Online Journals Now “Journals of Record”

An editorial in a medical journal in 2000, opined it will be “increasingly difficult for any paper-only periodical to maintain a position as a journal of record. It is only a matter of time before electronic journals take over from paper journals as the official archive.”

Since that article was written, there has been a ground-swell of journal publishers announcing that the online version of the journal is, indeed, the “journal of record.”  BMJ, Genetics, Pediatrics, AJR, and Journal of Neuroscience are just a few that have announced this transition.

One explanation for this change is that electronic journals offer advantages to the readers like instantaneous delivery of each issue (including internationally), RSS feeds, and space and storage savings.

But the main reason that online journals slowly become the official record is due to the enhancements offered in the digital environment. Hypertext links, movies, sound, images, and supplementary tables or data are all now commonplace features.  Also, teaching points in the form of “key concepts” are frequently utilized and bulleted or color-enhanced for ease of use by instructors and students alike.

The more recent popularity of mobile devices and e-readers has also no doubt contributed to the growth of electronic titles being favored over print.

Although it would be helpful to have a comprehensive list of those journal publishers that have made the switch to online journals as the “journal of record,” there does not appear to be such a resource at present.  However, the National Library of Medicine/NIH offers the following guidelines on when they “officially” index the online version for Medline. They:

• try to identify when the online version of a journal has more content than the print version.
• search for retractions, errata, and comments in a way that can be cited.

From this determination, they almost always index from the online version. Further, they say when publishers are given the option of having their journals indexed from the print or online, “few, if any, journals have ever opted for us to index from the print version instead of the online version of the journal.”

Integrative Health Exhibit Opens

Colin McClung, co-curator of the Integrative Health Exhibit

An exhibit on Integrative Health is now on display at the Dana Medical Library.  “Integrative Health: Local Resources, Luminaries and Community Connections” spotlights the research and publications of UVM professors Helene Langevin, MD and Ge Wu, Ph.D.  The UVM College of Medicine is a member of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Health, joining 50 other academic centers to further understanding and knowledge in integrative health.The exhibit defines integrative health and the overall goal of academic health centers to foster an exchange of constructive ideas, bridging Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Conventional Medicine.  The UVM College of Medicine collaborates with the Laura Mann Center to help educate all interested health care providers and medical students about the integration of alternative and allopathic medicine.  Also highlighted in the exhibit is the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the federal government’s lead agency for scientific research on CAM.

Visit the Library to view the exhibit and Dana’s resources on complementary and alternative medicine.

New Resources: Visual Dx

So much of an accurate medical diagnosis relies on visual clues. Dermatological rashes are particularly hard to distinguish and can be a major clue in the diagnosis of a disease. VisualDx is a visual diagnostic decision support system that links health care professionals to  medical images and information prepared by physician scholars on site at the point of care. This online program includes over 50,000 images allowing visual differential diagnosis based on actual patient findings integrated with regularly updated and physician-reviewed clinical information.

VisualDx allows the user to determine how they want to use the system – to develop a patient-centric differential diagnosis or to search for a specific diagnosis. Watch this movie for a 4-minute demonstration.

VisualDx can also be used on your mobile device. See our mobile guide for more information.

Lending iPads

It seems like everyone has some kind of mobile device these days, and iPads are one of the most popular. iPads are particularly flexible and let you access all kinds of health sciences content from an electronic textbook to a mobile app of a clinical point of care tool. Wouldn’t it be great if you could take one for a test-drive before making a decision to purchase? Or try one out on clerkship to see how it fits into your work flow?

Dana Medical Library is excited to make two first-generation iPads available to UVM students for check out.

The iPads come loaded with various medical apps, many from library-licensed content such as DynaMed and Natural Standard, e-books and textbooks, productivity apps and clinical calculators. An iPad can be borrowed with a valid UVM student ID for one week, and renewed for additional time.

Patrons will be able to download their own content using their personal  iTunes accounts. When an iPad is returned, all data and settings will be wiped from the device. Any apps purchased should remain available through the iTunes account once the device has been returned.

For more information about borrowing an iPad, see our iPad Lending Policy.

Using Dana Medical Library as a Continuing Education Resource

Did you know it’s possible to receive low-cost continuing education credit from journals available through Dana Medical Library? YES! In addition to being a resource for higher education, research and clinical care information, Dana’s many databases may be used to earn continuing education credit. You can even choose the topic for which you wish to earn credit.

First in a series to describe this process, we’ll explore options for earning continuing nursing education (CNE).

CINAHL, the reference database for nursing & allied health journal literature, has two methods for securing continuing education credit:

• The first way is to identify journal articles that include CNE in a topic of your choice. To do this, first search for a topic – endoscopy nursing, for example – then simply limit the search to CEU as the publication type – at this writing, fifteen articles featuring CNE credit were found, on just endoscopy nursing. Choose one of the articles that interests you, read the article, complete the evaluation form, and follow the instructions at the end to submit for credit, and you’re done. Some journals offer free CEUs and frequently, if you have a personal subscription to the journal, the fee is waived. Sometimes, however, there is a fee for submission.
• Another way to access CNE via CINAHL is through CINAHL Education modules. Register at no charge at ceu.cinahl.com to select from a number of different topics, representing a broad selection of practice areas. Review the course materials online, practice with an interactive review program and when you wish, take the online test to demonstration your knowledge. Certificates may be printed from this web site, and will even email a designated person, such as one’s nurse educator, upon your successful completion of the module.

Contact Dana Library Reference for searching tips in CINAHL or other questions about using Dana Library’s resources in earning continuing education credit.

Next issue: using Dana Library resources for continuing medical education credits.

Fast Access to the Evidence Through the Electronic Health Record… and Beyond

A new link on Dana’s home page will hopefully improve health care providers’ access to medical evidence that can answer the most pressing patient care questions. The simple page consists of 5 individual search boxes for the most popular and highest quality point-of-care clinical tools: DynaMed, UpToDate, Cochrane Library, PubMed and CINAHL.

This page has also been integrated into PRISM, Fletcher Allen Health Care’s Electronic Health Record (EHR), and is called Dana Search under Reference Links. Librarians hope that when a physician or nurse has a patient record in PRISM open, and has a question regarding that patient’s care, fast and easy access to these search boxes will bring them to the medical evidence that answers their questions even quicker than before, ultimately improving patient care.

Librarians Out of the Library

Outreach work for librarians and library staff is very important. Not only does it communicate Dana Medical Library’s full range of services to potential patrons beyond the ones we typically serve on a daily basis, it helps the Library better understand the diverse of needs and interests of our clients. Ultimately outreach helps us fine tune our current collections, services and programs and develop new ones for the future.

Here are a few of the outreach events attended this past quarter.

Alice Stokes, MLS

Dana Librarian Alice Stokes presented a class on mobile library resources during the EDU@UVM Staff Development series over Spring Break. The class, Library Databases, Journal and Books on your Mobile Device, attracted staff from seven University departments and offices. Participants learned about library apps for smartphones and tablets, e-books, and the Libraries mobile websites. More information about mobile apps from Dana can be found on the Library website: http://danaguides.uvm.edu/mobile.

Health Information Equity

A recent conference sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), New England Region examined issues of health information equity. The conference was attended by medical and public librarians, public health workers, AHEC representatives and Regional Medical Library staff. Dana Library Director, Marianne Burke, who has conducted health information outreach projects and has had NLM-sponsored contracts was in attendance.

Vermont’s own Jessamyn West, a librarian who consults with rural public libraries on technology and information access spoke on the continued Digital Divide. She provided data from recent Pew studies showing that digital access disparity parallels health disparity in populations by race, socio-economic class, and region. A lack of computing and network resources can translate into health literacy disparities in communities. Since so much health information is communicated at the family and community level, the lack of technology access may make the dispersion of information throughout communities slower. Public libraries have been a great leveler providing high speed internet access across rural and disadvantaged urban regions; they are also good sources of health information. Studies have shown that library–based Internet need exceeds capacity, and that many inquiries at libraries are health-related.

VONL Conference

Bob Sekerak, MLS, at VONL Conference

Vermont Organization of Nurse Leaders (VONL) held their annual conference April 19 and 20. Fred Pond, MLS and Bob Sekerak, MLS staffed an exhibit and met with close to 150 nurse leaders from across the state. Dana resources and services were highlighted.

Old Vermont Films

Fred Pond, MLS Dana Librarian, presented at the first spring 2012 presentation at UVM’s Center on Research on Vermont on the work he has done to preserve old films.

Pond was working with the film collection at the Vermont Historical Society in Barre when he uncovered a film cannister marked, “Montpelier- Silent.” Inside was a 16mm color film of about 45 minutes in length. When Pond looked more closely, he discovered the film was more than a film featuring Montpelier. The film turned out to be a silent documentary showing the Vermont State Guard during World War II.

Vermont State Guard in World War II is among the films which the Vermont Historical Society recently embarked  on a project to move from film to DVD, digitizing them for use by communities, researchers and film makers. Pond presented  the challenges and rewards of this processes, along with selected footage from titles from the VHS Leahy Library Collection, featuring a mix of home movies, state development, and commercial films of Vermont’s industries.

Careers in Libraries

On April 3, 2012 Dana Medical Library joined 90 area businesses at the 13^th annual South Burlington High School Career/Job EXPO. The event offers high school students an opportunity to explore new career pathways and talk with professionals and business leaders about college options, employment, shadowing, and internship opportunities. This year Dana librarian Nancy Bianchi used a Harry Potter theme to welcome students to learn about careers in medical librarianship. EXPO attendees who stopped at the Library’s exhibit table were invited to take a five question Harry Potter quiz, and then encouraged to ask the librarian about the magical similarities between the “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” and Medical Librarianship. Potions, Hogwarts Library, and Dementors made the Dana Medical Library’s exhibit a popular stop at this year’s Career/Job EXPO!