bims-librar Biomed News
on Biomedical librarianship
Issue of 2022–02–27
29 papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society
  1. Artificial intelligence behind the scenes: PubMed's Best Match algorithm.
  2. Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed.
  3. MeSH and text-word search strategies: precision, recall, and their implications for library instruction.
  4. Findability of UK health datasets available for research: a mixed methods study.
  5. The Citation Cloud of a biomedical article: a free, public, web-based tool enabling citation analysis.
  6. The impact of COVID-19 on reference services: a national survey of academic health sciences librarians.
  7. COVID-19 Evidence Reviews website: a VA effort to catalog and curate COVID-19 evidence reviews.
  8. DrugShot: querying biomedical search terms to retrieve prioritized lists of small molecules.
  9. Persistent service even in disruptive times: an introduction to resilience engineering.
  10. Personal librarian programs in medical and academic health sciences libraries: a preliminary study.
  11. Can Social Media Profiles Be a Reliable Source of Information on Nutrition and Dietetics?
  12. A qualitative study of the health information seeking behaviour of adolescent girls in Iran indicates that public libraries could help supply information required about puberty.
  13. Methods and guidance on conducting, reporting, publishing and appraising living systematic reviews: a scoping review protocol.
  14. Creating information resources and trainings for farmworker-serving community health workers.
  15. Implementation of the cognitive apprenticeship model for enhancement of advanced searching skills in a pharmacy academia rotation.
  16. Evidence-based biomedical research in Sub-Saharan Africa: how library and information science professionals contribute to systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
  17. Assessing journal author guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: findings from an institutional sample.
  18. Adapting to Changes in Publishing When Searching for Alternatives and Reporting on Animal Research: A Librarian's Perspective.
  19. Brain death and the internet: evaluating the readability and quality of online health information.
  20. Understanding Information Needs and Barriers to Accessing Health Information Across All Stages of Pregnancy: Systematic Review.
  21. Leveraging microgrants to support capacity-building workshops in low- and middle-income countries for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.
  22. Assessment of the Readability and Quality of Online Patient Education Material for Chronic Medical Conditions.
  23. Advocacy is all of us: recommendations to enhance the Medical Library Association's advocacy initiatives.
  24. Data disaggregation: the case of Asian and Pacific Islander data and the role of health sciences librarians.
  25. We are MLA: a qualitative case study on the Medical Library Association's 2019 Communities Transition.
  26. Retracted publications in pharmacy systematic reviews.
  27. Disseminating medical literature and knowledge in India in the 1980s: the SMLRT story.
  28. Creating a more inclusive journal: the Journal of the Medical Library Association's evolving process for selecting editorial board members.
  29. Development of a framework to assess the quality of data sources in healthcare settings.
  1. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 15-22
    Artificial intelligence behind the scenes: PubMed's Best Match algorithm.
    Lucy Kiester, Clara Turp.
      This article focuses on PubMed's Best Match sorting algorithm, presenting a simplified explanation of how it operates and highlighting how artificial intelligence affects search results in ways that are not seen by users. We further discuss user search behaviors and the ethical implications of algorithms, specifically for health care practitioners. PubMed recently began using artificial intelligence to improve the sorting of search results using a Best Match option. In 2020, PubMed deployed this algorithm as the default search method, necessitating serious discussion around the ethics of this and similar algorithms, as users do not always know when an algorithm uses artificial intelligence, what artificial intelligence is, and how it may impact their everyday tasks. These implications resonate strongly in health care, in which the speed and relevancy of search results is crucial but does not negate the importance of a lack of bias in how those search results are selected or presented to the user. As a health care provider will not often venture past the first few results in search of a clinical decision, will Best Match help them find the answers they need more quickly? Or will the algorithm bias their results, leading to the potential suppression of more recent or relevant results?
    Keywords:  Best Match; PubMed; artificial intelligence; information systems; information-seeking behavior
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1236
  2. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 43-46
    Preliminary comparison of the performance of the National Library of Medicine's systematic review publication type and the sensitive clinical queries filter for systematic reviews in PubMed.
    Tamara Navarro-Ruan, R Brian Haynes.
       Objective: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) inaugurated a "publication type" concept to facilitate searches for systematic reviews (SRs). On the other hand, clinical queries (CQs) are validated search strategies designed to retrieve scientifically sound, clinically relevant original and review articles from biomedical literature databases. We compared the retrieval performance of the SR publication type (SR[pt]) against the most sensitive CQ for systematic review articles (CQrs) in PubMed.
    Methods: We ran date-limited searches of SR[pt] and CQrs to compare the relative yield of articles and SRs, focusing on the differences in retrieval of SRs by SR[pt] but not CQrs (SR[pt] NOT CQrs) and CQrs NOT SR[pt]. Random samples of articles retrieved in each of these comparisons were examined for SRs until a consistent pattern became evident.
    Results: For SR[pt] NOT CQrs, the yield was relatively low in quantity but rich in quality, with 79% of the articles being SRs. For CQrs NOT SR[pt], the yield was high in quantity but low in quality, with only 8% being SRs. For CQrs AND SR[pt], the quality was highest, with 92% being SRs.
    Conclusions: We found that SR[pt] had high precision and specificity for SRs but low recall (sensitivity), whereas CQrs had much higher recall. SR[pt] OR CQrs added valid SRs to the CQrs yield at low cost (i.e., added few non-SRs). For searches that are intended to be exhaustive for SRs, SR[pt] can be added to existing sensitive search filters.
    Keywords:  evidence-based medicine; information retrieval; systematic reviews
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1286
  3. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 23-33
    MeSH and text-word search strategies: precision, recall, and their implications for library instruction.
    Michelle M DeMars, Carol Perruso.
       Objective: This study compared the recall and precision of MeSH-term versus text-word searching to better understand psychosocial MeSH terms and to provide guidance on whether to include both strategies in an information literacy session or how much time should be spent on teaching each search strategy.
    Methods: Using the relevant recall method, a total of 3,162 resources were considered and evaluated to form a gold standard set of 1,521 relevant resources. We compared resources discussing psychosocial aspects of children and adolescents living with type 1 diabetes using two search strategies: text-word strategy versus MeSH-term strategy. The frequency of MeSH terms, the MeSH hierarchy, and elements of each search strategy were also examined.
    Results: Using the 1,521 relevant articles, we found that the text-word search strategy had 54% recall, while the MeSH-term strategy had 75% recall. Also, the precision of the text-word strategy was 34.4%, while the precision of the MeSH-term strategy was 47.7%. Therefore, the MeSH-term search strategy yielded both greater recall and greater precision. The MeSH strategy was also more complicated in design and usage than the text-word strategy.
    Conclusions: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of text-word and MeSH search strategies on precision and recall. The combination of text-word and MeSH strategies is recommended to achieve the most comprehensive results. These results support the idea that MeSH or a similar controlled vocabulary should be taught to experienced and knowledgeable students and practitioners who require a myriad of resources for their literature searches.
    Keywords:  MeSH; MeSH instruction; precision; recall; relevant recall method
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1283
  4. BMJ Health Care Inform. 2022 Feb;pii: e100325. [Epub ahead of print]29(1):
    Findability of UK health datasets available for research: a mixed methods study.
    Emily Griffiths, Rebecca M Joseph, George Tilston, Sarah Thew, Zoher Kapacee, William Dixon, Niels Peek.
       OBJECTIVE: How health researchers find secondary data to analyse is unclear. We sought to describe the approaches that UK organisations take to help researchers find data and to assess the findability of health data that are available for research.
    METHODS: We surveyed established organisations about how they make data findable. We derived measures of findability based on the first element of the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reproducible). We applied these to 13 UK health datasets and measured their findability via two major internet search engines in 2018 and repeated in 2021.
    RESULTS: Among 12 survey respondents, 11 indicated that they made metadata publicly available. Respondents said internet presence was important for findability, but that this needed improvement. In 2018, 8 out of 13 datasets were listed in the top 100 search results of 10 searches repeated on both search engines, while the remaining 5 were found one click away from those search results. In 2021, this had reduced to seven datasets directly listed and one dataset one click away. In 2021, Google Dataset Search had become available, which listed 3 of the 13 datasets within the top 100 search results.
    DISCUSSION: Measuring findability via online search engines is one method for evaluating efforts to improve findability. Findability could perhaps be improved with catalogues that have greater inclusion of datasets, field-level metadata and persistent identifiers.
    CONCLUSION: UK organisations recognised the importance of the internet for finding data for research. However, health datasets available for research were no more findable in 2021 than in 2018.
    Keywords:  information management; medical informatics; record systems
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjhci-2021-100325
  5. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 103-108
    The Citation Cloud of a biomedical article: a free, public, web-based tool enabling citation analysis.
    Neil R Smalheiser, Jodi Schneider, Vetle I Torvik, Dean P Fragnito, Eric E Tirk.
       Background: An article's citations are useful for finding related articles that may not be readily found by keyword searches or textual similarity. Citation analysis is also important for analyzing scientific innovation and the structure of the biomedical literature. We wanted to facilitate citation analysis for the broad community by providing a user-friendly interface for accessing and analyzing citation data for biomedical articles.
    Case Presentation: We seeded the Citation Cloud dataset with over 465 million open access citations culled from six different sources: PubMed Central, Microsoft Academic Graph, ArnetMiner, Semantic Scholar, Open Citations, and the NIH iCite dataset. We implemented a free, public extension to PubMed that allows any user to visualize and analyze the entire citation cloud around any paper of interest A: the set of articles cited by A, those which cite A, those which are co-cited with A, and those which are bibliographically coupled to A.
    Conclusions: Citation Cloud greatly enables the study of citations by the scientific community, including relatively advanced analyses (co-citations and bibliographic coupling) that cannot be undertaken using other available tools. The tool can be accessed by running any PubMed query on the Anne O'Tate value-added search interface and clicking on the Citations button next to any retrieved article.
    Keywords:  bibliometrics; citation analysis; evidence based medicine; information retrieval; science of science
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1117
  6. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 56-62
    The impact of COVID-19 on reference services: a national survey of academic health sciences librarians.
    Deborah H Charbonneau, Emily Vardell.
       Objectives: The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the scope and adaptive nature of reference services provided by academic health sciences librarians over a one-year period (between March 2020 and March 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Methods: In March 2021, academic health sciences librarians in the United States were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about their experiences providing reference services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was developed, pretested, and distributed to various listservs.
    Results: A total of 205 academic health sciences librarians and other information professionals with health sciences liaison responsibilities in the US (N=205) responded to the online survey. The scope of reference services provided during the COVID-19 pandemic included email-based reference services (97%), virtual reference (89%), telephone (80%), text-based (33%), and in-person (31%). The most common types of COVID-related reference questions included COVID-19 treatments (53%), safety precautions (46%), vaccines (41%), and prevalence (38%). Additionally, the identification of challenging reference questions and examples of misinformation were provided by respondents.
    Conclusions: The results of the survey characterize the evolving nature and scope of academic health sciences reference work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians reported an increase in reference questions during the pandemic and are answering them in creative ways despite barriers (e.g., limited time and reduction in resources). There is an opportunity for librarians to continue to address COVID-related misinformation. Overall, these findings provide useful insight for library practitioners and administrators planning reference services during public health crises.
    Keywords:  COVID-19; academic libraries; library services; pandemic; reference
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1322
  7. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 109-112
    COVID-19 Evidence Reviews website: a VA effort to catalog and curate COVID-19 evidence reviews.
    Kathryn Vela.
       Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a wave of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research that organizations around the world have been synthesizing in evidence reviews to provide high-quality evidence to support policymakers and clinicians. The urgency of these efforts opens these organizations to the risk of duplicated efforts, which could waste valuable time and resources.
    Case Presentation: The VA Evidence Synthesis Program (VA ESP) formed a COVID Response Team that launched an online catalog of COVID-19 evidence reviews in March 2020 (https://www.covid19reviews.org/). The goal of this website is to capture the work of evidence synthesis groups in the US and around the world to maximize their collective contributions to patients, frontline clinicians, researchers, and policymakers during the COVID-19 pandemic and avoid duplicating efforts.
    Conclusions: This ongoing and evolving project provides a helpful catalog of evidence reviews at various stages of production; in addition, the website provides further value with informational icons, review collections, and links to similar resources. The VA ESP will maintain this website to continue to support the needs of policymakers, clinicians, and researchers both within the VA and around the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Keywords:  COVID-19; Internet-based intervention; rapid review; systematic review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1237
  8. BMC Bioinformatics. 2022 Feb 19. 23(1): 76
    DrugShot: querying biomedical search terms to retrieve prioritized lists of small molecules.
    Eryk Kropiwnicki, Alexander Lachmann, Daniel J B Clarke, Zhuorui Xie, Kathleen M Jagodnik, Avi Ma'ayan.
       BACKGROUND: PubMed contains millions of abstracts that co-mention terms that describe drugs with other biomedical terms such as genes or diseases. Unique opportunities exist for leveraging these co-mentions by integrating them with other drug-drug similarity resources such as the Library of Integrated Network-based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) L1000 signatures to develop novel hypotheses.
    RESULTS: DrugShot is a web-based server application and an Appyter that enables users to enter any biomedical search term into a simple input form to receive ranked lists of drugs and other small molecules based on their relevance to the search term. To produce ranked lists of small molecules, DrugShot cross-references returned PubMed identifiers (PMIDs) with DrugRIF or AutoRIF, which are curated resources of drug-PMID associations, to produce an associated small molecule list where each small molecule is ranked according to total co-mentions with the search term from shared PubMed IDs. Additionally, using two types of drug-drug similarity matrices, lists of small molecules are predicted to be associated with the search term. Such predictions are based on literature co-mentions and signature similarity from LINCS L1000 drug-induced gene expression profiles.
    CONCLUSIONS: DrugShot prioritizes drugs and small molecules associated with biomedical search terms. In addition to listing known associations, DrugShot predicts additional drugs and small molecules related to any search term. Hence, DrugShot can be used to prioritize drugs and preclinical compounds for drug repurposing and suggest indications and adverse events for preclinical compounds. DrugShot is freely and openly available at: https://maayanlab.cloud/drugshot and https://appyters.maayanlab.cloud/#/DrugShot .
    Keywords:  Drug repurposing; Machine learning; Search engine; Text mining; Transcriptomics
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12859-022-04590-5
  9. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 139-145
    Persistent service even in disruptive times: an introduction to resilience engineering.
    Nicole Capdarest-Arest, Sara Tompson, Lorri Zipperer.
      Building resilient libraries will take energy and courage. It will take a willingness to step outside our traditional roles and engage in the messy, tough work of redefining ourselves and our institutions [1].
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1359
  10. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 87-96
    Personal librarian programs in medical and academic health sciences libraries: a preliminary study.
    Natasha Audrey Williams.
       Objective: This preliminary study examined how personal librarian programs are implemented within medical and academic health sciences libraries. Increasing awareness of these programs and how they are implemented could create a larger and more accessible knowledge base for establishing best practices that similar libraries can look to when creating their own programs.
    Methods: To characterize existing programs, a twenty-two-item survey was sent to MEDLIB-L, AAHSL-ALL, ARCL-HSIG, and PSS-Lists email listservs in October 2018 to reach a broad audience of medical and academic health sciences librarians. Survey responses were analyzed using Qualtrics and Excel.
    Results: Of the 2,882 potential email recipients, 49 survey sessions were recorded, and a total of 38 survey sessions were completed (1.3% response rate). Of the 38 completed responses, representatives of 12 libraries (31.5%) reported that a personal librarian program had been implemented at their institution. For implementation, eight libraries involved 1-5 librarians, and four involved 6-10. Librarians were assigned 50-100 (n=6), 101-150 (n=1), or 151 or more (n=1) students each. The identified programs served medical students (n=11), nursing students (n=7), health professions students (n=7), dental students (n=2), and students in other fields (n=4). Services provided and communication methods were also identified.
    Conclusions: The personal librarian programs identified by the survey were uniquely structured to best meet the needs of their users, though similarities in implementation existed across institutions. Medical and academic health sciences libraries can look to these libraries as practical examples when starting their own personal library programs.
    Keywords:  outreach; personal librarian programs
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1290
  11. Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Feb 20. pii: 397. [Epub ahead of print]10(2):
    Can Social Media Profiles Be a Reliable Source of Information on Nutrition and Dietetics?
    Paweł Kabata, Dorota Winniczuk-Kabata, Piotr Maciej Kabata, Janusz Jaśkiewicz, Karol Połom.
       BACKGROUND: Social media are growing worldwide platforms for unlimited exchange of various content. Owing to their accessibility and short form, they can be utilized as usable, wide-range communication and information tools for companies, scientific communities, patient advocacy organizations, and special interest groups. This study aimed to investigate whether Instagram® profiles can be reliable sources of information and knowledge about nutrition and dietetics.
    MATERIALS AND METHODS: Random identification of nutrition-related posts was performed using a built-in website search engine. Posts were searched by five popular hashtags: #nutrition, #nutritionist, #instadiet, #diet, and #dietitian, 250 newest posts of each. Advertisement posts were discarded. Each eligible post was then categorized (dietetics, fitness, motivation, other) and assessed with regard to the quality of nutrition information provided (five levels from none to good quality), popularity (number of followers, likes, and comments), and engagement measures (like, comment, and engagement ratio).
    RESULTS: A total of 1189 posts were reviewed. The overall quality of the content regarding nutritional knowledge was extremely low (93.9% of all posts), also when divided into categories. Among all posts, 63.8% were categorized as "nutrition and dietetics", while "fitness", "motivation", and "other" categories comprised 8.2%, 4.8%, and 23.2% of the posts, respectively. Posts recognized as dietetics were the most liked (mean n = 116 likes per post) and of the highest quality. However, those motivational raised the greatest degree of engagement (32.7%). Posts with cooking recipes were the most commented.
    CONCLUSIONS: Random post search cannot provide viewers with valuable nutrition information. A dedicated search for high-quality professional profiles is preferred to obtain quality information.
    Keywords:  education; instagram; nutrition; social media
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10020397
  12. Health Info Libr J. 2022 Feb 22.
    A qualitative study of the health information seeking behaviour of adolescent girls in Iran indicates that public libraries could help supply information required about puberty.
    Abolfazl Taheri, Omid Yousefianzadeh, Marziyeh Saeedizadeh.
       INTRODUCTION: The present study aimed to identify the puberty related information seeking behaviour of adolescent female members of Zarrinshahr public libraries.
    METHODOLOGY: Using a phenomenology approach, this study sought to identify the puberty related information seeking behaviours for a population of female adolescent public library patrons located in the Middle East. The data were collected via event based interviews and the samples were selected by purposeful sampling method. After converting the audio to text, the transcripts were imported into MAXQDA 10, they were coded and then, the relevant categories were extracted.
    RESULTS: The information needs of girls experiencing puberty were identified and divided into four thematic categories: health issues, psychological issues, religious issues (religious precepts), and issues related to physical activity. Girls get this information from a variety of resources such as people, the Internet, social networks, documents, and libraries. The process of information seeking is so problematic for them because they are faced with content, family, social, and financial barriers and mainly lack Internet literacy and search skills.
    CONCLUSION: Health information seeking constitutes the main part of adolescent girls' daily lives. Identification of adolescent girls' health information needs, the main channels of information seeking, and the barriers the girls face while information seeking can help public libraries adopt the right policies regarding the provision of health information services.
    Keywords:  Asia, west; adolescents; information seeking behaviour; interviews; research, qualitative; women's health
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12423
  13. F1000Res. 2021 ;10 802
    Methods and guidance on conducting, reporting, publishing and appraising living systematic reviews: a scoping review protocol.
    Claire Iannizzi, Elie A Akl, Lara A Kahale, Elena Dorando, Abina Mosunmola Aminat, James M Barker, Joanne E McKenzie, Neal R Haddaway, Vanessa Piechotta, Nicole Skoetz.
      Background: The living systematic review (LSR) approach is based on an ongoing surveillance of the literature and continual updating. A few guidance documents address the conduct, reporting, publishing and appraisal of systematic reviews (SRs), but the methodology described is either not up-to date or not suitable for LSRs and misses additional LSR-specific considerations. The objective of this scoping review is to systematically collate methodological literature and guidance on how to conduct, report, publish and appraise the quality of LSRs. The scoping review will allow the mapping of the existing evidence on the topic to support LSRs authors seeking guidance and identify related gaps.  Methods: To achieve our objectives, we will conduct a scoping review to survey and evaluate existing evidence, using the standard scoping review methodology. We will search MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane using the OVID interface. The search strategy was developed by a researcher experienced in developing literature search strategies with the help of an information specialist. As for searching grey literature, we will seek existing guidelines and handbooks on LSRs from organizations that conduct evidence syntheses using the Lens.org website. Two review authors will extract and catalogue the study data on LSR methodological aspects into a standardized and pilot-tested data extraction form. The main categories will reflect proposed methods for (i) conducting LSRs, (ii) reporting of LSRs, (iii) publishing and (iv) appraising the quality of LSRs. Data synthesis and conclusion: By collecting these data from methodological surveys and papers, as well as existing guidance documents and handbooks on LSRs, we might identify specific issues and components lacking within current LSR methodology. Thus, the systematically obtained findings of the scoping review could be used as basis for the revision of existing methods tools on LSR, for instance a PRISMA statement extension for LSRs.
    Keywords:  Living systematic reviews; appraisal; conducting LSRs; methods and guidance; reporting; scoping review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.55108.1
  14. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 113-118
    Creating information resources and trainings for farmworker-serving community health workers.
    Jamie E Bloss, Catherine E LePrevost, Leslie E Cofie, Joseph G L Lee.
       Background: Farmworker-serving community health workers have limited access to farmworker health research findings, training, and education resources. With funding from the National Library of Medicine, we are working to improve the health information literacy of both community health workers and farmworkers. We conducted focus group discussions with community health workers to explore their experiences providing health education and information to farmworkers, their information-seeking behaviors, and their technology and information needs. Data from the focus groups provided insights into the main areas in which community health workers would like to receive professional development.
    Case Presentation: Our team, which includes health sciences librarians, developed a resource list of educational materials for farmworker health, videos to increase community health workers' skills finding health information online, and webinars to introduce these resources to community health workers. Videos, available in Spanish and English, included instruction on finding and evaluating online health information, accessing reputable online consumer health information sources, and advanced searching tips for Google and PubMed. Through three webinars, we introduced the resource list, videos, and design software for creating handouts and infographics to community health workers.
    Conclusions: Community health workers have a critical role in providing health education and information to farmworkers, and our efforts represent a first step in addressing community health workers' limited access to professional development. Health sciences librarians are well positioned to partner with interdisciplinary teams working to reduce health disparities and provide resources and training to community health workers, farmworkers, and other underserved communities.
    Keywords:  community health workers; farmworkers; health literacy; health promotion; healthcare disparities; information literacy; minority health
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1272
  15. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 119-125
    Implementation of the cognitive apprenticeship model for enhancement of advanced searching skills in a pharmacy academia rotation.
    Jasmin Hilary, Hohmeier Kenneth, Spivey Christina.
       Background: Pharmacy students are primarily taught literature searching skills didactically during their Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum. To effect change in the area of advanced literature searching skills, a pharmacy librarian joined with two Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) preceptors to design and implement a crash course on applied systematic searching skills for a cohort of four students.
    Case Presentation: Through the cognitive apprenticeship model, a Systematic Searching Crash Course (SSCC) was implemented among a cohort of four academic APPE students. Students developed search strategies using controlled vocabulary and free text, translated their searches into multiple databases, and used citation management software to build libraries of evidence. Additionally, the cohort blindly peer reviewed each other's search strategies, wrote literature reviews, and finally conducted a search together without input from the pharmacy librarian.
    Conclusions: Review of the pre-/post-course self-assessment taken by the cohort indicates the SSCC is a success in terms of improving student confidence in accessing and synthesizing primary literature. As the crash course is further refined and implemented, there may be more opportunity to embed the course into didactic curriculum and residency programs and to potentially reproduce it for other health science disciplines.
    Keywords:  cognitive apprenticeship; instruction; pharmacy; rotation
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1108
  16. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 72-80
    Evidence-based biomedical research in Sub-Saharan Africa: how library and information science professionals contribute to systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
    Toluwase Victor Asubiaro, Elueze Isioma.
       Objective: This study investigated the contributions of library and information science (LIS) professionals to systematic reviews and meta-analyses with authors from Sub-Saharan Africa. It also investigated how the first author's address and type of collaboration affected the involvement of LIS professionals in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
    Methods: Bibliographic data of systematic reviews with author(s) from the forty-six Sub-Saharan African countries was retrieved from MEDLINE. Content and bibliometric analyses were performed on the systematic reviews' full-texts and bibliographic data, respectively, to identify the contributions of LIS professionals and collaboration patterns.
    Results: Beyond traditional roles as search strategy developers and searchers, the LIS professionals participated in article retrieval, database selection, reference management, draft review, review conceptualization, manuscript writing, technical support, article screening and selection, data extraction, abstract review, and training/teaching. Of the 2,539 publications, LIS professionals were mentioned in 472 publications. LIS professionals from only seven of the forty-six Sub-Saharan African countries were noted to have contributed. LIS professionals from South Africa were mentioned most frequently-five times more than those from other Sub-Saharan African countries. LIS professionals from Sub-Saharan Africa mostly contributed to publications with first authors from Sub-Saharan Africa (90.20%) and intra-Sub-Saharan African collaboration (61.66%). Most LIS professionals (97.91%) that contributed to international collaboration publications were from outside Sub-Saharan Africa.
    Conclusion: The contribution of LIS professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa to evidence-based biomedical research can improve through training, mentoring, and collaboration between LIS associations in Sub-Saharan Africa and those in countries with resources and a history of research collaboration with the region.
    Keywords:  Sub-Saharan Africa; content analysis; evidence-based biomedical research; information professionals; librarians; meta-analysis; systematic reviews
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1249
  17. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 63-71
    Assessing journal author guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: findings from an institutional sample.
    Johanna Goldberg, Lindsay M Boyce, Céline Soudant, Kendra Godwin.
       Objectives: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) are designed to be rigorous research methodologies that synthesize information and inform practice. An increase in their publication runs parallel to quality concerns and a movement toward standards to improve reporting and methodology. With the goal of informing the guidance librarians provide to SR/MA teams, this study assesses online journal author guidelines from an institutional sample to determine whether these author guidelines address SR/MA methodological quality.
    Methods: A Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate) search identified SRs/MAs published in 2014-2019 by authors affiliated with a single institution. The AMSTAR 2 checklist was used to develop an assessment tool of closed questions specific to measures for SR/MA methodological quality in author guidelines, with questions added about author guidelines in general. Multiple reviewers completed the assessment.
    Results: The author guidelines of 141 journals were evaluated. Less than 20% addressed at least one of the assessed measures specific to SR/MA methodological quality. There was wide variation in author guidelines between journals from the same publisher apart from the American Medical Association, which consistently offered in-depth author guidelines. Normalized Eigenfactor and Article Influence Scores did not indicate author guideline breadth.
    Conclusions: Most author guidelines in the institutional sample did not address SR/MA methodological quality. When consulting with teams embarking on SRs/MAs, librarians should not expect author guidelines to provide details about the requirements of the target journals. Librarians should advise teams to follow established SR/MA standards, contact journal staff, and review SRs/MAs previously published in the journal.
    Keywords:  author instructions; journal requirements; meta-analysis; publishing; research methodology; systematic review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1273
  18. Altern Lab Anim. 2022 Feb 25. 2611929211072862
    Adapting to Changes in Publishing When Searching for Alternatives and Reporting on Animal Research: A Librarian's Perspective.
    Melissa A Ratajeski, Rebekah S Miller.
      Since the inaugural issue of ATLA, many changes within publishing have occurred, impacting when, where, and how researchers conduct literature searches for non-animal alternatives. Such changes include increased rate of growth in scientific publications, greater number of databases and online resources available to search, opportunities for open and almost immediate dissemination of research outputs such as preprints and method protocols, and the development of reporting guidelines for animal research. Here we offer a librarian's perspective on these changes and advice on how to manage them to enable robust and diverse alternatives to be implemented in future research.
    Keywords:  3Rs; ARRIVE guidelines; Animal Use Alternatives; PREPARE guidelines, Three Rs; animal welfare; librarians; literature searching; reduction; refinement; replacement
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/02611929211072862
  19. Minerva Anestesiol. 2022 Feb 24.
    Brain death and the internet: evaluating the readability and quality of online health information.
    Selin Guven Kose, Halil C Kose, Mehmet Erbakan, Serkan Tulgar.
       BACKGROUND: Brain death has been accepted medically and legally as biological death. Nevertheless, it is a difficult concept for the public to understand, resulting in a reliance on online resources for clarity. When the information is inaccurate, misleading, or elusive, the internet could have adverse effects on the public's decision-making. Here we aimed to assess the quality and readability of information regarding brain death on the internet.
    METHODS: The five most popular search engines were queried using the keyword 'brain death' and the top 30 websites of each search engine were evaluated. Authorship was classified as medical or public. Gunning Fog Index (GFI) and Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) were calculated to analyze readability. The LIDA was used to assess quality.
    RESULTS: The overall LIDA score was 60,3%, with a mean score of 60,8%, 60,7%, and 59,3% for accessibility, usability, and reliability, respectively, indicating a moderate level. The accessibility of medical websites (p=0.037) and the reliability of public websites (p=0.031) were found to be significantly weaker. The average FRES was 41,6±14,6 rated as difficult, and the mean GFI was 15,7±3,4, indicating mean readability at "difficult, grade >10".
    CONCLUSIONS: Online health information on brain death exceeds the National Institutes of Health recommended reading levels. Our results emphasize the need to establish quality guidelines to improve the comprehensiveness of health website content. Brain death is still a contentious topic; therefore, reliable, and easy-to-read online educational materials can help public understand the concept of brain death and potentially improve the transplant rate.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.23736/S0375-9393.22.16210-3
  20. JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2022 Feb 21. 5(1): e32235
    Understanding Information Needs and Barriers to Accessing Health Information Across All Stages of Pregnancy: Systematic Review.
    Yu Lu, Laura A Barrett, Rebecca Z Lin, Muhammad Amith, Cui Tao, Zhe He.
       BACKGROUND: Understanding consumers' health information needs across all stages of the pregnancy trajectory is crucial to the development of mechanisms that allow them to retrieve high-quality, customized, and layperson-friendly health information.
    OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify research gaps in pregnancy-related consumer information needs and available information from different sources.
    METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of CINAHL, Cochrane, PubMed, and Web of Science for relevant articles that were published from 2009 to 2019. The quality of the included articles was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program. A descriptive data analysis was performed on these articles. Based on the review result, we developed the Pregnancy Information Needs Ontology (PINO) and made it publicly available in GitHub and BioPortal.
    RESULTS: A total of 33 articles from 9 countries met the inclusion criteria for this review, of which the majority were published no earlier than 2016. Most studies were either descriptive (9/33, 27%), interviews (7/33, 21%), or surveys/questionnaires (7/33, 21%); 20 articles mentioned consumers' pregnancy-related information needs. Half (9/18, 50%) of the human-subject studies were conducted in the United States. More than a third (13/33, 39%) of all studies focused on during-pregnancy stage; only one study (1/33, 3%) was about all stages of pregnancy. The most frequent consumer information needs were related to labor delivery (9/20, 45%), medication in pregnancy (6/20, 30%), newborn care (5/20, 25%), and lab tests (6/20, 30%). The most frequently available source of information was the internet (15/24, 63%). PINO consists of 267 classes, 555 axioms, and 271 subclass relationships.
    CONCLUSIONS: Only a few articles assessed the barriers to access to pregnancy-related information and the quality of each source of information; further work is needed. Future work is also needed to address the gaps between the information needed and the information available.
    Keywords:  fertility; health database; information needs; online information; ontology; parenting; pregnancy; pregnancy information; systematic review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.2196/32235
  21. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 126-132
    Leveraging microgrants to support capacity-building workshops in low- and middle-income countries for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.
    Karin J Saric, Masimba Muziringa, Erin R B Eldermire, Sarah Young, Israel M Dabengwa.
      Twenty fifteen marked the year of assessment for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs that achieved the greatest success were those where evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions were implemented. The ability to practice evidence-based medicine is grounded in the creation of and access to medical literature that synthesizes research findings. The role that global health literature played in the success of the MDGs demonstrates that medical libraries and librarians have a role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Librarians can hold capacity-building workshops that provide instruction on how to access evidence-based literature and also train health professionals to conduct synthesis research. Research findings conducted by in-country health professionals are more likely to address issues being faced by local communities and will afford the possibility of obtaining the necessary evidence-based answers that can then be used to implement policies to resolve public health issues identified in the SDGs. This paper discusses how an international team of librarians leveraged funding from a Medical Library Association/Librarians without Borders/Elsevier Foundation/Research4Life grant to hold a capacity-building workshop in Zimbabwe and follow-up online trainings. The workshop focused on accessing evidence-based resources and conducting synthesis research. Outcomes included the creation and policy implementation of evidence-based knowledge products in alignment with local needs and galvanizing a multisectoral group of key individuals who have gone on to collaborate toward the vision of creating a Zimbabwe innovation hub. Looking ahead, such grants can be leveraged to conduct capacity-building to support knowledge translation and other local training needs.
    Keywords:  Africa; Hinari; LMICs; Research4Life; SDGs; Sustainable Development Goals; capacity-building; evidence-based practice; global collaboration; information access; knowledge translation; low- and middle-income countries; medical librarian; medical library; microgrants; synthesis research; systematic review
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1334
  22. Healthcare (Basel). 2022 Jan 26. pii: 234. [Epub ahead of print]10(2):
    Assessment of the Readability and Quality of Online Patient Education Material for Chronic Medical Conditions.
    Peter Minh Hoang, Courtney van Ballegooie.
      Patient education materials (PEMs) were assessed from chronic health condition associations to determine their quality and if they were above the 6th grade reading level (GRL) recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health. PEMs from 55 associations were assessed for their GRL using ten readability scales and underwent a difficult word analysis. The associations had their quality assessed using two methods: the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmarks and Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct certification (HONCode). Two thousand five hundred and ninety PEMs, collected between June and November 2021, were analyzed. The overall GRL average was 10.8 ± 2.8, with a range of 0 to 19. Difficult word analysis showed that 15.8% ± 4.8 contained complex words of 3 or more syllables and 25.7% ± 6.3 contained words which were unfamiliar. No association displayed all four indicators of quality according to JAMA Benchmarks or held an up-to-date HONCode certification. The PEM readability continues to be written at a level above the recommended GRL. Additionally, the lack of quality indicators from the associations' websites may make it difficult for older adults to identify the sources as credible. This represents an opportunity to optimize materials that would be understood by a wider audience.
    Keywords:  consumer health information; geriatrics; health education; health information exchange; health literacy; health services for the aged; information literacy; patient care
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10020234
  23. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 5-14
    Advocacy is all of us: recommendations to enhance the Medical Library Association's advocacy initiatives.
    J J Pionke, Kathleen Phillips, Alyssa Migdalski, Erin M Smith.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1327
  24. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 133-138
    Data disaggregation: the case of Asian and Pacific Islander data and the role of health sciences librarians.
    Seema Bhakta.
      Health disparities within Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities are often masked due to aggregated data. Lack of adequate data limits required health care services for these communities. While moving forward toward health equity, it is critical that disparities for API communities are acknowledged and addressed. This article focuses on the issues of aggregated data for API communities followed by suggestions on how health sciences librarians can support and promote better practices for data disaggregation.
    Keywords:  Asian and Pacific Islander; data disaggregation; health sciences librarians; health sciences librarianship
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1372
  25. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 34-42
    We are MLA: a qualitative case study on the Medical Library Association's 2019 Communities Transition.
    Kathryn M Houk, Kelsa Bartley, Jane Morgan-Daniel, Elaina Vitale.
       Objective: In 2019, the Medical Library Association (MLA) adopted a new model of community governance and participation, referred to as the MLA Communities Transition. The Communities Transition was the culmination of long-ranging plans by MLA to support two of its strategic goals: diversity and inclusion, and communities. The reorganization aimed to strengthen MLA member communities, better support programming, reduce administrative overhead, and attract new members. The 2019-2020 MLA Rising Stars cohort was tasked to study the Communities Transition and identify lessons that might be applicable to any major future change proposed for the organization.
    Methods: A qualitative study was designed and conducted to investigate MLA member and leader perceptions of the change process, using John Kotter's eight steps for organizational change model as a framework. A set of fifteen open-ended questions was developed based on Kotter's model, and seventeen semistructured interviews were conducted to gather perceptions and feedback. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to explore and identify several themes across all discussions.
    Results: Four major themes were identified: communication between leadership and membership, leadership during the change process, membership investment in change, and instituting change and future recommendations. The study revealed strengths in the overall implementation and execution of the transition, but it also highlighted several perceived issues with communication and information sharing.
    Conclusions: Study findings were used to develop recommendations for improved communication strategies and for handling large-scale changes within the organization in the future.
    Keywords:  Medical Library Association; change management; library association management; organizational change; organizational communication
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1225
  26. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 47-55
    Retracted publications in pharmacy systematic reviews.
    Sarah Jane Brown, Caitlin J Bakker, Nicole R Theis-Mahon.
       Objective: Systematic reviews and other evidence syntheses, the pinnacle of the evidence pyramid, embody comprehensiveness and rigor; however, retracted data are being incorporated into these publications. This study examines the use of retracted publications in the field of pharmacy, describes characteristics of retracted publications cited by systematic reviews, and discusses factors associated with citation likelihood.
    Methods: Using data from Retraction Watch, we identified retracted publications in the pharmacy field. We identified all articles citing these retracted publications in Web of Science and Scopus and limited results to systematic reviews. We classified the retraction reason, determined whether the citation occurred before or after retraction, and analyzed factors associated with the likelihood of systematic reviews citing a retracted publication.
    Results: Of 1,396 retracted publications, 283 were cited 1,096 times in systematic reviews. Most (65.0%) (712/1096) citations occurred before retraction. Citations were most often to items retracted due to data falsification or manipulation (39.2%), followed by items retracted due to ethical misconduct including plagiarism (30.4%), or concerns about or errors in data or methods (26.2%). Compared to those not cited in systematic reviews, cited items were significantly more likely to be retracted due to data falsification and manipulation, were published in high impact factor journals, and had longer delays between publication and retraction.
    Conclusions: Further analysis of systematic reviews citing retracted publications is needed to determine the impact of flawed data. Librarians understand the nuances involved and can advocate for greater transparency around the retraction process and increase awareness of challenges posed by retractions.
    Keywords:  evidence-based pharmacy practice; pharmacy; publishing; research; retraction of publication as topic; systematic reviews as topic
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1280
  27. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 146-151
    Disseminating medical literature and knowledge in India in the 1980s: the SMLRT story.
    Krishnan Ganapathy, Arjun Rajagopalan, Gita Arjun, Seshadri Suresh, Krishnan Sriram.
      The informed netizen of today is in a state of information overload. With 785 million broadband subscribers and an urban and rural teledensity of 138% and 60%, respectively [1], India is already the second-largest online digital market. Today, in theory, medical journals and textbooks can be accessed by anyone, anytime, anywhere, and at affordable rates. Fifty odd years ago, when the authors entered medical school, the use of computers in medical education was unknown in India, as in other parts of the world. It was in this milieu, thirty-seven years ago, that eleven young Madras (Chennai)-based doctors decided to make medical literature easily accessible, particularly to clinicians in suburban and rural India. The aim was to make relevant, affordable reprints easily available to the practitioner at their place of work or study. Photocopying and using the postal service was the chosen, and indeed the only available, mode of operation. This article will outline the methodology used, trials and tribulations faced, and persistence displayed. At that time, the processes deployed appeared relevant and truly innovative. Over the ensuing years, developments in information technology made the services redundant. Extensive, even revolutionary, changes such as universal digitization and availability of a cost-effective Internet radically changed how medical literature could be accessed in India.
    Keywords:  medical literature dissemination; medical literature dissemination in India's history
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1424
  28. J Med Libr Assoc. 2022 Jan 01. 110(1): 1-4
    Creating a more inclusive journal: the Journal of the Medical Library Association's evolving process for selecting editorial board members.
    Margaret Henderson, John W Cyrus, Erin R B Eldermire, Jill T Boruff, Katherine G Akers, Beverly Murphy.
      The Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) selects new editorial board members every year. In the spring of 2021, JMLA used a new process for reviewing and selecting applicants for the limited number of open editorial board positions. This reevaluation of the selection process was spurred by a desire to create a more diverse and representative board. Changes to the procedures for selecting new editorial board members included having an open call for editorial board members, creating an application form, creating a selection committee to screen applicants, creating a form for the selection committee to extract data from applications, and creating a two-step process for screening and then selecting board members. As part of construction of this new process, areas for continued improvement were also identified, such as refining the application form to allow more specific answers to areas of interest to the selection committee. The newly created selection process for editorial board members constitutes a significant change in JMLA processes; however, more can be done to build on this work by further refining the selection process and ensuring that new members are selected in a transparent and streamlined manner.
    Keywords:  diversity; editorial board; equity
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2022.1430
  29. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2022 Feb 22. pii: ocac017. [Epub ahead of print]
    Development of a framework to assess the quality of data sources in healthcare settings.
    Sepideh Hooshafza, Louise Mc Quaid, Gaye Stephens, Rachel Flynn, Laura O'Connor.
       OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to develop a framework to assess the quality of healthcare data sources.
    MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, a systematic review was performed and a thematic analysis of included literature conducted to identify items relating to the quality of healthcare data sources. Second, expert advisory group meetings were held to explore experts' perception of the results of the review and identify gaps in the findings. Third, a framework was developed based on the findings.
    RESULTS: Synthesis of the review results and expert advisory group meetings resulted in 8 parent themes and 22 subthemes. The parent themes were: Governance, leadership, and management; Data; Trust; Context; Monitoring; Use of information; Standardization; Learning and training. The 22 subthemes were: governance, finance, organization, characteristics, time, data management, data quality, ethics, access, security, quality improvement, monitoring and feedback, dissemination, analysis, research, standards, linkage, infrastructure, documentation, definitions and classification, learning, and training.
    DISCUSSION: The herein presented framework was developed using a robust methodology which included reviewing literature and extracting data source quality items, filtering, and matching items, developing a list of themes, and revising them based on expert opinion. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to apply a systematic approach to identify aspects related to the quality of healthcare data sources.
    CONCLUSIONS: The framework, can assist those using healthcare data sources to identify and assess the quality of a data source and inform whether the data sources used are fit for their intended use.
    Keywords:  data source; healthcare; quality assessment
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocac017
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