Medical libraries, bioinformatics, and networked information: a coming convergence? (17/1217)

Libraries will be changed by technological and social developments that are fueled by information technology, bioinformatics, and networked information. Libraries in highly focused settings such as the health sciences are at a pivotal point in their development as the synthesis of historically diverse and independent information sources transforms health care institutions. Boundaries are breaking down between published literature and research data, between research databases and clinical patient data, and between consumer health information and professional literature. This paper focuses on the dynamics that are occurring with networked information sources and the roles that libraries will need to play in the world of medical informatics in the early twenty-first century.  (+info)

Small scientific journals from small countries: breaking from a vicious circle of inadequacy. (18/1217)

In this editorial we describe the confounding factors that contribute to the poor international recognition of small journals: author pool, review process, finances, language, and visibility. These factors originate from relative scientific inadequacy of the local environment and close a positive feedback loop (vicious circle) of journal inadequacy. We argue that small journals may provide important information and outline the ways in which they can be assisted.  (+info)

The low availability of metadata elements for evaluating the quality of medical information on the World Wide Web. (19/1217)

A great barrier to the use of Internet resources for patient education is the concern over the quality of information available. We conducted a study to determine what information was available in Web pages, both within text and metadata source code, that could be used in the assessment of information quality. Analysis of pages retrieved from 97 unique sites using a simple keyword search for "breast cancer treatment" on a generic and a health-specific search engine revealed that basic publishing elements were present in low frequency: authorship (20%), attribution/references (32%), disclosure (41%), and currency (35%). Only one page retrieved contained all four elements. Automated extraction of metadata elements from the source code of 822 pages retrieved from five popular generic search engines revealed even less information. We discuss the design of a metadata-based system for the evaluation of quality of medical content on the World Wide Web that addresses current limitations in ensuring quality.  (+info)

Effect of blinding and unmasking on the quality of peer review. (20/1217)

The objectives of this study were to see whether, in the opinion of authors, blinding or unmasking or a combination of the two affects the quality of reviews and to compare authors' and editors' assessments. In a trial conducted in the British Medical Journal, 527 consecutive manuscripts were randomized into one of three groups, and each was sent to two reviewers, who were randomized to receive a blinded or an unblinded copy of the manuscript. Review quality was assessed by two editors and the corresponding author. There was no significant difference in assessment between groups or between editors and authors. Reviews recommending publication were scored more highly than those recommending rejection.  (+info)

Electronic reserves: copyright and permissions. (21/1217)

Electronic reserves present a new service option for libraries to provide needed materials during hours that the library is not open and to user groups located some distance from library collections. Possible changes to current copyright law and publishers permissions policies have delayed the development of electronic reserves in many libraries. This paper reviews the current state of electronic reserves materials in the publishing and library communities and presents the results of a survey of publishers to determine permissions policies for electronic materials. Issues of concern to both libraries and publishers are discussed.  (+info)

Science, practice and patient needs: the work of the Plinius Maior Society. (22/1217)

The Plinius Maior Society is a European multinational, multidisciplinary group of clinicians and researchers in the alcoholism field, which strives for a comprehensive care concept in the management of alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. The Society, using evidence-based medicine, has developed a set of protocols, in the forms of guidelines, flow-charts, leaflets and booklets, for use as tools in research on and treatment of alcohol dependence, with a view to standardize clinical research procedures and to bridge the gap between the alcoholism researcher, practitioner and patient. These protocols or tools have been subjected to a review process during their preparation, and further comments on their validity will be integrated in their updates. Seven protocols have so far been developed, two of which, 'Guidelines on Evaluation of Treatment of Alcohol Dependence' and 'Detection and Management of Patients with Psychiatric and Alcohol Use Disorders', are aimed at the clinical researcher and specialists, whereas three others [in the form of decision trees (flow-charts)] are aimed at the general practitioner and other primary health care providers. These are entitled 'Alcohol Risk Assessment and Intervention in Primary Care', 'Withdrawal from Alcohol at Home' and 'Brief Intervention in Patients with Alcohol-Related Problems'. The remaining two tools are booklets aimed at the patient, one to support initiatives for detection of drinking problems and primary intervention, namely 'Do you have this Problem? Discuss it with your Doctor!', and the other to assist the patient in relapse prevention after the early stages of treatment, namely 'On the Way to Recovery'. The protocols for the general practitioners and patients have so far been produced in seven European languages, and, as with the Guidelines, feedback from target users will be collected and incorporated in future updates. The Society continually seeks to consider areas of clinical importance for its work and, as it enters the new millennium, it hopes to address and make a significant contribution to the most pressing problem in the management of alcohol dependence, namely relapse.  (+info)

Exposure of black youths to cigarette advertising in magazines. (23/1217)

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the potential exposure of black adolescents to brand specific advertising in magazines. DESIGN: A probit regression analysis was conducted of pooled 1990 and 1994 data on brand specific advertising in 36 popular US magazines to examine the relationship between the presence or absence of advertising in each magazine for each of 12 cigarette brands, and the proportion of each magazine's youth (ages 12-17 years) readers who were black. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The presence or absence of advertising in each magazine in 1990 and 1994, for each of 12 cigarette brands. RESULTS: After controlling for total magazine readership and the percentage of young adult, Hispanic, and female readers, black youth cigarette brands (those whose market share among black youths exceeded their overall market share) were more likely than other brands to advertise in magazines with a higher percentage of black youth readers. Holding all other variables constant at their sample means, the probability of a non-black youth brand advertising in a magazine decreased over the observed range of percentage black youth readership from 0.65 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.55 to 0.75) for magazines with 5% black youth readers to 0.33 (95% CI 0.00 to 0.69) for magazines with 91% black youth readers. In contrast, the probability of a black youth brand advertising in a magazine increased from 0.40 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.62) at 5% black youth readership to 1.00 (95% CI 0.97 to 1.00) at 91% black youth readership. CONCLUSIONS: Black youths are more likely than white youths to be exposed to magazine advertising by cigarette brands popular among black adolescents.  (+info)

Reporting and concordance of methodologic criteria between abstracts and articles in diagnostic test studies. (24/1217)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality and concordance of methodologic criteria in abstracts versus articles regarding the diagnosis of trichomoniasis. STUDY DESIGN: Survey of published literature. DATA SOURCES: Studies indexed in MEDLINE (1976-1998). STUDY SELECTION: Studies that used culture as the gold or reference standard. DATA EXTRACTION: Data from abstract and articles were independently abstracted using 4 methodologic criteria: (1) prospective evaluation of consecutive patients; (2) test results did not influence the decision to do gold standard; (3) independent and blind comparison with gold standard; and (4) broad spectrum of patients used. The total number of criteria met for each report was calculated to create a quality score (0-4). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: None of the 33 abstracts or full articles reported all 4 criteria. Three criteria were reported in none of the abstracts and in 18% of articles (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 8.6% to 34%). Two criteria were reported in 18% of abstracts (95% CI, 8.6% to 34%) and 42% of articles (95% CI, 27% to 59%). One criterion was reported in 42% of abstracts (95% CI, 27% to 59%) and 27% of articles (95% CI, 15% to 44%). No criteria were reported in 13 (39%) of 33 abstracts (95% CI, 25% to 56%) and 4 (12%) of 33 articles (95% CI, 4.8% to 27%). The agreement of the criteria between the abstract and the article was poor (kappa -0.09; 95% CI, -0.18 to 0) to moderate (kappa 0.53; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.83). CONCLUSIONS: Information on methods basic to study validity is often absent from both abstract and paper. The concordance of such criteria between the abstract and article needs to improve.  (+info)