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Editor’s note: This article is based on work presented at a CHLA 2024 lightning talk. Introduction “How many results should I be getting from my systematic review search?” As health sciences librarians working in an academic institution supporting students, faculty, and staff in their research endeavors, we receive this question a lot. We’re sure many of you do, too. We are two health sciences librarians at McGill University, and we liaise for the Undergraduate Medical Education Program and LGBTQ+ Health (Eleni) and the School of Nursing and Palliative Care (Sabine). Between the two of us, we get many questions, but our time is finite and precious! We’ve therefore created an online centralized FAQ page for common health sciences research questions. The main objective for this initiative is to provide an easy-to-access space for students, faculty, staff, and our own librarian colleagues to find answers to commonly asked questions regarding health sciences research. Launched in the winter of 2023, the McGill Library FAQ: Health Sciences Research Tips space was designed and created within LibAnswers via Springshare. At its inception, there were 22 questions. We have since expanded to a total of 38 questions, with five more answers in the works. Initial Framework When planning the FAQ, we each listed the questions we received most often when consulting with researchers. Given the differences in the curriculum between our faculties, there was some variation in the scope. For example, at our institution, the School of Nursing places great emphasis on assignments and lectures about mapping research to the evidence pyramid. While the evidence-based pyramid also makes several appearances in the undergraduate medicine program, it is not as prevalent. Once an initial draft of the questions was complete, patterns began to emerge. These patterns formed the basis for our eight topics: Searching, Databases, Knowledge Synthesis, Nursing, Citations, Medicine, Evidence-Based Practice, and Covidence. In LibAnswers, topics are used as broad categories for questions and are meant for users to filter answers. More than one topic can be assigned to a question. 
Image 1: Topics as category check boxes in LibAnswers
How It’s Done We maintain a living document in our intranet that allows us to work together in a shared space. We discuss the wording of the questions and answers as well as who will oversee the questions with space for additional comments. Links to additional resources or screenshots are provided where needed. We have included images of PRISMA diagrams and examples from databases, as well as links to repositories, articles, and other library guides that might be helpful. The goal is to be a one-stop shop! Within the Springshare system, there is also the possibility of assigning keywords to a question. This works much in the same way as author-provided keywords for submitted journal articles. These keywords act as tags and facilitate searching for users. We try to be specific enough with our selection to ensure users are able to find what they’re looking for quickly. For example, if a question falls under the broad topic of Databases, but specifically mentions searching in PubMed, it will be tagged with the PubMed keyword in addition to being assigned the Databases and Searching topics. Through our teaching and interactions with users, we keep track of areas that are giving students the most trouble and discuss the need for additional questions. This can be as simple as writing notes while teaching or reflecting on assignments that have generated many questions in previous semesters. Feedback & Collaboration In planning our FAQ, we sought the opinions of our health sciences colleagues. These colleagues have been at our university longer than we have and have important insight into researchers’ needs. They were able to help us identify the areas that needed the most visibility, as well as guide us on how to best organize our topics. Once the questions were answered, our colleagues were given an opportunity to read the information and provide additional feedback. Spreading the word about our FAQ is important; we can’t assume students are browsing our library websites. Embedding the FAQ in our most frequented LibGuides and actively linking to posts within the FAQ in email and chat correspondence has boosted its visibility. We also encouraged our colleagues to mention the FAQ in their own classes and within their departments. The Pros Outweigh the Con A positive feature of our FAQ is that it is indexed on the web and can be found by searching in common search engines, including Google. Just type “What is the difference between UpToDate and DynaMed?” and our FAQ should be on the first page of results. Though we are not able to see statistics distinguishing between internal and external viewers, this visbility means that anyone can access the questions and their answers. After finding the answer they’re looking for, users can browse additional questions and topics, fostering further discoverability and interaction. An additional positive feature of the FAQ is that our non-health sciences librarian colleagues now have the ability to direct students toward this FAQ when fielding health sciences questions via our virtual reference service that is also hosted via LibAnswers and has the FAQ embedded within the platform. The only downside of LibAnswers is the inability to respond directly to user comments. Instead, the software requires us to post our answer as a general comment that the user might not see. Overall, the FAQ has proved to be a proactive approach in answering common user questions and has collectively saved us and our colleagues time and energy. Additional Resources Wondering what a few foundational titles are related to this FAQ or want to create your own? Consider these books: Foster, M. J., & Jewell, S. T. (2022). Piecing together systematic reviews and other evidence syntheses. Rowman & Littlefield. Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2023). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: a guide to best practice (Fifth edition). Wolters Kluwer. Cherry, M. G., Boland, A., & Dickson, R. (2024). Doing a systematic review: a student’s guide (3rd edition). Sage Publications. DCT Featured Article – April 8, 2025
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