Informationist

Informationist

An Informationist (or Information Specialist in Context) provides research and knowledge management services in the context of clinical care or biomedical research. One way to think of the Informationist is the knowledge and skill of a medical librarian with extensive research specialization. Medical librarians and other biomedical professional organizations have been exploring the possibilities for evaluating how Informationists are being used and whether their activities supplement or replace medical library activity.

The term was proposed by Davidoff & Florance in 2000. Their editorial suggested that physicians should be delegating their information needs to informationists, just as they currently order CT scans from radiologists or cardiac catheterizations from cardiologists. They conceived of an information professional who was embedded in (and indeed, supported by) the clinical departments.

Supporters of the concept see it as a means for librarians to reinvigorate connections with the faculty/clinicians, as well as provide (putatively) superior service by dint of informationists' biomedical training. Critics complain that the idea is nothing new (perhaps most famously in an article entitled "So what are we? Chopped liver?") : librarians already provide superior service and clinical medical librarians have been working alongside physicians for years.

The large informationist programs in the U.S. are at the National Institutes of Health and at Vanderbilt University. A growing number of other institutions are hiring people in this role, though there is no universal definition or job description .

The term informationist should not be confused with informaticist, although some informationists do possess skills in bioinformatics and medical informatics . Stanford University and University of Washington are examples of institutional libraries which have hired biology PhD's (but no library degree) to provide informatics support.

Davidoff, F., & Florance, V. (2000). The informationist: A new health profession? "Annals of Internal Medicine, 132"(12): 996-998.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Informationist poetry — is a literary movement of the 1990s in the United Kingdom, in particular in Scotland. The poets usually associated with this movement are: Richard Price mdash; who coined the term in 1991 in the magazine Interference mdash; Robert Crawford, W. N …   Wikipedia

  • informationist — noun a) One who gathers, analyzes, interprets and uses information. This can be used as a job title. b) One who practices informationism …   Wiktionary

  • Richard Price (poet) — Richard Price (born 1966) is a contemporary Scottish poet. His books include Tube Shelter Perspective (Southfields, 1993), Sense and a Minor Fever (Vennel Press, 1993), Marks Sparks (Akros, 1995), Hand Held (Akros, 1997), Perfume Petrol Fumes… …   Wikipedia

  • Dada — For other uses, see Dada (disambiguation). Cover of the first edition of the publication Dada by Tristan Tzara; Zurich, 1917 Dada (English pronunciation: /ˈdɑːdɑː/) or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, du …   Wikipedia

  • Poetry — This article is about the art form. For other uses, see Poetry (disambiguation). Literature Major forms Novel · Poem · Drama Short story · Novella …   Wikipedia

  • Dymock poets — The Dymock poets were a literary group of the early 20th century who made their home near the village of Dymock in Gloucestershire, England, near to the border with Herefordshire. They were Robert Frost, Lascelles Abercrombie, Rupert Brooke,… …   Wikipedia

  • The Movement (literature) — This article is about a specific literary movement. For other literary movements, see List of literary movements. The Movement was a term coined by J. D. Scott, literary editor of The Spectator, in 1954 to describe a group of writers including… …   Wikipedia

  • Metaphysical poets — John Donne, one of the most famous Metaphysical Poets. The metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, who shared an interest in metaphysical… …   Wikipedia

  • Southern Agrarians — The Southern Agrarians (also known as the Twelve Southerners, the Vanderbilt Agrarians, the Nashville Agrarians, the Tennessee Agrarians, or the Fugitive Agrarians) were a group of twelve American writers, poets, essayists, and novelists, all… …   Wikipedia

  • Confessional poetry — emphasizes the intimate, and sometimes unflattering, information about details of the poet s personal life, such as in poems about mental illness, sexuality, and despondence. The confessionalist label was applied to a number of poets of the 1950s …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”