On November 9-11, 2009, HSLS faculty librarians presented an intensive 2.5 day systematic review workshop for health science librarians from across the country. The focus of this course was to provide support and instruction to librarians consulting with authors of systematic reviews in their home institutions. Topics covered included:
- The structure and purpose of systematic reviews
- The reference interview and communication issues
- Approaches to comprehensive literature searching
- Project organization
Attendees included librarians from By the Book Research Services, Case Western Reserve University, The Children’s Institute, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, The Joint Commission, National Institutes of Health, Oncology Nursing Society, Oregon Health and Science University, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Temple University, Texas A&M University, University of Connecticut, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, University of Tennessee, University of Vermont, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Washington University in St. Louis.
Upon completion of the course, participants were awarded 20.0 Medical Library Association (MLA) continuing education credits.
This workshop grew out of an HSLS internal working group to address the growing number of requests from University of Pittsburgh and UPMC faculty for assistance with systematic reviews and instruction in systematic review literature searching. The workshop attracted a large waiting list of applicants and will likely be offered again in the future.
HSLS faculty librarian instructors included Linda Hartman, MLS, Mary Lou Klem, PhD, MLIS, Melissa Ratajeski, MLIS, RLAT, Ahlam A. Saleh, MD, MLS, and Charles B. Wessel, MLS.
~ Charles Wessel