The historical development and current landscape of health library standards: A critical review

Background: Since the emergence of the first health library standards, a large body of literature has been published in this field, most often focusing on a particular standard, or set of standards. In the case of literature reviews, they have been usually partial and integrated into a broader study.

Objective: Identify and analyse national health library standards developed in different countries worldwide over the past 70 years, tracing their historical development and current status.

Method: A comprehensive search of published literature was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, Medline, LISA, and Google Scholar up to May 2023. The reference lists and citations of retrieved papers were reviewed. After screening and eligibility, a total of 112 papers were included in the final selection.

Results: More than 40 national hospital library standards published by a group of Anglo-Saxon and European countries were identified. In a chronological approach, the standards have been arranged by decades, from the 1950s to the present day, and the context of their appearance, their main contributions, and the relationships between them have been analysed. The major trends that have marked their evolution and development over time have also been established.

Conclusion: Standards have a key role to play in the important challenge facing health libraries today to demonstrate the high impact and value of their services in the functioning of their organisations and in improving patient care.