Facet Publishing announces the publication of Systematic Searching: Practical ideas for improving results edited by Paul Levay and Jenny Craven.
In resource-poor, cost-saving times practical advice on new methods and technologies for information professionals on how to search more efficiently is needed.
Systematic Searching: Practical ideas for improving results brings together expert international practitioners and researchers to highlight the latest thinking on systematic searching. Beginning by looking at the role of the information specialist as an expert searcher, the book then examines the current challenges and the potential solutions to more effective searching in detail. The book blends theory and practice and takes into account several different approaches to information retrieval and information-seeking behaviour with special focus being given to searching for complex topics in a health-related environment. It does not presume an in-depth prior knowledge or experience of systematic searching and includes case studies, practical examples and ideas for further research and reading.
Divided into three parts, the book covers: theoretical approaches to evidence synthesis and the implications that these have for the search process; new technologies for retrieving evidence and how these are leading to new directions in information retrieval and evidence synthesis; the future of information specialists as expert searchers and how information professionals can develop their skills in searching, communication and collaboration to find new roles.
Carol Lefebvre, Independent Information Consultant and Co-Convenor of the Cochrane Information Retrieval Methods Group, said ‘Paul Levay and Jenny Craven have amassed, as editors of this book, an impressive, international array of information specialists and librarians together with other information retrieval experts and methodologists from academia, evidence synthesis organizations, libraries and elsewhere with considerable but diverse experience and expertise in systematic searching.’
Paul Levay is an Information Specialist at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). His research interests are in developing search methods to support Health Technology Assessments and public health guidelines. He has previously held posts at the National Police Library and the Greater London Authority. Paul is a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).
Jenny Craven is an Information Specialist at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Previously, Jenny worked at the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM) at Manchester Metropolitan University; she worked on practical information related projects, with a particular focus on improving access to information for people with visual impairments. During this time she was on the standing committee of the IFLA libraries serving persons with disabilities group, and ran a series of workshops in developing countries for the FORCE Foundation charity on providing accessible library services. Her role at NICE involves supporting the information needs for a variety of programmes across NICE. She also works on internal projects to improve service delivery, the evaluation of information skills training, and to explore methods for the effective retrieval of information. She is the editor of two previous Facet Publishing books, Web Accessibility: Practical advice for the library and information professional (2008) and Access, Delivery, Performance: The future of libraries without walls (2009).
