Librarians and Institutional Regulatory Boards and Committees: Finding Your Seat at the Table

Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2024, 1:00pm, Central time

A seat on an IRB (Institutional Review Board) or IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) is a high visibility activity for librarians that demonstrates the value of their library in institutional research and can boost careers as well as the value of a library. Misconceptions, fears, and lack of knowledge about the workings of IRBs and IACUCs and what’s needed to join them may deter librarians from seeking a seat, in spite of their qualifications and value as a member.

Susan Harnett and Laureen Cantwell-Jurkovic, authors of Finding Your Seat at The Table: Roles for Librarians on Institutional Regulatory Boards and Committees, a highly recommended guide for librarians on joining and serving on institutional regulatory boards and committees, will demystify service on IRB and IACUC and show you what’s needed to join them. They’ll present foundational knowledge on these important committees and offer guidance on demonstrating the value of your membership on them and on developing the arguments and gaining the support needed to find your seat at the table.

You’ll learn through lecture and case stories and through sharing, brainstorming, and discussing strategies with other participants.

You’ll leave the webinar with a list of resources, readings, and training opportunities, greater knowledge and insights into IRBs and IACUCs and librarian roles on them, and strategies and confidence that will help you join them.

Upon registering for this webinar, you will receive a code entitling you to a 30% discount on Susan & Laureen’s edited book, Finding Your Seat at The Table: Roles for Librarians on Institutional Regulatory Boards and Committees.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the webinar, you will be able to:

• Describe the origins, membership, laws and work of the IRB and IACUC.
• Explain how librarians can demonstrate value and commitment to the research enterprise through engagement with an IRB and IACUC.
• Identify ways you can engage with these committees as a member, consultant, research support, or as an embedded librarian.

Audience

Medical, academic, and hospital librarians and other information professionals interested in the work of and membership on the IRB and IACUC at their institution.

Presenters

Susan M. Harnett, MLS, AHIP is a Medical Librarian at Nemours Children’s Health and a member of the Nemours Institutional Review Board. Previously, Susan was a member of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of Florida. She is the co-editor, with Laureen Cantwell-Jurkovic, of Finding Your Seat at The Table: Roles for Librarians on Institutional Regulatory Boards and Committees, published in 2022 by MLA Books/Rowman & Littlefield.

Laureen P. Cantwell-Jurkovic, MSLIS, PhD, is Head of Access Services & Outreach at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) and a member of its Institutional Review Board. Laureen co-edited Finding Your Seat at The Table: Roles for Librarians on Institutional Regulatory Boards and Committees with Susan M. Harnett. She also edited Intersections in Healing: Academic Libraries and the Health Humanities (2024) and Spatial Literacy in Public Health: Faculty-Librarian Teaching Collaborations (due out summer 2024, ACRL).

Registration Information

• Length: 1.5 hour webinar
• Date: Wednesday, September 11, 2024, 1:00pm, Central time
• Technical information:  The login will be sent in advance to access the live webinar, resources, evaluation, and certificate.
• Register, participate, and earn 1.5 MLA continuing education (CE) contact hours.