The Roles of Medical Library in Information Seeking Behavior of Health Care Professionals: A Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT

Medical libraries are designed to assist healthcare professionals by providing up-to-date information resources. This paper outlines the roles medical libraries play in the information-seeking behavior of health professionals. An in-depth English language literature search was conducted with different Medical Subject Headings and keywords. The search was executed in CINAHL, PubMed, LISTA and other relevant resources. Journal articles were searched and reviewed between 2000-2020. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were set. The search results are presented using the PRISMA flowchart. In this study 354 articles were retrieved and 50 articles met the inclusion criteria. The results show that medical libraries and librarians have a significant role in shaping the information-seeking behavior of health professionals. The lack of professional medical librarians in certain settings, IT and Internet availability, hinder the information-seeking behavior of health professionals. Medical libraries play a significant role in addressing the information needs of health professionals by facilitating access to information literacy training and electronic information resources. University and college administrators must prioritize investments in medical library infrastructure, including personnel, physical facilities, collections and information technology.

KEYWORDS:

• computer user training; health care; health professionals; information need; information-seeking behavior; information skills; librarians; libraries; literature; medical; review

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Mrs. Sandra Kendall and Dr. Chris Walsh for guiding and suggesting this important topic for publication and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions and careful reading of the manuscript and for the collaboration with Toronto Addis-Ababa Academic Collaboration (TAAAC) to provide training which inspired thoughts about the Information-seeking behavior of healthcare professionals.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).