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Terms of Reference

Description and Purpose 

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“A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share a common concern, a set of problems, or an interest in a topic and who come together to fulfil both individual and group goals. Communities of practice often focus on sharing best practices and creating new knowledge to advance a domain of professional practice. Interaction on an ongoing basis is an important part of this”(1).

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The aim of the Hospital Librarians’ CoP (HLCoP) is to bring together early and mid-career hospital librarians in the Australasian region who have a desire to collaboratively learn, share and build the skills and knowledge of its members. The HLCoP is an informal and inclusive space where members can feel comfortable asking questions and expressing opinions about issues relating to hospital librarianship.  

The HLCoP is an independent body with no affiliation to any organisation or association. Membership extends to a broad range of roles for those working in hospital libraries. It is a volunteer-based CoP, drawing in participants from many organisations in this specialised field. Participants are to observe the principles of the Hospital Librarians’ Community of Practice Code of Conduct during meetings and in email and online interactions related to the HLCoP. 

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Objectives 

The objectives of this community of practice are to: 

  • Foster open and collaborative discussion in relation to hospital librarianship 

  • Support and encourage the development and extension of specialist hospital librarianship knowledge 

  • Facilitate the exchange of ideas and exploration of challenges and solutions  

  • Review recent developments, products, and practices  

  • Provide opportunities to share professional development recommendations and lessons learnt  

  • Offer networking opportunities and peer support 

 

Membership and Meetings  

  • Membership of the HLCoP is open to current early and mid-career hospital librarians including sole practitioners.  

  • To encourage open, uninhibited discussion amongst members, library mangers and senior hospital library professionals are not included within the scope of the HLCoP. 

  • New member expression of interest via this form. 

  • Meetings are to be held bimonthly with variable days and times for each meeting.  

  • Meetings are held virtually on Microsoft Teams.  

 

Roles and Responsibilities 

  • The HLCoP is co-convened by Gillian Kilby and Keren Moskal.  

  • Members can volunteer to participate in all aspects of the HLCoP including chairing, note-taking, communication and guest speaking. 

  • All participating members are encouraged to contribute to the discussion during meetings. 

 

Communication 

  • HLCoP members have access to the Hospital Librarians’ CoP website for ongoing collaborative practice. Both website and email methods will be used for HLCoP meeting announcements and out of session updates and decisions.  

  • Agendas will be emailed or posted on the website prior to each meeting. Informal meeting summaries will be circulated within 1 week of each meeting. 

  • Regular meetings will not be recorded. On approval, guest speaker sessions may be recorded and made available to members.  

 

Sharing of Information / Privacy  

Privacy and confidentiality must be maintained within the HLCoP to encourage free and open discussion. 

  • Comments made in reference to specific workplaces are treated as confidential unless otherwise declared. 

  • General news, information, and key learnings are not confidential and may be shared outside of the HLCoP.  

To facilitate communication among current HLCoP members, the name, organisation, and email address of members may be shared with members of the HLCoP.  At any time, members may request via email for their details to not be shared with the HLCoP, or for their details to be removed from the group. 

 

Review and Evaluation 

Terms of Reference will be reviewed on an annual basis or as required. Members will have the opportunity to review and amend the Terms of Reference and offer feedback on the value and effectiveness of the HLCoP.  

Terms of Reference last reviewed: Dec 2022 

 

References 

1. Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium. What is a community of practice? 2016. Available from: https://www.communityofpractice.ca/background/what-is-a-community-of-practice/  

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