"I'm Not Sure If That's What Their Job Is" Consumer Health Information and Emerging "Healthwork" Roles in the Public Library
"I'm Not Sure If That's What Their Job Is" Consumer Health Information and Emerging "Healthwork" Roles in the Public Library
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DOI：
10.5860/rusq.49n3.239
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发表时间：
2010-03-01
影响因子：
0.1
通讯作者：
Burdett, Samantha
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Harris, Roma;Henwood, Flis;Burdett, Samantha
公众对自己的健康承担越来越大的责任，并不断了解健康问题。在此，我们描述了一项关于图书馆用户和工作人员对公共图书馆在支持公民“健康工作”中的作用的期望的研究。“我们在英国的一家公共图书馆进行了研究，该图书馆采用读者自助服务模式。通过对图书馆顾客和工作人员的深入访谈以及对因健康问题访问图书馆的顾客的书面调查收集了数据。我们的研究结果表明，图书馆的用户认为公共图书馆作为一个高度信任的健康信息来源。大多数接受调查的用户都在寻找与他们的健康问题有关的书籍，超过一半的人能够自己找到他们需要的书籍。虽然总体上可以自给自足，但一些调查受访者以及参与访谈的人表示，他们曾向图书馆工作人员寻求帮助，尽管他们似乎不确定他们应该期待的参考支持水平。参加采访的图书馆参考咨询台工作人员对限制支持读者查询时间的政策表示失望，许多人缺乏培训，特别是在在线健康信息资源方面。研究结果提出了有关健康信息工作中因信息技术变化和卫生政策新重点而出现的“责任地理”的重要问题。
Members of the public are expected to assume increasing responsibility for their own health and to keep themselves informed about health issues. Here we describe a study of library users' and staff members' expectations about the public library's role in supporting citizens' "healthwork." We conducted our research in a public library in the United Kingdom that operates on a model of patron self-service. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with library patrons and staff members as well as a written survey of patrons who had visited the library because of a health concern. Our findings suggest that the library's users regard the public library as a highly trusted source of health information. The majority of surveyed users were in search of books relevant to their health concern, and more than half were able to locate what they needed on their own. While generally self-sufficient, some of the survey respondents as well as those who took part in the interviews indicated that they had consulted library staff for help, although they appeared uncertain about the level of reference support they should expect. Members of the library's reference desk staff who took part in the interviews expressed frustration over policies that limit the time available to support patron's inquiries, and many lacked training, particularly in online health information resources. The results raise important questions about the emerging "geography of responsibilities" in health-informing work arising from changing information technology and new emphases in health policy.