HILJ helped me raise my game and get published, something I never imagined I would do. It would be difficult to measure the impact HILJ has had on my professional development – at least not without a lot of work. Read on to appreciate the true significance of this statement.

Over the years, HILJ had been there when I needed it, supporting my CPD, broadening my professional horizons, supplying articles for our journal club to appraise, in fact doing what one would expect of a professional journal.

When I came to choose a topic for my MA dissertation, it seemed a good idea to say that I would turn it into an article for HILJ. There was no more to it than that; I had not engaged in any very deep though processes beyond my marketeer’s instinct that it might help to raise our profile.

For many months, the article comfortably remained something to be done in the future, after the dissertation was finished. Then suddenly, of course, it was. Developing a 5000 word article out of a much longer piece of work proved to be as hard as writing the dissertation itself. The weekend I had set aside proved totally inadequate. I struggled but greatly appreciated the support and encouragement I received.

The dissertation was about linking research and marketing and my own personal (possibly heretical) take home message was “Don’t do an impact study if marketing will suffice.” But writing the article was definitely worth the effort.

My personal collection of HLR / HILJ stands 11 inches high in the spare room. The first issue I can find is dated December 1992. The subscription was originally purchased in the naïve hope that the editor might accept an article I had submitted. I doubt she even knew I was a subscriber. I have been fortunate enough, I think, to have had an article accepted by each of the journal’s three editors.

Having used the journal recently for research purposes in creating an article about the University Health Sciences Librarians Group I discovered Meeting Reports I wrote about meetings I had forgotten I had even attended. I even wrote a Brief Communication, a series only recently discontinued.

Then suddenly I find myself being asked to be a peer referee for the journal, something I have done several times since. To review articles before publication is a quite a treat. It enables you to be up to date with the latest trends and research. Admittedly I sometimes wonder why the editors think I know anything about “Health library usage in rural Cheshire” (I made that up but you know what I mean). Would-be authors should not be discouraged by the idea that their work will be reviewed before publication. In my experience reviewers are keen to be helpful and advise how an article can be improved rather than reject it out of hand. As a reviewer it is interesting to try to identify the article on publication and whether your comments have been taken note of.

It’s a cliché to say “If I can do it, anyone can” but a health librarian with something to say should at least consider submitting their scholarly thoughts to HILJ. Or at least take out a subscription.

Maurice Wakeham
Faculty Liaison Librarian: Health and Social Care
Anglia Ruskin University.