institute (RTI) Value Studies Working Group. The studies will be incorporated onto the MLA site.
The MLA RTI Value Studies Working Group was asked to identify studies that empirically demonstrate the value and impact of librarians to the health professions.
The project came out of the MLA Research Imperative Task Force, which was formed to advance health information research and evidence-based practice within our community.
Clinical Decisions and Patient Care
Dunn, K., & Marshall, J. (2017). Examining the role of MEDLINE as a patient care information resource: an analysis of data from the Value of Libraries study. JMLA, 105(4).
Brettle, A., Maden, M., & Payne, C. (2016). The impact of clinical librarian services on patients and health care organisations. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 33(2), 100–120.
Taylor, M. V., & Stephenson, P. L. (2018). Demonstrating Value in Federal Medical Center Libraries. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 37(4), 403–412.
Sadeghi, H., Nowkarizi, M., & Tajafari, M. (2022). Critical incident technique helps determine how health library and information services influence clinical decision making and patient care: A literature review. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 39(2), 102–115.
Divall, P., James, C., Heaton, M., & Brettle, A. (2022). UK survey demonstrates a wide range of impacts attributable to clinical librarian services. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 39(2), 116–131.
Marshall, J. G., Sollenberger, J., Easterby-Gannett, S., Morgan, L. K., Klem, M. L., Cavanaugh, S. K., Oliver, K. B., Thompson, C. A., Romanosky, N., & Hunter, S. (2013). The value of library and information services in patient care: results of a multisite study. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 101(1), 38.
Siemensma, G., & Clayworth, C. (2021). Analysis of a Hospital Librarian Mediated Literature Search Service at a Regional Health Service in Australia. Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 21(1), 11–19.
Sakai, Y., Sato, Y., Sato, M., & Watanabe, M. (2018). Clinical usefulness of library and information services in Japan: The detailed use and value of information in clinical settings.
Siemensma, G., Clayworth, C., & Pitman, M. (2022). Impact of a Hospital Library Service at a Regional Health Service in Australia. Https://Doi.Org/10.1080/15323269.2022.2124796, 1–13.
Systematic Reviews and Evidence Syntheses
Koffel, J. B. (2015). Use of Recommended Search Strategies in Systematic Reviews and the Impact of Librarian Involvement: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Recent Authors. PLOS ONE, 10(5), e0125931.
Rethlefsen ML, Farrell AM, Osterhaus Trzasko LC, Brigham TJ. Librarian co-authors correlated with higher quality reported search strategies in general internal medicine systematic reviews. J Clin Epidemiol. 2015 Jun;68(6):617-26. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.11.025. Epub 2015 Feb 7. PMID: 25766056.
Aamodt, M., Huurdeman, H., & Strømme, H. (2019). Librarian co-authored systematic reviews are associated with lower risk of bias compared to systematic reviews with acknowledgement of librarians or no participation by librarians. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 14(4), 103–127.
Meert, D., Torabi, N., & Costella, J. (2016). Impact of librarians on reporting of the literature searching component of pediatric systematic reviews. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 104(4), 267-277-267–277.
Hameed, I., Demetres, M., Tam, D. Y., Rahouma, M., Khan, F. M., Wright, D. N., Mages, K., Derosa, A. P., Nelson, B. B., Pain, K., Delgado, D., Girardi, L. N., Fremes, S. E., & Gaudino, M. (2020). An assessment of the quality of current clinical meta-analyses. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 20(1).
Ramirez, D., Foster, M. J., Kogut, A., & Xiao, D. (2022). Adherence to systematic review standards: Impact of librarian involvement in Campbell Collaboration’s education reviews. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 48(5), 102567.
Economic Benefits and Return on Investment
Luther, J., & Cooper, K. (2008). UNIVERSITY INVESTMENT IN THE LIBRARY: WHAT’S THE RETURN? A case study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Elsevier LibraryConnect (white paper #1).
King, D. W., & Tenopir, C. (2013). Linking Information Seeking Patterns with Purpose, Use, Value, and Return On Investment of Academic Library Journals. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 8(2), 153–162.
Banks, D. E., Shi, R., Timm, D. F., Christopher, K. A., Duggar, D. C., Comegys, M., & McLarty, J. (2007). Decreased hospital length of stay associated with presentation of cases at morning report with librarian support. Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA, 95(4), 381.
Jemison, K., Poletti, E. D., Schneider, J., Clark, N., & Stone, R. D. (2009). Measuring Return on Investment in VA Libraries. Http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.1080/15323260903253803, 9(4), 379–390.
Sadera, G., Treadway, V., Kelly, S., Garner, J., Hartfiel, N., Lawrence, C., Rhiannon Tudor Edwards, P., Lecturer, S., & Tudor Edwards, R. (n.d.). Edwards RT. (2019). The clinical librarian as a knowledge mobiliser: A mixed-methods intervention study developing and evaluating the effectiveness and return on investment of a knowledge mobilisation model tailored to critical care. Health Education England, Nov 2019.
Hartfiel, N., Sadera, G., Treadway, V., Lawrence, C., & Tudor Edwards, R. (2021). A clinical librarian in a hospital critical care unit may generate a positive return on investment. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 38(2), 97–112.
IFLA. (2020). Library Return on Investment – Review of Evidence from the Last 10 Years – IFLA. July 2020. IFLA.
Madden A, Collins P, McGowan S, Stevenson P, Castelli D, Hyde L, DeSanto K, O’Brien N, Purdon M, Delgado D. (2016). Demonstrating the financial impact of clinical libraries: a systematic review. Health Information & Libraries Journal 2016 33(3):172-189.
Edwards C, Gilroy D, Mallender J. (2022). Evidence searches undertaken by knowledge and library specialists save the time of health care professional and produce and economic benefit to the NHS in England. Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 22(4),284-298.
Education
Tahmasebi, M., Adibi, P., Zare-Farashbandi, F., Papi, A., & Rahimi, A. (2020). The educational role of clinical informationist on improving clinical education among medical students: Based on Kirkpatrick model. J Educ Health Promot, 9, 28.
Anderson, B. J., Dudla, S., Marantz, P. R., Kligler, B. E., Leininger, B. D., & Evans, R. (2021). Survey analysis to determine the impact of evidence informed practice education upon East Asian medicine faculty clinical instruction and students’ skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors within a master’s degree program. BMC Med Educ, 21(1), 256.
Brian, R., Orlov, N., Werner, D., Martin, S. K., Arora, V. M., & Alkureishi, M. (2018). Evaluating the impact of clinical librarians on clinical questions during inpatient rounds. J Med Libr Assoc, 106(2), 175–183.
Abdekhoda, M., Dehnad, A., & Yousefi, M. (2016). Effectiveness of training intervention to improve medical student’s information literacy skills. Korean J Med Educ, 28(4), 391–395.
Adisso, E. L., Borde, V., Saint-Hilaire, M.-È., Robitaille, H., Archambault, P., Blais, J., Cameron, C., Cauchon, M., Fleet, R., Létourneau, J.-S., Labrecque, M., Quinty, J., Samson, I., Boucher, A., Zomahoun, H. T. V., & Légaré, F. (2018). Can patients be trained to expect shared decision making in clinical consultations? Feasibility study of a public library program to raise patient awareness. PLOS ONE, 13(12), e0208449.
Patient Safety
Kemp, T., Butler-Henderson, K., Allen, P., & Ayton, J. (2021). The impact of health information management professionals on patient safety: A systematic review. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 38(4), 248–258.
Data Management
Griffin, T. M. (2021). Knowledge and Practice Changes Following a Student Data-Focused Data Management Education Program. Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication, 9(1), 12906.
Disaster Preparedness
Rebmann, T., Tao, D., Austin Turner, J., Loux, T. M., Srinivasan, S., & Garza, A. (2019). Implementation and Evaluation of the Value of Improved and Sustained Information Access by Library Expertise (VISIBLE) Program. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 13(5–6), 982–988.
Research Impact
Gutzman, K. E., Bales, M. E., Belter, C. W., Chambers, T., Chan, L., Holmes, K. L., Lu, Y. L., Palmer, L. A., Reznik-Zellen, R. C., Sarli, C. C., Suiter, A. M., & Wheeler, T. R. (2018). Research evaluation support services in biomedical libraries. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106(1), 1-14.
Public Health
Lowenstein, M., Feuerstein-Simon, R., Sheni, R., Dupuis, R., Kinsey, E. W., Luna Marti, X., & Cannuscio, C. (2021). Public libraries as partners in confronting the overdose crisis: A qualitative analysis. Substance Abuse, 42(3), 302–309.
Administration & Policy
Taylor, M. V., & Stephenson, P. L. (2018). Demonstrating Value in Federal Medical Center Libraries. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 37(4), 403–412.
Standards
CHLA-ABSC Standards Task Force. (2020). View of CHLA Standards for Library and Information Services in Canadian Health & Social Services Institutions 2020 | Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association / Journal de l’Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada.
Ritchie, A. (2022). Title: Guidelines for Australian Health Libraries, 5 th edition Author: Ann Ritchie Affiliation: National Manager, Health Libraries Australia Date: 2022 Publisher: ALIA and HLA.
Institute of Medicine (US). (2011). Committee on Standards for Systematic Reviews of Comparative Effectiveness Research Eden J, Levit L, Berg A, et al., editors. Finding What Works in Health Care: Standards for Systematic Reviews. Washington (DC) National Academies Press (US); 2011.
EUnetHTA JA3WP6B2-2 Authoring Team. Process of information retrieval for systematic reviews and health technology assessments on clinical effectiveness. Methodological Guidelines. Diemen (The Netherlands): EUnetHTA; 2019. (2.2.2. Expertise in searching, p16).
Iverson, S., Seta, M. della, Lefebvre, C., Ritchie, A., Traditi, L., & Baliozian, K. (2021). International health library associations urge the ICMJE to seek information specialists as peer reviewers for knowledge synthesis publications. Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA, 109(3), 503.
World Health Organization. (2014). WHO Handbook for Guideline Development, 2nd Ed. World Health Organization. (Chapter 8 pps 98, 98; Chapter 11, pps 140, 143,144).
Lefebvre C, Glanville J, Briscoe S, Featherstone R, Littlewood A, Marshall C, Metzendorf M-I, Noe-Storr A, Paynter R, Rader T, Thomas J, Wieland LS. Chapter 4: Searching for and selecting studies. In Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). (2022). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.3 (updated February 2022). Cochrane, 2022. (Chapter 4, multiple pages).
NHS Health Education England. (n.d.). Value Proposition: The Gift of Time | Health Education England. 2020.