Facilitating research amongst radiographers through information literacy workshops

Abstract

Background
Despite a strong research presence in Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTHTR), Allied Health Professionals are under-represented in developing and publicising research within the organisation inspired by day to day clinical practice and staff experiences. Two departments within the Trust, Library and Knowledge Services (LKS) and Research and Innovation (R&I), came together to enable a group of staff to develop the knowledge and skills they needed to access information and create new “home grown” research.

Case Presentation
A clinical librarian and an academic research nurse created a research engagement programme within the diagnostic radiography department at LTHTR, which included the development, delivery, and evaluation of six workshops. Sixteen individuals took part in these workshops, and data were collected on library usage, self-efficacy in information literacy, and research output before and after their delivery. Library membership increased by 50% in diagnostic radiography staff, literature
search requests from this department increased by 133%, and all participants who attended at least one workshop reported an increased Information Literacy Self Efficacy Scale (ILSES) score. An increase in research activity and outputs were also attributed to the programme.

Conclusions
This project has resulted in a set of freely available workshop plans and support resources that can be customized for other healthcare professionals and has won several awards for its innovative use of departmental collaboration. Through our evaluation of the programme from workshop attendees and non-attenders, we have identified impacts, outputs, and barriers to engagement in order to continue to deliver this content to other departments and embed a “home grown” research culture
at LTHTR.