Mapping the Health Science Librarianship Research Field in 2012 – 2022

Abstract

Evidence-based practice is an important aspect of health science librarianship. However, good evidence-based practice can only occur if the body of evidence is also of adequate quality. By using bibliometric techniques to map the health science librarianship research field, one can better understand the affordances towards evidence-based practice it can provide. The ‘Library Literature & Information Science Full Text’ database was used to generate a bibliography of publications pertaining to health librarianship limited to the time span of 2012 – 2022. Using Excel and Microsoft Power BI, a descriptive analysis was conducted. VosViewer was used to create a subject term co-occurrence map. The identified themes were professional development, measuring the value output of librarian services, measuring the return on investment of library resources, improving the quality of LIS research, and outreach to other library and healthcare institutions. This depicts the health science librarianship research landscape as one of collaboration, concerned with finding ways of demonstrating value, and connecting with other types of libraries and the public.

Vinson Li

Librarian Educator, Nova Scotia Health

My name is Vinson Li and I am a Research Assistant at Dalhousie University. I hold a PharmD from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto and a Master of Information from Dalhousie University. My research areas of interest include: bibliometrics, health science librarianship, and combatting misinformation. I am also the Librarian Educator at Nova Scotia Health.