Dr Ranita Hisham Shunmugam is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya. Prior to joining academia in December 2023, she served for over 15 years as a Senior Librarian at the Universiti Malaya Library, where she was primarily attached to the Medical Library. During this period, she was actively involved in professional service and currently serves as an Academic Advisor to the Medical Librarian Group (MLG) under the Librarians Association of Malaysia, supporting professional development and strengthening regional collaborations, particularly within Southeast Asia.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Library Science and a Master’s in Information Management from Universiti Teknologi MARA, and obtained her PhD from the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya in 2019. Her doctoral research examined the perspectives and experiences of primary care physicians regarding evidence-based medicine (EBM) in Malaysia, contributing new insights into the role of librarians in supporting clinical decision-making and research practices.

She is actively engaged in teaching, research, and student supervision within the Library and Information Science programme. She contributes to curriculum development and delivers courses related to digital repositories, information literacy, and evaluation of library and information services. She also supervises postgraduate research projects, particularly in digital libraries, health information services, and user behaviour.

She has published in reputable journals and collaborates with multidisciplinary research teams across Malaysia and internationally. Trained in advanced literature searching and systematic review methodologies, she regularly conducts workshops and provides consultation on systematic review strategies for students, clinicians, and researchers. Her current research interests include evidence-based healthcare information services, medical librarianship, digital repositories, information literacy, user experience in libraries, and the evolving role of libraries in supporting research and knowledge dissemination.