How hospital-based health care providers perceive clinical librarian services: a qualitative review protocol

The objective of the review is to evaluate how health care providers working in hospitals perceive clinical librarian services.

Clinical librarianship programs existed as early as 1971; however, there is a lack of evidence on their effectiveness in impacting health care outcomes. Studies report primarily on programs supporting medicine, although these programs also support other health care providers. In order to affect outcomes, particularly those focused on patient-centered, evidence-based care, clinical librarians need insight into how hospital health care providers perceive clinical librarian services.

The review will consider studies that include any health care provider who works within a hospital, including surgical, clinical, and inpatient units. Studies that focus on qualitative data about clinical librarian services, published from 1971 onward, will be eligible for inclusion.

The primary databases to be searched are PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, Library Literature & Information Science, LISTA (Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts), and Web of Science. Studies will be selected based on their assessment against the inclusion criteria by two independent reviewers. Eligible studies will be critically appraised for methodological quality. Data will be extracted using a standardized tool, and findings pooled and synthesized using a meta-aggregation approach.