Library%20manpower%20in%20allopathic%20medical%20institutions%20in%20Kerala:%20a%20critical%20appraisal - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Title: Library%20manpower%20in%20allopathic%20medical%20institutions%20in%20Kerala:%20a%20critical%20appraisal


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Library manpower in allopathic medical
institutions in Kerala a critical appraisal

• Mr. Saji S. Nair
• Dr. Sunil Kumar P.

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RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY
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.Relevance of the study

• Medical libraries as a source of support
• Teaching
• Learning
• Research
• Patient care

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.Relevance of the study

• Medical librarians as information
  intermediaries
• Traditional role as custodians
• Beyond that .
• It is so important ..
• Qualifications
• Experience
• Professional exposure to events
• - Success and survival depend on .
• Knowledge
• Skill
• Competence in medical librarianship

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.Relevance of the study

• Research shows
• Professionally led library services have an
  impact on health outcomes for patients and may
  lead to time savings for health-care
  professionals.
• Weightman AL, Williamson J. The value and impact
  of information provided through library services
  for patient care a systematic review. Health
  Information And Libraries Journal
  200522(1)4-25.

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.Relevance of the study

• Kerala Infrastructure for allopathic medicine
• 681 Primary Health Centres
• 233 Community Health Centres
• 77 Taluk head quarter hospitals
• 16 District hospitals
• 15 General hospitals
• 19 speciality hospitals
• 17 Tuberculosis clinics
• 49 other hospitals
• Source Economic Review 2014 / Kerala State
  Planning Board. Thiruvananthapuram the board,
  2014

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.Relevance of the study

• Allopathic Medical Education in Kerala
• 32 MCI recognized institutions
• 30 medical colleges
• 2 Specialized medical institutions
• Annual intake of
• 3540 MBBS students
• 1246 PG students
• 8571 Faculty members
• Source Medical Council of India (2014).
  Retrieved November 26, 2014, from
  http//www.mciindia.org/

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
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Objectives of the study

• To determine the size of library manpower in
  allopathic medical institutions in Kerala.
• To ascertain designations, qualifications,
• salaries, experience and exposure to
  professional events of medical librarians.
• To evaluate the manpower attributes with respect
  to the norms prescribed by Medical Council of
  India.
• To offer suggestions for manpower development in
  academic medical libraries in Kerala.

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REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES
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Related Studies

• No exhaustive nation -wide surveys
• State-specific medical library surveys
• Karnataka
• Andhra Pradesh
• Gujarat
• Maharashtra
• Orissa
• Delhi
• In Kerala
• No studies so far
• Manpower attributes in University libraries -
  covered

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METHODOLOGY
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Methodology

• Survey research Cross sectional design
• Respondents Heads of 25 libraries
• Tools used
• Questionnaires, supplemented with
• informal interviews,
• observational visits.
• Data collection
• Completed in May 2013
• Response rate 100 .
• Data analysis
• Microsoft excel
• SPSS ver. 17
• Descriptive statistics

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FINDINGS
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University affiliation University affiliation
Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) 92
Private University 4
Statutory autonomous with University status 4
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Institutions Vs Level of Course Institutions Vs Level of Course
UG and PG combined 64
UG only 28
PG only 8
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• Majority are professionals.
• 210 incumbents in 25 libraries.
• 25 heads of libraries AND 105 supporting
  librarians.

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Staff strength Vs MCI stipulations Staff strength Vs MCI stipulations Staff strength Vs MCI stipulations Staff strength Vs MCI stipulations Staff strength Vs MCI stipulations
Staff Categories Required number as per MCI Mean number of staff Extreme values Extreme values
Staff Categories Required number as per MCI Mean number of staff Maximum Minimum
Professionals /Semi-professionals 8 4.5 10 2
Supporting staff 4 3.2 8 1
Total staff strength 12 8.4 18 5
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• Goals of academic medical libraries are same.
• Information requirements of professionals are not
  much different.
• Library staff is the backbone and it should be
  adequate.
• Libraries need to comply with the norms of
  regulatory authorities like MCI.

Reminders
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• BUT
• Libraries failed to comply with MCI norms.
• Inconsistent distribution of staff
• 80 of libraries are managed by 2 3
  professionals.
• Found !!! Practice of engaging support staff in
  professional staff positions
• Implications
• Dismal performance of libraries
• Affecting professionalism
• Heavy workload

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Distribution of designations of heads of libraries Distribution of designations of heads of libraries Distribution of designations of heads of libraries Distribution of designations of heads of libraries
Sl. No Designations Number of libraries Percentage
1 Chief librarian 11 44.0
2 Librarian 3 12.0
3 Senior grade librarian 3 12.0
4 Librarian cum information officer 3 12.0
5 Assistant librarian 2 8.0
6 Librarian Gr. I 2 8.0
7 Librarian Gr. IV 1 4.0
Total Total 25 100.0

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Distribution of designations of supporting librarians Distribution of designations of supporting librarians Distribution of designations of supporting librarians Distribution of designations of supporting librarians
Sl. No Designations Number of libraries Percentage
1 Assistant librarian 13 52.0
2 Library assistant 8 32.0
3 Deputy librarian 7 28.0
4 Cataloguer 3 12.0
5 Documentalist 3 12.0
6 Librarian 3 12.0
7 Librarian Gr. I 1 4.0
8 Librarian Gr. II 1 4.0
9 Librarian Gr. IV 6 24.0
10 Juniour Librarian 1 4.0
11 Seniour Librarian 1 4.0
12 Associate Librarian 1 4.0
13 Junior library Assistant 1 4.0
14 Librarian cum documentation officer 1 4.0
15 Librarian cum documentation assistant 1 4.0
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Salary pattern of incumbents
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Distribution of pay scales of librarians Distribution of pay scales of librarians Distribution of pay scales of librarians Distribution of pay scales of librarians
Sl. No. Pay scales Number of librarians Percentage
1 32110-44640 3 6.0
2 21240-37040 3 6.0
3 18740-33680 1 2.0
4 16180-29180 2 4.0
5 11620-20240 3 6.0
6 6680-10790 27 54.0
7 15600-39100 3 6.0
8 9300-34800 8 16.0
Total Total 50 100.0

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Distribution of consolidated salaries of librarians Distribution of consolidated salaries of librarians Distribution of consolidated salaries of librarians
Consolidated pay (Rs. as range) Number of librarians Percentage
10000 57 71.3
10001-15000 16 20.0
15001 - 20000 6 7.5
20000 1 1.2
Total 80 100.0

Less attractive salary structure
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Status of medical library experience of library
personnel
Less exposure to medical librarianship
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Professional events attended by the incumbents
Medical librarianship is at infancy in Kerala
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Other observations

• Lack of support from managements
• Lack of time bound promotions
• Non-recognition of skills

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SUGGESTIONS
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• MEDICAL LIBRARIANS
• New Titles Twists to old roles
• Clinical librarian
• Clinical informationist
• Bioinformationist
• Public health informationist
• Consumer health librarian
• Systematic review librarian
• .. And more
• Cooper ID, Crum JA. New activities and changing
  roles of health sciences librarians a systematic
  review, 1990-2012. J Med Libr Assoc. 2013
  Oct101(4)268-77.

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CLINICAL MEDICAL LIBRARIAN roles

• Participate in hospital rounds along with
  doctors.
• Learn the clinical situations and note the
  questions to be answered.
• Find answers to support doctors for decision
  making.
• Providing required information in the
  consolidated form.

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• Medical librarians - International perspectives
• Integral part of the health care team
• Serve as faculty of academic programs
• Design and manage
• websites, Internet blogs and digital libraries
• Conduct of outreach programs
• - departments and other stakeholders
• Liaison with faculty to accomplish institutional
  tasks
• Support for Evidence - Based Medical Practice
• and so on

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Evidence Based Medicine and Medical librarians

• EBM
• Is a practice utilizes current best evidence
• It requires
• Literature search
• Quality filtering
• Critical appraisal
• All are part of core knowledge of librarianship

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Here, the suggestion is

• The medical librarians in Kerala need to
• sense the changes in global medical library
  parlance
• Assimilate the new roles.
• Practice it in their institutional environment.
• Expectation a new breed of medical librarians

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Suggestions ..

• Medical librarianship in LIS curriculum
• Conduct of short-term courses in medical
  librarianship
• Continuing education programs for medical
  librarians
• Librarians as expert searchers
• Mediated literature search for doctors
• Curriculum integrated training to improve search
  skills
• Liaison with faculty and students

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Suggestions ..

• Professional issues to be resolved
• Attractive pay scales / salaries
• Rectification of anomalies
• Promotional prospects
• Direct recruitment in key posts

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CONCLUSIONS
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Conclusions

• Though Kerala specific study, it is a microcosm
  of the trends and tendencies in India.
• Though a qualified spectrum of medical librarians
  are available, they still like to continue in
  conventional roles.
• Even though, to some extent, they are busy with
  ensuring accessibility to E-Resources, they fail
  impress as agents of change.
• Medical librarians in the State need empowerment.
  Hence, parent bodies shall provide adequate
  support for them to acquire knowledge and
  skills.

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The Great Age of Libraries is coming to an end,
but.. the Great Age of librarians is just
beginning (Plutchak TS. Breaking the
barriers of time and space the dawning of the
great age of librarians. J Med Libr Assoc. 2012
Jan100(1)10-9)
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