I was updating a presentation today and checking the links still worked from the last time I did this, back in October last year, so only a couple of months. In that time we've lost access to such tools as
There's a petition out at the moment, "HM Government: act now to protect my statutory rights to a quality public library service" However, it would seem that most library and information professionals don't give a ......
Register & Read includes approximately 1,200 journals from more than 700 publishers, a subset of the content in JSTOR. This includes content from the first volume and issue published for these journals through a recent year (generally 3-5 years ago). Free read-online access (must register for a myJSTOR account).
The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann, founded in 1785, is Ireland’s academy for the sciences, humanities and social sciences. The Academy provides expert advice, manages research projects, publishes books and journals and sustains a library.
Shifnal Library and Customer Service Point will be temporarily closed from Monday 1 February 2016 for refurbishment, as part of the transfer of the library to Shifnal Town Council.
This article from 'Anesthesia and Analgesia' has a lot of useful information about the value of librarians, including references to studies about clinical ones. It also includes an interesting discussion on people’s search behaviour and use of resources.
If you are an NHS user and use the Proquest database to search for journal articles and complete literature searches then help is at hand...
Proquest have created a series of videos to help you to get started. You can find the collection of videos on YouTube.
On the 3rd February from 1-1.30 we’re running a Pocket-sized Training session on Library OmniSearch in IT Training 2 in the Learning Centre at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
Library OmniSearch is our new search tool on our website, allowing you to search a range of resources (books, e-books, journal articles and evidence resources) from one handy search box.
I have been reflecting that many of the approaches towards rapid reviews start with the notion of a systematic review and approach rapidity by removing bits. For example they may search fewer databases or perhaps only have one person assessing for bias. But the principle is that the person undertaking the review (and those commissioning it) believe that the approach will not affect the result too much and will therefore be acceptable. This approach is predominant and if you have a look at much of the research (see List of articles) you’ll find loads of examples.
Can't keep up with all the tweets? Did you know you can create lists of different users on Twitter, so that you never miss an important tweet again. For example, if you're following someone who tweets about the latest diabetes evidence, you could add them to a list called, Diabetes Evidence. When you're next online, you can catch up on all those lists/subject areas you're interested in. It's a form of cataloguing your twitter feed and that's second nature to us library folk!
Conclusion – Dynamic e-reference titles and collections experienced increases in usage each year while static titles and collections experienced decreases in usage. This indicates that collections and titles that offer new content to users each year will continue to see growth in usage while static collections and titles will see maximum usage within a few years and then begin to decline as they get older. Fresh content is strongly associated with usage in e-reference titles, which mirrors the author’s previous work examining static and dynamic content in e-monographs.
Conclusion – The authors conclude that integrating information literacy into the undergraduate curriculum as part of the small group seminar series is effective. They suggest future directions for research, such as a study to assess the impact of the training on specific skills rather than student confidence and evaluations of other teaching methods.
I was set to condemn yet another narcissistic autobiographical account that would be pro-anorexia fodder – but the author herself cleverly forestalls that objection. She acknowledges that we can't stop ‘wannarexics’ from devouring this as a motivational manual. Thus from the start, the book evokes that familiar sense of intellectual duelling between patient and clinician, with anorexia always at least one step ahead. This is one reason why I would recommend this book to any colleague with the stomach to read it, and to anyone who dares trivialise the challenge of working with people with eating disorders.
There is much debate within the improvement field about the value of RCTs in determining the effectiveness of improvement interventions. In 2007, Donald Berwick's monologue ‘eating soup with a fork’ provided a convincing argument for why the RCT was necessary for evidence-based medicine, but inadequate for evaluating complex social interventions such as collaboratives and campaigns. Since then, there has been an apparent ‘cooling’ in the appetite of improvement practitioners to adopt RCT methods in attempts to understand the overall impact of improvement initiatives. Against this backdrop, we applaud the authors in their attempt, which goes against the trend, but disappointingly, once again, offers conflicting and weak evidence of beneficial effect despite adherence to rigorous method. So what does this study teach us about whether or not to embrace RCTs in improvement? To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
In a wired, virtual and information rich society, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are leading us into a brave new world in which their key role is to support lifelong networked learning. This feature looks at the broad role of MOOCs and considers them within the context of health, and health librarianship. In particular, it provides examples of where health librarians have developed MOOCs and what opportunities there are in the future for health librarians to collaborate in the development and delivery of health MOOCs.
On 24 March Parliament launched a new online version of Hansard, the Official Report of all Parliamentary debates
The new website is mobile-friendly and boasts an improved search function that allows users to quickly search for and share transcripts of debates, view all activity by Member, and makes it easier to find and filter division results.
To coincide with International Children’s Book Day 2016, Amnesty International released the results from a new YouGov opinion poll. In the poll, parents were asked to select from a list the pastime that they thought were most likely to enhance the ability of their child to empathise with others. Over half of the parents polled said that reading a book was the most likely pastime to do this.
The academic publisher Taylor & Francis is exploring the transformation of the traditional library role through a series of interviews with academic librarians around the world.
A multitude of mental health apps are available to consumers through the Apple and Google app stores. However, evidence supporting the effectiveness of mHealth is scant. We argue this gap between app availability and research evidence is primarily due to unsuitable knowledge translation practices and therefore suggest abandoning the randomised controlled trial as the primary app evaluation paradigm. Alternative evaluation methodologies such as iterative participatory research and single case designs are better aligned with mHealth translational needs. A further challenge to the use of mobile technology in mental health is the dissemination of information about app quality to consumers. Strategies to facilitate successful dissemination of quality resources must consider several factors, such as target audience and context. In practice, structured solutions to inform consumers of evidence-informed apps could range from the development of consumer used tools to app accreditation portals. Consumer enthusiasm for apps represents an opportunity to increase access and support for psychiatric populations. However, adoption of alternative research methodologies and the development of dissemination strategies are vital before this opportunity can be substantially seized.To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
uality improvement (QI) is becoming an important focal point for health systems. There is increasing interest among health system stakeholders to learn from and share experiences on the use of QI methods and approaches in their work. Yet there are few easily accessible, online repositories dedicated to documenting QI activity. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
App Review. From obsessive compulsive disorder to postpartum depression, this app is a comprehensive resource on a variety of mental illnesses. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
The number needed to treat (NNT) statistic was developed to facilitate the practice of evidence-based medicine. Placebo was assumed to be therapeutically inert when the NNT was originally conceived, but more recent data for conditions such as major depressive disorder (MDD) suggest that the placebo control condition can have considerable therapeutic effects. Complications arise because the NNT calculated from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) reflects a comparison between medication plus clinical management and placebo plus clinical management, whereas, in the clinical setting, physicians choose between prescribing open medication, observing a patient over time with a supportive approach, and doing nothing. Thus, NNTs derived from clinical trials are not directly relevant to clinical decision-making, because they are based on control conditions that do not exist in standard practice. [OVID] Please contact the library to receive a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Book Review: Find It Fast: Extracting Expert Information from Social Networks, Big Data, Tweets, and More, 6th edition, by Robert Berkman. While intended for the business searcher, the chapters on sources, searching, and experts confirm and expand upon what you may know intuitively. Starting with structuring the search, Berkman moves through some of the best sites for accessing statistics and reaching into the deep web for hard data. He also explains why a library's print resources may still be the best sources.
Library weeding gets a bad reputation, thanks in part to weeding horror stories. Ideally, a library wouldn't need to perform drastic weeding projects. If a collection is weeded on a regular basis, a section at a time, and maintained well with new materials, it rarely requires a large, hard-to-ignore weed. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details