Integrating information literacy into the education of public health professionals: roles for librarians and the library.
OBJECTIVE
The paper reviews the core competencies for public health professionals presented in the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) report, Who Will Keep the Public Healthy: Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century; describes improving information literacy (IL) as a mechanism for integrating the core competencies in public health education; and showcases IL as an opportunity for solidifying partnerships between academic librarians and public health educators.


METHODS
The IOM competencies, along with explicit examples of library support from a literature review of current IL trends in the health sciences, are analyzed.


RESULTS
Librarians can play a fundamental role in implementing the IOM's core competencies in shaping public health education for the twenty-first century. A partnership between public health educators and librarians through a transdisciplinary approach is recommended.


CONCLUSIONS
IL skills and competencies integrated into public health curricula through a collaborative partnership between public health educators and librarians can help integrate the IOM's core competencies and improve public health education.
Cobus
Laura
L
Hunter College, Hunter College Health Professions Library, 425 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010, USA. lcobus@hunter.cuny.edu
D003162:Competency-Based Education / Q000458:organization & administration; D040381:Education, Public Health Professional / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D016245:Librarians; D007993:Libraries, Medical; D015969:National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S., Health and Medicine Division; D024382:Professional Role; D040442:Public Health Informatics / Q000193:education*; D014481:United States