MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship' source. Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:32:42 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2134619&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F01%2Ftv-shows-prompting-bioethics.html In this week's AMNews: TV doctors' flaws become bioethics teaching moments -- comments on a recent study examining medical students' TV viewing habits.Dr. House is the fictional protagonist of Fox TV's "House," a medical mystery drama that last year drew an average 16.2 million viewers weekly. The bad-boy antics that made the master diagnostician a hit with American viewers also have made him popular among medical students, according to a December 2008 study in The American Journal of Bioethics.The survey of nearly 400 medical and nursing students at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland found that 76% of doctors in training watch "House" and 73% watch ABC's hospital soap opera "Grey's Anatomy." Nearly 40% watch NBC's "ER" and one in five tunes in "Nip/Tuck," which airs on the FX cable netw... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2134619 Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:47:00 +0100 2134619 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2121373&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F01%2Fcommentary-on-current-state-of-genetic.html Commentary on the current state of genetic testing for personalized medicine, including promise as well as challenges that still need to be tackled..Personalized Genetic Prediction: Too Limited, Too Expensive, or Too Soon?John P.A. IoannidisAnn Intern Med 2009;150 139-141http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/150/2/139?etoc“Genetic epidemiology has identified many common genetic variants that are associated with common diseases, and the list is growing monthly (1, 2). This success has boosted expectations for personalized genetic prediction. According to these expectations, genetic information can tell people about their risk for various diseases and which medications they should use or avoid. However, 2 articles in this issue (3, 4) suggest that this promise may be exaggerated and prema... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2121373 Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:54:00 +0100 2121373 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2083813&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F01%2Fnew-jama-users-guide-article.html In today's JAMA -- John Attia; John P. A. Ioannidis; Ammarin Thakkinstian; Mark McEvoy; Rodney J. Scott; Cosetta Minelli; John Thompson; Claire Infante-Rivard; Gordon Guyatt. How to Use an Article About Genetic Association: A: Background Concepts. JAMA 2009;301 74-81.The start of a 3-article series about how to read a genetic association study. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2083813 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 22:34:00 +0100 2083813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2052484&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Fnegative-studies-going-unpublished.html Brief item on the Wall Street Journal Health blog -- "How many negative drug studies still go unpublished?" -- includes highlights from the last year's studies on publication bias and news items about pharma potentially suppressing release of some results. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2052484 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2052484 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2052483&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Fcyberchondria.html One more from the WSJ's Health blog -- summary of a recent Microsoft study about how people search for health information: Cyberchondria: it's not just in your head.Is that burning feeling heartburn or a heart attack? Quick, your brain says to the hand not clutching your chest, type “chest pain” into Google and let’s get to the bottom of this.What happens next, for many people, is a descent into worst-case scenarios, fueled by the ready availability of information on the Web about medical conditions both rare and common. Obscure or serious medical problems can bubble up to the first page of search results, where anxious searchers can quickly conclude their symptoms result from scary but unlikely causes. Before you can say, “Google,” there’s another case of cyberchondria on the ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2052483 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2052483 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2052482&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Flimited-usefulness-of-private-sector.html From the FDA: "Study Finds Much of Private-Sector Consumer Medication Information Not Consistently Useful" (12/16/2008)A study released today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that the printed consumer medication information (CMI) voluntarily provided with new prescriptions by retail pharmacies does not consistently provide easy-to-read, understandable information about the use and risks of medications.The study, Expert and Consumer Evaluation of Consumer Medication Information, showed that while most consumers (94 percent) received CMI with new prescriptions, only about 75 percent of this information met the minimum criteria for usefulness as defined by a panel of stakeholders. In 1996, Congress called for 95 percent of all new prescriptions to be accompanied by useful CMI by... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2052482 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2052482 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2013528&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Fnew-iom-report-on-resident-work-hours.html The Institute of Medicine has released new recommendations for resident work hours, including protected time for sleep intervals during call and longer shifts, off-time, and other issues. The full-text of the report is online here and links to a few commentary pieces below:- NEJM article, including table comparing new recommendations to the existing ACGME recs- New York Times article- ACGME press release about the report, including mention of a pending March 2009 conference on work hours (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2013528 Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2013528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2013527&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F12%2Flatest-jmla-case.html In case you haven't seen it yet, check out the latest installment in the JMLA case study series -- The role of the medical librarian in the basic biological sciences: a case study in virology and evolution by Michele Tennant and Michael Miyamoto. This case challenges us to apply our medical knowledge building and searching skills to the field of virology, touring us through basic virology concepts and considering the implicit nature of the answer for the question featured in the case.The next case will tackle a selection of veterinary and zoological medicine topics and will appear later next year. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2013527 Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100 2013527 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1990342&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F11%2Fwikipedia-for-drug-information.html Several posts on this blog have looked at the varying ways Wikipedia can be used for addressing medical concepts.  Reuters Health reports today on a study from researchers at Nova Southeastern University that compares the scope, completeness, and accuracy of drug information in Wikipedia when comparted to Medscape Drug Reference (MDR). Using assessments in 8 categories of drug information, the study authors report that Wikipedia answered fewer drug questions than MDR (40% vs. 82.5%, p (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1990342 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:20:00 +0100 1990342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1809595&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F09%2Funderstanding-cancer.html A few of our search challenges have focused on a cancer-related topic - for those interested in understanding more about how cancer develops, etc., check out these two posts from denialism blog at ScienceBlogs:Cancer 101Cancer 102 (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1809595 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:52:00 +0100 1809595 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1802557&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F09%2Fc-diff-in-news-again.html Our second JMLA case discussed Clostridium difficile infection, and this type of healthcare-acquired infection continues to gain notoriety, now being billed by some as "the new MRSA" -- see this brief item in the WSJ Health blog and this longer piece in the Wall Street Journal itself. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1802557 Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:44:00 +0100 1802557 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1738914&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fmedication-errors.html A nice brief piece from NPR's Day to Day today, discussing outpatient medication errors--touches particularly on patient education and doctor/patient communication as key to addressing the issue.Painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs are being prescribed to out-patients in high doses, without the oversight of a doctor. A new study found that in the last 20 years there has been a 500 percent increase in the death rate from medication errors made at home. Medical contributor Dr. Sydney Spiesel discusses the data with Alex Chadwick. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1738914 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1738914 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1696014&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fadoption-of-electronic-medical-records.html This week's MedlinePlus podcast from the National Library of Medicine covers data about provider and patient perceptions and adoption of EMRs; Rob Logan PhD is filling in for Dr Lindberg this week. The transcript of the podcast is here and the MedlinePlus topic page on EMRs is here. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1696014 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1696014 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1696013&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fjuly-jmla-case.html The latest JMLA case, Addressing Hemolysis in an Infant Due to Mother–Infant ABO Blood Incompatibility, is available in the July issue of the journal.The question that this case focuses on: Is [intravenous immunoglobulin G] a safe and effective alternative to exchange transfusion in a premature infant with hemolysis and hyperbilirubinemia secondary to ABO incompatibility, who has failed phototherapy?See the full-text of the case for definition of the medical terms, discussion of the search, and an analysis of the literature on this topic! (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1696013 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1696013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1692040&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Flearning-about-qualitative-research-in.html This week's British Medical Journal includes several great overview/tutorial pieces about aspects of qualitative research:- Ayelet Kuper, Scott Reeves, and Wendy Levinson. An introduction to reading and appraising qualitative research. BMJ 2008;337:a288- Ayelet Kuper, Lorelei Lingard, and Wendy Levinson. Critically appraising qualitative research. BMJ 2008;337:a1035- Scott Reeves, Ayelet Kuper, and Brian David Hodges. Qualitative research methodologies: ethnography. BMJ 2008;337:a1020- Scott Reeves, Mathieu Albert, Ayelet Kuper, and Brian David Hodges. Why use theories in qualitative research? BMJ 2008;337:a949- Brian David Hodges, Ayelet Kuper, and Scott Reeves. Discourse analysis. BMJ 2008;337:a879- Lorelei Lingard, Mathieu Albert, and Wendy Levinson. Grounded theory, mixed methods, and ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1692040 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1692040 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1679258&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fsearch-challenge-10-strategies.html Search challenge 10 examines the issue of how to decide on appropriate screening practices for breast cancer in a young woman whose grandmother developed breast cancer at a relatively young age.A search that incorporates the main "components" of the question might look something like:("Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis"[Majr] OR breast neoplasms/genetics[majr]) AND (inherited[tiab] OR familial[tiab] OR high risk[tiab] OR family history[tiab] OR grandmother[tiab] OR pedigree[tiab] OR second degree[tiab] OR heredity[tiab] OR hereditary[tiab]) AND (age factors[mh] OR risk[mh] OR predictive value of tests[mh] OR sensitivity and specificity[mh]) AND (diagnostic imaging[majr] OR mass screening[majr]) AND english[la] AND humans[mh] NOT (case reports[pt] OR letter[pt] OR comment[pt] OR editorial[pt])A fe... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1679258 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1679258 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1679257&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F08%2Fsearch-challenge-11.html This month's topic: What information (online or print) and support resources are available for children with wheat allergy and their parents?Post your suggestions in the comments and come back on Tuesday Sept. 2 for more discussion! (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1679257 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1679257 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1622004&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fhealth-literacy-and-emergency-room.html A multicenter, cross-sectional study in last month's Academic Emergency Medicine administered a short health literacy assessment questionnaire to 300 patients in 3 Boston emergency rooms. In addition to examining raw scores, investigators also looked at correlations with other sociodemographic variables.Older age, less education, and lower income were all associated with reduced functional health literacy. Associations with ethnicity, race, and language were not statistically significant in the multivariate analysis (i.e. after correcting for other variables).The authors note "In this sample, one-quarter of ED patients would be expected to have difficulty understanding health materials and following prescribed treatment regimens. Advanced age and low socioeconomic status were independently... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1622004 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:45:00 +0100 1622004 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1605781&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fchange-in-drugmaker-swag.html via WSJ's Health blog -- Drugmakers pulling plug on free pens, mugs, and pads -- talks about this revision to the PhRMA Code (voluntary guidelines for pharma marketing activities), authored by the pharmaceutical industry's trade group, which is calling for more responsible marketing by eliminating some of the freebie gifts. It doesn't, however, set explicit limits on spending for physician consulting and speaking engagements, but recommends internal limits and tracking procedures be put in place.The full PhRMA marketing code is here; more in the WSJ and the New York Times. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1605781 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:11:00 +0100 1605781 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1602725&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fviolence-against-nurses.html It seems like we get a search request on this topic every couple of years or so and yesterday's New York Times has a great piece by David Tuller summarizing recent stats about violence against nurses and workplace prevention strategies -- "Nurses Step Up Efforts to Protect Against Attacks" (via The Pump Handle)For more info, a quick PubMed search - nurse-patient relations[majr] AND violence[majr] (does include some false drops about screening for abuse, domestic violence, elder abuse, etc.) (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1602725 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1602725 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1596223&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fpubmed-as-verb.html DrugMonkey ponders the changing role of PubMed with increasing focus on open access -- "I'll PubMed it and find out"Most of the audience for this blog will be familiar with the use of "Google" as a verb to describe searching the World Wide Web for information on a given topic. "I googled a half-dozen mojito recipes which we tried out on the Fourth". "Did you google your blind date/new postdoc to make sure he isn't a psycho?". "You got dinner plans after the conference sessions end for the day? No? Lemme google up some restaurants." ... Lagging well behind this transformation of our information-age lives, but assuredly steaming right along behind, is the verb-ification of PubMed. For some of us, it is here already. This is the area where I am sympathetic to the antics of the Open Access Aco... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1596223 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:20:00 +0100 1596223 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1596224&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fsearch-challenge-10.html For this month's search challenge, a question from a primary care physician: A woman's maternal grandmother had breast cancer at the age of 36. As a result, her ob/gyn is recommending screening to begin at 31. What is the evidence for determining when to begin screening patients who have second degree relatives with breast cancer? Is imaging other than mammogram (e.g. MRI) preferred? Does the presence/absence of BRCA 1/2 mutations affect these recommendations?Post your suggestions in the comments! I'll pull our thoughts together for a follow-up post on the first Monday of August. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1596224 Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:04:00 +0100 1596224 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2488047&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Fsearch-challenge-9-strategies.html Search challenge 9 was "Can you find literature that discusses physician/nurse collaboration and communication, and assessments of associated effects on nurse retention?"One commenter posted a CINAHL strategy and found some dissertations that may be useful in aiding a literature review, also noting that a PubMed on the search might be more difficult since some of the most relevant indexing terms are unique to CINAHL.From a few quick searches, the main term that seems to be useful in PubMed is the MeSH term "Physician-Nurse Relations" -- restricting to "major" and a few other things brings it down to about 500 hits, including ~180 in the last two years"Physician-Nurse Relations"[Majr] AND eng[la] NOT (case reports[pt] OR letter[pt] OR comment[pt] OR editorial[pt] OR news[pt] OR newspaper ar... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2488047 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:00:00 +0100 2488047 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1593690&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F07%2Femrs-in-ambulatory-care.html Conclusions: Physicians who use electronic health records believe such systems improve the quality of care and are generally satisfied with the systems. However, as of early 2008, electronic systems had been adopted by only a small minority of U.S. physicians, who may differ from later adopters of these systems. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1593690 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:29:00 +0100 1593690 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1546525&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fhealth-privacy-framework-for-google-and.html via the WSJ Health Blog: Google, Microsoft Agree to Health Privacy Standards (endorsed by AAFP and AARP, among others)The 8MB full framework document is available for downloading here (along with a Flash presentation of key issues and points). (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1546525 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1546525 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1516335&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fmillion-dollar-babies.html The July case study, due out in the next JMLA issue sometime next month, focuses on care of a baby in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This week, Business Week considers the ethics and economics of NICU care - "Million-Dollar Babies." (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1516335 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:09:00 +0100 1516335 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1516336&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fanother-partner-for-google-health.html Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts announces collaboration with Google Health - from WSJ Health blog: Massachusetts Blues team up with Google on recordsPatients will be able to view their treatment details on-line based on the insurers’ records. Information in the records would come from doctors as well as laboratories and pharmacies. Other health-care history that doesn’t come from insurance claims records would have to be entered by patients’ doctors, however. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1516336 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:27:00 +0100 1516336 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1507900&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Furl-decay-in-medline-abstracts.html Published today in BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making:Ducut E, Liu F, Fontelo P. An update on Uniform Resource Locator (URL) decay in MEDLINE abstracts and measures for its mitigation. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 2008, 8:23.An excerpt from the abstract:Methods: MEDLINE records from 1994 to 2006 from the National Library of Medicine in Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) format were processed yielding 10,208 URL addresses. These were accessed once daily at random times for 30 days. Titles and abstracts were also searched for the presence of archival tools such as WebCite, Persistent URL (PURL) and Digital Object Identifier (DOI).Results: Results showed that the average URL length ranged from 13 to 425 characters with a mean length of 35 characters [Standard Deviation ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1507900 Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:05:00 +0100 1507900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1507901&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fatlantic-monthly-is-google-making-us.html Nicholas Carr has an interesting piece in the July/August Atlantic Monthly, pondering the effect of the internet and the quick availability of easily digested pieces of information via Google on one's ability to read and enjoy longer essays, books, etc.My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1507901 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:22:00 +0100 1507901 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1502424&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fmore-piloting-of-patient-e-health.html Via today's Wall Street Journal: Microsoft, Kaiser to Launch New Health-Records Program--Microsoft Corp. and healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente plan to launch a pilot program to exchange patient information, the latest in a series of efforts to allow people to better maintain control over their health records.The effort will involve securely transferring data maintained in Kaiser's personal health record -- an online repository containing data about topics such as patients' test results, prescriptions and immunizations -- to Microsoft's HealthVault, a Web-based service that allows patients to store and manage medical data from a variety of Web sites and selectively share information with them.The program will initially roll out to ~156,000 Kaiser Permanente employees.Also in...- Kaiser Per... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1502424 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:13:00 +0100 1502424 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1499715&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fgoogle-advanced-search-update.html Making Boolean searching easier in Google advanced search, via LifehackerGoogle adds a little Javascript magic to their Advanced Search page, which now dynamically builds your query using operators like OR, -, and quotes around exact phrases. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1499715 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:20:00 +0100 1499715 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1487962&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fsearch-challenge-9.html This month's search challenge has two parts: Can you find literature that discusses physician/nurse collaboration and communication, and assessments of associated effects on nurse retention?In the comments, please share your thoughts on appropriate terms, databases, other resources, good articles, etc! (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1487962 Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1487962 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1480533&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fiom-report-on-medical-care-for-elderly.html The Institute of Medicine recently released a report from the workgroup charged with assessing geriatric care in the US, including how our clinicians are trained, trends in the expected demand for geriatric care and the clinical workforce that cares for them -- it also proposes recommendations for changes that need to happen to effectively meet the needs of this growing group. The report is titled "Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce" and you can read it for free on the IOM website.The IOM's overview notes:The resulting report, Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, says that as the population of seniors grows to comprise approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population, they will face a health care workforce that is too small and ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1480533 Fri, 30 May 2008 17:27:00 +0100 1480533 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1458326&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fupdate-on-search-challenge-4.html Search challenge 4 (here and here) looked at the incidence of vasovagal syncope among blood donors.This week's JAMA includes an article that adds an interesting perspective on this question, one I hadn't considered before -- a study by Eder et al. employed Red Cross data to examine adverse events in 16 and 17 year old blood donors, and found a higher incidence of complications and related injury -- might be an interesting way to parse through the results of the PubMed strategy we came up with in the strategies for search challenge 4, to share with the reader the possibility that the incidence of fainting might vary with age and perhaps other variables in the included data (e.g. gender, ethnicity, weight and BMI).So then, using our searching expertise to provide data that answers the questi... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458326 Tue, 20 May 2008 21:47:00 +0100 1458326 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1458327&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fsearch-challenge-8-strategies.html I know, I've gotten behind in the search challenges -- I've realized that they take a little more time to pull together than I had expected (mostly because I love searching so much that I can't help but spend time in the search..), so I'm going to start posting them on a monthly basis, rather than weekly, to give myself and all the wonderful commenters a chance to really kick the tires of each of these... I'll post the new challenge and the preceding strategies, on the first Tuesday of every month, starting Tuesday June 3rd. Until then, thoughts on search challenge 8 with help from Matt and Rachel, the two commenters on this challenge...Tips for setting up automatic searches in PubMed using MyNCBI--- using the preview/index feature to search for alternate spellings/misspellings for your in... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458327 Tue, 20 May 2008 20:52:00 +0100 1458327 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1458328&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fgoogle-health-launched.html to the public yesterday-More news here:- WSJ blog- AP storyAnd Google Health itself, of course:Google Health puts you in charge of your health information. It's safe, secure, and free. Organize your health information all in one placeGather your medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmaciesKeep your doctors up to date about your healthBe more informed about important health issues (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458328 Tue, 20 May 2008 19:26:00 +0100 1458328 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1406737&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fsearch-challenge-7-strategies.html Last week's search challenge explored whether there is evidence in the literature to support the use of nutritional therapy in patients with pressure ulcers.A PubMed search strategy that seems to work well:(pressure ulcer[mh] OR pressure ulcer*[tiab] OR decubitus ulcer*[tiab]) AND (nutrition[tiab] OR nutritional[tiab] OR nutrition therapy[mh] OR diet therapy[sh] OR vitamins[mh] OR vitamin[tiab] OR vitamins[tiab]) AND eng[la] AND humans[mh]I also tried the MeSH term "nutritional support," since I was seeing some articles that looked at feeding regimens which are often indexed in this broad MeSH category, but didn't find that it added anything to the retrieval, probably because of the text words I'd included.In reviewing the results, there's a meta-analysis that includes the literature throu... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1406737 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1406737 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1406736&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fsearch-challenge-8.html With the ever-increasing growth of the medical literature, as well as seemingly increasing public scrutiny of the happenings at our medical institutions, it seems like finding good ways to "track" the publications of an institution and also how it's being mentioned in the popular media are challenges that health sciences librarians are being called to help address. So, for this week, a multi-part search challenge: - What strategies do you use to track what people from your institution (hospital, medical school, etc) are publishing (e.g. what databases, terms, other resources)? - How do you track mentions of your institution in the popular media? - How often do you update such searches?- Who "needs" this information at your institution? (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Libraria... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1406736 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1406736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1388834&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fsearch-challenge-7.html Since this month's case study focuses on a geriatric issue, this week we'll tackle a geriatrics-focused search question: Does improved nutrition (defined broadly to include controlled diet, supplementation, PEG feeding, etc.) help older patients heal a pressure ulcer more quickly and/or more effectively? (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1388834 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:13:00 +0100 1388834 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1388835&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fsearch-challenge-6-strategies.html As Martin points out in his comments on search challenge 6, some of the review-level literature on this topic is older than we've seen for some of the other search challenges. If you enter "ischemic stroke" into the Entrez MeSH Browser, it links you to "Brain Stem Infarctions" - combining a location (the brain stem) with a particular kind of damage (infarction, i.e. tissue death due to lack of oxygen, often due to reduced blood supply). Infarction is one of the potential downstream effects of ischemia, either due to the length and/or the severity of the ischemic event.Typing "ischemia" into the MeSH Browser lists "Brain Ischemia" as the 6th hit in the terms retrieved, defined in its scope note as "Localized reduction of blood flow to brain tissue due to arterial obstruction or systemic hyp... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1388835 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:46:00 +0100 1388835 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1382225&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fehrs-in-nejm.html This week's New England Journal of Medicine includes several articles discussing electronic health records.- Two perspective pieces: Personally Controlled Online Health Data — The Next Big Thing in Medical Care? by R. Steinbrook and Off the Record — Avoiding the Pitfalls of Going Electronic by P. Hartzband and J. Groopman - A Sounding Board piece: Electronic Health Records, Medical Research, and the Tower of Babel by R. D. Kush, E. Helton, F. W. Rockhold, and C. D. HardisonEach item gives a little bit different perspective on the potential benefits and pitfalls of electronic health records and strategies for implementing and using them. Steinbrook focuses on consumer involvement in health care and issues of data ownership and portability, while Hartzband and Groopman focus on the ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1382225 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:50:00 +0100 1382225 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1379267&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fnarratives-in-clinical-practice.html I just found this brief article in my stack of "to be read" papers as I moved to a new office space -- I had printed it because it provides a really interesting take on the utility of the case report or case narratives in clinical practice.Citation: Campo R (2006) “Anecdotal Evidence”: Why Narratives Matter to Medical Practice. PLoS Med 3(10): e423Rafael Campos focuses on the potential usefulness of cases in generating research hypotheses, prompting connections between topics, visualizing new possibilities...He notes,The inscrutably enduring power of the anecdote itself is what incites all our most fearsome defenses. So furious are we in our rejection of the merely anecdotal one cannot help but begin to wonder at it. What is it in the ostensibly harmless tale my great-grandfather told ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1379267 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:03:00 +0100 1379267 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1371882&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fsearch-challenge-6.html This week's search challenge is another question that takes a look at the pediatric literature: What are the causes of pediatric ischemic stroke?A few related issues to consider:- how important are case reports for this question?- is there a reference text or other resource that is useful, in addition to Medline?- how broad does a Medline search need to be to retrieve most of the "good" items for this question? (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1371882 Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:31:00 +0100 1371882 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1371883&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fsearch-challenge-5-strategies.html In the comments on search challenge 5, Heather proposed an Ovid Medline strategy combining the concepts in a straightforward and effective way, retrieving just under 10 citations:1 exp Osteomyelitis/di [Diagnosis]2 exp Arthritis, Infectious/di [Diagnosis]3 1 or 24 exp C-Reactive Protein/5 erythrocyte sedimentation rate.mp. [mp=title, original title, abstract, name of substance word, subject heading word]6 4 and 57 3 and 6Another strategy, this one in PubMed format, has a little bit broader retrieval at about 30 citations:"Blood Sedimentation"[Mesh] AND "C-Reactive Protein"[Mesh] AND ("Osteomyelitis"[Mesh] OR "Arthritis, Infectious"[Mesh]) AND (English[lang] AND ("infant"[MeSH Terms] OR "child"[MeSH Terms] OR "adolescent"[MeSH Terms]))When I see these sizes of retrieval, I see it as a chall... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1371883 Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:41:00 +0100 1371883 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1371884&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fsearch-challenge-4-strategies.html This study examined the incidence of syncope in blood donors and the influence of age, sex, occupation, lack of food, fatigue, and room temperature on it. A donor was considered to have fainted if any of the fainting-associated symptoms required an interruption of routine. Donors who fainted after leaving the building were not included. 5, 897 donors were randomly chosen (4127 females, 1760 males) from four London sectors. The percent fainting varies among age-grouped males and females from 1.63% to 7.62%. Incidence declined non-uniformly with age in both males and females. In most age groups, females had higher incidence rates. Incidence was higher in clerical workers compared to all other occupation groups. Hours of work (fatigue) and room temperature had no effect. Among female clerical... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1371884 Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:32:00 +0100 1371884 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1344044&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fapril-jmla-posted-in-pubmed-central.html And with it, the next installment in our case study series:Cahall M, Jerome RN, Powers J. The impact of a literature consult service on geriatric clinical care and training in falls prevention. J Med Libr Assoc. 2008 April; 96(2): 88–100.The case: You frequently collaborate with a geriatrician in the adult primary care clinic of your large academic medical center. On a routine visit to his office to discuss his current needs for clinical evidence, he requests that you analyze the literature on effective interventions to reduce accidental falls in older persons. As he also provides geriatric care at the local Veterans Administration hospital and is the medical director at several local nursing homes and home health agencies, he notes that he is interested in literature describing interve... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1344044 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:01:00 +0100 1344044 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1344045&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F04%2Fsearch-challenge-5.html I'm still working up the post on the strategies for search challenge 4 (and may have to surrender my secret librarian decoder ring if I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong with my IndexCat search for fainting after blood donation...if you have tips, please contact me!), but in the meantime, a search for this week -- we had a request from a reader for comparison-focused searches - comparing different treatments, diagnostic tests, etc.So a comparative search for this week: How do the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) diagnostic tests compare and is it necessary to do both tests in pediatric patients with suspected osteomyelitis and/or septic arthritis? (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1344045 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:58:00 +0100 1344045 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1335141&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fnational-health-data-network-and.html From iHealthBeat: "National Health Data Network To Include Google, Microsoft PHRs"Federal officials plan to integrate the Nationwide Health Information Network with personal health record databases launched by Google and Microsoft, according to Charles Friedman, COO of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Government Executive reports. Friedman made the announcement at the Defense Health Care IT Conference at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1335141 Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:56:00 +0100 1335141 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1334412&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fhealth-and-older-americans.html Report released yesterday by the National Institute on Aging and the National Center for Health Statistics, among others from the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics -- Older Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being, including a special section on literacy and health literacyMore:- the press release- PowerPoint slides of charts- US News & World Report article on the report (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1334412 Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1334412 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1331264&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fafrican-american-health-literacy.html Aetna has put out an African American history calendar this year focusing on health literacy. Each day features facts from African American history (on today in 1924, jazz singer Sarah Vaughan was born) and each month features pictures and profiles of individuals involved in promoting health literacy in different venues (including December - in the library, covered more in an item here in the Charleston Post & Courier).The introduction to the calendar, Marginal literacy: a growing issue in health care, further discusses both literacy and health literacy issues among African AmericansYou can download the calendar from the Aetna site or order your own fancy copy from the company for $4.(Also, to find literacy programs focused on basic reading proficiency in your area, consult America's L... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1331264 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1331264 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1324738&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fsearch-challenge-4.html This week's search challenge question:What is the incidence of vasovagal syncope in blood donors?Hint: this one might require some older literature and other things beyond PubMed...Share your thoughts in the comments! (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1324738 Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:04:00 +0100 1324738 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1323073&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fsearch-challenge-3-strategies.html In the comments on last week's search challenge, margaret recommended a simple search strategy that seems to locate a number of the key items for the question about breastfeeding during methadone maintenance:"Milk, Human"[MAJR] AND "Methadone"[MAJR] AND "Infant, Newborn"[MeSH Terms]A search like this may also be worth considering:methadone[mh] AND (breast feeding[mh] OR milk, human[mh] OR lactation[mh])It retrieves about 40 citations and it's a little bit broader than the search above and brings in some related issues of potential interest to the health care team, such as psychological effects of breastfeeding for the mother and child in this situation and the effect of methadone on the mother's ability to lactate.Commenter dewey_decimal reminds us to consult LactMed, the drugs and lactati... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1323073 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:18:00 +0100 1323073 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1315326&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fethical-considerations-in-organ.html This week's New England Journal of Medicine includes a perspective piece by Dr. Robert Truong, "Consent for Organ Donation — Balancing Conflicting Ethical Obligations," addressing some of the ethical issues we briefly touched on in a previous JMLA case study about medical support of potential organ donors. Truong discusses potential conflicts between the clinical, the organ procurement organization (OPO), and the potential donor's family, and examines the process of informed consent for these patients and problems with how that process plays out in real life.This NEJM issue also includes a reaction from one OPO, the New England Organ Bank, printed as a letter to the editor. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1315326 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1315326 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1308994&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fsearch-challenge-3.html For this week, we'll tackle a pediatric question. The question: For babies exposed to drugs in utero, particularly opioids, should breastfeeding be encouraged while the mother is on a methadone drug cessation program?Share your questions and strategies in the comments! (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1308994 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:28:00 +0100 1308994 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1308995&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fsearch-challenge-2-strategies.html Search challenge 2 looks at identifying articles that discuss prognosis, with traumatic brain injury as one example "disease" for which one might want to find prognosis information.The Clinical Queries filters in PubMed, developed by Haynes et al, give us two options for finding prognostic studies:- the sensitive/broad search hedge: (incidence[MeSH:noexp] OR mortality[MeSH Terms] OR follow up studies[MeSH:noexp] OR prognos*[Text Word] OR predict*[Text Word] OR course*[Text Word])- the specific/narrow hedge: (prognos*[Title/Abstract] OR (first[Title/Abstract] AND episode[Title/Abstract]) OR cohort[Title/Abstract])For the brain injuries search, I tried a search like this: brain injuries[majr] AND ("prognosis"[MeSH Terms] OR "Recovery of Function"[mh] OR outcome[tiab] OR outcomes[tiab] OR rec... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1308995 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:44:00 +0100 1308995 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1294160&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fanother-online-searching-practice.html The Pacific Northwest region is currently doing an online seminar called "Awakening the Searcher Within." This bi-weekly web session includes a different question to work on for each session. If you're interested in joining in, you can find more information at: http://nnlm.gov/pnr/dragonfly/2008/01/30/awakening-the-searcher-within/ (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1294160 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:02:00 +0100 1294160 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1294161&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fsearching-purpose-of-question-and-time.html Martin posted a great comment on the search strategy for Search Challenge #1, noting:I think the strategy depends a lot an the situation: if you want to answer a clinical question rapidly, I go for (systematic) reviews first than do a narrow search as an update to the review.If the task is to do a systematic review, the strategy must be much more detailed and refined.Maybe you could define the timeframe for the next challenge...For these first two questions, I have been thinking of them as basic patient care questions, with about a few days to a week turnaround time. For last week's question, I think Martin's approach is very reasonable and a judicious use of time - selecting the Cochrane systematic review and the trials published since the date that the search in the systematic review was... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1294161 Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:59:00 +0100 1294161 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1290923&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fsearch-challenge-1-strategies.html In the comments on Search Challenge #1, readers proposed several great search strategies and included a few example articles too. In addition to reader-developed strategies, one commenter also included the strategy used in a Cochrane review titled "Support surfaces for pressure ulcer prevention," which fairly comprehensively addresses multiple synonyms for each of the concepts in the question (e.g. multiple words for beds and mattresses, including product trade names). The Cochrane strategy published in the systematic review is focused on searching the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register via Ovid, which allows proximity operators (e.g. "next") to aid keyword searching, an option not available in PubMed, so creating a workable strategy for PubMed is probably a good supplement to using such... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1290923 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1290923 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1290922&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fsearch-challenge-2.html We've had a few suggestions from readers for topics to tackle in the challenge - we appreciate the feedback very much and please continue to share your ideas!For Search Challenge #2, we've selected one of these reader suggestions - one reader noted that she finds prognosis searches to always be challenging, commenting that the Clinical Queries filters in PubMed provide some help but that she'd like to get a better sense of how colleagues approach these searches.So this week's question has a broad issue:- Do you have a "hedge"/strategy that you reuse for identifying studies that include data on prognosis?And a more-focused part to try this search with an actual topic:- How does the literature describe prognosis (e.g. mortality, functional outcome, etc.) in adult patients with moderate to se... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1290922 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1290922 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1275951&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F03%2Fnew-feature-weekly-search-challenge.html We've had feedback from readers of the case study column that are interested in getting more "in-depth" into the process of designing a search strategy for patron questions - what terms are useful for a topic, what terms aren't, what databases and other resources are necessary to make sure you've identified as much as possible, etc.To this end, we're going to start posting a "search challenge" question each Monday. We encourage you to post your ideas and questions in the comments or to us by email (using our profile links above). You can also feel free to "reference interview" us by posting questions for clarification or more detail as needed.Then, each Friday we'll post a search strategy and other thoughts on that question. We hope this will add to the usefulness of the cases by giving a... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1275951 Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:33:00 +0100 1275951 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1265014&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fmore-on-google-health.html Via the Wall Street Journal's Health blog - Google Unveiling Personal Health Records Service - apparently the service will be revealed at a session of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society meeting in Orlando today.Patients will be able to enter basic medical data into an online repository, and invite their doctors to electronically submit information as well, the WSJ says.(also a full WSJ article on the topic, which briefly talks about Microsoft's HealthVault too) (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1265014 Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1265014 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1265013&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fc-diff-news-from-uk.html From today's BBC News - Dramatic rise in C. diff deathsThe number of deaths linked to hospital bug Clostridium difficile has soared in England and Wales, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.Between 2005 and 2006 the number of death certificates which mentioned the infection rose by 72% to 6,480, most of which were elderly people.In over half of cases, it was listed as the underlying cause of death.It is thought that some of the increase may be due to more complete reporting on death certificates.During the same time period, deaths due to MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) remained fairly steady.Brian Duerden, chief microbiologist at the Department of Health, notes that the NHS has launched a number of efforts to reduce nosocomial infections since 2006, i... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1265013 Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1265013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1247779&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fkeeping-up-with-c-diff.html The BioMed Central journal Critical Care this month includes a review and a commentary piece discussing developments in our understanding of Clostridium difficile and associated colitis.Described as a good reference for clinicians faced with this issue, the authors Carolyn V Gould and L Clifford McDonald, from the Centers for Disease Control, detail the pathogenesis, diagnosis and possible treatment strategies in this most topical of hospital-acquired infections. The onus is on healthcare professionals to maintain awareness of the changing epidemiology of the disease, as well introducing measures to reduce the risk to patients. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1247779 Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:04:00 +0100 1247779 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1247780&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fgoogle-health.html On the Google Blogscoped blog it is being reported that Google has been making progress with their health record application, Google Health. This has been in the making for awhile now, as over the past year Google has been speaking quite publicly about their efforts. As the Google Blogscope reports, the login page for Google Health listed these features of the system:* Build online health profiles that belong to you* Download medical records from doctors and pharmacies* Get personalized health guidance and relevant news* Find qualified doctors and connect to time-saving services* Share selected information with family or caregiversGoogle is often criticized with regards to their privacy policies as it remains nebulous exactly how much information they store and capture about any one indivi... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1247780 Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:01:00 +0100 1247780 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1239159&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fpatient-portals.html An item in this month's Surgery News newsletter from the American College of SurgeonsPatient portals: not the open floodgates physicians fear (PDF) summarizes a presentation at this year's ACS congress by Dr. Gretchen Purcell about the MyHealthAtVanderbilt site and other electronic patient portals.Two studies referenced in the article:Bergmo TS, Kummervold PE, Gammon D, Dahl LB. Electronic patient-provider communication: will it offset office visits and telephone consultations in primary care? Int J Med Inform. 2005 Sep;74(9):705-10. PubMed recordLin CT, Wittevrongel L, Moore L, Beaty BL, Ross SE. An Internet-based patient-provider communication system: randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res. 2005 Aug 5;7(4):e47. PubMed record (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Libraria... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1239159 Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:04:00 +0100 1239159 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1213180&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F02%2Fattendings-perspective-on-information.html This week’s JAMA has an interesting piece written from the perspective of an attending physician, considering how the role of the mentor in clinical medicine has evolved with increasing availability of information (mentions PDAs, UpToDate, PubMed, among other things).An excerpt:It has become increasingly clear to me that with the information revolution in full throttle, the role of the clinical attending has changed drastically and continues to evolve. Besides using rounds to discuss many of the social, ethical, and professional issues surrounding a patient's care, I increasingly find myself teaching less about the current state of information and more about how things have changed and how our understanding of an illness or treatment has evolved to where it is currently. I teach about mu... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1213180 Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:16:00 +0100 1213180 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1191265&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fhealth-literacy-promotion-strategies-in.html This report presents findings from a 2005 study in which the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved first did an online survey of health care facilities across the country and then followed it up with visits to five selected sites for staff and patient interviews. The study identified five health literacy practices that staff considered especially valuable for their group’s patients and potentially applicable to other clinics: a team effort, beginning at the front desk; use of standardized communication tools; use of plain language, face-to-face communication, pictorials, and educational materials; clinicians partner with patients to achieve goals; and organizational commitment to create an environment where health literacy is not assumed.(via the Health Policy blog) (Source: JMLA... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1191265 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:43:00 +0100 1191265 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1177566&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Frelated-article-searching.html The case study in the January 2008 issue examines the search for information related to patient experiences and perceptions of electronic medical records. The search strings included in the case study represent the concept of the patient in the following manner: (Patient Access to Records [mh] OR (Access to Information [mh] AND Patients [majr]) OR (Attitude to Computers [mh] AND Patients [majr])) You'll notice that this part of the search string does not include any non-controlled vocabulary terms. As we were compiling the case study, this was an intentional decision, and of course there could be many ways to construct a comprehensive search strategy. It is quite likely that no one search strategy would accurately capture all the articles we'd consider. In this particular case, there were ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1177566 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:00:00 +0100 1177566 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1177567&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fjanuary-2008-issue-available-online.html The January 2008 issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association is now available in PubMed Central.This issue includes the next installment in our case study series; this month's articleis titled, "Synthesis of informatics literature to support institutional policy statement development" and focuses on expert searching and literature summarization to support decisions by healthcare administrators.An excerpt from the case:In this hypothetical case, you are approached by one of your hospital's administrators. She is the chair of the hospital's policy development committee and asks you to locate information regarding patient perceptions of their access to their own electronic health records (EHRs) to support the development of an administrative policy statement for your institution. ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1177567 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:30:00 +0100 1177567 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1174813&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fhealth-literacy-and-magic-johnson.html Magic Johnson Enterprises and Aetna have announced a new partnership focused on urban businesses:Working together, the two companies will strive to empower businesses and ethnically diverse communities to make informed choices about their health care options by improving health care literacy, showing them the benefits of wellness, exercise and healthy eating, and other initiatives...The principal goals of the relationship are to:-- Create a dialogue and action in diverse urban communities to help people understand the health resources, products and services available to them, and encourage them to take a more active role in their health and wellness.-- Give credible voice, via a recognized and respected leader, to major issues in health care such as the need to improve "health literacy." T... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1174813 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:51:00 +0100 1174813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1172999&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fconsumer-health-searching-confidence.html From the Patient Centered Health Information Technology blog - “Confidence” in Health Searches a Poor Indicator of Finding Good Information talks about a new study from the Journal of Medical Internet Research noting:1. Searching high-quality online resources improves consumers’ health knowledge; and 2. Consumers’ degree of “confidence” in their answers is not a good indicator of whether their answers are correct.The JMIR study:Lau AYS, Coiera E. Impact of Web Searching and Social Feedback on Consumer Decision Making: A Prospective Online Experiment. J Med Intern Res 2008;10(1):e2. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1172999 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:25:00 +0100 1172999 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1173000&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fhealth-literacy-training.html From the MidContinental Region NN/LM blog:The Health Resources and Services Administration offers a new, free, online course, "Unified Health Communication 101: Addressing Health Literacy, Cultural Competency, and Limited English Proficiency”. Those taking the course can receive five credits (CEU/CE, CHES, CME, CNE). The course is valuable for librarians as they reach out to provide support and information to the public and health professionals and would provide them another option to obtain continuing education units. In addition, The Unified Health Communication course complements The Medical Library Association and National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine (NLM) work in literacy research, curriculum design and hospital outreach. Freely share this information with othe... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1173000 Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:21:00 +0100 1173000 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1159448&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fvancomycin.html There's a really thorough discussion of the history of vancomycin and how its use has evolved in the 50+ years it has been available in the US in this 2006 article:Levine DP. Vancomycin: a history. Clin Infect Dis. 2006 Jan 1;42 Suppl 1:S5-12.The Wikipedia entry on this antibiotic also gives a little history and briefly discusses vancomycin resistance. For a better examination of vancomycin resistance, consider this CDC page on vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and this one on vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1159448 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:05:00 +0100 1159448 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1159449&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Foctober-2007-jmla-case-talks-lot-about.html The October 2007 JMLA case talks a lot about how drugs, in this case vancomycin, work within the body, and how clinicians and researchers explore and understand these mechanisms -- pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are two key concepts introduced in the case and worth further exploration.Pharmacokinetics: This PowerPoint presentation from the University of Connecticut, A Short Course in Pharmacokinetics, gives a great overview of what pharmacokinetics is, what it means for drug delivery and metabolism in humans, and an explanation of a lot of related terminology.This one from Kennesaw is also a good basic introduction.Pharmacodynamics: This overview from Howard University provides a great discussion of pharmacodynamics and how this concept is used to explain and understand how drugs ac... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1159449 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:54:00 +0100 1159449 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1146070&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F01%2Fpcr-set-to-music.html Scientists for Better PCR has put together a great music video describing the PCR technique and its history, in the style of "We Are the World," seems to be sponsored by BioRad Labs and has a little advertisement for their equipment at the end.(via several of the ScienceBlogs) (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1146070 Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:27:00 +0100 1146070 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1108510&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fdeveloping-antibiotic-resistance.html Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has come up in several of our case studies - a post this summer from the Wall Street Journal Health Blog discussed a paper from PNAS about this very topic and highlights how quickly some bacterial strains are able to develop mutations that reduce or completely impair the effectiveness of some antibiotics against them - "Evolution in Real Time: How Bacteria Beat Antibiotics":The microbes that killed an unnamed patient seven years ago accumulated 35 separate genetic mutations during a 12-week hospital stay, allowing the bugs to thwart every antibiotic doctors threw at them, a painstaking scientific investigation has found.The study itself: Mwangi MM, Wu SW, Zhou Y, Sieradzki K, de Lencastre H, Richardson P, Bruce D, Rubin E, Myers E, Siggia ED, Tomasz A. T... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1108510 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 22:14:00 +0100 1108510 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1079652&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fclinical-trials.html The PLoS Medicine blog has a very interesting brief piece ("Quackbusters") that links to more information about key issues related to the role of the clinical trial and clinical trial registries as one potential solution to address publication bias. (there's also a great discussion of why there need to be therapeutic trials specifically in children if we're to understand how to treat pediatric conditions, i.e. they can't be treated as if they're just miniature adults - related to a new WHO initiative "Make medicines child sized") (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1079652 Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:03:00 +0100 1079652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=998504&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F11%2Foctober-case-posted-evidence-behind.html The October 2007 issue of the JMLA is up in PubMed Central, including the October case study, "Approaching and analyzing a large literature on vancomycin monitoring and pharmacokinetics."An excerpt from the case:At morning rounds in your hospital's intensive care unit, a resident from the team presents a 55-year-old woman (weight 129 lbs) with a past medical history of multiple sclerosis, cerebellopontine angle meningioma, hypothyroidism, and a neurogenic bladder requiring a Foley catheter. This patient was transferred from her nursing home 3 days ago with a fever and altered mental status. Results from the nursing home bacterial culture of the patient's urine revealed Gram negative rods. Bacterial culture of blood drawn from her peripheral intravenous (IV) line at the nursing home indicat... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=998504 Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:37:00 +0100 998504 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=930986&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fmla-committee-membership-reminder.html The deadline for applying for membership on one of the many interesting Medical Library Association committees is quickly approaching - members have until Oct. 31 to complete the application, available online in the members-only section of MLANET.The JMLA editorial board functions as an MLA committee and if you're interested in serving on the board, see this post for more information. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=930986 Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:51:00 +0100 930986 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=921511&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fcaphis-in-library-journal.html In yesterday's Library Journal, there's a nice brief piece on collection development in neuroscience that mentions MLA's Consumer and Patient Health Information Section newsletter. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=921511 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:02:00 +0100 921511 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=911719&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fhealthy-dose-of-skepticism.html The Wall Street Journal recently published two pieces (one article, and one on the WSJ Health Blog) on the basic theme of whether scientific research can be trusted, and referring to an essay by John P. A. Ioannidis, Why Most Published Research Findings Are False.Ioannidis's points are neatly summed up by this passage in the introduction to the freely available essay:The probability that a research claim is true may depend on study power and bias, the number of other studies on the same question, and, importantly, the ratio of true to no relationships among the relationships probed in each scientific field. In this framework, a research finding is less likely to be true when the studies conducted in a field are smaller; when effect sizes are smaller; when there is a greater number and less... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=911719 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:20:00 +0100 911719 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=911720&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fclinical-guidelines-and-evidence-based.html Several medical bloggers have been writing about clinical practice guidelines in the context of evidence-based medicine recently.First, a refresher - clinical guidelines are intended to inform clinical decision-making. They are generally developed after a review of the medical evidence by experts in a particular field or an organization, and sometimes include expert opinion. They do not create or present new evidence, but generally summarize the quantity and quality of existing evidence, and add a bit of expert opinion on what the recommended course of treatment might be based on those findings. A lengthy definition of evidence-based medicine can be reviewed online, but it essentially boils down to using the triad of best evidence, clinical expertise, and patient preference to guide medica... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=911720 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 18:24:00 +0100 911720 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=888471&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fdrug-safety-news-letter-from-fda.html The US FDA has launched the first issue of its new Drug Safety Newsletter this week. It will be published quarterly with the goal of keeping "our medical community posted ... about selected postmarketing drug safety reviews, important emerging drug safety issues, and recently approved pharmaceutical products."The first issue covers postmarketing surveillance data on:- rituximab (Rituxan), an immunosuppressant used primarily to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or rheumatoid arthritis: reports of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy associated with this agent ("rare fatal demyelinating disease that is caused by a viral infection of the brain following reactivation of the JC or BK polyomavirus (also known as papovavirus) present in about 80 percent of adults")- modafinil (Provigil), a CNS s... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=888471 Thu, 20 Sep 2007 14:12:00 +0100 888471 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=882331&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fmore-on-hospital-quality.html The WSJ Health blog discusses hospital quality today too ("More hospitals lag than leap on quality"), noting the release of the 2007 Leapfrog Top Hospitals and Survey Results.On the survey page, there's a link to the survey methodology which makes for interesting background reading about what indicators they used and how they gathered their data. As noted in the article mentioned in our post earlier today, the Leapfrog data tends to be more infrastructure focused. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=882331 Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:46:00 +0100 882331 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=882332&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fjudging-quality-of-hospital-surgical.html A study by Leonardi et al. published in this month's Archives of Surgery looks at the various sources of general surgery data for comparing hospital performance in the US.The highlights:- The authors identified 6 websites containing this kind of data, including 1 government site (CMS's Hospital Compare), 2 nonprofit sites (JCAHO's Quality Check, the Leapfrog Group's Hospital Quality and Safety Survey Results), and 3 proprietary sites (names withheld)- Sites were rated on accessibility (cost, sign-up required/not required, visibility in terms of where the site appeared in their Google search results); data transparency (data source, statistical/analytical methods, risk adjustment methods); and appropriateness (variety of quality measures employed)- Government and non-profit sites fared bett... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=882332 Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:31:00 +0100 882332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=843621&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Flearning-more-about-genetics-snps.html One of our future JMLA cases will focus on a genetics/molecular biology scenario. Until then, from time to time we'll post links to "background" resources and topics in this area as we gear up for the case study.Sandra Porter of Discovering Biology in a Digital World has authored a great post explaining what a single nucleotide polymorphism is - Genetic Variation I: What is a SNP?For those interested even more explanation, here are a few great links:- The Human Genome Project: SNP Fact Sheet- NCBI: SNPs: Variations on a ThemeAnd if you want to know a few places that you can find SNPs...- dbSNP and Entrez SNP- OMIM- Human Gene Mutation Database- HapMap (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=843621 Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:55:00 +0100 843621 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=840413&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fmla-launches-social-networking-blog.html MLA's Task Force on Social Networking Software unveiled its new blog on August 21st, intended to serve as a "communication device between the task force and MLA members." According to the "About" page, "The scope of this blog includes current awareness information, social networking @ MLA, social networking applications evaluations, task force updates, and IT support information."Early posts address the MLA social networking survey, anonymous blog authoring and commenting, and writing for the web. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=840413 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:26:00 +0100 840413 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=840414&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F09%2Fmla-website-redesign.html The Medical Library Association has launched a redesigned site.(The MLA 2008 (Chicago) meeting blog is also up, along with the annual meeting site itself) (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=840414 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:19:00 +0100 840414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=821214&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Finterested-in-being-editorial-board.html It's that time of year again - time for MLA members to think about which committees they might want to participate in during the upcoming year.The JMLA Editorial Board is one of the MLA committee options. Members of the editorial board serve 3 year terms and are typically asked to review 1-2 manuscripts per month. We also hold an editorial board meeting at each MLA Annual Meeting.The peer reviewer serves as an invaluable adviser to the editorial team and to authors, providing commentary and critique of manuscripts that aid the team in determining the disposition of each article (i.e. acceptance or rejection) and in recommending changes for improving the clarity and quality of prospective articles.The peer review process requires rigorous attention to detail, some familiarity with research ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=821214 Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:57:00 +0100 821214 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=810976&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fweb-based-morbidity-and-mortality-m.html For the last several years, the AHRQ has been offering a forum for sharing and discussing issues of patient safety and healthcare quality, web M&M: Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web.The site includes de-identified cases of medical errors and other safety and quality issues, with accompanying expert commentary on what happened and how the problem might be avoided in the future. There are also forums for discussing each case.The cases are drawn from all areas of health care and are always interesting, also great for learning more about different areas of medicine. One of the summer cases is informatics related and focuses on a medical error associated with use of an electronic medical record, Copy and Paste, with commentary by William Hersh. His take-home points from this case:Copyin... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=810976 Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:38:00 +0100 810976 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=805815&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fmore-on-trip-database.html The JMLA this year has published a couple of items on the Turning Research into Practice database (TRIP), including a usability study and a resource review, linked below.A summer entry in the TRIP blog, Liberating the literature, includes 10 tips for searching TRIP.Related:Meats E, Brassey J, Heneghan C, Glasziou P. Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search? J Med Libr Assoc. 2007 Apr;95(2):156-63. free via PubMed Central archivesResource review by Trina Fyfe, J Med Libr Assoc. 2007 April; 95(2): 215–216. free via PubMed Central archives(thanks to Stephen Barnett and the Evidence-Based Nursing and Midwifery blog) (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=805815 Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:50:00 +0100 805815 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=803478&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fmedlineplus-surgical-video-including.html The National Library of Medicine announced this week that MedlinePlus has added its first surgical webcast in Flash format.The webcast, "Total Proctocolectomy for Synchronous Colon and Rectal Cancer," was filmed on July 24 at Retreat Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. At about 10 minutes into the video, the surgical footage includes anatomy of the small and large intestine and creation of an end ileostomy, one of the procedures discussed in the January JMLA case. Very interesting to hear the dialogue between the surgeons decision making and technique during the operation.A full transcript of the webcast is also available, and additional surgical videos in RealPlayer format are also available on the MedlinePlus Videos of Surgical Procedures page. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences L... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=803478 Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:03:00 +0100 803478 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=801284&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Freal-experience-of-organ-donation-and.html A few years ago, our local medical center news paper, Vanderbilt's Reporter, ran a memorable series of articles on tissue and organ donation. Focusing on actual experiences of patients, including recipients and donors and their families, the articles paint a striking picture of the experience of those who receive donated tissues or organs, the families and friends of those who love them, and the donors who make it possible.Part 1 of "The Greatest Gift" focuses on bone marrow donation, Part 2 considers living donor kidney transplantation, and Part 3 provides a transplant surgeon's perspective on the entire process of organ donation and transplantation.The organdonor.gov site, produced by the US National Organ and Tissue Donation Initiative, also includes great stories of donors and recipien... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=801284 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:16:00 +0100 801284 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=775282&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F08%2Fmore-on-journal-of-medical-case-reports.html The BioMed Central blog today posts a video interview with Professor Michael Kidd, editor of the new Journal of Medical Case Reports. He talks about the role of the case report in medicine, multimedia potential of the online format for this journal, and ways that the journal may evolve in the future.He also talks about the use of case reports in disease discovery and hypothesis generation -- figuring out which research questions need to be pursued next in larger scale clinical studies (e.g. using cases to prompt a cohort study or case control study or clinical trial). (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=775282 Thu, 02 Aug 2007 20:31:00 +0100 775282 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=760332&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F07%2Finterventions-to-change-test-ordering.html (Credit: this post was adapted from a clinical information summary authored by Julie Beauregard, MLIS, Library Fellow, Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville TN)In the April case study, the team's next step after reading the literature provided by the librarian will likely be to start figuring out how to share the information and how to begin changing the way amylase and lipase are ordered in the Emergency Department. A logical follow-up question from the team would be: What does the literature tell us about how to change physician test ordering behavior, and are there any benefits in terms of cost and clinical outcomes associated with such interventions?There are several studies investigating the cost savings associated with interventions to reduce the ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=760332 Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:02:00 +0100 760332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=760333&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F07%2Fmla-presidents-blog.html Mark Funk, the new president of the Medical Library Association, has launched a blog, Only Connect!.Mark comments in his inaugural post:Like my predecessors, I will probably write about my travels and adventures. I’ll also be playing around with WordPress plugins for photos and other cool things. But I hope that this form of communication can be more than reportage. Can we actually develop some kind of dialog? This is as new to me as it is to you. I want to hear from the MLA membership. What do you want in a blog by the MLA president?(Thanks to David Rothman for the link) (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=760333 Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:19:00 +0100 760333 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=744728&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F07%2Fannouncing-july-case.html Discussion among group members during the first meeting also indicates that no one is aware of guidelines or studies examining the recommended methods to ensure organ preservation in a brain dead patient.During the discussion, the team comments that organ preservation in this setting may need to be addressed by literature that evaluates medical, family-based, or staff training strategies to increase the number of successful transplants or improve quality of the organs removed from potential donors. Noting the daunting potential volume and complexity of literature that is needed to guide them in developing a care protocol for brain dead cadaver care, they ask you, as the group's librarian, to aid them in identifying, summarizing, and appraising guidelines and articles addressing these issue... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=744728 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:39:00 +0100 744728 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=704321&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fnew-jmla-reviewer-tutorial-launched.html The editorial team of the JMLA is pleased to announce the launch of the JMLA Reviewer Tutorial.The expected audience for the tutorial includes the JMLA Editorial Board as well as prospective authors of JMLA articles and those interested in learning more about the peer review process.Focusing on critical appraisal skills, the tutorial is intended to:- Provide orientation and professional development for current and incoming JMLA peer reviewers- Facilitate development of general skills in critically assessing the literature- Share editorial and peer review expectations for manuscript structure and content with prospective authors of JMLA articles- Serve as a knowledge management strategy by capturing the JMLA’s peer review processThe tutorial's components include:- An overview of the role ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=704321 Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:50:00 +0100 704321 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=673789&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F06%2Freader-questions-about-pancreatitis.html We received a few questions from a group of readers, sent to us by information specialist Ani Orchanian-Cheff, about the April JMLA case on diagnosing acute pancreatitis. Their questions and responses from the case's librarian co-authors, Julie Beauregard and Jennifer Lyon:We were wondering how many citations you went through in order to find the 4 you ended up summarizing. Some of us thought that you might have gone through the ninety results from your text word search strategy on page 123, while others thought perhaps you went through a combination of the results of all three searches on that page. We looked at a combination of the results of multiple searches, weeding through the abstracts in the online literature databases to select a smaller number of articles to look at in full-text.... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=673789 Wed, 13 Jun 2007 16:59:00 +0100 673789 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=610700&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fmore-debate-on-utility-of-case-reports.html The Scientist posted a news item yesterday, "Case reports: Essential or irrelevant?", discussing reaction of members of other editorial teams to the launch of the new Journal of Medical Case Reports (a BMC title).Does the medical literature need more case studies? A new journal is betting it does, even as editors at other journals say the answer is no. Historically, case reports have proven extremely valuable to clinicians faced with diseases they knew little about. But in an age where countries spend more on research than ever before investigating both rare and common diseases, some experts argue that the obscure nature of many case reports makes them of little value to the average practitioner. The article includes editorial staff commentary from the Lancet, the British Medical Journal, ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=610700 Tue, 15 May 2007 14:01:00 +0100 610700 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=610701&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fpositive-and-negative-predictive-value.html Our April case study also refers to positive predictive value and negative predictive value (see this post for discussion of sensitivity and specificity), and defines them as follows:"The positive predictive value represents the probability of a positive test result indicating the true presence of disease.""The negative predictive value represents the probability of a negative test result indicating that the disease is truly absent."Thus, while sensitivity refers to the likelihood of a person with a disease testing positive for disease, positive predictive value (PPV) refers to the likelihood of actually diagnosing a disease in those who have it. Likewise, while specificity refers to the likelihood of a person without a disease testing negative, negative predictive value (NPV) refers to th... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=610701 Tue, 15 May 2007 00:32:00 +0100 610701 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=610702&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F05%2Fsensitivity-and-specificity.html The April case study mentions both sensitivity and specificity, statistical measures you may encounter as you read medical research papers. As the case states:"Sensitivity represents the probability of a positive result for the novel diagnostic test in people who definitely have the disease in question, as defined by the gold standard test.""Specificity is the probability of a negative test result for the novel diagnostic test in people who definitely do not have the disease, as defined by the gold standard."In more detail:Sensitivity is the likelihood that a test will be positive in those who really do have disease. For example, if you took a pregnancy test, the sensitivity of that test would give you an idea how often the test will turn up positive when you really are pregnant (and so th... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=610702 Tue, 15 May 2007 00:09:00 +0100 610702 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=610704&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F12%2Fsave-for-pancreatitis-case.html Surgeonsblog is the blog of a "mostly retired general surgeon," Sid Schwab, who shares stories of past experiences with surgery, patients, families, and the healthcare system, full of interesting and informative anecdotes from a surgeon's perspective.A couple of Surgeonsblog posts relevant to this month's Journal of the Medical Library Association case study, "Using the literature to evaluate diagnostic tests: amylase or lipase for diagnosing acute pancreatitis?":- Surgeons and Sweetbreads: an in-depth (and consideration of the anatomy of pancreas and surgical intervention in the patient with acute pancreatitis: The good news is most of us will never have a reason to find out. The bad news is we all walk around with a self-destruct button in us, and I'm not getting all Freudian here. Of al... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=610704 Fri, 04 May 2007 14:10:00 +0100 610704 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=552593&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fapril-jmla-case-posted-diagnosing-acute.html The April issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association is now available in PubMed Central and it includes the latest installment in our case study series, "Using the literature to evaluate diagnostic tests: amylase or lipase for diagnosing acute pancreatitis?"The case:Your hospital's Emergency Department (ED) holds weekly teaching conferences for its residents. These sessions are composed of didactic lectures and oral case reports in which one resident presents a challenging patient case and another resident works through the process of evaluating and managing the situation. These sessions are a key part of the residents' training and present opportunities to evaluate current medical practices and determine the best methods of care based on the evidence.During a particular case ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=552593 Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 552593 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=542967&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Faristotle-quote-on-cases-from-todays.html Classical commentary on the case report? Today's issue of the British Medical Journal includes a brief Aristotle quote captioned, "Aristotle: Clinical Epidemiologist?,"None of the arts theorise about individual cases. Medicine, for instance, does not theorise about what will help to cure Socrates or Callias, but only about what will help to cure any or all of a given class of patients. This alone is business: individual cases are so infinitely various that no systematic knowledge of them is possible.-- Aristotle. Rhetoric. book I, chapter 2: 1356b (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=542967 Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 542967 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=534804&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fonline-case-reports.html Several journals and professional organizations publish case reports as a continuing education tool for readers. These are often similar to the JMLA's case feature, in that a problem is presented, and the reader is walked through the findings and solutions. A few examples you may want to check out for building your own medical knowledge base:BMJ Interactive Case Reports - case presentations, laboratory results, and questions to consider for the clinical case, with readers' thoughts in the Rapid Response Section.Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital, January 2000-present - From the New England Journal of Medicine, this site presents case records, including presentation, differential diagnosis, discussion and diagnosis. Users can search by keyword or browse by specialty. Some ca... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=534804 Tue, 10 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 534804 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=534802&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Fjama-this-week-ventilator-associated.html Our inaugural JMLA case study focused on an adult patient with ventilator-associated pneumonia -- this week's Journal of the American Medical Association includes two items that provide useful background information for further understanding this condition:- a patient-level description of VAP (risk factors, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment), and- an article that analyzes how to most accurately diagnose pneumonia in a mechanically ventilated patient (the study's objective: "To review the published medical literature describing the precision and accuracy of clinical, radiographic, and laboratory data to diagnose bacterial VAP relative to a histological gold standard.") (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=534802 Tue, 10 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 534802 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=531136&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F04%2Ffinding-quality-health-information-on.html There's a free tutorial posted on MLANET, "Medical Information on the Internet: Guide for Health Reporters and Consumers," developed by two MLA members (Patricia Gallagher and Kathel Dunn) and geared toward aiding consumers with identifying and appraising health-related information on the Internet.It includes discussion of general web searching, using PubMed and other databases, finding drug or genetic information, and finding information about doctors and hospitals, among many other topics. It also includes an introduction to the basic roles of the medical librarian. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=531136 Mon, 09 Apr 2007 04:00:00 +0100 531136 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=496508&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fmore-on-c-difficile.html Clostridium difficile was featured on the Adopt a Microbe blog a few days ago. The blog is written by an Australian medical student, Emma Lurie, and for each post she includes a cartoon drawing and few key facts about the microbe. A quick fun way to learn about the featured pathogen. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=496508 Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:00:00 +0100 496508 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=468209&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fhow-does-antibiotic-resistance-develop.html October's case study looked at figuring out the best treatment options for an increasingly antibiotic-resistant organism causing pneumonia in an ICU patient. A recent article in the Washington Post, "FDA Rules Override Warnings About Drug," includes a great graphic illustrating how antibiotic resistant bacteria develop.The article is one of many responses from the popular media and the scientific community about the pending approval by the FDA of the use of cefquinome, a 4th generation cephalosporin antibiotic, in cattle, and the potential and very likely increase in bacterial resistance associated with using this antibiotic more widely. The basic idea is that you use the antibiotic in cows, the bacteria in those cows starts developing resistance, and then that resistance is transmitted to... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=468209 Mon, 12 Mar 2007 04:00:00 +0100 468209 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=453455&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F03%2Fwhat-makes-good-case-report.html The discussion of case reports in the current JMLA case study focuses on the relevance of the cases to the question being examined. What else should you consider in evaluating the "quality" of a case report?As mentioned in a previous post about the new Journal of Medical Case Reports, case reports serve a number of key functions in understanding disease diagnosis and therapy, as well as potential side effects of diagnostic or therapeutic interventions.A good case report tells the "story" of a particular patient's case (or a small group of patient's case), in a temporal sequence and with enough detail to describe for the reader how the case unfolded, what diagnostic tests and/or therapies were employed, the process of differential diagnosis, and the outcome of the case.Case reports are gene... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=453455 Tue, 06 Mar 2007 05:00:00 +0100 453455 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=442115&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fcases-in-context-levels-of-evidence.html In thinking about how case reports "fit in" to the types of evidence available to answer clinical questions, I thought it might be useful to do a quick "refresher" post on the kinds of literature available.Many also turn to a graphic to represent how the levels of evidence all fit together, in terms of relative strength of methodology (e.g. this evidence pyramid developed by the University of Washington Health Sciences Libraries, which was in turn adapted from this pyramid by the University of Virginia Health Sciences Library).If you search for "evidence pyramids" or levels of evidence you'll find there's a little bit of "wobble" in how these are constructed -- the various authors arrange some of the levels differently, particularly at the bottom end of the pyramid.So, the levels of eviden... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=442115 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:00:00 +0100 442115 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=442117&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fusing-mesh-browser-as-dictionary.html Sandra of Discovering Biology in a Digital World provides a great discussion of the MeSH Browser, "MeSH part I. Where can you find the meaning of "life"?"Noting that you can't often get a "quick" definition for a scientific term straight from a scientist, she also points out that the authority and precision of definitions provided by Google or Wikipedia may not be reliable enough for understanding the basics of a particular scientific word or phrase.Sandra then gives a nice overview of how to find definitions using the scope notes available via NCBI's MeSH database.It's so easy to focus on MeSH as a means to an end, a way to find the "right" terms to find good articles in PubMed on a topic, but Sandra's post reminded me that the MeSH database can serve as a reference resource all on its ow... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=442117 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:00:00 +0100 442117 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=432912&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fc-diff-makes-headlines-in-uk.html The impact of Clostridium difficile infection on mortality is increasingly in the public eye. With the headline "Hospital bug deaths on the rise," the BBC News site picks up recent data announced by the UK's Office for National Statistics about a continuing increase in both mentions of Clostridium difficile on death certificates in England and Wales, accompanied by an increase in the number of times C. diff is noted as underlying cause of death.The statistics brief (credit: the bar graph to the left) was posted yesterday.The ONC notes that increased public and clinician awareness of C. diff has likely contributed to the increase in reporting (i.e. difficult to differentiate how much the incidence of infection is increasing versus the contribution of diagnosing it more accurately). (Source:... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=432912 Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:00:00 +0100 432912 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=429285&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Futility-of-case-reports-covered-in.html Rebecca Jerome, JMLA co-editor, has authored a piece for the Expert Searching column in this month's MLA News, "When Is the Case Report Useful in Answering Clinical Questions?" The article discusses the benefits and limitations of using case reports to inform clinical care, the important role of case reports in building drug safety and adverse events knowledge, and a new journal dedicated to presenting novel information via case reports. This informative article is well worth a read. Feel free to leave questions or thoughts on the role of case reports in the comment sections for this post. MLA News is available online to Medical Library Association members. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=429285 Wed, 21 Feb 2007 07:00:00 +0100 429285 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=419267&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fwhen-is-observational-data-enough.html CONCLUSIONS: As with many interventions intended to prevent ill health, the effectiveness of parachutes has not been subjected to rigorous evaluation by using randomised controlled trials. Advocates of evidence based medicine have criticised the adoption of interventions evaluated by using only observational data. We think that everyone might benefit if the most radical protagonists of evidence based medicine organised and participated in a double blind, randomised, placebo controlled, crossover trial of the parachute. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=419267 Fri, 16 Feb 2007 07:00:00 +0100 419267 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=413696&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fmla-video-on-health-sciences.html If you are visiting the blog and interested in what it means to be a librarian that works in medicine and the life sciences, check out this great 11 minute video produced by the Medical Library Association - "Join the Health Care Team: Become a Medical Librarian."It features brief interviews with several different librarians that provide great snippets of their everyday life and contributions - their excitement for what they do and the way they support healthcare comes across very clearly, inspiring to watch (bonus - it also has a pretty cool soundtrack).It's available in Windows Media Player and Quicktime formats for high and low bandwidths.There are also brochures, tip sheets, a database of mentors, and other advice for prospective medical librarians available on MLANET. (Source: JMLA Ca... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=413696 Tue, 13 Feb 2007 07:00:00 +0100 413696 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=403027&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F02%2Fcase-reports-and-post-marketing.html The Food and Drug Administration has launched an online training seminar, "FDA MedWatch and Patient Safety," about the role of the MedWatch program in monitoring drug, device, blood, and other biologic product safety in the US.It's a fantastic and informative course, about an hour of video presentation, covering the role that the program plays in monitoring safety after drugs, devices, etc, are approved by the FDA - commonly called "post-marketing surveillance."Programs like this realize that, while clinical trials are designed to establish general safety and efficacy of the products regulated by the FDA, they do not have adequate size to detect all possible side effects; the MedWatch program is particularly interested in serious adverse events associated with these products, i.e. those ca... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=403027 Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:51:00 +0100 403027 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396146&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F01%2Fbackground-resources-for-january-case.html Our current case focuses on whether C. difficile infection is possible in a patient with ileostomy. If you're not familiar with the procedure and terminology, it can be difficult to envision why the disconnect between the small intestine and colon matters in this particular case. The following freely available resources should help with visualizing the gastrointestinal anatomy and understanding the patient's situation.Main ConceptsAnatomy of the Gastrointestinal TractMedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Lower Digestive Anatomy (illustration)National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Your Digestive System and How it WorksMeSH Database: Gastrointestinal TractIleostomy - surgical procedure involving part of the small intestineNational Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse: Ile... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396146 Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:00:00 +0100 396146 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396147&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F01%2Fmore-jmla-news.html Some other news from the Journal of the Medical Library Association this week:- The archives of the precursors to the JMLA are now available via the PubMed Central JMLA archives -- in addition to the issues under the journal's former title, the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association (1911-2001), readers can now access The Aesculapian (1908-1909) and the Medical Library and Historical Journal (1903 to 1907).- MLA is also pilot testing a new pre-print area for articles from forthcoming issues - available via the members-only section of the site, MLA members can use their MLANET username (MLA ID#) and password to access several preprints from the April issue of the journal. (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396147 Fri, 26 Jan 2007 14:42:00 +0100 396147 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396148&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F01%2Fjanuary-case-posted.html The January 2007 case study is now available in PubMed Central:Walden RR, Jerome RN, Miller RS. Utilizing case reports to build awareness of rare complications in critical care. J Med Libr Assoc 2007 Jan;95(1):3-8."As the second installment in the JMLA's new case study column, this issue's case considers the role of the librarian in addressing a complex clinical question that requires extracting relevant evidence when the literature is almost exclusively limited to case reports. This case study also tackles the challenge of identifying an effective strategy for organizing and presenting case report details to answer a clinical question."The preview of this case is available in this previous post. We'll post additional commentary in the upcoming days.Please use the comments feature on this ... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396148 Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:58:00 +0100 396148 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396149&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F01%2Fjanuary-case-teaser-persistent.html The January 2007 issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association will be arriving soon. An excerpt from this issue's case study:The caseA 42 year old male was admitted to the ICU following a motor vehicle collision (MVC). The patient currently has a diverting ileostomy, after losing most of the colon to ischemia secondary to blunt trauma to his abdomen during the MVC. The patient developed ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) several days after the operation to remove a significant amount of ischemic colon and construct the ileostomy; he was treated with seven-day course of broad-spectrum antibiotics for the VAP.After completing antibiotic therapy for the pneumonia, the patient developed diarrhea with high volume output from the ileostomy; despite consultation with the nutritionis... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396149 Wed, 03 Jan 2007 19:10:00 +0100 396149 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396150&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F12%2Fover-reliance-on-rcts-leading-to.html Via DB's Medical Rants, retired doc has posted about the limitations of the randomized controlled trial in addressing some patient, diagnostic, and/or therapeutic situations - both posts note the use of the term "evidence based paralysis" in a letter to the editor of the Archives of Internal Medicine this past summer.The letter to the editor (full-text access requires subscription) comments that there is a lack of RCT data to support tight glycemic control in type II diabetes, in response to this study by Ziemer et al which explored the use of computerized reminders and feedback to prompt closer clinician management of patient HbA1c levels. In their response to this letter, the authors of the original study note, "...we are concerned about "RCTomyopia" (belief that clinical action can be j... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396150 Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:02:00 +0100 396150 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396145&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F12%2Fnew-journal-of-medical-case-reports.html In line with this month's JMLA case study focus on how case reports can be used to further medical knowledge, in December 2006 BioMed Central announced that it will be launching a new title, the Journal Of Medical Case Reports.From the press release:"Case reports that expand the field of medicine are of interest and value to clinicians. Publishing case reports helps fulfil the need to gather more comprehensive data about individual cases. This potentially valuable resource is currently neglected by any medical journals, so Journal of Medical Case Reports will provide an important outlet for these studies." says Professor Deborah Saltman, BioMed Central's Editorial Director for Medicine.The journal is currently accepting submissions for its first issue, which is anticipated sometime early t... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396145 Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:00:00 +0100 396145 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396151&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F12%2Fworld-health-organization.html The BioMed Central journal Health Research Policy and Systems is publishing a new series of reviews from the World Health Organization, outlining a WHO subcommittee's recommendations for the components of the practice guideline development process.From the introductory article by Oxman et al:In 2005 the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked its Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR) for advice on ways in which WHO can improve the use of research evidence in the development of recommendations, including guidelines and policies. The ACHR established the Subcommittee on the Use of Research Evidence (SURE) to collect background documentation and consult widely among WHO staff, international experts and end users of WHO recommendations to inform its advice to WHO. We have prepared a serie... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396151 Mon, 04 Dec 2006 22:47:00 +0100 396151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396152&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F11%2Fgetting-help-with-pubmed.html Many librarians turn first to PubMed when they begin a search for the evidence on a clinical question. So how do you learn to effectively use PubMed, brush up your skills, or keep up with the changing interface? Below are some resources to help you do just that:For Beginners:Quick Tours: Searching Pubmed - brief, animated tutorials on searching for an author, author and subject, simple subject, or journal.PubMed Tutorial - Lengthy online tutorial covering basic searching, working with search results, features, MyNCBI, and other topics. The Basics of MeSH - introduction to Medical Subject HeadingsQuick Tours: PubMed's MeSH Database - building a search using MeSH, combining MeSH terms, and applying subheadings. Useful for learning to build a PubMed search using controlled vocabulary. For Mor... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396152 Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:33:00 +0100 396152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396153&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F11%2Fwhat-is-prodrug.html The Wikipedia entry on colistin notes that colistimethate is an "inactive prodrug of colistin" - this portion of the entry seems to be directly related to this laboratory study by Bergen et al. published in the June 2006 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, which reports to be the first study establishing that colistimethate is a prodrug, though this article is not cited in the Wikipedia entry.Bartleby.com defines "prodrug" as an "inactive precursor of a drug, converted into its active form in the body by normal metabolic processes" (there's also a brief Wikipedia entry on prodrugs) -- the classification of colistimethate as a prodrug by Bergen et al. implies that colistimethate on its own is inactive, but is converted (i.e. metabolized) to colistin after injected into the human... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396153 Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:21:00 +0100 396153 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396154&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F11%2Flimitations-of-review-articles.html In the October case study, we briefly discuss the relevance and quality of a small sample of general review articles for the clinical question we were trying to answer.Review articles are viewed by many clinicians as a quick and easy "surrogate" for the primary data on a given topic, but are subject to tremendous variability in quality and in relevance to a specific clinical question. Often written by one or two "experts" in a field, the review articles are subject to potential bias, including the influence of the authors' personal viewpoints, gaps in literature searching practices that may lead to the omission of relevant research, errors in the translation of data from the primary literature to summarization in the review, misrepresentation or misinterpretation of original source data --... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396154 Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:36:00 +0100 396154 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396155&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F11%2Frefining-clinical-questions-for-more.html The level of detail in an information request from a user, whether in received in-person the library, by email or telephone, or on clinical rounds, is not always as high as we might like. If the question is imperfectly defined or lacks clarity in intent, it can be very difficult to be certain that you are retrieving the "right" information from the literature, which also will likely cause problems to the requestor if he/she receives results that differ from the situation tthe information was intended to address. If you receive a fairly broad question, how do you refine the question?Some have suggested the PICO format (Patient or Problem, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) as one means of refining a clinical question (more information on PICO at bottom of post).Consider this situation -- th... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396155 Sat, 11 Nov 2006 23:40:00 +0100 396155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396156&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F11%2Fupdating-october-case-studys-search.html This article would be a good addition to the literature summarized in the October case for its inclusion of prospective primary data on efficacy and adverse effects of colistin in a patient population directly relevant to the patient situation we considered in the case.New reference #2: Saballs M, Pujol M, Tubau F, Pena C, Montero A, Dominguez MA, Gudiol F, Ariza J. Rifampicin/imipenem combination in the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2006 Sep;58(3):697-700. (PubMed record)This is a small prospective study of 10 patients with Acinetobacter infection, examining rifampicin/imipenem as a possible alternative to colistin, finding that this antibiotic combination was not effective in treating resistant Acinetobacter infections (some... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396156 Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:43:00 +0100 396156 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396157&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F11%2Fcomments-feed-added.html We have created a comments feed, now also linked from the blog's sidebar.Thanks to FreshBlog for tips on establishing this feed.We look forward to hearing your questions and comments as the blog evolves! (Source: JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship) JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396157 Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:40:00 +0100 396157 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396158&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F11%2Fwikipedia-in-health-sciences-context.html To continue with the topic of locating and assessing background resources for the clinical question, it may be useful to explore the appropriateness of a resource such as Wikipedia. The relevance and quality/reliability of Wikipedia entries are issues that are likely of central interest to the larger health sciences library community. This clinical case presents an opportunity to take a look at the type of medical information present in Wikipedia. To get a quick snapshot, let’s look at the first five medical concepts presented in Table 1 of the case study.Respiratory failure -- this entry is a stub, i.e. “too short to provide encyclopedic coverage” of the topic. The entry describe two types of respiratory failure, causes, and one sentence on treatment. While the entries that are link... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396158 Wed, 08 Nov 2006 02:06:00 +0100 396158 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=396159&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F11%2Fbackground-resources-for-october-2006.html Table 1 of our current case lists several medical concepts which are central to our clinical question. This post is intended to explain why each concept is important, how to assess the quality and relevance of background information sources, and to provide links to freely available resources may be useful for acquiring background knowledge on these topics. You may also wish to consult textbooks, databases, or other subscription items available at your own library. The Question:What is the evidence basis for the use of intravenous colistin for multi-drug resistant Acinetobacter infections in the adult, non-neutropenic, critical care population?How to Evaluate Online Resources:Medical Library Association: A User's Guide to Finding and Evaluating Health Information on the WebMedlinePlus: Guid... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=396159 Fri, 03 Nov 2006 00:02:00 +0100 396159 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=442118&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F10%2Foctober-2006-jmla-case-expert.html The October issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) includes the inaugural edition of the journal's new recurring case feature. This month's case addresses a complex information need that arises during a librarian's participation on critical care rounds. The clinical questionYou are a librarian collaborating with the clinical team in your hospital’s intensive care unit. A 64 year old male was admitted to the ICU 10 days previously for respiratory failure and hepatic encephalopathy associated with advanced liver failure. He developed signs of possible ventilator-associated pneumonia and underwent bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL); the BAL fluid culture was positive for one of the Acinetobacter species. Antibiotic sensitivity testing indicates 48 hours l... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=442118 Mon, 30 Oct 2006 05:00:00 +0100 442118 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=442119&cid=s_34459_10_f&fid=34459&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjmlacasestudies.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F07%2Fwelcome-case-studies-in-health.html The October 2006 issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) will contain the first installment in a new series of case studies. These cases will provide narrative and insight from expert commentators drawn from librarianship, informatics, medicine, research, and other areas that inform the development of a given case situation. This feature will share commentary and practices for a variety of scenarios with the intent of prompting discussion of issues facing health sciences librarianship as a developing profession and the development of potential solutions.This blog will serve as an online forum for further discussion of the scenarios and facets of the strategies for addressing these information-related challenges. The curator of the column, JMLA co-editor Rebecca Jerom... JMLA Case Studies in Health Sciences Librarianship organizations http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=442119 Mon, 17 Jul 2006 04:00:00 +0100 442119