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Clinical Librarianship: Its Value in Medical Care
- Patient care team
- Library science
- Quality and health care
- Information services
- Clinical medical librarian
Many studies have demonstrated the value of supplementing the information in doctors' heads with information from the published literature delivered to the point of care. Most of the physicians interviewed in three studies conducted in Chicago; Rochester, New York; and the United Kingdom said that answers to their questions from the literature provided new information; refreshed their memory regarding details or facts; or substantiated previous knowledge or beliefs, improving their confidence in their decisions (Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1996; 84:482-9).
Medical library services ensure that health care providers have access to reliable, relevant, and up-to-date published information that enhances the quality of care (Carmel M, ed. Health Care Librarianship and Information Work. London: Library Association Publishing; 1981:289). Clinicians who are actively assisted by clinical librarians are able to gather information from a wide selection of medical publications rather than relying only on memory or the advice of a few colleagues. Thus, the bedside consult can be based on the world of published medical data, analysis, and opinion.
History of Medical Librarianship
The first collections of medical books belonged to individual physicians and later to medical associations. Some libraries were formed around the nucleus of good book collections. Between 1875 and 1900, the foundations were laid for modern generalized librarianship, and schools began to teach library science. In 1917, there were 174 medical libraries in the United States, and the need for librarians with medical training was finally recognized. During the 1920s, libraries in hospitals and sanatoria were chiefly used for recreation by the patients, but they soon evolved into a scientific aid to physicians as a repository for published research and case histories.
By 1939, medical librarianship was recognized as a distinct profession. In 1947, the Medical Library Association formally adopted a program of special training for medical librarians, and in 1948 the …
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