Librarians: Their multifaceted roles

When was the last time you interacted with a librarian? With such easy access to information online, it may have been years since you reached out for support. At my college at Boston University, I am fortunate enough to have access to an extraordinary librarian, Kate. Our students, faculty and staff reach out to her on a regular basis for assistance. Working with Kate has given me a better understanding and appreciation of a librarian’s multifaceted roles. Depending on where the librarian is working, they are responsible for collection management, that is acquiring, organizing, and managing journals, books, etc.; and aiding in locating resources and in some cases conducting searches on a specific topic. Librarians are experts in using and recommending various data bases to obtain information such as a journal impact factor (JIF). For those of you unfamiliar with a journal impact factor it “ . . . is a journal-level metric calculated from data indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection. It should be used with careful attention to the many factors that influence citation rates, such as the volume of publication and citations characteristics of the subject area and type of journal” (Journal Citation Reports 2022, 2023). Let’s use WORK’s JIF as an example. The JIF is calculated as:

That is, WORK’s JIF is now 2.3. During this time (2020– 2021), the three most frequently cited articles in WORK were: 1. E-Learning perception and satisfaction among health sciences students amid the COVID-19 pandemic authored by Abbasi et al.; 2. An assessment of ergonomic issues in the home offices of university employees sent home due to the COVID-19 pandemic authored by Gerding et al.; and 3. Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience authored by Awada et al. My congratulations to all these authors and to everyone contributing to WORK’s increased JIF.

This issue has 30 papers with the Editor’s Choice being Feedback for the prevention and rehabilitation of work-related musculoskeletal disorders: A systematic review authored by Frasie et al. Their systematic review included 49 studies and found that “ . . . the use of extrinsic feedback was effective in controlled environments for short-term prevention of functional limitations and sensorimotor alterations (very limited to moderate evidence) and for improving, in injured participants, function, symptoms and sensorimotor control (moderate evidence). In the workplace, it was shown to be effective for short-term prevention of functional limitations (limited evidence). There was conflicting evidence regarding its effect for [work-related musculoskeletal disorders] WRMSD rehabilitation in the workplace”.

Our upcoming Learn at WORK webinars are:

September 12 at 1-2pm EST on post-traumatic growth and trauma-informed care in vocational rehabilitation through the lens of the conservation of resources theory presented by Drs. Baumunk, Tang, Rumrill, Conder, & Rumrill. Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4365756484474027358

October 19 at 1-2pm EST on factors contributing to financial distress in young adults with cancer. The presenters are Drs. Rhonda Robert and Teresa Granger. Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5677821302932403549

December 5 at 12-1pm EST Stefan Celine Hardonk and Álfheiður (Heiða) Hafsteinsdóttir will present their Editor’s Choice paper titled, Understanding work inclusion: Analysis of the perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities on employment in the Icelandic labor market. Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5373083958842751062

Please stay up to date on our Learn at WORK webinars, blogs, and news by going to our website at workjournal.org.

As always, I look forward to you being in touch.