RNAO’s new Open Library – an online resource – is now available to anyone interested in a curated collection of journal articles and reports showcasing the real-world impact of the Best Practice Guidelines (BPG) Program and its Best Practice Spotlight Organizations® (BPSO®), plus RNAO’s policy and advocacy work.

The library will promote literacy around evidence-based practices to support researchers and health providers with an interest in advancing this work across health care and health service organizations and academia. By encouraging access to these resources, RNAO will also support and inform policy, advocacy and consultations, and act as one central resource for knowledge sharing, innovation and practice change to complement RNAO’s BPGs.

To develop the library, RNAO consulted with its diverse community partners on the literature collections that should be included to meet and respond to their needs. The association’s guideline development team and research unit collaborated to bring it to life. 

The launch represents the first phase of an initiative aimed at building research capacity and inspiring publications that advance evidence-based practice. During the second phase, users will be able to share their own publications that meet stated criteria for being indexed in the library. Stay tuned for the release of RNAO’s Research Toolkit in 2025. It will include research resources such as an authorship manual, publication tips and opportunities to connect with researchers.

Open Library is searchable by topic, keyword and author. It is organized into collections that include:

• RNAO publications: Articles or books published by RNAO staff (i.e. systematic reviews of BPGs, book chapters and other peer-reviewed articles).
• BPSO publications: Articles written by BPSOs that discuss the implementation and/or evaluation of BPGs.  
• RNAO in action: Articles that reference RNAO but are not written by RNAO staff members or BPSOs. These articles demonstrate the impact of RNAO.
• Chapter, region, interest group or task force publications: Articles published by members of an RNAO chapter, region, interest group or task force who is detailing the activities of the group.
• RNAO policy reports:  A collection of policy reports produced by RNAO.

Questions? Reach out to research@RNAO.ca