Information work of hospital librarians: Making the invisible visible

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore and to make visible how the information work of hospital librarians is enacted in key practices where services of the hospital library are employed to support evidence-based practice. The empirical material was produced at three hospital libraries in three different regions in Sweden between January and March 2020. A practice-oriented approach using the theoretical lens information work is employed to analyze nine semi-structured interviews with hospital librarians and hospital library managers, together with field notes from observations of interactions between hospital librarians and healthcare practitioners. The analysis investigates the conditions for information work performed by hospital librarians as they participate in three key practices: clinical practices, information seeking practices, and HTA-practices. The results of the analysis are related to four categories of invisible information work, and the nature of the information work done to counter different types of invisibilities within the key practices is discussed. The findings suggest that a substantial amount of the information work of hospital librarians is invisible to clinicians. At the same time, considerable efforts are made by hospital librarians to counter different types of invisibility, for example through building relationships with healthcare staff and to develop and make specialized competencies visible. In particular, the importance assigned to evidence-based practice in healthcare allows for the librarians to be regarded by clinicians as legitimate partners with clearly defined competencies in specific situations.

The collaborative use of career information by young people and career advisers: A thematic content analysis of career counselling records

“…This suggests that information use is implicit in discussions and tasks, and may be invisible to both those who undertake it and those who observe it. This is in line with prior work reported by Hanell and Ahlryd (2021) and McKenzie and Dalmer (2020).…”

“…In the wider literature, a similar lack of clarity regarding the information-handling demands of jobs and job tasks has been reported, even in occupations known to be particularly information-intensive, such as archival work (Garwood & Poole, 2021). The degree of information seeking performed as part of one's job may be considerable, and yet, to some extent, invisible (Hanell & Ahlryd, 2021; McKenzie & Dalmer, 2020).…”

Ubiquitous but invisible – public librarians’ self-imposed professional information practices as articulation work

“…Our results are in line with previous research that has shown that information work is often invisible (Ehrlich and Cash, 1999;Hanell and Ahlryd, 2023;McKenzie and Dalmer, 2020). The theme of invisibility that McKenzie and Dalmer (2020) identify with reference to the location where the work takes place, for example, at home, also occurs in our study.…”

“…In a similar vein, but with a particular focus on the mediation work of librarians, Ehrlich and Cash (1999) identify three perspectives from which library work appears as invisible: to the library visitor 'who has no reason to be aware of the complex skills associated with finding the requested information', within an organisation, and at managerial levels, 'which may lead to misguided attempts to create "better" or "less complex" information management schemes' (p. 151). Hanell and Ahlryd (2023) also employ the concept 'invisible work' in their study of hospital librarians' work. They conclude that a significant portion of their work is invisible to clinicians.…”

Det performative samspil mellem digital infrastruktur og kulturelle arrangementer i den professionelle praksis i danske folkebiblioteker

“…Boudreau et al (2014) ogHanell & Ahlryd (2023). Andre informanter naevnte, at de var blevet ansat til netop at tage sig af fysiske kulturelle aktiviteter og havde derfor kompetencerne til dette, og endelig argumenterede flere, at fysiske aktiviteter i biblioteksrummet var nødvendige, hvis biblioteket skulle overleve:"Jeg har jo selv sådan en kongstanke omkring bibliotekerne, at jeg synes man skal gå efter at møde folk i levende live, fordi det tror jeg er det, der på en eller anden måde bliver bibliotekernes redning, nu lyder det meget dramatisk, men altså nu har jeg ikke vaeret i biblioteksbranchen så laenge, men laenge nok til at fornemme det her med at udlånet falder…" (Interview nr 22).…”