Role of Librarians and Medical Information Experts in Response to Covid-19 in Iran

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Aliasghari Nasrin

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Journal: DEPICTION OF HEALTH Year:2021 | Volume:11 | Issue:4 Page(s): 300-304

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Title

Role of Librarians and Medical Information Experts in Response to Covid-19 in Iran

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Aliasghari Nasrin | Issue Writer Certificate

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Abstract

Human being has always faced different critical situations and unpredictable events such as floods, earthquakes and terrible infectious diseases such as cholera, plague, tuberculosis and influenza. However, it is believed that the Coronavirus (Covid-19) has been the most shocking pandemic that led to destructive effects in all geographical areas of the world and all aspect of terrestrial life. The governments increasingly enact quarantines, curfews, closures, and other restrictive controls against the countries, citizens, and institutions and deploy their facilities to tackle the infection and prevent its spread (1). Amid the anxiety of lock downs and the cancellation of educational programs around the world, researcher support has not stopped, and a group of knowledge brokers, led by librarians and medical informantionists, are constantly providing information services. Information is an urgent and essential commodity in any crisis. Therefore, librarians and information experts have to be always prepared to meet the information needs of society and provide the users with access to information. Hence, despite the lockdowns during the peak of covid-19 pandemic in Iran, the academic and hospital librarians have been supporting the scientific community with their information services. Besides collecting and managing information resources, the role of librarians has shifted to managing and distributing knowledge, controlling information and knowledge pollution, and developing new capacities and contexts for the flow of clean and clear information in critical situations. According to Muhammad Yousuf Ali Associate librarian at Aga Khan University in Pakistan and his colleague Peter Gatiti, the role of librarians in epidemics is categorized into three dimensions: 1. Promoting health awareness of public by disseminating information on preventive measures, 2. Supporting researchers and faculty members by providing information regarding the latest developments, studies and the press 3. Meeting the basic needs of regular library users (2). Yuvaraj (2020) also highlighted the same three tasks for librarians in Coronavirous crisis (3). Nonetheless, the other aspects of these activities and services can still be addressed based on the specific experience of librarians in critical epidemic conditions, like: 1. Purifying information via evaluation and information pollution control; the spread of false information (infodemic) is an extra problem that calls for the active involvement of librarians (4). Librarians can have a critical role in collecting, evaluating, correcting, and documenting inaccurate information from reliable sources and evidence and republishing it in information systems, digital libraries, social networks, and applications and thus assume a valuable role in shaping the knowledge structure of community. This is a valuable work of disinfecting the knowledge and information circulating in the community. Representations of these activities can be seen on social media, professional groups such as the Iranian Evidence-Based Medicine group on WhatsApp, and other groups for Covid-19. 2. The use of infographics and posters to educate people about the implementation of health practices are of the tasks that educational librarians, academic and public librarians have been traditionally doing, yet with the spread of online environments and social networks now they can deliver them to users in a more widespread manner. 3. Evaluating evidence and providing up-to-date and valid information for physicians, researchers and health professionals to assist them in their research and evidence-based decisions-making. This is a very difficult and challenging issue either in crises or the ordinary time due to restrictions that libraries face financially and technically as emphasized by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) in it's Library Policy and Advocacy blog on April 4 (5). 4. Using online communication platforms and software for health communication and dissemination of health information. Currently, webinars, video conferencing, online training classes on various platforms are conducted for different educational, commercial and research purposes. Librarians also use these opportunities for vocational and community education in health. The joint statement of ITU-WHO points out that Covid-19 is the first known epidemic in human history for which technology and social media are used on a large scale to keep people healthy and connected while they are physically separated (6). Obviously, this success stories in using innovative ways to disseminate health information is the result of alliance between Covid-19 invasive pandemic with information technology. 5. The librarians have digitized and opened up some of their valuable resources to bridge the gap between resources and users because of the need for social distance (7). So that we can see list of URLs/links to the valuable books and documents in social media for free, while one had to pay for them in ordinary times. There are many other example of spontaneous and creative services that librarians offer in Covid-19 crises, without any documentation and definite action plan. However, there is no coordination and management to make the most of these opportunities. The general public may not have clear information about these programs, and how to use digital libraries. Formal and local library associations have to define the executive frameworks of these services and activities as well as the general education of the community to enjoy these programs. It is time to conduct research and take all these valuable works to the library science literature for future evidence. It also is necessary to introduce digital libraries and library services in the Covid-19 crisis and their usability in short programs in public media like broadcasting through TV and radio. So far, no precise information has been available about the end of the Covid-19; thus, the expansion of electronic services will help prevent the spread of the disease, and strengthening digital libraries in this crisis is of the issues to be considered by the public and governments.

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APA: Copy

Aliasghari, Nasrin. (2021). Role of Librarians and Medical Information Experts in Response to Covid-19 in Iran. DEPICTION OF HEALTH, 11(4 ), 300-304. SID. https://sid.ir/paper/392624/en

Vancouver: Copy

Aliasghari Nasrin. Role of Librarians and Medical Information Experts in Response to Covid-19 in Iran. DEPICTION OF HEALTH[Internet]. 2021;11(4 ):300-304. Available from: https://sid.ir/paper/392624/en

IEEE: Copy

Nasrin Aliasghari, “Role of Librarians and Medical Information Experts in Response to Covid-19 in Iran,” DEPICTION OF HEALTH, vol. 11, no. 4 , pp. 300–304, 2021, [Online]. Available: https://sid.ir/paper/392624/en

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