Integrating information literacy into the education of public health professionals: roles for librarians and the library

OBJECTIVE: The paper reviews the core competencies for public health professionals presented in the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) report, Who Will Keep the Public Healthy: Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century; describes improving information literacy (IL) as a mechanism for integrating the core competencies in public health education; and showcases IL as an opportunity for solidifying partnerships between academic librarians and public health educators. METHODS: The IOM competencies, along with explicit examples of library support from a literature review of current IL trends in the health sciences, are analyzed. RESULTS: Librarians can play a fundamental role in implementing the IOM's core competencies in shaping public health education for the twenty-first century. A partnership between public health educators and librarians through a transdisciplinary approach is recommended. CONCLUSIONS: IL skills and competencies integrated into public health curricula through a collaborative partnership between public health educators and librarians can help integrate the IOM's core competencies and improve public health education.