Using the Biomedical Library & It’s Resources:Becoming Efficient Information

Managers

BMD 201

Fall 2010

Beverly Rossini

• Information Services Librarian

• Contact Information:Phone: (251) 460-6893Fax: (251) 460-7638Email: brossini@bbl.usouthal.edu

University of South Alabama:

Biomedical Library Sites

• Baugh Biomedical Library – Campus Site Primarily supports the academic health

sciences (College of Medicine, Colleges of Nursing & Allied Health)

University of South Alabama:Biomedical Library Sites

• Third floor of the University Medical Center site and now called the Health Information Resource Center Primarily supports the clinical medicine

specialties-collection concentrates on patient care and treatment

University of South Alabama:Biomedical Library Sites

• Children’s and Women’s Hospital site Primarily supports obstetrics, gynecology, and

pediatrics – which is reflected by the library’s collection.

Objectives

• Students can describe challenges inherent in using biomedical literature.

• Students are aware of the USA Biomedical Library’s resources and services.

Objectives

• Students can acquire, evaluate, utilize, and manage the information contained in the biomedical literature held at the USA Biomedical Library.

Biomedical Literature: the Challenges

• VOLUME

• VARIETY

• VARIOUS POINTS OF ACCESS

• RELIABILITY

VOLUME

Set of journals pertinent to primary care physicians in 2002 found 7,287 articles are published monthly in this set of journals.

A physician trained in epidemiology would take an estimated 627.5 hours per month to evaluate articles pertinent to his practice.1

VOLUME

• Nurses, who need to provide decision makers with relatively concise ‘‘bottom-line’’ estimates of effectiveness, report approximately 1,000 systematic review and meta-analyses studies that focus on topics important to infection control professionals are published annually.2

VOLUME

• In biomedical research, the amount of experimental data and published scientific information is “overwhelming and ever increasing, which may inhibit rather than stimulate scientific progress.”3

VARIETY

• Primary information• Secondary information

The Medical Literature

• Primary – original researchExperimental (an intervention is made or variables are

manipulated)• Randomized Control Trials• Controlled trials

Observational (no intervention or variables are manipulated)

• Cohort studies• Case-control studies• Case reports

• Secondary – reviews of original research Meta-analysis Systematic reviews Practice guidelines Reviews Decision analysis Consensus reports Editorial, commentary

The Medical Literature

VARIOUS POINTS OF ACCESS• Personal Libraries:

books & journals• Colleagues• Personal experience• Libraries• Electronic

Information sources (databases)

• Internet

BARRIERS

RELIABILITY

Information on the Internet about head injury pertaining to intensive care: less quantity and more quality is needed.(2006) PMID: 16749874

Rating health information on the Internet: navigating to knowledge or to Babel? (1998) PMID: 9486757

RELIABILITY

Accessibility, nature and quality of health information on the Internet: a survey on osteoarthritis. (2005) PMID: 15572390

What is Evidence Based Practice (EBP)

Short definition: “the integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values.”4

Overwhelmed?• So many options –

so much information ... and misinformation.

• The library provides numerous tools to help you navigate this flood of information.

BOOKS?

JOURNALS?

INTERNET?

Biomedical literature is“overwhelming and ever increasing, which may inhibit

rather than stimulate scientific progress.”

Information Management• Focuses on using

valid informationthat which is relevantthat which is accessible

Do researchers ever use books?• SOUTHCat

What about e books?

Journals

Various Points of Access

Google

Various Points of access: Databases

Do you need…

• Practice Guideline/Evidence• Professional literature (journal articles)• Consumer/Patient Info• A fact or data set• To contact a colleague• News item, image, or ???

More than 35

databases, so check

scope noteshttp://biomedicallibrary.southalabama.edu.

Scopus

Controlled language vs Keyword

MESH = Medical Subject Headings

Found in PubMEd database

PubMed

• PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 19 million citations from 4,800 biomedical journals for biomedical articles back to 1948.

• PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources.

Advantages of PubMed

• Free • Links to publisher’s sites for full-text journals• Or, can order full-text journal articles• Clinical Queries/Systematic Reviews section

limits retrieval to evidence-based citations

More Advantages of PubMed• Can easily limit your search to:

– Age groups– Human or Animal studies– Language– Review articles– Subsets, such as Core Clinical Journals or CAM

• Clipboard allows you to save citations from one search or several searches that you may want to print, save, email, or order

• My NCBI allows you to save search strategies in order to generate updates - including automatic e-mail updates

Various Points of access: Databases

Use MeSH

• flu

Questions?

• Assignment• Go to Biomedical Library’s web pagehttp://biomedicallibrary.southalabama.edu/library/• Center portal: Library Instruction/Library Courses

BMD 201

Submit through assignment portal.

Baugh Biomedical Library: What We Can Do For You

Provide AccessTo search tools.To materials.To information sources both in the library and

from outside.

Teach Effective Searching SkillsLiving in an electronic/information age.Skills important not only for school, but for

your entire careers.Part of lifelong learning-essential to your

profession.

Bibliography1Alper BS, , Hand JA, and Elliott SG. "How much effort is needed to keep up

with the literature relevant for primary care?." Journal Medical o the Library Association. 92.4 (2004): 429-437.

2 Bent S, Shojania KG, Saint S. “The use of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in infection control and hospital epidemiology.” Am J Infect Control. 2004 Jun;32(4):246-54.

3 Weeber M, Kors JA, Mons B. Online tools to support literature-based discovery in the life sciences.” Briefings in Bioinformatics. 2005 September; 6 (3): 277.

4 Sackett, DL. Evidence-based medicine: how to practice and teach EBM. New York: Churchill-Livingston, 2000.