Research Training Institute (RTI) Assessment Results Two Years After: Building a Research Support System for Health Sciences Librarian-Researchers

Background: The MLA Research Training Institute (RTI) is a three-year program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to equip practicing health sciences librarians with key research competencies related to scholarly research, inquiry, and publishing. It includes online and face-to-face content and activities, with a five-day immersive research workshop. After completing the workshop, the librarians conduct a rigorous research study during the ensuing year. Two cohorts of 20 health sciences librarians have participated in the RTI, and this paper focuses on program outcomes related to participating librarians’ research knowledge and engagement.

Description: The RTI participants’ confidence with respect to research and evidence-based practice skills is assessed before and after the workshop, comparing assessment results for two subsequent years. The instrument used for the pre- and post-assessment survey is based on methods of Brancolini and Kennedy (2017) and adapted for use with the RTI. The results of the pre- and post-assessment survey of research skills and confidence for both cohorts will be shared. The research progress and outputs of both cohorts will be discussed. Additionally, informal feedback and other evidence of participants’ research activities will be shared.

Conclusion: The MLA RTI has already had a positive impact on 40 practicing health sciences librarians’ ability to conduct research. Unexpected benefits and drawbacks of the RTI experience will be discussed. Pre- and post-test results demonstrate improvement in the participants’ research skills and confidence. Research progress and outputs of the participants show that they are contributing to the evidence base in health sciences librarianship and building the research capacity of the profession.