News from our friends in Region 6:
MEDLINE/PubMed Data Moving to New Listserv
Beginning March 1, 2023, all news and announcements regarding MEDLINE/PubMed data will be communicated via the NCBI Utilities-announce listserv.
To continue receiving these updates, you will need to subscribe to the NCBI Utilities-announce listserv at the link below. Subscribe to the listserv here.
If you have some time this month, check out Experience MLA 2023.
One of the sessions I attended was on Systematic Reviews and where to start ... I don't normally do systematic reviews in my healthcare setting, however, it's good to know that my search, organizational, and leadership skills are transferable.
LaTeesa James and Stacy Torian presented MLA Experience Webinar "I’ve never done a systematic review. Where do I start?" (recording available soon). During the program, LaTeesa James shared the following guide ... Informationists from the University of Michigan's Taubman Health Sciences Library recently created a page on their Systematic Review Guide that is intended for search professionals. It does not collect all resources and opportunities related to systematic searching in the whole wide world; instead, it focuses on providing easy access to those developed by U-M THL Informationists (many of which we've talked about in workshops, webinars, tweets, and more):
If you have some time this month, check out Experience MLA 23. It's a great opportunity to get to know the various MLA Caucuses (communities) and what they offer as far as programming and support. Many sessions are recorded for later viewing, and if you are not already an MLA Member, there's a free trial option, too.
From February 1-28, 2023, Experience MLA and all that membership has to offer. MLA's diverse and robust communities have created more than 30 different activities to share with you. Take a look at the calendar below and set aside some time to get a glimpse of what we have to offer.
All you need to do is be an MLA member—or register for an Experience MLA trial membership at any time in February. There is no charge and no obligation to pay membership dues after your February trial month. Sign up now to meet new colleagues and explore MLA Communities.
Q: Wait, what? How do I attend these sessions?
A: If you're a member, log in—or join as a trial member in February. Once you're "in," the full list of calendar invitations will be visible to you. Each calendar listing provides a description of the session and also allows you to add the event to your personal calendar. A few events may require separate registration. For these events, the session registration links are noted below.
Check out the recordings of last year's sessions and up to date recordings for this year below!
If you've worked with Nurses or nursing students on searching the literature, you may have encountered some of the strict parameters -- esp. the 5 year rule or nurse-as-author -- where they won't accept anything older, even if that's when the bulk of the research was done, and the question is considered settled. Even though databases like CINAHL allow us to use those limits, it may zero out useful results.
This article / study explores some of those strict search parameters, and suggests a shift in training nurses to use those limits judiciously and when appropriate for best results.
The lead author, Eleanor Truex is an Ascension Medical Librarian working in the Chicago area. Kudos to Eleanor and her fellow authors for getting published in the Nurse Educator journal where it will hopefully make a difference in how nurses are taught to search the literature.
Exploring the Use of Common Strict Search Criteria in Nursing Literature Searches. Truex ES, Spinner E, Hillyer J, Ettien A, Wade S, Calhoun C, Wolf G, Hedreen R, Heimlich L, Nickum A, Vonderheid SC. Nurse Educ. 2022 Dec 30. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000001353. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36728635. Link to Article.
Abstract
Background: Health sciences librarians and nursing journal contributors have expressed concern about the impact of using strict parameters when searching the literature.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the use of strict search criteria (eg, 5-year rule, "nurse as author") by direct care nurses and nursing students.
Methods: Fourteen online focus groups were conducted with 54 participants: direct care nurses, health sciences librarians, nursing faculty, and nursing students. Nursing faculty and health sciences librarians were included as participants to add perspective to the origins and effects of the use of stringent search criteria.
Results: The majority of the nurses viewed the 5-year rule and nurse as author search limits favorably, while noting that a strict date range may hamper successful searching. Librarians viewed these search criteria more unfavorably but recognized the value of topic-appropriate search limits.
Conclusion: Reliance on strict limits can be detrimental to pertinent results; however, appropriate use is essential for relevant results. Pedagogy focused on searching the nursing literature needs to emphasize that limits are tools to be used judiciously.
A co-worker recently shared this University of Michigan Taubman Talk featuring the authors of a 2021 PLoS study on how MEDLINE performs across different platforms: "MEDLINE search retrieval issues: A longitudinal query analysis of five vendor platforms".
MEDLINE platforms included:
Which of these 5 performed the "best"? Access the recording and accompanying slides here.
In February 2016, the New York Academy of Medicine launched an annual coloring festival. During this week, libraries, museums, archives, and cultural institutions all over the world have a unique opportunity to share images from their collection as coloring pages. This year, the event runs from February 6-10. But don't worry if you're reading this blog post after those dates! The images remain available online for you to download whenever you have the urge to color.
