bims-librar Biomed News
on Biomedical librarianship
Issue of 2022‒06‒26
eighteen papers selected by
Thomas Krichel
Open Library Society


  1. Health Info Libr J. 2022 Jun 22.
      Technology advances and collaborations with information technology and computer science groups have enabled library services to expand into new domains. Listening to user needs, eliminating administrative burden and saving users time remain strong foundations on which to build new library services enabled by technology. Examples of what is now possible is described, including service to user groups, successes, failures and challenges. Although technology advances have enabled library service enhancements to all user groups, special emphasis on new library services in support of the research enterprise is discussed. As Lindberg and Humphreys predicted in 2015, the research enterprise's need for responsible curation of research data has created new opportunities for library services and examples of those services are discussed. As technology continues to advance, new library services are expected to emerge. These may include regulatory and compliance services. By developing these services with user feedback to save users time and expedite their work, and in collaboration with technology experts, libraries can expect to offer sustainable and valued services for years to come.
    Keywords:  artificial intelligence (AI); bibliometrics; clinical decision making; consumer health information; information services; libraries, academic; libraries, medical; library services; research data (management); research support
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12439
  2. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 215-224
      Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D. was a strong proponent of self-improvement for all professions. He believed it was imperative for health sciences librarians to embrace lifelong learning as the Internet and networked information radically changed their work and opened new opportunities to increase their scope and impact. During Dr. Lindberg's 1984-2015 tenure as its Director, the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) became an even more dominant influence on education and career development of health sciences librarians. This chapter focuses on the way NLM partnered with other institutions and organizations to ensure that education and training were consistently part of the roll-out of new NLM programs and services as they were implemented.
    Keywords:  Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.; Medical Library Association; National Network of Libraries of Medicine; U.S. National Library of Medicine; education and training
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220153
  3. Journal of academic librarianship. 2021 Jan;47(1): 102273
      The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between librarians' perception of the difficulty of patron consultations and a variety of factors that characterize these interactions in the context of an academic library at a large public university. The study also provides insight into how changes in library service operations due to the global COVID-19 pandemic have affected the perceived difficulty of library consultations. Data samples were drawn from a LibInsight dataset and limited to consultations from Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 (N = 3331). Statistical analysis was conducted using ordinal logistic regression to quantify the relationship between perceptions of difficulty and factors indicating pre/post-COVID-19 modifications, patron type, scheduling, question format, library department, consultation duration, semester, and campus. Most notably, results indicate a statistically significant (p < 0.001) increase in the perceived difficulty of consultations that followed the closure of the library's physical spaces due to COVID-19, even when controlling for other factors in multiple model formulations. These results, as well as insights pertaining to other factors associated with library consultations and perceptions of difficulty, have implications for how librarians frame, understand, and manage their workloads. Additionally, findings may provide library service managers with the evidence needed to better coordinate and evaluate library services.
    Keywords:  Assessment; COVID-19; Library consultations; Patron services; Reference interactions
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102273
  4. J Clin Epidemiol. 2022 Jun 20. pii: S0895-4356(22)00153-6. [Epub ahead of print]
      OBJECTIVE: Systematic reviews form the basis of evidence-based medicine but are expensive and time-consuming to produce. To address this burden, we have developed a literature identification system (Pythia) that combines the query formulation and citation screening steps.STUDY DESIGN: Pythia incorporates a set of natural-language questions with machine-learning algorithms to rank all PubMed citations based on relevance, returning the 100 top-ranked citations for human screening. The tagged citations are iteratively exploited by Pythia to refine the search and re-rank the citations.
    RESULTS: Across seven systematic reviews, the ability of Pythia to identify the relevant citations (sensitivity) ranged from 0.09 to 0.58. The number of abstracts reviewed per relevant abstract (NNR) was lower than in the manually screened project in four reviews, higher in two, and had mixed results in one. The reviews that had greater overall sensitivity retrieved more relevant citations in early batches, but retrieval was generally unaffected by other aspects, such as study design, study size, and specific key question.
    CONCLUSIONS: Due to its low sensitivity, Pythia is not ready for widespread use. Future research should explore ways to encode domain knowledge in query formulation to better enrich the questions used in the search.
    Keywords:  abstract screening; evidence synthesis; literature identification; machine learning; systematic review methods; text mining
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.06.007
  5. Health Info Libr J. 2022 Jun 19.
      BACKGROUND: Community health workers (CHWs) bridge the gap in health and social services delivery for marginalized communities, providing critical health information to those with limited access to health resources.OBJECTIVES: The purpose of our study was to understand CHWs' approaches to identifying salient and credible health information for migrant and seasonal farmworkers in rural North Carolina (NC).
    METHODS: Two focus group discussions were held with CHWs in eastern NC and one in western NC in February 2020.
    RESULTS: CHWs seek health information on chronic health conditions disproportionately experienced by farmworkers such as diabetes and high blood pressure. They search for information from existing resources in their possession, via the internet, and through consultation with health professionals. CHWs also verify the information and transform the content into resources that are accessible to farmworkers.
    DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that CHWs possess a strong set of information literacy skills that could be enhanced through additional training in crediting sources, creating new materials, and organization and storage.
    CONCLUSION: This study adds to the very limited body of knowledge about how CHWs seek and transmit information to their communities and sheds light on their information need and literacy abilities.
    Keywords:  health education; health information needs; health professionals; information dissemination; information literacy; information seeking behaviour; patient education; research, qualitative
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12445
  6. J Cancer Educ. 2022 Jun 20.
      Cancer patients may face difficulty evaluating web-based COVID-19 resources in context with their cancer diagnosis. The purpose of this study is to systematically evaluate educational resources available for cancer patients seeking online information on COVID-19 and cancer. The term "COVID-19 and Cancer" was searched in Google and metasearch engines Yippy and Dogpile. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, the results from the 3 lists were systematically combined for a final ranked list. This list was analyzed using a validated structured rating tool with respect to accountability, interactivity, organization, readability, and content coverage and accuracy. Three hundred ninety-eight websites were identified, and 37 websites were included for analysis. Only 43% of sites disclosed authorship, 24% cited sources, and 32% were updated within 3 months of the search date. Fifty-four percent of websites had high school readability (8.0-12.0), 43% were at university level or above, and no websites demonstrated the recommended reading level for health information for the public (< 6.0). Topics most discussed were special considerations for cancer patients during COVID-19 (84%) and COVID-19 risk factors (73%). Topics least covered were COVID-19 incidence/prevalence (5%) and prognosis (8%). There is some COVID-19 information for cancer patients available online, but quality is variable. Healthcare professionals may direct cancer patients to the most reliable COVID-19 and cancer websites shown in this study and results may be helpful when designing future online health information resources.
    Keywords:  COVID-19; Cancer; Internet information; Online resources; Patient education; Web resources
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-022-02182-8
  7. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 161-170
      When Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D. was sworn in as Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in 1984, MEDLINE, NLM's online database of citations and abstracts to biomedical journal articles, was searched primarily by librarians trained to use its command language interface. There were fees for searching, primarily to recover the cost of using commercial value-added telecommunications networks. Thirteen years later, in 1997, MEDLINE became free to anyone with an Internet connection and a Web browser. This chapter provides an insider's view of how Dr. Lindberg's vision and leadership - combined with new technology, astute handling of policy issues, and key help from political supporters and influential advocates - enabled a tremendous expansion in access to biomedical and health information for scientists, health professionals, patients, and the public.
    Keywords:  Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.; MEDLINE; U.S. National Library of Medicine
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220148
  8. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 205-213
      This chapter describes how the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), under the leadership of Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D., promoted new and expanded roles for librarians and information specialists in response to advances in technology and public policy. These advances brought information services directly to all potential users, including health professionals and the public and stimulated NLM to expand its programs, policies, and services to serve all. Dr. Lindberg included librarians and information specialists in all of NLM's new endeavors, helping both to recognize and establish new or expanded roles. The involvement of librarians and information specialists in multidisciplinary healthcare research teams, in underserved communities, and in research data management and compliance has helped to redefine the health sciences information profession for the 21st century.
    Keywords:  Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.; U.S. National Library of Medicine; access to information; librarians
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220152
  9. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 225-240
      This chapter introduces the importance and some of the multidisciplinary diversity in Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.'s home library. The latter collection minimally suggests his varied interests, which often inspired a multidisciplinary approach to tackling problems and managing the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). Dr. Lindberg converted the ideas he picked up from reading into administering projects as well as to set aspirational goals for NLM and for himself. The chapter suggests Dr. Lindberg's home library was an enduring reservoir of knowledge, judgment, planning, and creativity. The chapter also discusses two of Dr. Lindberg's leadership traits: the cultivation of discovery and project development in educational administration and the need for leaders to determine and act in the greater public interest. The chapter suggests the latter two traits defined Dr. Lindberg's NLM leadership.
    Keywords:  Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.; U.S. National Library of Medicine; administration; leadership; public interest; vision
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220154
  10. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 151-160
      Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D. arrived as Director, U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) in late 1984 with the intention of implementing a physician-friendly interface to MEDLINE, a prime example of his interest in making NLM information services more directly useful in medical care. By early 1986, NLM's Grateful Med, an inexpensive PC search interface to MEDLINE useful for health professionals, had joined the group of end-user systems for searching MEDLINE that emerged in the 1980s. This chapter recounts Grateful Med's rapid iterative development and the subsequent campaign to bring it to attention of health professionals. It emphasizes Lindberg's role, the challenges faced by those introducing and using the interface in a pre-Internet world, and some longer-term effects of the effort to expand health professionals' use of MEDLINE during the decade from 1986 to 1996.
    Keywords:  Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.; Grateful Med; MEDLARS; U.S. National Library of Medicine; user-computer interface
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220147
  11. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 139-150
      When Donald A. B. Lindberg M.D. became Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine in 1984, trained searchers, primarily librarians, conducted less than three million searches of NLM databases. They paid for their fair share of the commercial telecommunications costs to reach NLM's computer system. In 2015 when Lindberg retired, millions of scientists, health professionals, patients, members of the public, and librarians conducted billions of free searches of NLM's greatly expanded electronic resources via the Internet. Lindberg came to NLM intending to expand access to biomedical and health information along multiple dimensions: reaching more users, providing more types and volumes of information and data; and improving the conceptual, technical, and organizational connections needed to provide information to users when and where it is needed. By any measure he and NLM were spectacularly successful. This chapter discusses some key decisions and developments that contributed to that success.
    Keywords:  Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.; MEDLINE; U.S. National Library of Medicine; consumer health information; history; internet access; librarians
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220146
  12. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 171-180
      When Dr. Lindberg was sworn in as Director, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) was providing few resources with information useful to the public, having concentrated efforts towards health professionals and scientists. With his arrival, and that of the Internet in the 1990s, NLM embarked on a research and user-focused path towards providing authoritative health information for patients, families and the public. MedlinePlus, NIHSeniorHealth, and MedlinePlus en espanol delivered health information in a variety of formats using text, still images, audio and video. These resources were supported by NLM advisors and Dr. Lindberg's strong belief that patients and families needed easy access to medical information to be able to effectively care for themselves in illness and maintain the best health possible throughout their lives.
    Keywords:  Donald A. B. Lindberg M.D.; Go Local; MedlinePlus; MedlinePlus Connect; MedlinePlus en español; NIHSeniorHealth; U.S. National Library of Medicine; consumer health information
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220149
  13. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 181-191
      Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.'s interests extended far beyond his scientific expertise into the arts and humanities, as evidenced, for example, by his love of opera, his talents in photography, and his affection for history. It is therefore not surprising that he had a strong interest in the National Library of Medicine's historical programs and services, going beyond supporting these activities to becoming actively involved in some of them. The subject of this essay is Dr. Lindberg's contributions to these programs and services, which may be grouped under three main headings: placing greater emphasis on more contemporary history, promoting the digitization of historical materials to increase access, and enhancing outreach through an exhibition program.
    Keywords:  Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.; History of medicine; U.S. National Library of Medicine; digitization; exhibitions; historical collections; history
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220150
  14. Inf Serv Use. 2022 ;42(2): 193-203
      Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D., Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) from August 1984 to March 2015, had a remarkable vision for NLM's scope, goals, and function. This vision resulted in many external partnerships and initiatives with the publishing industry, commercial and non-profit, journal editors, and professional organizations. These partnerships ranged from ongoing collaboration and dialogue, such as the NLM Publisher's Committee and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). to the more practical, such as the creation of HINARI and the Emergency Access Initiative (EAI). Dr. Lindberg fostered partnerships outside the NLM to expand the use and reach of Library resources, including MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov to support innovations in the processes that build them, and to improve the quality of biomedical journals. Dr. Lindberg also encouraged the use of technology to enhance medical information and supported the early development of fully interactive publications. Attitudes that contained a measure of skepticism and distrust faded as collaborators came to have a better understanding of both NLM and their partners. This chapter discusses these relationships and accomplishments that NLM achieved working with publishers and other creators and disseminators of medical information under Dr. Lindberg's leadership.
    Keywords:  ClinicalTrials.gov; Donald A.B. Lindberg M.D.; MEDLINE; U.S. National Library of Medicine; publishing; scholarly communication
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3233/ISU-220151
  15. Arthrosc Sports Med Rehabil. 2022 Jun;4(3): e1111-e1118
      Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of YouTube videos as a patient education resource related to rehabilitation and return to play following medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction.Methods: YouTube was queried using 6 predetermined search terms. Videos were included if they met the following criteria: (1) written in the English language; and (2) within the first 100 videos for each search term. Videos were excluded if they met any of the following criteria: (1) not written in the English language; (2) did not include medial patellofemoral ligament/MPFL in the title; (3) duplicate videos; (4) part of a multivideo series such a vlogs; (5) advertisements; and (6) videos <1 minute. The remaining videos were evaluated by 2 independent viewers and scored using 4 distinct scoring systems: Global Quality Scale, The Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT), MPFL Rehabilitation and Return to Play Score, and the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark criteria. The data was analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics, version 27). The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare quality scores and video analytics to their assigned categories. Results where P < .05 were considered statistically significant and pairwise comparison analysis was completed to determine the video categories with statistically significant differences. Correlation of categorical variables with video analytics (views, video power index, duration, and days since publication) and quality scores was determined using the Pearson Correlation coefficient.
    Results: Of the initial 600 videos, 58 met inclusion criteria, which were subsequently reviewed and scored. Most videos scored on the low-end of the possible scoring ranges with a mean Global Quality Scale score of 1.61 (standard deviation [SD] 0.81), PEMAT Understandability score of 59.40 (SD 17.54), PEMAT Actionability score of 18.20 (SD 29.92), MPFL Rehabilitation and Return to Play Score of 1.64 (SD 2.13), and Journal of the American Medical Association benchmark score of 2.08 (SD 0.75).
    Conclusions: The videos in YouTube's library received low scores in quality, reliability, understandability and actionability. Therefore, YouTube is currently a poor source of information for patients regarding postoperative rehabilitation and return to play following MPFL reconstruction.
    Clinical Relevance: Patients increasingly view medical information online. YouTube is second only to Google as the most used search engine. It is important to understand the quality of information patients receive on YouTube following MPFL reconstruction so orthopaedic surgeons know to guide patients to higher-quality alternatives.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asmr.2022.03.010
  16. Health Informatics J. 2022 Apr-Jun;28(2):28(2): 14604582221105999
      The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics, content, and quality of information available on YouTube regarding amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and explore the search results and number of views and quality of the videos. A search was performed on YouTube on 10 June 2020, using the search term ''Lou Gehrig's disease" in the Korean language, and the first 100 videos were targeted for analysis. General characteristics (e.g., number of views, video length, etc.) were collected, and upload source, target audience, subject of the video, and quality of the videos using a global quality score (GQS) were assessed. About two-thirds of the videos were for the general public (62.0%), while the other third were made for patients and their families with ALS (38.0%). The mean GQS was 3.70 ± 1.42, and 60 videos were classified as high-quality videos. ALS-related videos on YouTube play a role in raising awareness among the general public of this devastating disease, however, practical information regarding disease management for patients and family is relatively insufficient. The quality and characteristics of the videos varied greatly and sometimes the lowest quality videos were shown in the top pages of search results.
    Keywords:  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; YouTube; information-seeking behavior; motor neuron disease; social media
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/14604582221105999
  17. Breast Care (Basel). 2022 Apr;17(2): 188-198
      Background: The prolonged immobilization suggested after breast cancer (BC) surgery causes morbidity. Patients search the Internet, especially social networks, for recommended exercises.Objective: The aim of this observational study was to assess the quality of YouTube videos, accessible for any patient, about exercises after BC surgery.
    Methods: A systematic search was performed on YouTube. One hundred and fifty videos were selected and analyzed. Two statistical analyses were conducted based on machine-learning techniques. Videos were classified as "Relevant" and "Non-Relevant" using principal component analysis models. Popularity was evaluated by Video Power Index (VPI), informational quality and accuracy were measured using the DISCERN Scale and Global Quality Scale (GQS). Scoring criteria for exercises were established according to the exercises recommended by the Oncology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Interobserver agreement and individual correlations were statistically examined.
    Results: DISCERN scored a mean of 50.97 (standard deviation [SD] 19.19). HONcode scored 78.30 (11.02) and GQS scored 3.49 (0.74). Average number of views was 53,963 (SD 67,376), mean duration was 9:42 min (9:15), mean days online was 2,158 (922), mean view ratio was 27.14 (30.24), mean likes was 245 (320.5), mean dislikes was 13.4 (14.2), and mean VPI was 93.48 (5.42).
    Conclusion: The quality of YouTube videos of recommended exercises post-BC surgery is high and can be a translational activity to improve patients' behavior. Health institutions and NGOs, with higher popularity levels than academic institutions, should consider this information when implementing new policies focused on video quality which can contribute to adaptive behavior in patients.
    Keywords:  Breast cancer; Exercises; Healthy behavior; Public health; Shoulder; YouTube
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1159/000518265
  18. Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Jun 13. pii: 1093. [Epub ahead of print]10(6):
      In this digital era, dental students often search for online resources for self-directed learning. YouTube is one of the most commonly sought online platforms for educational or instructional videos. No prior study has examined the validity of panoramic radiography videos available on YouTube. This study provides a content analysis of these YouTube videos. A search for relevant YouTube videos was conducted in April 2022. The search string was: (panoramic OR pan OR OPG) AND (dental OR dentistry OR X-ray). The first 100 videos that resulted from the search and their related videos were screened. Exclusion criteria included irrelevance (e.g., no demonstration of panoramic radiography procedures) and non-English videos. For each included video, the following parameters were recorded: image receptor type, patient age, patient type (real patient, animation, or phantom head), patient preparation procedures, machine preparation, patient positioning, and operator safety. The number of views, comments, likes, and channel subscribers were recorded, as well as the video duration and the age of the video. Forty videos were included and analyzed. Most of the videos demonstrated digital panoramic radiography with an adult patient. Procedures on the patient and machine preparations as well as patient positioning were generally explained well. However, most videos did not well-demonstrate operator safety details concerning the use of adequate personal protective equipment. View count, comment count, and channel subscriber count positively correlated with the like count. Clinicians and students should carefully critique the content of such instructional videos and refer to the contents from other sources such as user manuals and latest recommendations from local authorities.
    Keywords:  YouTube video; dental education; oral and maxillofacial radiology; panoramic; student-centered learning
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10061093