Assembling the Pieces of a Systematic Review - (Medical Library Association Books) by Margaret J Foster & Sarah T Jewell (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book guides librarians in defining and marketing their services, covering topics such as co-authorship, stakeholders, developing documentation and conducting the reference interview, systematic reviews standards, search strategy techniques, and best practices for reporting the findings.

Book Synopsis

This book guides librarians in defining and marketing their services, covering topics such as co-authorship, stakeholders, developing documentation and conducting the reference interview, systematic reviews standards, search strategy techniques, and best practices for reporting the findings.

Review Quotes

Combining both practical tips and theoretical underpinnings, Assembling the Pieces of a Systematic Review: A Guide for Librarians provides an overview of the entire process of synthesis, from framing the research question to summarizing and reporting the findings. Librarians will also find the information about infrastructure, expertise, and resources required for providing services related to these research methodologies of benefit, especially librarians trying to create new service lines to provide intensive support. Overall guidance on setting up and establishing services to fit within personnel competencies and time constraints is nicely balanced with helpful brief overviews of systematic review tools, data management software, and recommendations for documentation standards. Of particular interest are the case studies of research questions and search strategies in multiple disciplines, including transportation and education. Because of this broad approach and the emphasis on qualitative and mixed methods reviews, librarians in all fields, not just biomedicine, will find this instructive book of relevance when learning the basics of the evidence synthesis process.

Assembling the Pieces of a Systematic Review: A Guide for Librarians is a well-written book by qualified authors that serves as a manual for conducting reviews or forming and managing a review service, regardless of skill level. Readers should gain an appreciation of the scope of systematic re-views and a better understanding of contributions that librarians can make that go beyond those typically made.

About the Author

Margaret J. Foster is an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University and serves as the Systematic Review Coordinator at the Medical Sciences Library with a joint position at the School of Public Health and the College of Medicine at the Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center. She earned a Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) with emphasis in health informatics from the University of North Texas and a Masters in Public Health (MPH) with a focus on Behavioral Sciences and Health Promotion from the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at Houston.

Sarah T. Jewell, an Information and Education Librarian for Rutgers University Libraries, has more than a decade of experience in science and medical libraries. She has been conducting systematic reviews since 2010, helping to launch the systematic review service at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Library, and most recently spearheading the formalization of the systematic review service at Rutgers University Libraries, a service which spans multiple campuses.