the Republic of Ireland have local editors supported by senior librarians in the country who act in an oversight capacity to provide support.
GDPR
The directory seeks to be a comprehensive resource that lists health libraries and information services in the UK and Republic of Ireland and currently there are around 650 entries.
advent of social media, changes in user expectations and rapid technological innovations required a significant redevelop ment of the web-based direc- tory. A survey in 2015 underlined its importance amongst its core user-base and the need to have a mobile friendly, easy to use interface. The governing board acquired the necessary funds from the CILIP Health Libraries Group and Health Education England and undertook a short tender exercise to agree a host for the directory, but also work on a new interface. Following this exercise Artefacto (
www.artefacto.com) were awarded the contract and deliv- ered a modern interface for end-users and a much improved administration system.
Governing board
The governing board was also re-for- mulated alongside the redevelopment to ensure the joint funders were equally represented. It now comprises of a chair, Richard Osborn; the National Service Manager; and two representatives each from the Health Libraries Group and Health Education England.
Comprehensive resource The directory (
www.hlisd.org) seeks to be a comprehensive resource that lists health libraries and information services in the UK and Republic of Ireland. At present there are in excess of 650 entries listed, covering a range of sectors including NHS, voluntary ser- vices, higher and further education and professional organisations. One of the
March 2019
drivers within the directory is to ensure that the user can locate the relevant contact or service quickly and there are over 1,450 individual contacts listed to enable this.
Each library record contains the basic information such as address, telephone number and email address, but also includes value added information for the enquirer. This includes access policy information, collections information, the library management system in use, the document supply code and the collabora- tive networks that the service is a member of. A map of the location is supported by a field detailing the directions to the service which is valuable if the library is located inside a large building.
Regional editors
One of the weaknesses of the previous version of the directory was its complex administration system, which although functional was time-consuming to edit and create records. The new administra- tion site is intuitive and allows for records to be updated very quickly. Local editors are now able to edit multiple service points via a single profile, which was previously problematic as a unique email address was required for each entry. Regional editors are in place covering the four Health Education England regions; South, North, Midlands & East, and London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex (LKSS) and their role is to provide first line support to resolve login and record issues with libraries within their remit. Libraries and Health Information points in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and
The “new” Health Library and Informa- tion Services Directory is a flexible tool that could potentially be used in many ways, however it is vitally important to protect the personal work information held on the site. To ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations the site has a robust Privacy Notice and thus exports of data held on the system are subject to board approval in line with regulations.
Specialist directory
HLISD has proven the importance of a dedicated specialist directory in enabling users to search for relevant service information. The redevelopment was undertaken with an emphasis on the directory becoming a single, easily updated source that could replace the need to update numerous local and in-built system directories. For example, library management systems and local organisational websites will have this information contained in some form and if this could be replaced by links into HLISD it will save time and improve efficiency.
Future potential
The directory has a strong user base illustrated by usage of 15,000 page views per month so it needs to be adaptable and relevant. Having consolidated its existing community, the Board are assessing how it can be utilised in other areas of healthcare. There is the poten- tial to link into CILIP’s new Health Hub and also provide links for the broader community, including the general public if it is added to national digital health platforms. At present, there are numerous records specifically for patient information and voluntary services on HLISD, and thus there are obvious benefits with being able to quickly locate either regional or national offices. IP
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