Knowledge Management in Hospitals: Drawing from Experience to Define the Librarian's Role

Abstract

The future of hospital librarians is measured by how successful they are in adapting to new demands and in seeing innovative opportunities that have impact in the acute care setting. The authors share their experiences working with information professionals from corporate and hospital environments to envision how the concepts of knowledge management and transfer—as applied in the corporate environment—could be applied in a hospital/health system. The workshop session used the process of Appreciative Inquiry to facilitate a positive conversation. Participants shared their experiences in knowledge transfer activities—both traditional and expansive in nature. Together they build a list of skill sets that librarians already embody to help organizations support their knowledge transfer efforts that may have not been recognized by leadership or the librarians themselves. The participants' positive experiences illustrated how these skills might enhance knowledge-sharing activities in hospitals. The group discussed how an expanded, proactive knowledge role could be implemented by hospital librarians. They drafted descriptions of Plan-Do-Study-Act projects to test the potential outcomes of this expanded application. The authors hypothesize that an explicit role for hospital librarians in sustaining successful knowledge transfer will contribute to organizational learning about error and quality improvement. The work begun by this group aimed to launch future discussions and studies on the role of librarians in knowledge management activities in hospitals.

KEYWORDS:

• Appreciative inquiry
• knowledge management
• librarian's role
• Plan-Do-Study-Act
• quality improvement, skill sets
• visioning

The authors thank the NNLM Greater Midwest Region for funding the initial workshop; 2007 workshop participants for their energy and engagement in the process; and Margaret Fagiolo-Tomesseli for her work in capturing the minutes of the session.

Notes

Comments and suggestions should be sent to the Column Editors: Sally A. Harvey (E-mail: [email protected]); Donna Beales (E-mail: dbeales2lowellgeneral.org; or Beth Robb, MALS, AHIP (E-mail: [email protected].)