Full-Length Paper

Library or iSchool Involvement in Health-Related Informatics Education

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Abstract

Objective: An underexplored area in Library and Information Science (LIS) is the development of educational offerings and partnerships in Health-Related Informatics (HRI) (e.g., bioinformatics, clinical informatics, health informatics). The purpose of this study is to identify which disciplines are collaborating in HRI education and how partnerships developed.

Methods: This study was conducted in two parts: a website review and survey. Seventy-seven North American ALA-accredited and iSchool member websites were searched between November 2019-March 2020 for HRI-related educational offerings and which academic units were involved. Two hundred sixteen individuals involved in LIS and/or HRI education were contacted for a 40-question survey that included: their roles and responsibilities regarding HRI education; the alignment of this education with strategic plans or competencies; and how HRI partnerships developed. The survey also asked those who were not currently partnering in HRI education which factors influenced their circumstances.

Results: 352 HRI educational offerings existed within ALA-accredited or iSchool programs. A total of 38 (17.5%) responded to the survey. For almost two-thirds of these, there was no indication of partnership in that education (213/352, 60.5%). LIS or iSchool involvement in HRI is just under one-third of all offerings (111/352, 31%). “Health or healthcare” informatics (35) or “biomedical or bioinformatics” were the most common types of HRI offered from the website review and survey.

Conclusions: Opportunities exist for LIS programs to form HRI educational partnerships that will provide richer educational offerings for LIS students and health sciences librarians.

Keywords: Informatics, higher education, health sciences, Library and Information Science, iSchools

How to Cite:

Griffin, T. & Raszewski, R. & Beverley, H., (2022) “Library or iSchool Involvement in Health-Related Informatics Education”, Journal of eScience Librarianship 11(1): 3. doi: https://doi.org/10.7191/jeslib.2022.1228

Rights: Copyright © 2022 Griffin, Raszewski and Beverley. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.