From EBM to EBL: two steps forward or one step back?
The author employs his vantage point as a contributor to Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) and Evidence-based Librarianship (EBL) in the United Kingdom to anticipate obstacles to be overcome by the emerging EBL paradigm. After reviewing and synthesizing three proto-definitions of EBL, he discusses issues around the potential domains to be populated by research findings. He then briefly considers the contribution that critical appraisal skills can make to an evidence-based profession. In concluding that "evidence-based librarianship" is a self-limiting "label," he encourages health information professionals instead to promote the contribution of librarianship to evidence-based practice, a role for which they are uniquely qualified.
Booth
Andrew
A
School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 30 Regent Street, Sheffield, S1 4DA, U.K. A.Booth@sheffield.ac.uk
D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D003657:Decision Making; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D007993:Libraries, Medical; D007998:Library Science / Q000592:standards*; D011361:Professional Competence; D006113:United Kingdom