Open AccessLibrary or iSchool Involvement in Health-Related Informatics Education
Author(s) -
Tina Griffin,
Rebecca Raszewski,
Holly Beverley
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of escience librarianship
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2161-3974
DOI - 10.7191/jeslib.2022.1228
Subject(s) - accreditation , general partnership , informatics , medical education , health informatics , health care , medicine , library science , psychology , political science , computer science , law
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.