CHLA Standards for Library and Information Services in Canadian Health & Social Services Institutions 2020

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/jchla29526

Abstract

The following standards, with supporting evidence, are intended to serve as a guide to structuring minimum library services within health and social services institutions across all Canadian provinces and territories. The Standards are not intended to be aspirational. The aim of the Canada Health Libraries Association (CHLA) Task Force was to ensure that the Standards update would not be so removed from the current realities and landscape that they became unattainable to many libraries. For this reason, some Standards outline requirements that are essential to the minimum function of the library, and other Standards provide recommendations only. The intended use of the Standards is to set a baseline for the provision of essential library services and resources and aid in advocating for adequate resources. It is important to note, however, that the CHLA Task Force does not intend for the Standards to prevent libraries from reaching a more advanced level of service, and we hope that in their current form they will not be a hindrance to excellence or innovation. 

Author Biography

Francesca Frati, McGill University Libraries

Francesca Frati is assistant librarian at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. She is the liaison librarian for the Ingram School of Nursing, where she provides support for teaching, learning and research primarily in the areas of evidence-based practice and knowledge synthesis for students and faculty across all programs. She is also the liaison for McGill affiliated health institution libraries.

 

Francesca has a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, and received her Masters of Library and Information Studies in 2005 from the Dalhousie University School of Library and Information Studies in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From 2005-2012 she worked as a consultant at the Herzl Family Practice Centre at the Jewish General Hospital (JGH), a McGill University teaching hospital, where she provided clinical and research support to residents, clinicians and researchers, and piloted an innovative information prescription service for patients and families at point of care. She worked at the JGH Health Sciences Library from 2007-2016 where she was responsible for implementing new services and managing projects in the areas of evidence-based practice instruction, clinical librarianship, knowledge synthesis, web and database development and patient education as well as collection development and electronic resources management. From 2015-2016 she was Interim Chief Medical Librarian for the West Central Health Network.

 

Francesca founded and chaired the hospital-wide multidisciplinary JGH Patient Education Network (PEN) Working Group (archive.JGH.ca/PEN) from 2008-2016, providing leadership to clinicians and staff in the area of patient education and ensuring access to evidence-based consumer health information to support shared decision-making and patient safety via the PEN Database (archive.JGH.ca/PFRC). She is the President of the Canadian Health Libraries Association (CHLA), and co-chair of the CHLA Standards for Health Institution Libraries Task Force. She is a member of the ACRL Nursing Information Literacy Framework Working Group and a member of the Information Technology Primary Care Research Group (ITPCRG) at McGill University. She has received Lean-Six Sigma green belt and JBI knowledge synthesis reviewer certifications.

Current research interests include: evidence-informed practice and information literacy in nursing curricula, inquiry-based learning, the role of librarians in knowledge synthesis, patient education and consumer health, health literacy, library standards, and library advocacy.

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Published

2021-04-02

How to Cite

Frati, F., Oja, L. A. ., & Kleinberg, J. (2021). CHLA Standards for Library and Information Services in Canadian Health & Social Services Institutions 2020. Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association Journal De l’Association Des bibliothèques De La Santé Du Canada, 42(1). https://doi.org/10.29173/jchla29526

Issue

Vol. 42 No. 1 (2021): April

Section

Standards

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