Umbrella 2013, 2nd-3rd July 2013, University of Manchester
Learning how libraries can care about your health
I was fortunate to be present for the CILIP Umbrella Conference in Manchester, 2-3 July - an exciting event which featured a variety of speakers from the library and information world and beyond. Having gratefully received a bursary from the Health Libraries Group I was there to join around 600 other delegates for this conference where I also represented the Libraries NI Health in Mind initiative - a partnership project which brings together public libraries in Northern Ireland with leading mental health charities Action Mental Health, Cause, Mindwise and Aware Defeat Depression. I was privileged to hear presentations on themes such as information literacy, technology and online resources, information to support society and connecting services through partnerships.
Inspiring Partnerships
As a partnership project, Health in Mind brings together expertise from different organisations and aims to deliver practical, positive ways of promoting good mental health and improve wellbeing. A strong theme within the conference was that of partnership working to improve services not only in libraries but across different sectors. One of the most inspiring examples of this was a joint presentation by Victoria Treadway, Clinical Librarian, and Dr Girendra Sadera, Consultant Critical Care and Anaesthesia, both of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together they presented on Victoria’s role in working closely with the Critical Care Team and the invaluable contribution she makes to patient care as a Clinical Librarian. This is an extremely pro-active and dynamic role and on listening it was very clear why Dr Sadera refers to Victoria as ‘the secret weapon’ in their team. A typical working day can include attending ward rounds and sourcing on the spot research evidence via an iPad to inform decisions about a patient’s diagnosis and treatment. As a frontline librarian, this is as hands-on as it gets! The work Victoria is doing is not just benefiting patient’s lives and increasing the effectiveness of the medical team she is a part of, it is changing perceptions of librarianship on a significant platform and acting as a benchmark for information professionals within the health sphere. This is a powerful example of the real value library and health care professionals can bring when working together.
Health Information Matters
Health information is something that matters to everyone, as we are all likely to be affected at some time by physical or mental ill health. Ruth Carlyle, Information and Support Policy Lead at Macmillan Cancer Support, gave a fascinating presentation on the subject of personalised information care. She discussed the value of health information and how the quality of information provided should be as efficient and specialised as the quality of treatment. Learn Zone ( is the comprehensive online information forum hosted by Macmillan Cancer Support, offering a range of learning, information and support opportunities for people affected by cancer. It contains resources for both members of the public and professionals including information on diagnosis, self-management and supporting others.
Ruth spoke about the important role public libraries can play in the delivery of quality health information for their communities. Providing public access to reliable information sources can make a difference to the decisions people make about their health. Information pathways which are evidenced based and quality assured are a critical element of support. The Information Prescription Service ( by NHS Choices is an excellent online service offering a straightforward, professional system for gaining information on long-term health conditions. Content which is clear, concise and structured can go a long way in helping people facing already difficult health conditions.
Your Health Online
It is clear that libraries and information services have tremendous value to offer in communities through providing access to health information. The Your Health Online module delivered by Health in Mind follows this ethos, opening up the discussion about searching for health information online and helping to skill people in making informed information decisions. The analogy of ‘dispensing’ information is apt as more and more people turn to online sources to self-assess ailments and research potential treatments. Whether we are searching for tips on healthy eating, mild symptoms of illness or long term health conditions, an important question to ask is always, is this a reliable website? I left the Umbrella conference with more assurance than ever that health and wellbeing is a key priority for the library community and that services are being developed in numerous ways to address this.
Helen Kielt, Information and Outreach Officer, Health in Mind Project, Libraries NI
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Umbrella 2013, 2nd-3rd July 2013, University of Manchester
Thanks to a generous HLG bursary I attended the CILIPUmbrella conference in Manchester at the beginning of July. Being the national library and information professionals conference it boasted a broad range of speakers and sessions and proved to be a thought-provoking, frustrating and inspiring conference for me.
Thought-provoking
Lauren Smith’s a Critical Approach to Information Literacygave me the most to think about. Lauren argued that without a critical perspective, information literacy will never be the librarian’s weapon of choice no matter how much we argue that it is our raison d’etre. Critical information literacy is essential for all citizens to be able to participate in the democratic processes of society and to feel included. As a health librarian I am all too aware that the general public would benefit from the skills needed to critique the health stories (and scares) which appear daily on TV and in newspapers. These are all too often reported on or published without anyone checking the actual research that has been produced. Ben Goldacre’s TED talk on this is fascinating and well worth a watch.
Frustrating
The Community Libraries debate (that was anything but) was the most frustrating session I’ve ever sat through. It consisted of five people, three of whom were clearly advocating for community-managed libraries (and however you define this it means the use of volunteers and community groups either instead of, or that causes the reduction of, paid staff). The attitude of the panel was that community-managed libraries are happening so we should all just get used to it. I was (incredibly naively) expecting at least one person on the panel to be of the opinion that the very concept of these libraries is abhorrent and should be actively avoided at all costs. I was expecting a debate. A heated discussion between people on both ends of the spectrum. I wanted someone to give a rousing speech against community libraries. But the most anti-community library comment I remember (from the panel) was a bit of reverse-psychology about community-managed libraries being inevitable so rather than being in denial (which I don’t think we are) librarians should be angry about them (which I think we are). If this had been a teachers’ conference session discussing the implementation of community-managed schools and volunteers replacing teachers what do you think the reaction would have been?
But what to do about them? When the weight of council pressure is forcing these changes through with little thought of the long-term sustainability and impact on communities what do we do? I can’t say that I know seeing as I don’t know of any campaign which has been successful. But I am proud to have joined a campaign (Save Lincolnshire Libraries) and to at least try.
Inspiring
Anyone that attended Umbrella will know what the winner here is! No? Were you not paying attention?
Victoria Treadway and Dr Girendra Sadera‘s brilliant example of collaboration between medicine and librarianship left so many of us in awe. Critical care is a unique department with patients needing treatment for a myriad of often life-threatening and rare conditions. Because of this, clinicians may not be certain of the best treatments or may need their knowledge reinforcing. Enter the super-duper clinical librarian! For the past two years Victoria has spent time on Dr Sadera’s critical care ward round answering clinical queries from staff within 10-15 minutes (using a tablet). This means the clinicians get answers fast and patients can be treated much more quickly. It was clear that Victoria and Girendra had built up a really beneficial collaborative relationship and it was a very inspiring end to the first day of Umbrella.
Lesley Firth, Assistant Librarian, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
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