Hands-On Activities for Librarians to Build Evidence Synthesis Competencies

Abstract

Since 2013, the University of Michigan Taubman Health Sciences Library has regularly offered a workshop titled "Systematic Reviews: Opportunities for Librarians," taught to a small cohort of librarians from many institutions each year. That workshop includes an asynchronous online learning component over multiple weeks, followed by several days of live instruction, which are typically in person, but have been occasionally online due to pandemic disruptions. In this presentation, we will share our most successful activities used in that workshop. These activities include real-world scenario prompts for group discussion, structured hands-on learning with shared reflections, and individual goal setting. Evidence synthesis topics covered include being part of an evidence synthesis team, developing search expertise, understanding and avoiding potential biases, writing the methods section of a manuscript, managing data, and more. We'll present how and why we developed these activities, and give suggestions on how you can adapt them for use in your own workplace or community of practice. We will make recommendations about deploying these activities in person or online settings, both synchronous and asynchronous. We will also advise on cultivating psychological safety to encourage engagement and growth, and suggest ways in which all participating evidence synthesis librarians, regardless of experience level, can learn from each other.