Getting Started in Queensland Health Libraries: Professional Development & Staffing

Guidelines for Australian Health Libraries 5th ed. 2022

Queensland Health Salaries information:

• Administration Officers
• Professional Officers
• Technical Officers

NB: Employees under the Professional Officer (PO) and Technical Officer (TO) streams within Queensland Health are entitled to Professional Development Incentive Package allowance.

Employees also have entitlement to move between PO2 and PO3, and TO2 and TO3 levels on demonstrating ability and knowledge of higher level role - refer to the Queensland Public Services and Other Employees Award - State for details.

Monthly Workforce Profiles / Queensland Health Workforce Informatics

Temporary to Permanent Position Conversion

The Temporary Employment Directive 09/20 states, a fixed-term temporary employee can be converted to permanent status following a review of their status as a temporary employee by the agency. Section 149 of the Public Service Act establishes that a fixed term temporary employee who has been continuously employed for one year or more may request a review for conversion to permanent employment, allowing for periods of casual service and breaks in service of up to six weeks in a one-year period for a one-year review, and up to twelve weeks in the two-year period prior to the two-year review.

Position Descriptions

A range of position descriptions for Queensland Health library roles and others are available via the Queensland Health Libraries Network drive (hosted by Townsville University Hospital Library).

•  Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)
• Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals – Health Libraries Group (UK)
• European Assocation for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL)
• Health Libraries Australia (ALIA)
• Health Libraries Inc. (Vic)
• IFLA Health and Biomedical Libraries Section
• Medical Library Association (US)
• Queensland Universities Library Office of Cooperation (QULOC)

VALA - Libraries, Technology and the Future Inc.

• Australasian Solo Health Librarians CoP (AusSoloCOP) - contact: redcablibrary@health.qld.gov.au to register.
• Australasian Hospital Librarians' CoP
• Australian Health Library Managers Collaborative (AHMLC) - contact cheryl.hamill@health.wa.gov.au to register.

ALIA Information

• Salary scales and Work Level Guidelines (Member login required.)
   

Refer to your local position descriptions or review content on the shared QHLN drive.

Professional Development Allowance

Permanent Qld Health HHS staff employed under the PO or TO classification are entitled to $23 per fortnight professional development allowance. Refer to the current Award for details and discuss with supervisor/payroll if not in place (shows as a line on pay slip).

QUEENSLAND PUBLIC HEALTH SECTOR CERTIFIED AGREEMENT (No. 10) 2019  - Refer Section 5.2 Professional Development Incentive Package.

• Townsend, W. A., (et al). (2017). "A competency framework for librarians involved in systematic reviews." Journal of the Medical Library Association 105(3): 268.
  Health Librarianship Workforce and Education: Research to Plan the Future: Final Report. 2011 (HLA)

• Medical Librarianship - LibGig (LAC)
• NHS Library and Knowledge Services (UK)
• Professional Competencies - (MLA, US)
• Student Resources - (MLA, US) including Elevator Speeches

National Network of Libraries of Medicine (US) - some online courses available.

Introduction to Literature Searching MOOC (NHS UK) - select "self-enrol".

A systematic approach to searching: an efficient and complete method to develop literature searches. / Bramer WM, de Jonge GB, Rethlefsen ML, Mast F, Kleijnen J.  Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106 (4) 2018, pp:531-541. doi: 10.5195/jmla.2018.283.

Introduction to Systematic Reviews (online self-paced course) (Stanford University)

Carrying out systematic literature reviews: an introduction. Alan Davies. British Journal of Nursing, 28 (15) 2019, 1008-1014.

How to undertake a literature search: a step-by-step guide. / Mandy Watson. British Journal of Nursing 29 (7) 2020, 431-435.

How to undertake a literature search: enhancing your search. / Julie Key. British Journal of Nursing 29 (8) 2020, 481-483.

• Baker, D. and A. Allden (2017). Leading libraries: the view from above. UK, SCONUL.

Health Libraries Australia reports:

• Census 2016
• Health Libraries Return on Investment 2013

• Julia F. Sollenberger, Robert G. Holloway Jr, (2013). "The Evolving Role and Value of Libraries and Librarians in Health Care." JAMA. 2013;310(12):1231-1232. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.277050.

Awards (Queensland Health)

Enterprise Bargaining (Queensland Health) 
A body of work on Enterprise Bargaining is also stored on the QHLN share drive.

Together (Union)

Wage Rates

• Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)
• EndNote
• Health Libraries Australia (ALIA)
• Association of College & Research Libraries (ALA) (US). Health Sciences Interest Group
• Cochrane - Evidence Essentials
• Cochrane - Online Learning
• Cochrane & Wiley-Science Tutorials
• Cochrane - How to Use the Cochrane Library
• Education & Training - HSRIC, NLM (US)
• Introduction to Health Services Research (Academy Health, US)
• Library Juice Academy
• Active Learning Techniques for Librarians (McMaster University Library.)
• Medical Library Association
• National Library of Medicine (US) - (Registration required)
• Training & Outreach - National Institutes of Health (US)
• Skilltype

Systematic Reviews

• Cochrane Interactive Training
• How to prepare a Cochrane review
• Optimal database combinations for literature searches in systematic reviews: a prospective exploratory study / W.M. Bramer (et al). Systematic Reviews, v. 5 (1) 2017, pp. 245-.
• Systematic reviews: the process (Duke University)
• What kind of systematic review should I conduct? A proposed typology and guidance for systematic reviewers in the medical and health sciences. / Munn, Z., Stern, C., Aromataris, E., Lockwood, C., & Jordan, Z. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(5) 2018, 1-9. 10.1186/s12874-017-0468-4
• The Art and Science of Searching ... (online self-paced course) (University of Singapore)

MESH

NLM Office Hours: MeSH

Research Data Management Librarian Academy (RDMLA)

PubMed

• Trainer's Toolkit
• How PubMed Works (Training course from NNLM)
• PubMed Essentials / NLM (video)

• PubMed (University of Texas. Austin)

Statistics 

• Health Statistics on the Web / NLM (video)
• Making Sense of Numbers / NLM (video)

• Health Sciences Librarian Research Guide - MLA, 2017.
• The role of the health librarian: ways of working towards professional recognition in the Australian health workforce / Diana Blackwood & Jeanette Bunting, HIM Interchange v.6 (3) 2016, pp. 14-19.
• Research engagement health librarianship: Outcomes of a focus group {UK} / Hannah Springs (et al), Lib & Info Sci J v.36 (2-4), 2014.
• Expert searching in health librarianship: a literature review to identify international issues and Australian concerns / Kaye Lasserre, Health Information & Libraries Journal, v. 29, (1) 2012.
• Information professionals' participation in interdisciplinary research: a preliminary study of factors affecting successful collaborations / Diane L. Lorenzetti, Gayle Rutherford, Health Information & Libraries Journal, v. 29 (4) 2012.
• Developing research capacity in health librarians: A review of the evidence / Hannah Rossall (et al), Health Information & Libraries Journal v.25(3):159-74 2008.
• Grossetta Nardini HK, Batten J, Funaro MC, Garcia-Milian R, Nyhan, K, Spak JM, Wang L, Glover JG. Librarians as methodological peer reviewers for systematic reviews: results of an online survey. Res Integr Peer Rev 4, 23 (2019)

•  Training, Conference and Professional Development - Health Libraries Australia (Annual Conference: July)
• Events and Conference - Health Libraries Inc (Annual Conference: October)
• Queensland Health Libraries Network PD Day (annually in November)

• Fundamentals of Health Librarianship - Health Libraries Australia (not available 2023 - calling for expressions of interest February 2023)

Glossary for Library & Information Science

True Value Calculator / Syracruse University. School of Information Studies.
(Although designed for public libraries, this tool is of value to health and special libraries too.)

Valuing Library Services Calculator / NLM - note: US values but a good starting point.