In Meeting Information Needs: Fulfilling Information Needs you’ll take on the role of a reference librarian who responds to two very different information requests–one best met with quantitative studies, the other, with qualitative studies. As you meet the requests, you’ll learn to identify the type of question, the type of studies appropriate for addressing a question type, and the databases where you can find appropriate studies. In the process, you’ll also learn how to use quantitative and qualitative evidence pyramids to select quality studies, construct basic searches, and communicate professionally to requestors to ensure you send them just what they need.
This is the second MLA course of the three courses in the Meeting Information Needs Series. The first MLA course is Meeting Information Needs: Assessing Information Needs. You can take the third course, PubMed Essentials -On Demand, a free course offered by NNLM, at any point.
The course includes:
- Realistic scenarios that you engage to develop and practice skills in assessing information needs
- Downloadable job aids and other resources
- Pre and post self-assessments of your information services skills
- Guidance and resources on supplementing your skills
Learning Outcomes
After you complete the course you will be able to:
- Use elements of evidence-based practice to efficiently answer questions from health sciences professionals.
- Describe qualitative and quantitative versions of the evidence pyramid and how they differ.
- Utilize common electronic resources to search for information.
- Organize and deliver evidence-based information to answer patron questions.
Audience
Health information professionals who want a solid grounding in the core medical librarianship skill of finding information to answer biomedical and health-related questions at the point of need.
MLA CE Credits 1.5
Subject Matter Expert
Amy Blevins oversees research, liaison, education, and data services at the Ruth Lilly Medical Library at the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) in Indianapolis. Since 2017, Ms. Blevins has served as the thread leader for evidence-based medicine (EBM) for IUSM. In addition to teaching several webinars and continuing education workshops, she has worked on more than fourteen published systematic reviews and co-edited the book, Curriculum-Based Library Instruction: From Cultivating Faculty Relationships to Assessment.
The Assessing Information Needs Course Creation Team
Amy Blevins, Subject Matter Expert
Susan Nabone Beck, Instructional Designer
Staff support:
Deb Cavanaugh, Project Manager
Barry Grant, Project Manager