





































Volume 29, No 1 

Spring/Summer 2017 Hypothesis 
 The Journal of the Research Section 

of the Medical Library Association 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



   

Hypothesis, vol. 29, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2017                                                                  1                                                                                

 

Volume 29, No 1 

Spring/Summer 2017 Hypothesis 
 The Journal of the Research Section 

of the Medical Library Association 

 
 
 

 

EDITORIAL 
Springing into the new year: Hypothesis 2.1 ……...... 3 

Erin D. Foster 

 

ORIGINAL RESEARCH 
MLA Research Section’s Research Agenda 

Committee Systematic Review Project: A Status 

Report ……………………………………………………. 5 

Marie T. Ascher & Jonathan D. Eldredge 

 

OF INTEREST 

Introducing the column ……………….…………….18 

Carol L. Perryman 

 

RESEARCH SECTION NEWS 
MLA 2017 Debrief ……….………………………….......  20 

Erin D. Foster 

 

 
Linear Regression 

From Wikimedia Commons, 

The free media repository 

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File:Linear_regression.svg 

 

HYPOTHESIS (ISSN 1093-5665) is the official journal of the Research Section of the Medical Library Association.  
HYPOTHESIS is indexed in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature™ (CINAHL).   
HYPOTHESIS is available online at http://www.mlanet.org/p/cm/ld/fid=503. 

 

http://www.mlanet.org/p/cm/ld/fid=503


   

Hypothesis, vol. 29, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2017                                                                  2                                                                                

 

Editors 
 

Erin D. Foster, MSLS 
Data Services Librarian 

Ruth Lilly Medical Library 
Indiana University School of Medicine  

        edfoster10@gmail.com 

 

Carol L. Perryman, PhD 
Associate Professor 

School of Library and Information Studies 
Texas Woman’s University 

cperryman@twu.edu 
 

Editorial Board  
 

Abby Adamczyk, MLIS 

Liaison Librarian for Medicine 
Drexel University Libraries 

ALA99@drexel.edu 

 

 

Brooke L. Billman, MLIS 

Research Section Chair-elect 
Program Chair 

Medical Librarian 
College of American 

Pathologists 
bbillma@cap.org 

 

 

Krystal Bullers, MLS 
Emerging Technologies Librarian, 

Pharmacy Liaison 
Shimberg Health Sciences Library 
University of South Florida Health 

kbullers@health.usf.edu 
 

 

Susan Fowler, MLS 

Systematic Review 
Services Coordinator 
School of Medicine 

Washington University 
fowler@wustl.edu 

 

 

Ayaba Logan, MLIS, MPH 

Research and Education 
Informationist 
MUSC Libraries 

Medical University of South 
Carolina (MUSC) 

loganay@musc.edu 
 

 

Ex officio 
 

Marie Ascher, MS, MPH, AHIP 

Research Section 
Immediate Past Chair 

Nominating Committee Chair 
Section Council Rep. 

Lillian Hetrick Huber Endowed 
Director, 

Health Sciences Library 
New York Medical College 
Marie_Ascher@nymc.edu 

 

Michelle B. Bass, PhD, MSI 
Research Section Chair 

Section Council Alt. Rep. 
Population Research Librarian 

Lane Medical Library 
Stanford School of Medicine 
michellebbass@stanford.edu 

 

 

Margaret Hoogland, MLS, AHIP 
Research Section 

Community Manager 
Assistant Professor, 

Clinical Medical Librarian, Health 
Science Library 

Mulford Health Sciences Library 
University of Toledo 

Margaret.Hoogland@utoledo.edu 



EDITORIAL 

Erin D. Foster 

 

   

Hypothesis, vol. 29, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2017                                                                  3                                                                                

 

‘Springing’ into the new year – Hypothesis 2.1 
 

Erin D. Foster, MSLS 
Co-editor, Hypothesis  

Data Services Librarian  

Ruth Lilly Medical Library  

Indiana University School  of Medicine  

Indianapolis, IN 
 

Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of Hypothesis! As of January 2017, I stepped into 

the role of editor - many thanks to Dr. Christine Marton for her leadership in revitalizing 

Hypothesis and her time as lead editor. In addition, thanks to the Hypothesis Editorial Board, 

Marie T. Ascher, and co-editor, Carol L. Perryman, for their hard work in putting together the 

Spring/Summer 2017 Hypothesis issue! I am grateful for the time, interest, and support 

contributed by all in realizing this issue of Hypothesis. 

 

With that, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Dr. Carol L. Perryman as the new 

co-editor of Hypothesis! Carol served on Hypothesis’s Editorial Board previously, but expressed 

interest in becoming a co-editor following Christine Marton’s departure. A former hospital 

librarian who began an academic career after many years of practice, Carol’s research interests 

include evidence-based practice, critical evaluation, and more recently, the changing roles of 

medical librarians in practice. I look forward to Carol’s insight, expertise, and guidance given her 

significant experience in the field of library science research. 

 

The centerpiece of this issue is an update on the status of the Research Section’s Research 

Agenda Committee Systematic Review project. Written by Marie T. Ascher and Jonathan D. 

Eldredge, this article provides an overview of the questions posed by the 15 systematic review 

teams, brief updates as to the various teams’ progress, and a discussion of the challenges faced 

so far in this project. This issue also introduces a new column that aims to highlight a variety of 

topics that may be of interest to medical librarians conducting research including: research 

‘works in progress’ taking place in the medical librarian community, summary results of failed 

and/or unpublished research, as well as links to and information about relevant research 

studies published in other disciplines. Finally, since we’ve recently wrapped up MLA 2017, the 



EDITORIAL 

Erin D. Foster 

 

   

Hypothesis, vol. 29, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2017                                                                  4                                                                                

 

Research Section News portion of this issue provides a debrief on section sponsored MLA 

programming and a listing of some Research Section member contributed papers and posters! 

 

Lastly, I want to emphasize Hypothesis’ role as a platform for medical librarian research. As our 

profession grows in diversity and our roles shift and adapt in the larger communities we are 

part of, dissemination of the research we do is vital to furthering our profession and 

emphasizing the unique lens that medical librarians provide as part of the research enterprise. 

We accept submissions to Hypothesis on a rolling basis – please, do not hesitate to reach out if 

you are interested in contributing. While we may be revamping our submission process soon, 

the easiest way to submit your work is to email either of the Editors at the email addresses 

listed at the beginning of this issue. Feel free to get in touch with any questions/comments. You 

can keep track of Hypothesis news and updates through the Research Section’s webpage on 

mlanet.org as well as via the Research Section of the Medical Library Association Facebook 

group. 

 

We hope to see your research soon. 

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