Barriers and facilitators to evidence-based library and information practice: An international perspective

Abstract

Abstract Objective: To describe the barriers encountered when attempting to undertake evidence-based library and information practice (EBLIP). Design: Qualitative evidence synthesis and thematic synthesis of qualitative data. Data sources: PubMed MEDLINE, Library Information Science Abstracts (LISA), Library Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP) journal full text, Google Scholar and Google Desktop searches of the author’s personal collection of articles and conference proceedings. Review methods: Thematic synthesis involved line-by-line data extraction of mentions of barriers, obstacles and challenges and development of descriptive and analytical themes. Results: 55 papers that reported at least one barrier, obstacle or challenge to EBLIP were included. Five major domains, comprising 17 specific themes, were identified as key to barriers for EBLIP: the environment (pace of change, poor access to the evidence base, language and cultural barriers), the evidence (limitations of the evidence base, inappropriate orientation of research), the workplace (lack of time, lack of financial resources, lack of infrastructure, lack of organisational support), the profession (leadership, lack of research culture, professional characteristics, communication difficulties, need for skills/training, need for education, failure to implement) and the paradigm (limitations of EBLIP). Conclusions: Numerous barriers characterise the challenges posed to EBLIP in day-to-day practice. These have been organised within a generic taxonomy or framework. The author suggests some possible approaches to overcome such barriers. A greater awareness of such barriers and corresponding facilitators may help the international community to further develop the EBLIP paradigm.