Background: Online point-of-care evidence-based information tools are becoming increasingly popular. Objectives: To discover how doctors actually use one such tool -UpToDate -in clinical practice. Methods: An online survey was distributed to doctors at healthcare organisations in the north-west of England which subscribed to UpToDate. Some survey questions asked for quantifiable data (e.g. demographic details), whilst other questions were open-ended and sought examples of clinical scenarios and actual point-of-care use of UpToDate. Open-ended responses were then analysed into emerging themes.Results: The open-ended responses include evidence illustrating a large variety of clinical scenarios in which the use of UpToDate influenced clinical practice. Conclusions: These results show how just one point-of-care tool is used in a variety of ways that benefit the patient, the doctor and the healthcare organisation. Direct quotations reported will provide compelling evidence for librarians to present to senior managers who may be unsure of the value of point-of-care tools in clinical practice.
Background: Most NHS library services routinely offer both mediated searches and information skills training sessions to their users. We analyse the impact of these two services on the amount of literature searching demonstrated by users of hospital-based library services in the north-west of England. Methods: Data for (1) mediated literature searches, (2) number of library users attending information skills training sessions, (3) amount of library staff time devoted to information skills training, and (4) number of Athens-authenticated log-ins to databases were obtained from statistical returns for 2007, and analysed for significant correlations. Results: There was evidence of quite strong correlations between the two measures of training activity and the number of mediated literature searches performed by library staff. There was weaker evidence of correlation between training activity and total literature searching activity. Discussion: Attending training sessions may make some library users aware of the difficulty of complex literature searches and actually reduce their confidence to perform their own complex searches independently. The relationships between information skills training, mediated literature searches, and independent literature searching activity remain complex.
Background : Health care libraries spend a large amount of their non-pay budgets on the purchase of scientific, technical and medical journals. In a typical hospital library in the National Health Service (NHS) North West Strategic Health Authority (SHA), this can represent between 80 and 90% of the collection development budget. Methods and results : Data were collected from 1 December 2005 to 30 November 2006 using COUNTER-generated usage statistics obtained from publishers' administration tools. Between the two trusts included in the study, 93 376 full-text article downloads were recorded; of these, 15 952 or 17.1% articles were downloaded from national core content journals via Proquest. Photocopies made by users for their own use were recorded whenever this data were available. Conclusions : NHS staff at the sites included in this study recorded a high volume of journal usage. There was a marked difference in usage patterns between the acute and specialist trusts in the study. The journals provided by national core content represented a much higher proportion of total usage at the acute trust (29.9%) compared with the specialist cancer trust (4.5%). This study supports the view that the local purchasing of journal titles is an important component of the overall journal-based information provision to NHS staff.
Background : The Library and Information for Health Network North West (LIHNN) represents health libraries in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside and Wirral. LIHNN members take part in a regional co-operative network supporting interlending and document supply. Methods : Data were analysed over a 4-year period to identify trends and patterns. In addition, a literature review was conducted to compare trends seen in NHS libraries to those trends seen in other sectors and in other countries. Results/trends : Between
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