Introduction

Hello all, and welcome to the first issue of HINT in 2005. Given the lateness of this issue, it is just as well that a formal editorial committee will be taking over to ensure more frequent and timely issues of hINT in the future.

In this issue we have first hand experience of the changeover in the health services from Jean Harrison in HSE North Eastern Area, updates from the committee on strategic planning, Policy & Procedures, and Continuing Professional Development and news of births, retirements and more.

feature article

HSE: A Rose by any other name…

I suppose in a way it could be described as a bit of a non–event. It reminded me of the Millennium predictions; it’s the end of the world as we know it (REM). There would be no money in the ATM machines, no water in the taps, lifts and elevators would break down, traffic lights, God forbid, wouldn’t work and some people even headed for the hills with their tin openers and cans of bully beef.

Would the changeover from the eight health boards to the unified HSE on January 1st 2005 deliver over night chaos to the health services? Thank God no, apart from the disappointment of our new Chief Executive refusing the job at the last post and the threat of industrial action by Impact over perceived threats to some administrative jobs and rumours about problems with paying salaries in January (we did get paid) the new order arrived on our door steps like a bleating lamb rather than a roaring lion.

Overall structure:

Changes have happened though, but to–date mainly on paper: there are now four regional areas under the HSE:
• Dublin North has combined with the North East (Dublin–North East Region)
• The Midlands with Dublin, (Dublin–Mid Leinster Region)
• The North West, West and Mid Western have combined (Western Region)
• The South East and the Southern (Southern Region).

At these regional levels there will be four administrative sites; Cork, Galway, Kells and Tullamore.

The central corporate executive will be based in Naas, Co. Kildare and will provide leadership, strategic guidance and support. It will comprise of nine directorates, each with its own director and, two, three or four assistant directors.

Currently, health, community care and personal social services are being delivered by Health Service Executive Areas (former health boards). The former CEO's of the health boards have been renamed Chief Officers and they will remain in place for the first six months of the year. At that point, responsibilities will transfer to the new National Directorates of the HSE

Some senior administrative staff in the old health boards have left on secondment or promotion to the new administrative sites. Our email addresses have changed but you can still contact us on the old ones for the time being. New stationery has been printed; all publications now have to have the new HSE logo, so we have had to change complimentary slips, information brochures, handouts and Intranet documents.

We were hoping that the new eportal would be available from January 1st with the abolishment of the old health board web sites. The HSE has established a web presence (www.hse.ie) and the old web sites and intranets are still in existence, now displaying the HSE logo prominently on the top of the home page.

National Hospitals Office:

The re-organisation of the acute hospitals will bring all 53 statutory and non-statutory acute hospitals into a single unified structure. Ten hospital networks will be created with a director who will manage resources and the delivery of services. This network will also include the Dublin Area Teaching Hospitals.

Libraries:

And where do libraries come in the new order you might ask and so did we! In the old system each Regional library (where they were in existence) operated within different departments. Some came under HR, others under Corporate Learning and others again under the hospital manager or CEO. Will this change? Will we all be unified under one Directorate and will it make a difference to the organization and development of libraries within the HSE? One thing which will matter is where will our budgets emanate from now in 2005 and beyond, will they be affected? How do we organize the purchase of databases journals and Athens access for the new Regions, taking into account the suppliers’ insistence (and rightly so) on exact bed numbers and FTE staff numbers to allocate costs? Are health care staff who have hitherto belonged to one former health board now entitled to use the libraries and library resources of the new combined regions? What repercussions will this have on library staffing, resources and budgets? Despite the fact that many health board libraries are based in acute or psychiatric hospitals, Regional libraries provided and still provide also a service to staff in the community, i.e. public health, health promotion, child and family centres to name but a few. Will we be able to continue to provide this service?

Things are moving slowly, apparently very slowly, which is not a bad thing. There has definitely been no big bang! Life in the Regional libraries continues on its merry way for now but watch this space!!

Jean Harrison,
Regional Librarian (formerly NEHB now HSE North Eastern Area.)

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committee news - Chairperson's column

As you will have seen from the AGM back in November, an enormous amount of work is being done on behalf of the group by the HSLG committee. What I would like to do with each issue of HINT, is explain a little about the committee, how it works, and what this means for all HSLG members. You elect us to work on your behalf, and on your behalf, we try to provide strategic leadership and work for the sector as a whole.

The committee meets every two months, usually from 11am - 4pm, or thereabouts, which means we meet about six or seven times a year. Three of the meetings are in Dublin and three outside of Dublin (for those of who work in remote locations!).

We have been extremely fortunate these last few years, in having a committee of 14 or 15, (15 again this year) and the intention with the committee is to be as representative of our sector as possible.

Each meeting is usually a mixture of fixed items (i.e. reports from officers) and discussion on various issues, either long term, or our on the agenda by committee officers and/or HSLG members.

As the work of the committee has evolved the number of committee officers have grown. These are elected at the very first meeting of the committee each year. The current officers on the committee are:

More about each of these another time, but as you will see over half the committee have specific areas of responsibility. Committee meetings involve both discussion and decision-making, but a lot of work is actually done between meetings. The work we are doing is work that involves us all. It cannot be done by the committee alone, and that is the main reason, for the creation of Working Groups in the last 12 months.

More in the next issue.
Bernard Barrett, HSLG Chairperson

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Committee News - Continuing Professional Development

CPD Survey results
The Continuing Professional Development working group distributed a training needs analysis survey in the last quarter of 2004. The objective of the survey was to assist the group in planning, delivering and developing a training programme to meet the needs of the HSLG members. We were very pleased with the high response rate of 50%. The group wish to extend their thanks to all those who filled out the questionnaire and a special thanks to Tara Kenny and Aileen Rohan who distributed questionnaires and compiled the results. The results will also feed into the strategic planning process of the HSLG. A summary of the findings is displayed below:

Reasons for participating in CPD
Those that got the most positive results were personal interest, new technology and to support work practices. Promotion, accreditation and networking were not deemed to be as important by many respondents.
The most requested courses were:

• Electronic Resource Management
• Evidence Based Practice
• Financial Management
• Knowledge Management
• Project Management
• Copyright
• Website Administration/Design
• Cochrane Library

Personal Development Plan

Performance Appraisal and personal development plans are not wide spread with more than ¾ of respondents responding no to both.

Responsibility for CPD
Who has ultimate responsibility for CPD?
In relation to the responsibility of continuing professional development, almost half placed responsibility with the individual (n=20) although the figures for the other two were also high [employer n=11 and professional organisation n=14].

Length of Service
Over half of the respondents (n=25) were working in health sciences for less than 6 years which would appear to make this a relatively buoyant developing speciality of librarianship. This would also be confirmed in the wide range of courses requested by members covering the wide range of topics. Performance Appraisal is not wide spread with more than ¾ of respondents citing it as a process which does not occur in their organisation.

committee news - Policies & Procedures:

Those of you that attended the Annual General Meeting in November, will know that there was considerable discussion about the proposed policies and procedures document, which had been circulated to all group members in advance, via the Topica HSLG mailing list.

This is an important document for all of us, and in these brief few words, we'd like to explain why this was put forward, and what will happen next. We'd also like to thank all those who have contacted us subsequently with messages of support for this work.

The work of the HSLG has over the last few years, made giant leaps forward. The reports from all the different committee officers at the AGM are testimony not only to the amount of work that has occurred over the last twelve months, but also the systematic and organized way, in which those who attend committee meetings,work on behalf of the membership as a whole group.

The proposal to adopt a code of policies and procedures is intended to give recognition to the progress that has been made, and to ensure, that there is a firm platform in place, both for the consolidation and the further development of the work of the group. There is nothing unusual in such a document being proposed to the membership of the HSLG.

Many of our sister organizations such as;

• Health Libraries Group (part of CILIP)
• Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services
• European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL)
• Medical Library Association (MLA)

have written policies and procedures in place already. Each of the above was consulted as part of the drafting of our own document, and a great deal of what is in these documents, can also be found within our own.

Before being submitted to the Annual General Meeting, the draft document was also comprehensively checked against the LAI Articles of Association and Roberts Rules of Order, to ensure compliance with best practice elsewhere in Ireland.

Committees and Groups, if they are to be effective, cannot operate in a vacuum, or in a random way, governed by just the powerful or the vocal few. Committees are elected by eligible members to represent the interests of the group as a whole, and to provide strategic leadership.

Policies and procedures lay down exactly how all this happens, and exist to ensure that power and responsibility are exercised for the group as a whole.

These policies and procedures, which, as stated above, have been researched and derived from those of our sister agencies, actively promote democracy among us, and empower everyone, since everyone will, for the first time ever, in the history of our group, be able to see transparently and clearly, how the committee operates and how they can become involved, if they so wish.

It follows quite logically therefore, as stated in paragraph 5.2 "that the committee shall be the legislative body for the group."

Obviously, where extremely important matters are concerned, such as these policies and procedures, and more recently the Standards document, the committee makes every effort to ensure that there is wide consultation of the membership. As you will know, an opportunity was given for all to comment on the Standards document. Similarly, the policies and procedures document was circulated to all in advance of the AGM.

However, it has never been the case that the committee puts every single issue to the entire membership for vote or discussion. This is not practical or desirable, and if it was to be the case, would effectively render null and void the election process for committee members and officials. The whole point of having a committee is to ensure that the group has a dedicated and experienced group of people who can develop policy for all of us.

Committee members are very clear that we are all elected to serve the membership as a whole, and are accountable to all of you. Formal policies and procedures guarantee that accountability.

It might seem a very detailed document, but is important for us to have a comprehensive document, which addresses all questions and concerns, and which will meet our needs, both now and in the immediate future.

If we are to do justice to all the work that has been done these last few years, and provide a framework for decision making and participation, we need these policies and procedures. They ensure justice, fairness, and transparency, and are an opportunity for all  to make their voice heard.

The document will shortly be made available to all through the HSLG discussion list and via a web page. This will be followed shortly afterwards by a secret ballot, which will be administered by our parent body, the Library Association of Ireland. The result will be known a short time after the ballot papers have been received and counted.

Adoption of these policies and procedures marks a further step in the evolution and development of our group, and gives us all the self confidence to begin implementing the Strategic Plan we agreed at the conference.

Sue Faulkner & Bernard Barrett (HSLG Committee)

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HSLG Mailing List & Logo

As you are all hopefully aware, the old Topica mailing list has been retired and the new HSLG mailing list has taken its place. Despite some hiccups, the new list seems to be working well, and seems acceptable to even the very strictest spam blockers! As the list is now more reliable, we hope that members will use it more frequently to discuss current issues in Health Science librarianship and related topics.

You might also have noticed the appearance of of an official HSLG logo, and our new blue and yellow 'corporate colours'. Our hope is to apply a professional look to all HSLG communications, both in print and electronic. We have had positive feedback from some of the membership already. Feel free to post your comments on the mailing list.

Louise Farragher( HSLG Communications Officer)

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other news

Library Association of Ireland, Clarion Hotel, Cork, 10th March.

At the LAI AGM 2 motions were proposed by the HSLG. Both motions were passed.

1. This meeting commits the Library Association of Ireland to initiating a dialogue with the Health Service Executive, to discuss the future role of Libraries and Information Specialists within the newly emerging Irish health service.

2.This Annual General Meeting approves the second edition of Standards for Irish healthcare library and information services and adopts them as an official policy document of the Library Association of Ireland.

Members may also be interested to know that the HSLG committee now has two members on the LAI Executive Board; Bernard Barrett and Maire McLarnon.

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electronic resources

Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.

Just how useful will Google Scholar be to Health, Research and Academic libraries? Why not try it and post your comments to the mailing list.

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Notes/Vacancies

Mary Riordan (UCD) retires

If you attended the HSLG conference in November, you will remember that Chairperson Bernard Barrett presented Mary Riordan, Assistant Librarian (Health Sciences) at UCD, Earlsfort Terrace UCD medical library with flowers and a heartfelt goodbye from all in the HSLG. Mary was due to retire in February 2005, but, being the dedicated librarian she is, decided to stay on in UCD until April.

Throughout her career, which began in 1962 at the University of Winnipeg, Mary has held a diverse and interesting range of library posts. Her association with UCD dates back to 1975, when she worked in the Science Library. Since then, she worked for a spell as tutor at the Department of Library and Information Studies, before going on to set up and manage UCD’s Development Studies library (which acts as a national information centre) through the mid-1980’s. In 1995, Mary began work as a subject librarian in Earlsfort Terrace library.

In between these spells at UCD, she worked at St. Catherine’s College of Education for Home Economics, Blackrock (1978-86), and as a librarian and documentalist in Rome between 1991 and 1995. There she worked for IDOC (International Documentation and Communication Centre), and was librarian at the Jesuit Refugee Service International Office.

In appreciation of her contribution to UCD, UCD held a presentation to Mary in April The gathering was well attended by library colleagues, university colleagues, family and friends.

Mary’s ceaseless energy and enthusiasm for her work will be greatly missed by her colleagues at Earlsfort terrace, and UCD as a whole. With her wide range of hobbies and interests that include bridge, Italian language and literature, archaeology, as well as travel, she is sure to enjoy a very active and fulfilling retirement. We wish her all the best for the future.

(Ronan Madden UCD)

Mary at her presentation in UCD, April 2005.

Tim Collins Retires from the HSLG Committee

The HSLG conference also saw the announcement of Tim Collins' (UCG) retirement as HSLG Committee secretary and member. Tim has diligently recorded the activities of the HSLG for many years. His good humour, professionalism and knowledge will be missed by the Committee.

Tim (left)at the HSLG conference 2004.

Lillian Brennan retires

Health libraries are to lose another veteran as Lillian Brennan retires from St John of God's in Stillorgan in early June. I'm sure her colleagues in IDAAL and all the health libraries will join me in wishing Lillian a happy and adventurous retirement.

Lillian (far right, seated) and colleagues at the HSLG 2004 Conference

And finally ...Congratulations Emma!

Congratulations to Emma Quinn, librarian in Waterford General Hospital on the birth of her daughter Margaret on 23 December 2004, and welcome back to work!

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editorial & contact details

HINT is the Quarterly Newsletter of the Irish Health Sciences Libraries Group of the Library Association of Ireland.

It is compiled & produced by members of The Health Sciences Libraries Group, a section of the LAI.

Future Issues will be edited by the HINT Editorial Team

Contact details for future submissions will be provided shortly.

All material in this newsletter is copyright ©, 2005. This newsletter may be quoted or forwarded if the quoted or forwarded passage is attributed to the newsletter. If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter,
please mailto:louise@hrb.ie

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