Dear EBHers
I am surprised that there has as yet, been no contribution to this discussion from workers in healthcare libraries ... so here goes ...
The majority of my time as Clinical Librarian (in a large, general and specialist acute hospital which is also an undergraduate teaching and research institution) is spent performing in-depth searches on behalf of, and with, clinicians in the pursuit of the best available evidence. Staff from the library also deliver regular training sessions (which can be tailored for specific groups) in evidence-based searching skills e.g. learning how to frame answerable clinical questions and in the many different search techniques required in utilising the multitude of available EBH resources.
The library I work in provides a comprehensive enquiry service to all registered users (this includes PCT staff in the community, as well as hospital personnel and university medical school staff and researchers) and we frequently deliver results in hours, not days! Most healthcare libraries will provide a similar service. Performing high quality, comprehensive searches is after all, (part of) the job for which we are trained, and for which we are paid!
Whenever I perform searches with clinicians, they are invariably surprised at the number of resources I routinely search, and the persistance and time I am prepared (i.e. have available) to expend on their search. A recent quote from an SpR in our Emergency Department when asked about the efficacy of the Clinical Librarian service was that her search went "from quick and dirty to clean and comprehensive".
I am sure that subscribers to this list have a huge and possibly untapped resource available to them in the form of librarians in their workplace libraries ... go on, I dare you, ask a librarian ... we like it!
Helen Carter
Clinical Librarian
Oxford, UK
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