Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic Assessment

<p>An abstract of this project was presented as a poster at the 6th Annual CUGH Conference: Consortium of Universities for Global in 2015, Boston, MA. The abstract was published in 'Annals of Global Health' 2015;81:151.</p><p>Background</p><p>The intention of...

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Main Authors: Hussein Haruna, Majaliwa Mtoroki, Dan D. Gerendasy, Ellen G. Detlefsen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ubiquity Press 2017-03-01
Series:Annals of Global Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/720
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author Hussein Haruna
Majaliwa Mtoroki
Dan D. Gerendasy
Ellen G. Detlefsen
Ellen G. Detlefsen
author_facet Hussein Haruna
Majaliwa Mtoroki
Dan D. Gerendasy
Ellen G. Detlefsen
Ellen G. Detlefsen
author_sort Hussein Haruna
collection DOAJ
description <p>An abstract of this project was presented as a poster at the 6th Annual CUGH Conference: Consortium of Universities for Global in 2015, Boston, MA. The abstract was published in 'Annals of Global Health' 2015;81:151.</p><p>Background</p><p>The intention of the Government of Tanzania is to establish more health information resource canters in all health facilities. With this regard, health information science personnel are needed to provide adequate and accurate health information services. However, availability of these personnel remains to be a challenge because of their non-existence.</p><p>Objective</p><p>To identify the current status and local impact of health sciences libraries and user perception of these libraries, as a prerequisite to the development of a competence-based curriculum for health information science training in Tanzania.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A needs assessment was carried out using a convenience sample of local respondents, including librarians, trainers, academicians, students, health care providers, and patients and families, drawn from national, referral, regional, district hospitals, health training institutions, and universities from both government and nongovernment entities in Tanzania. A focus group approach was used to gather data from respondents.</p><p>Results</p><p>Results from this assessment revealed that health science libraries in Tanzania are faced with the challenges of insufficient infrastructure, old technology, limited facilities and furniture, inadequate and incompetent library staff, lack of health sciences librarians, outdated and insufficient resources, and low knowledge and use of information technologies by library clients. Most respondents would prefer to have both physical and electronic libraries, as well as librarians with specialized health information science skills, to cope with changing nature of the medical field.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The findings obtained from this assessment are strong enough to guide the development of a curriculum and training strategy and an operational plan and training packages for health information professionals. The development of a training curriculum for health information science professionals will mean better health information service delivery for Tanzania.
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spelling doaj.art-cc56dabaa8ce427cb6c71ae7119241442022-12-21T20:28:54ZengUbiquity PressAnnals of Global Health2214-99962017-03-0182591292110.1016/j.aogh.2016.10.003649Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic AssessmentHussein Haruna0Majaliwa Mtoroki1Dan D. Gerendasy2Ellen G. Detlefsen3Ellen G. Detlefsen4Department of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, Dar Es Salaam, TanzaniaDepartment of Quality Assurance, Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, Dar Es Salaam, TanzaniaNational Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MDSchool at University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PASchool at University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA<p>An abstract of this project was presented as a poster at the 6th Annual CUGH Conference: Consortium of Universities for Global in 2015, Boston, MA. The abstract was published in 'Annals of Global Health' 2015;81:151.</p><p>Background</p><p>The intention of the Government of Tanzania is to establish more health information resource canters in all health facilities. With this regard, health information science personnel are needed to provide adequate and accurate health information services. However, availability of these personnel remains to be a challenge because of their non-existence.</p><p>Objective</p><p>To identify the current status and local impact of health sciences libraries and user perception of these libraries, as a prerequisite to the development of a competence-based curriculum for health information science training in Tanzania.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A needs assessment was carried out using a convenience sample of local respondents, including librarians, trainers, academicians, students, health care providers, and patients and families, drawn from national, referral, regional, district hospitals, health training institutions, and universities from both government and nongovernment entities in Tanzania. A focus group approach was used to gather data from respondents.</p><p>Results</p><p>Results from this assessment revealed that health science libraries in Tanzania are faced with the challenges of insufficient infrastructure, old technology, limited facilities and furniture, inadequate and incompetent library staff, lack of health sciences librarians, outdated and insufficient resources, and low knowledge and use of information technologies by library clients. Most respondents would prefer to have both physical and electronic libraries, as well as librarians with specialized health information science skills, to cope with changing nature of the medical field.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The findings obtained from this assessment are strong enough to guide the development of a curriculum and training strategy and an operational plan and training packages for health information professionals. The development of a training curriculum for health information science professionals will mean better health information service delivery for Tanzania.https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/720health informationhealth information needshealth information specialisthealth sciences librariesTanzania
spellingShingle Hussein Haruna
Majaliwa Mtoroki
Dan D. Gerendasy
Ellen G. Detlefsen
Ellen G. Detlefsen
Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic Assessment
Annals of Global Health
health information
health information needs
health information specialist
health sciences libraries
Tanzania
title Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic Assessment
title_full Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic Assessment
title_fullStr Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic Assessment
title_full_unstemmed Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic Assessment
title_short Health Libraries and Information Services in Tanzania: A Strategic Assessment
title_sort health libraries and information services in tanzania a strategic assessment
topic health information
health information needs
health information specialist
health sciences libraries
Tanzania
url https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/720
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AT majaliwamtoroki healthlibrariesandinformationservicesintanzaniaastrategicassessment
AT dandgerendasy healthlibrariesandinformationservicesintanzaniaastrategicassessment
AT ellengdetlefsen healthlibrariesandinformationservicesintanzaniaastrategicassessment
AT ellengdetlefsen healthlibrariesandinformationservicesintanzaniaastrategicassessment