which citation manager?

Zotero, RefMan, Endnote, citeulike etc etc..... there's just so many reference management tools out there, but which is best?

There's a useful review of the main reference management softwares on novoseek's blog Knowlege Beyond Words.

Survey Closed

Thank you!

Your contribution to the Library Survey 2009 was very much appreciated.

We'll be reviewing all the feedback, and will be contacting the winners of the prize draw shortly.

Protect yourself and our patients this winter

Message from Addenbooke's:

"Protect yourself and Addenbooke's patients this winter"

Help us protect you and our patients:

• Do not come into hospital if you have been unwell in the last 48 hours
• Children should not visit unless it is essential
• Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly with soap and water
• Catch it, bin it, kill it.

Norovirus and Swine Flu avice

Annual Evidence Update: Alcoholic Liver Disease

NHS Evidence – gastroenterology and liver diseases will be publishing its first Evidence Update on alcoholic liver diseases on 7 December 2009.

www.library.nhs.uk/gastroliver

NHS Evidence Annual Evidence Updates (AEUs) attempt to draw together recently published, high quality evidence - focusing particularly on systematic reviews and published guidelines - which it is hoped will inform and enhance the decision making and planning of clinicians, commissioners and others involved in the process of health care.

"Alcohol misuse produces a spectrum of liver injury ranging from simple fatty change through alcoholic hepatitis to cirrhosis and, in some 20% of individuals, to hepatocellular carcinoma. We will be presenting an overview of the best systematic reviews and selected primary research from the past two years, along with commentary from experts in the field. We will also provide links to useful policy documents and other items of interest."

Journals Consultation

In 2008, as part of its refurbishment programme, the Medical Library removed over 500 non-current journal titles. This was an important first step towards our strategic objective of becoming predominantly an electronic library depending far less on printed literature.

Read all about the latest phase of our Library improvement programme!

Library Survey 2009 - Last chance.....

Thank you very much if you’ve completed a survey.

If you’ve not done it yet ……. Last chance for us to hear you! (and last blog asking for your contribution!)
http://survey.libqual.org/index.cfm?ID=396467

Survey closes on Monday 7th December 2009.

Remember there’s a chance to win an iPod Shuffle or Amazon voucher!

The breakdown of respondents is: (number in brackets is previous breakdown of respondents)

Student: (41%) 42%
Medical: (18%) 20%
Nursing & Midwifery: (13%) 13%
Scientific & Technical Staff: (8%) 9%
Allied Health: (10%) 7%
Non-clinical Staff: (5%) 4%
Other: (3%) 3%
Management: (1%) 1%
Dental: (0%) 0%

Have you added your voice yet?

New issues raised/ Previous issues repeated:

• “library open days”
• Noise levels – because of building work, and because of library users
• Opening hours (again)
• Book issues
• Study environment (“turn up the heaters!” “turn on the lights!”)
• Access to library for non-NHS staff and non-University staff/students
• Support for literature searching

Previous issues raised

LibQUAL is an online survey that has been used by libraries around the world. It only takes 10-15 minutes and the analysis is completely confidential.

Any questions?

e-mail libqual-medlib@medschl.cam.ac.uk

phone (01223) 336750

visit http://library.medschl.cam.ac.uk/survey.php

NHS Evidence - Infections: annual update

NHS Evidence - infections will launch its 2009 Annual Evidence Update: HIV in Children and Adolescents from Monday 30th November to Sunday 6th December 2009.

The update has been timed to coincide with World AIDS Day on the 1st of December.

NHS Evidence - infections provides convenient and comprehensive access to the best available evidence on the investigation, prevention, treatment and control of infectious diseases from a clinical perspective.

The team are based at the Health Protection Agency’s Centre for Infections (CfI) in London.

NHS Evidence - Infections is just one of many Specialist Collections available from NHS Evidence - take a look - is your area of interest coverd?

Library Survey 2009

Library Survey 2009
We’re still listening, and would like to hear more: Please complete the survey at http://survey.libqual.org/index.cfm?ID=396467

So far people are using the survey to raise a lot of issues and suggestions for the Medical Library and its services:

• working space – the temperature, the noise, the light
• Library staff – the extent to which you find us friendly, helpful, professional
• refurbishment and building works – the noise levels, and the resulting changes to the library
• group study areas – to allow for quiet conversation & discussions
• opening hours
• noise levels in the library
• accessibility of electronic resources when not in the library – differences between NHS access and University/Library access
• balance between electronic journals and paper journals
• document delivery service and charges
• range and age of book stock
• quality of computer and photocopy facilities
• availability of training and support for literature searching

The breakdown of respondents so far is:

• Student: 41%
• Medical: 18%
• Nursing and midwifery: 13%
• Allied Health: 10%
• Scientific and technical staff: 8%
• Non-clinical staff: 5%
• Other: 3%
• Management: 1%
• Dental: 0%

Have you added your voice yet?
Remember there’s a chance to win an iPod Shuffle or Amazon voucher!

There’s still time to contribute your views at http://survey.libqual.org/index.cfm?ID=396467 – closing date: Sunday 6th December 2009.

LibQUAL is an online survey that has been used by libraries around the world. It only takes 10-15 minutes and the analysis is completely confidential.

Any questions?
e-mail: libqual-medlib@medschl.cam.ac.uk
phone: (01223) 336750
visit: http://library.medschl.cam.ac.uk/survey.php

Date for the diary: Healthy Futures: Medical Regulation and Human Agency

Healthy Futures: Medical Regulation and Human Agency

21st & 22nd January, 2010

Convenors: Professor David Spiegelhalter and Dr Tim Lewens

Regulatory agencies routinely make cost-benefit analyses of new medical products and treatments. Yet there is little agreement on how such analyses ought to be performed, and utilitarian paradigms are seldom applied in other areas of medical decision-making. Envisaging futures is also an integral part of planning health care (e.g. the ‘obesity epidemic’ or pandemic influenza). Predictions based on bio-statistical data-analysis are underpinned by numerous assumptions. How can we quantify medical uncertainties, and how should they impact on policy?

Programme and Registration

Opening lecture: Sir Michael Rawlins (Chairman, NICE)

Balancing the evidence - the role of judgement in health policy decisions.

5pm-6.30pm, 21st January 2010 - more details available

The event will begin with the opening lecture on the evening of Thursday 21st January followed by a day long seminar on Friday 22nd January. Online booking avaible

This is the second in the series of Sawyer Seminars sponsored by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation, Modelling Futures: Understanding Risk and Uncertainty 2009-2010.

more trumpet blowing

Many thanks to whoever nominated me for the You Make A Difference, November awards for "For being helpful to a patient by providing quick access to information "

Two nominations in 3 months is really great, and I'm very proud.

Thanks again,
Isla

Access to University e-resources off campus

Access to electronic resources off-campus changed from 1 August 2009.

The University completed the transition from ATHENS access to locally authenticated access via Shibboleth on the 1st August. Users will no longer be able to access a resource via the ATHENS alternative login route.

The recommended access route for electronic resources is via e-resources@cambridge (http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/) or, in the case of ejournals, ejournals@cambridge (http://sfx7.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az) , which include the correct links.

Users off-campus should log in using the links provided by publishers on their web sites marked "Institutional login", "Log in via your home institution" or "Shibboleth", and login with their RAVEN password.

Further information on this change and contact details for enquiries can be found at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/shibboleth.php

Library Survey 2009

Take the survey - we're listening

who?
The Medical Library would like to find out what you think of us : our resources, our services, our staff & the library itself

what?
LibQUAL is an online survey that has been used by libraries around the world. It only takes 10-15 minutes and the analysis is completely confidential .

when?
Monday 16th November - Sunday 6th December 2009
- and because it's online you can take the survey any time, day or night, at home or in the library or anywhere!

where?
Go to http://survey.libqual.org/index.cfm?ID=396467

why?

1. Because we want to make the library even better, and we need your help!
2. Great Prizes! One respondent will win a iPod Shuffle and 5 others will win £10 Amazon vouchers.

Any questions?

e-mail libqual-medlib@medschl.cam.ac.uk
phone (01223) 336750
visit http://library.medschl.cam.ac.uk/survey.php

Cycle to Work Scheme

The University is introducing a Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme for University staff on 2 November 2009.

If you would like to find out more, drop in to one of the Road shows:

16 November 2009 (11am–2pm);
Clinical School foyer, Addenbrookes Hospital, Hills Road

More details available.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Radiographic Team from the Cambridge & Huntingdon Breast Screening Unit!

Barbara Knighton, Superintendant Radiographer, and her team have won the Society of Radiographer's Team of the Year (Eastern Region).

http://www.sor.org/stories/and-years-winners-are

PubMed Revamp - all change TODAY!!

We said it was going to happen... and now it has!

Pubmed has had its revamp - and looks lovely, don't you think?

All the same functionality is available - just in a sightly different place.

A revised version of the guide to searching Pubmed is available.

SCOPUS training

Thursday 5th of November 2009, 10.30am

Issac Newton Institute

Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of research literatureand quality web sources and is aimed at the scientfic researcher. This session is aimed at graduate students and staff who want to learn howto use Scopus to both locate research in their area and to manage theirresearch output.

Places are limited so please email Yvonne Nobis (yn235@cam.ac.uk) if you are interested in attending.

Is the weight of knowledge getting you down?

Perhaps we can ease the load with this ethically produced jute bag.

Only £2!

Ask at the library desk.
Hurry – before stocks run out!

Applying for ethical approval

Getting approval from the Research Ethics Committee is often seen as a big hurdle for research, but help is at hand - not least from a recent article co-authored by the Chair of Cambridgeshire 4 Research Ethics Committee:

Applying for ethical approval for research in the United Kingdom

BMJ 2009;339:b4013

"This article offers practical advice on how to expedite the ethical review process."

There's plenty of advice and support available from the National Research Ethics Service, including a step by step guide through the application process; and also the support available from the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust R& D department

Open Access Week

October 19-23 will mark the first international Open Access Week.

To broaden awareness and understanding of Open Access http://www.openaccessweek.org/ October 19-23 will mark the first international Open Access Week.

The University Library and the DSpace@Cambridge team have joined the initiative and are organising a number of events here in Cambridge which are sponsored by SPARC Europe

Schedule (& further details) of Events

All events are free. For further information contact Barbara Bultmann.

Conference: Open Access Cambridge

Wednesday, 21st October, 2.00 - 5.00

This half-day conference will explore different perspectives on Open Access by bringing together representatives from the research community, the publishing sector and from a learned society.

--------------------------

Workshop: How to get published - Author workshop held by BioMed Central and PLoS Public Library of Science

Wednesday, 21st October, 10.00 - 12.30

This Author workshop is aimed at young scientists and provide guidelines on how to write a 4* research paper with these Open Access publishers.

--------------------------

Discussion: The Open Access Librarian

Monday 19th October 1.00 - 2.00

A lively discussion in an informal forum. A brown-bag lunch for librarians to explore and discuss Open Access.

--------------------------

Discussion: Open Access Table at the Departments

Drop by to talk to pick up information, learn about the public access policies of the UK funding councils, and talk to Librarians and Repository staff about your publishing questions.

Tuesday 20th October, 10.00 - 14.00 - Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (outside the Level 7 Lounge)

Tuesday 20th October, 14.00 - 16.00 - Medical School (Foyer)

Thursday 22nd October - 10.00 - 12.00 - Department of Engineering (Foyer)

Friday 23rd October, 10.00 - 11.30 - Computer Laboratory

--------------------------

Presentation: Open Access: E-theses

Monday, 19th October, 2.30 - 4.00

The DSpace@Cambridge team will talk about Open Access and its implications for the scholarly communication process. The team will also introduce the new electronic PhD thesis deposit scheme starting in Michaelmas Term 2009.

All events are free.
For further information contact Barbara Bultmann.

Pubmed gets a revamp!

Pubmed announced yesterday that their search interface is being redesigned.

You can get a preview of what it will look like: http://preview.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

All the same functionality is there - it just looks a bit different.

There's no set date of when the change-over will happen, but if you'd like some help getting familiar with the new design, please contact the Library.

DSpace@Cambridge unveils e-thesis depositing

The DSpace@Cambridge team (http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/) is pleased to announce that from October 1st
2009 it will be possible to deposit theses in electronic form in DSpace@Cambridge, the institutional repository of the University.

The theses will be disseminated online via the DSpace@Cambridge interface, allowing interested readers from all over the world to access them.

Each University faculty or department will have its own e-thesis collection where students, staff and alumni will be able to deposit their theses. The goal is to build a complete digital collection of theses from the University, ensuring continued access to this valuable material for future generations.

The deposit process is simple. The University Library is collaborating with the Board of Graduate Studies on the scheme, and all students submitting their thesis for examination will receive offers to deposit their thesis in DSpace@Cambridge. Deposits are made on a voluntary basis. Librarians from the University Library will verify that all details are correct before the thesis is made available for online access.

It will also be possible for University staff and alumni to make their theses available in DSpace@Cambridge.

Further information about e-thesis deposit for current staff and alumni will be distributed to all University departments throughout the autumn.
Interested parties can also contact the DSpace@Cambridge team at support@repository.cam.ac.uk

Further information about the scheme is available at: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/repository/theses/

Card access to the Clinical School

Announcement from the Clinical School:

"As from Monday 5th October 2009, internal security doors will be operating in the Clinical School between 7pm and 10pm.

All holders of Addenbrooke's ID cards will be able to access the building as usual,
by swiping the panel next to the internal door.

If you do not have an Addenbrooke's ID card please go to Reception.

The Custodians will be able to give access to all building users without cards between 7pm and 10pm"

We understand that the swipe card system will not be in operation on a Saturday.

We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Library Redevelopment - phase 2

"A rolling stone gathers no moss" - or so the saying goes.

We've enjoyed the new facilities of Phase 1 of our redevelopment - the new computer room for the students upstairs and the new reception area and staff offices.

Phase 2 of the redevelopment is about to start, and will last October - Christmas 2009.

The main changes will be:

• transformation of the corridor leading from reception to the books, into offices for the Clinical School


• re-arrangement of the journal collection

How will Phase 2 impact upon you?

• From Monday 28th September the only route from Reception to the books will be from past the Current Journals and via the Wolfson Room corridor.


• There will inevitably be disruption with the noise of the building works - we're sorry about the inconvenience this will cause.
  The builders move in on 5th October 2009.


• There will be a short period of disruption as we rearrange the journal shelving - we will signpost as well as possible, but if you cannot find the journal you need please ask at Reception for assistance.


• While the building work is in progress we shall also be reorganising the current journal display area and adjacent space to improve the study facilities, with the intention of completing this work by Christmas.

It's going to be an interesting next three months!

Joint Health Research Conference:
Committed to better research in the NHS

Friday 6th November 2009

Sopwell House, St Albans, Hertfordshire

Registration from 9.30am - Close at 4.30pm

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and East of England Strategic Health Authority are organising a joint event to promote the benefits of research in the NHS.

These joint events aim to promote the benefits of research, showcase localactivity and engage further with local NHS staff and academics so that theycan understand more fully the range of opportunities available through theNIHR to undertake and lead health and social care research to improvepatient care and NHS services.

In addition to the plenary sessions there will be an interactive exhibition where delegates can talk to representatives from the different NIHR programmes and coordinating centres, view on-line demonstrations and participate in up to two interactive seminars.

Speakers include:
Professor Dame Sally C. Davies - Director General of Research and Development, Department of Health
Sir Neil McKay - Chief Executive, NHS East of England
Dr Paul Cosford - Regional Director of Public Health, Department of Health/NHS East of England

More details and registration

reading the news about health

Following Ben Goldacre on twitter led me to read his blog account about how to read articles on health.

This led me to read more from Dr Alicia White from the Behind the Headlines team - a service which is "your guide to the science that makes the news" (more about Behind the Headlines)

Try this useful guide for reading health related articles in the daily media - who could resist an article that begins......
"If you’ve just read a health-related headline that’s caused you to spit out your morning coffee (“Coffee causes cancer” usually does the trick) it’s always best to follow the Blitz slogan: “Keep Calm and Carry On”."

Trumpet blowing

Stand by for some shameless self-promotion.......

I was nominated in Addenbrooke's "You make a difference" award scheme.

The awards "turn the spotlight onto the staff in the hospital who make a difference."

Thank you very much to whoever nominated me - I am really chuffed!!

Isla

Publishing Workshop

International publishing

With the aim to support young scientists in their academic career, a lecture on Scientific Publishing will be given on 19 October 2009 under the title: How to write a world class paper.

During the presentation, the audience will gain insights in the way publishers, editors and reviewers look at their manuscripts, which may help to better submit papers.

The lecture will cover those aspects, relevant when preparing and submitting a manuscript for a scientific journal e.g. originality, Hot Topics, format of the article, selection of the journal, language, building blocks, ethical and copyright issues.

Dr Riaz Agha, Managing and Executive Editor of International Journal of Surgery (and Junior Doctor here in Addenbrooke's!) will present the workshop and share his experiences with the audience and answer questions.

The meeting is relevant for young scientists of all subjects; however, the accent will be on publishing in Science, Technology and Medicine (STM).

How can you attend?
Owing to limited capacity we are running this session twice 10.30am and 2pm.
We ask that you register to attend. Please register from this page.
Booking will close on Monday 12th October.

PubMed - with links to NHS e-journals

Life just got a whole lot easier - well if you use Pubmed, that is!

You can now search Pubmed and find links to the e-journals which are available via your NHS ATHENS password!

• Go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?myncbishare=eoenhs and search as normal.
  
• You'll notice a new tab, marked "East of England" above your search results - this shows the number of full-text articles available in your search
  
• Click on any of the article titles to view the abstract, and you'll notice an "NHS East of England" logo at the bottom of the abstract.
  
• Click the logo to reach the article - remember you'll need to enter your NHS ATHENS password to view the full-text.

If you want a reminder of how to search Pubmed, go to http://library.medschl.cam.ac.uk/services-skills-guide.php - there are guides to Pubmed, Cochrane Library and NHS Databases available.

If you'd like some support to get the best from any of your searches, please just let contact Isla- always happy to help! library@medschl.cam.ac.uk / 01223 336750

Cambridge Entrepreneurs

Listen to the Cambridge Entrepreneurs as part of the BBC Radio 4's Global Business programme.

Cong Cong Bo, the chairman of Cambridge University Entrepreneurs, and Stage 2 Clinical Student, is interviewed, and presenter Peter Day "hears how academic attitudes to business have changed over the past few decades."

Time for a change - new library website is coming!

Later this week (Friday) we'll be moving over to our new website - http://library.medschl.cam.ac.uk/

Although there will be an auto-direct from the old page, please update your favourites/bookmarks.

The new site is available now to use - just getting the final touches. Why not take a look: http://library.medschl.cam.ac.uk

Map of Medicine

Follow hundreds of clinical care pathways via Map of Medicine which is available from NHS Choices. Each step is referenced and the transitions between primary and secondary care are shown.

Map of Medicine aims to provide "a visualisation of the ideal, evidence-based patient journey for common and important conditions - a sat nav overview that can be shared across all care settings."

More information about the Map is available at http://mapofmedicine.com/

Tomorrow's Doctors

The GMC's report "Tomorrow's Doctors" is available now:

The Times has something to say about it... "Medical students will be ordered out of the lecture theatre and into the wards, gaining more “hands-on” experience treating patients in hospitals and doctors’ surgeries".

The Medical Schools Council makes a statement about it: "a crucially important document for both Medical Schools and students"

And you can listen to a podcast by Professor Peter Rubin, Chair of the GMC and Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust who discuss the review and launch of Tomorrow’s Doctors (2009).

You can also read a transcript of the discussion from this link.

NHS Employers also comment on the implications of this document.

NHS e-journals - survey now closed

Many thanks to those who contributed to this survey of use of NHS e-journals.

The prize draw for this will take place shortly. Winners (from across the region) will be contacted shortly.

Thanks, and congratulations

The Journal Survey Prize Draw for the 3 Amazon vouchers took place on Friday, and I'm pleased to say that the lucky winners are:

• Dr Tobias Janowitz
• Dr Anne Kelly
• Dr Chris Sonnex

Contratulations to them, and thanks again to all those who contributed to our recent journal survey.

Patients role in healthcare

Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) have published the next strand in their Future Doctors Review.

Educating Tomorrows Doctors is available, as is Patients Role in Healthcare

Still to come are Role of the Regulator and Future Shape of the Health Service.

There's still time to comment on the Future Doctors Draft Policy Statement - last comments by 28th August 2009.

Medical Library journal survey now closed - August 18th at 5pm

Thank you very much for your participation - your comments will make help inform a very difficult decision.

We'll be making the prize draw shortly, and will contact the winners direct.

Don't forget - you've still got a few days before the NHS e-journals survey (http://tinyurl.com/onlinejournals) closes on 24th August.

Text Mining Hands-on course

Text Mining Hands-on course and Training Seminar - 5th-6th October 2009

The European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and the National Centre for Text Mining (University of Manchester) are organising a joint training event at the EBI (Hinxton, near Cambridge) The purpose of this event is to teach basic techniques in information retrieval (IR) and information extraction (IE) in the biomedical domain and to give hands-on training on existing solutions provided by the two centres.

Who should attend: Biomedical researchers, biocurators, bioinformaticians, medical informaticians and any other researcher active in biomedical research.

Registration: Until September 10th, 2009
Objectives

* Learn how to use existing text mining solutions
* Understand basic text mining techniques and get an overview of underlying technologies
* Appreciate the variety of text mining components and the contexts in which they are used individually and in combination
* Interact with text miners to express needs for future developments

Please go to http://www.nactem.ac.uk/hands-on-event.php for full details of course programme and how to register.

Another journal survey.....another chance to win!

At this time of year we must review our spending on journals.

Unfortunately, owing to the reduction in funding for the next academic year, the increased costs of electronic and print journals plus the £:$ exchange rate, the Medical Library must cancel some of its journals.

We have already been surveying usage of the paper holdings of the journals under consideration, but feel a wider consultation is necessary before we can make these tough decisions.

Please give us your views about which print journals you feel are essential.

http://tinyurl.com/medical-library-journals

We are working to a tight schedule - responses by 18th August 2009 please, but to oil the wheels, we're having a prize draw for £20 Amazon vouchers on 19th August: 3 chances to win!

Bank Holiday Monday

Monday 31st August 2009 - the Library will be open from 9.00am till 6.00pm

NHS e-journals - what do you think?

Here at the Library, we need to find out how people with NHS ATHENS logins use (or don’t use) the online journals we buy.

Please help by answering five short questions at http://tinyurl.com/onlinejournals

As an added sweetner, there's a prize draw for a £20 Amazon voucher on 24th August 2009 - 3 chances to win!

We'd really appreciate your comments - many thanks in advance.

BMJ: " Inappropriate referencing in research has serious consequences"

"Scientific progress is set back by faulty hypotheses and redundant research that is propagated by selective and erroneous citation practices. ^"

BMJ editorial on the consequences of inappropriate, inadequate and erroneous referencing of research articles, commenting on an article by Greenberg: "How citation distortions create unfounded authority: analysis of a citation network"

Fergusson D. Inappropriate referencing in research BMJ. 2009 Jul 20;339: 184-185
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/jul20_3/b2049

Greenberg S.A. How citation distortions create unfounded authority: analysis of a citation network. BMJ 2009 Jul 20; 339: b2680
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/jul20_3/b2680

Access both full text articles using your University RAVEN or NHS ATHENS login.

If you need help getting your references in order, to clarify the difference betweeen Harvard and Vancouver, or getting to grips with Endnote, contact the Library - we can help!

Inside the Ethics Committee

BBC Radio 4 has begun a new series of "Inside the Ethics Committee".
Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the ethical dilemmas facing patients and their medical teams across the country.

This week "should patients with a phobia of operations be forced to have surgery?"

Next week "Should a woman be given a kidney transplant when there is a high risk of failure?"

You can listen again at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lk1kv

Clinical Reader

http://clinicalreader.com/

Clinical Reader is a new medical RSS aggregator. The service has a simple and easy to understand interface which is showcases the great benefits of using RSS to gather medical information.

There are specialty-specific pages too, for example, Medical Students or Oncology,

Please bear in mind that linking to the full-text of any journal articles might not be straightforward - your NHS ATHENS password, and/or University RAVEN may not give access to the journals via the links in Clinical Reader. Rembember to checking availability via NHS MyJournals or University Newton.

But it's always good to keep up to date - if you would like any support in the use of RSS, or accessing e-journals etc, please get in touch.

update: 17th July - A lot has changed since I first posted about Clinical Reader on 8th July - mostly as a result of comments on blogs (for example) and via twitter (just search for clinicalreader once you've signed in). Hopefully Clinical Reader can regain some ground and become a valued resource.

Cochrane Reviews of Prevention and Treatment of Influenza

There are several Cochrane reviews of the evidence relevant to different aspects of the prevention and treatment of influenza.


Plenty more information, particularly on swine flu, is available from a previous blog post.


Plus, the Cochrane Library has just published Issue 3 of 2009 - see a list of the new reviews at www.thecochranelibrary.com

Self-Service Printing is GO!

We're pleased to be able to offer self-service printing in the library.

• buy printing credit from the reception desk (available in £10, £5, and £1 cards)
  
• send your pages to print - default setting is black & white duplex (double sided), but you can change this if you want
  
• collect your pages from the printer nearest to you

Leaflets with more information are available in the computer rooms, or from library staff - but please ask if we can help further.

MyNCBI in PubMed - new features

Do you have a MyNCBI account in PubMed?

(MyNCIB lets you save searches, set up regular alerts for new articles on your area of interest, and saves collections of useful articles)

You might be interested to know that there are new features which allow you to make your Collections public, so you can share them with colleagues easily.

More details are available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj09/mj09_pm_myncbi_collections.html or you can ask Isla for more details.

Printing and Photocopying - all change!

This summer will see a change in the Medical Library’s printing and photocopying services.

• self-service printing


• double-sided printing (with the environment in mind)


• better quality photocopying


• scanners which send images straight to email

Starting 6th July all printing will be self-service!

check posters in the library for more details

2008 Journal Impact Factors and H-index

The new Journal Impact Factors published by ISI Web of Knowledge are available now.

"Journal Citation Reports® offers a systematic, objective means to critically evaluate the world's leading journals, with quantifiable, statistical information based on citation data. By compiling articles' cited references, JCR helps to measure research influence and impact at the journal and category levels, and shows the relationship between citing and cited journals. "

• Go to http://wok.mimas.ac.uk(requires RAVEN login if not using University computer)
  
• click on "additional resources" tab
• open "journal citation reports"
• search for "specific journal" or browse by subject category

Find your "H-index" by using Web of Science
The h-index is based on a list of publications ranked in descending order by the Times Cited. The value of h is equal to the number of papers (N) in the list that have N or more citations.

• Go to http://wok.mimas.ac.uk(requires RAVEN login if not using University computer)
  
• click on "Web of Science" tab
• search for the authors name ( eg O'Brian C*)
• click on the "create citation report" option

If you need any help with citation reports, h-indexes, or any thing else to do with articles or literature searching, contact Isla.

NHS Evidence - have you tried it yet?

NHS Evidence was launched is April to replace the National Library for Health - giving access to :

• high quality evidence,


• databases for specialist searches (Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE etc) - requires NHS ATHENS


• e-journals and e-books - requires NHS ATHENS


• specialist collections (formerly specialist libraries) on 33 specific topics (eg diabetes, kidney disease, public health, later life and commissioning)

The search engine on the front page of NHS Evidence is particularly powerful - giving high quality results from specific, reliable sources.

The HSJ (Health Service Journal) has reviewed NHS Evidence - why don't you give it a try today?

For support in getting the best from NHS Evidence contact the Library to arrange a training session with Isla.

New e-Books available via NHS ATHENS

We are pleased to announce that the following new eBooks from Coutts MyiLibrary are now available from the NHS Evidence portal at: http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/

• Clinician's Guide to Think Good-Feel Good: Using CBT with children and young people. Wiley, 2005.


• Multidisciplinary Handbook of Child and Adolescent Mental Health for Front-line Professionals. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2009


• Clinical Interviewing. Wiley,2009.


• Chronic Pain: A Primary Care Guide to Practical Management. Humana Press, 2009.


• Medical Statistics from Scratch: An Introduction for Health Professionals. Wiley, 2008.
  
  or go to http://www.library.nhs.uk/booksandjournals/ebooks/ login with your NHS ATHENS password, and search /browse for the book you need.
  

"Medicine in the Age of Twitter"

" I blog, I tweet and I use Facebook. And as I recently told a medical colleague, social media has been an enormously useful tool in my work. “I can barely keep up with e-mail,” he snorted back. “I’m not about to open up that black box.” "

Which camp do you fall into? Read more of this article from the New York Times

The BMJ is also talking about it - how twitter can be used by medics to keep up to date, to keep patients updated , and novel approaches to using this microblogging tool, such as live updates to surgical operations.

Contact the library if you want to have a helping hand through some of the new Web 2.0 tools available - look for the training sessions on Keeping up to date: RSS, Blogs, Twitter etc (EE05) on the training calendar.
Or contact Isla, to arrange a session tailored to your needs.

Future of scientific publishing hangs in the balance

Anyone who has published, or intends to in the future, must surely be interested in the outcome of the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) v Singh case currently going to appeal in the House of Lords.

Read about the background to the case. Perhaps a refresher on English libel law might be useful?

Sense About Science - an independent charitable trust promoting good science and evidence in public debates campaigning on behalf of Simon Singh.

British Chiropractic Association's latest news contains statements on the case: http://www.chiropractic-uk.co.uk/News.aspx?m=5&mi=22&ms=0&title=Latest%20News

Book Sale

Another book sale is underway of withdrawn library stock. First come, first served - so hurry down while the sale lasts!

Arcadia Project Reports

Did you complete either the "M-Libraries: Information on the Move" or the IRIS (Induction, Research and Information Skills) " surveys earlier this year?

You may be interested to read their findings - both project reports are available online.

Arcadia@Cambridge: rethinking the role of the research library in a digital age

Bank Holiday Monday

On Bank Holiday Monday 25th May, the Library will be open from 9am till 6pm.

Sunday opening

The Library will be open on Sundays in the run up to the exams:
Open from 2pm till 6pm on the following Sundays:
10th, 17th, 24th, 31st May, and 7th and 14th June.

Best of luck to those with exams!

Swine flu - some useful links

http://www.le.ac.uk/library/clinical/influenza/index.html - Keith Nockles of University of Leciester Clinical Sciences Library gathers together information on Swine Flu, Avian and Pandemic Influenza.

http://blog.tripdatabase.com/2009/04/swine-influenza.html - Jon Brassey, of TRIP has gathered together these links.

http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/swineflu.html - from US National Library for Medicine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8024611.stm from BBC

http://www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&Page&HPAwebAutoListName/Page/1240732817665?p=1240732817665 Health Protection Agency

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/health/flu/ and finally, University of Cambridge advice.

All change... again!

You will probably not have noticed much difference yet, but the National Library for Health has changed.

After 10 years of operation, the National Library for Health moved, as of 1st April 2009, to NHS Evidence: "a web-based service that will help people find, access and use high-quality clinical and non-clinical evidence and best practice".

The big change will come on 3oth April 2009, when the NLH will change it's look and feel -NHS Evidence blue.... stand by.....

Best Treatments available via Guardian website

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/besttreatments

"Guardian readers can now access the BMJ Group's independent, high quality patient information on a wide range of health issues, from cancer, depression and back pain to every day ailments like the common cold and period pains.
Written in plain English, the British Medical Journal has detailed information about the causes and symptoms of your medical condition, and helps you understand how it might affect your life."
Includes A-Zs of Conditions and Operations & tests, and a browsable set of topics.

University and NHS electronic access is now available for these journals:-

"Transplantation"
"Plastic and reconstructive surgery"

- Available on University computers at http://sfx7.exlibrisgroup.com/cambridge/az

- Available from NHS computers using NHS Athens username and password at http://www.library.nhs.uk/booksandjournals/journals/Default.aspx

(For NHS Athens registration see http://www.medschl.cam.ac.uk/library/nhsathens.htm )

Holiday weekend

Easter

The Library will be closed for the Easter weekend (Friday 10th - Monday 13th April inclusive).

Services resume at 8am, Tuesday 14th April.

May Bank Holidays

On May Bank Holidays, the library will operate restricted hours: 9am - 6pm.
Bank Holidays: Mondays 4th and 25th May

Can we establish best practice for publishing raw clinical trial data?

An interesting post on the BioMed Central blog regarding what happens to the results of clinical trials.

So many new e-books!

We're please to be able to make available a new set of e-books from Springer - on trial till 31st August 2009.To browse the whole list, go to http://www.springerlink.com/books/ (31,010 titles!) but if you'd like to see a more focused selection here are all the ones about medicine and here's a bit more structure to the list:

• Medicine (1,642 titles)


• Medicine & Public Health (1,606 titles)


• Biomedical and Life Sciences (252 titles)


• Oncology (246 titles)


• Imaging / Radiology (221 titles)


• Internal Medicine (175 titles)


• Cardiology (139 titles)


• Neurology (115 titles)


• Surgery (84 titles)


• Pathology (63 titles)
  
  Access is available on-campus and off-campus with a Raven password.

Our other e-books can be found via a normal search of Newton, the library catalouge, but you can also search just the e-book collection at http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/ebooks.php

new perspective on critical appraisal

There's more than one way to skin a cat... or so the saying goes.

The same applies to CATs or critically appraised topics.

There's a new approach presented for critical appraisal by Young and Solomon in Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology which offers a variety of questions to pose to different types of research. (NB you may need to use your RAVEN password to gain access to the full text).

This builds on existing work by (amongst others) CASP (Critical Skills Appraisal Programme) and Trisha Greenhalgh's classic work "How To Read A Paper" available online at the BMJ and in the library (several copies of several editions!).

(no animals were harmed in the writing of this blog!)

Cambridge confirmed as global leader in health science

The strength of Cambridge as a globally-competitive centre for biomedical research, clinical education and healthcare innovation was confirmed today by the UK’s Department of Health.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced that Cambridge University Health Partners was amongst the five winners of the race to be designated an Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC). These centres, chosen from amongst the leading university medical centres in the country, have been identified as the groups most likely to be able to compete with equivalent organisations in America, Europe and the rest of the world in areas of biomedical excellence.

for more details go to:

• University of Cambridge announcement
• Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust / Addenbrooke's :
• Department of Health: NHS patients to benefit as top flight Academic Health Science Centres named

Guide to biostatistics

Thanks to TRIP creator Jon Brassey's Twitter feed, I discovered the following Guide to Biostatistics that explains "important epidemiologic concepts and common biostatistical terms to help clinicians translate medical research into everyday practice".

Produced by MedPage Today, I hope you find it useful.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Medpage-Guide-to-Biostatistics.pdf

Using information on the move

Survey: Using information on the move

A chance to win an Flip video camera, £30 in book vouchers or membership to the Arts Picturehouse worth £27.

I would like to invite you to take part in a survey intended to establish how the majority of Cambridge University students and staff access, or would like to access, information away from your desk or laptop. The survey questions are primarily about how you use your mobile phone, smartphone or PDA to look up, use or interact with information.

As mobile phone use has become increasingly common, more and more ways of using them to access or interact with information have developed. Newer models of mobile phones are more powerful than personal computers were a few years ago and often include much of the functionality of a pocket PC, such as a calendar, a camera, a notes function, and an internet browser.

All answers will be completely anonymous. If you choose to provide your email address to enter the prize draw, or if you wish to contribute further to the project, we will not associate it with your responses or retain it after the end of the project. The aggregated survey results, however, will be made publicly available and may be used to inform development of services for students and staff.

This research is being undertaken jointly at Cambridge University and The Open University as part of the Arcadia project. Staff and students at The Open University will be receiving the same survey. For more information about the project, please click on the link provided at the end of the survey.

To take the survey go to http://cli.gs/caminfosurvey.
It should take 10 to 15 minutes to complete it. The cut-off date for submissions is 19 March 2009.

Many thanks,
Keren Mills
Arcadia Project: Using information on the move
Email: km512@cam.ac.uk
Tel. 01223 768875