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Constituent Society Corner |
New Constituent Society — Ontario Public Health Libraries Association (OPHLA)
The promotion of evidence-informed decision-making is the core business of the association…
The Ontario Public Health Libraries Association (OPHLA) was first established in 1992 to provide a forum that would allow for information exchange among Ontario public health unit library staff. The focus in public health units on disease prevention rather than on treatment and health care delivery makes them unique from other health libraries in the health care field. Today, the association has members comprised of information professionals from 16 health units, the MOHLTC Public Health Division, and the MOHLTC Laboratory Branch.
Information sciences contribute significantly to the key public health principles of multidisciplinary approaches, partnership, evidence-informed decision-making, communication, sustainability, and accountability. Librarians interact with public health dentists, nurses, physicians, inspectors, dieticians, epidemiologists, program evaluators, researchers, business administrators, and others throughout all levels of organizations and institutions in research, education and practice settings. OPHLA members have long supported public health professionals to find, organize and use information effectively to strengthen research, education, programs and services.
The role of public health librarians has been recognized in the Walker Report. They have also been acknowledged by practitioners in response to the MOHLTC Capacity Review Committee's surveys. OPHLA has lent expertise to numerous public health research and knowledge transfer initiatives at the local, provincial and national levels. Some recent projects include:
Development of literature searches for the new Ontario Public Health Standards Support Manual Compilation of extensive lists of free resources which are tailored to public health program areas Development of the Introduction to Literature Searching module for the PHAC Skills Enhancement for Public Health program
Although library services are sometimes omitted when articulating the process of evidence-informed decision-making, public health professionals intuitively know science-based best practices cannot be achieved without awareness and access to information. The promotion of evidence-informed decision-making is the core business of the association.
There are currently 11 Constituent Societies of OPHA. Their representatives sit on the OPHA Board of Directors, and are elected by their respective societies.
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