Continual Evolution: The Experience Over Three Semesters of a Librarian Embedded in an Online Evidence-Based Medicine Course for Physician Assistant Students

This column examines the experience, over three years, of a librarian embedded in an online Epidemiology and Evidence-based Medicine course, which is a requirement for students pursing a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Pace University. Student learning outcomes were determined, a video lecture was created, and student learning was assessed via a five-point test during year one. For years two and three, the course instructor asked the librarian to be responsible for two weeks of the course instruction and a total of 15 out of 100 possible points for the course. This gave the librarian flexibility to measure additional outcomes and gather more in-depth assessment data. The librarian then used the assessment data to target areas for improvement in the lessons and Blackboard tests. Revisions made by the librarian positively affected student achievement of learning outcomes, as measured by the assessment conducted the subsequent semester. Plans for further changes are also discussed

An Overlap Analysis of Occupational Therapy Electronic Journals Available in Full-Text Databases and Subscription Services

In order to convert occupational therapy journal subscriptions from print to electronic, a university library, in collaboration with its Occupational Therapy Program, compared full-text databases and journal subscription services. This comparison was designed to identify the best combination of databases and individual subscriptions for the highest number of electronic titles and the best years of coverage. Originally published in: Journal of Electronic Resource in Medical Libraries, 5(4), 346-361

Effectiveness of early intervention programs for parents of preterm infants: a meta-review of systematic reviews

Background: Various intervention programs exist for parents of preterm babies and some systematic reviews (SRs) have synthesised the evidence of their effectiveness. These reviews are, however, limited to specific interventions, components, or outcomes, and a comprehensive evidence base is lacking. The aim of this meta-review was to appraise and meta-synthesise the evidence from existing SRs to provide a comprehensive evidence base on the effectiveness of interventions for parents of preterm infants on parental and infant outcomes. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of the following databases to identify relevant SRs: Cochrane library, Web of science, EMBASE, CINAHL, British Nursing Index, PsycINFO, Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus, IBSS, DOAJ, ERIC, EPPI-Centre, PROSPERO, WHO Library. Additional searches were conducted using authors’ institutional libraries, Google Scholar, and the reference lists of identified reviews. Identified articles were screened in two stages against an inclusion criteria with titles and abstracts screened first followed by full-text screening. Selected SRs were appraised using the AMSTAR tool. Extracted data using a predesigned tool were synthesised narratively examining the direction of impact on outcomes. Results: We found 11 SRs eligible for inclusion that synthesised a total of 343 quantitative primary studies. The average quality of the SRs was ‘medium’. Thirty four interventions were reported across the SRs with considerable heterogeneity in the structural framework and the targeted outcomes that included maternal-infant dyadic, maternal/parental, and infant outcomes. Among all interventions, Kangaroo Care (KC) showed the most frequent positive impact across outcomes (n = 19) followed by Mother Infant Transaction Program (MITP) (n = 14). Other interventions with most consistent positive impact on infant outcomes were Modified-Mother Infant Transaction Program (M-MITP) (n = 6), Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP) (n = 5) and Creating Opportunities for Parent Empowerment (COPE) (n = 5). Overall, interventions with both home and facility based components showed the most frequent positive impact across outcomes. Conclusions: Neonatal care policy and planning for preterm babies should consider the implementation of interventions with most positive impact on outcomes. The heterogeneity in interventions and outcomes calls for the development and implementation of an integrated program for parents of preterm infants with a clearly defined global set of parental and infant outcomes

Advanced Database Searching for Health and Social Work

Library guide to searching healthcare databases; applying limits, thesaurus searching, saving searches

Accessing library web page usability: how benchmarking can help

This article looks at how the ‘Mystery Shopper’ methodology used by a consortium of universities was adapted to assess the usability of the library web pages of all four universities. Using a methodology refined from a previous web usability exercise, the various elements in the process are described. The outcomes of the project are briefly discussed, along with lessons learnt from the process

Assessing library web page usability: how benchmarking can help

This article looks at how the ‘Mystery Shopper’ methodology used by a consortium of universities was adapted to assess the usability of the library web pages of all four universities. Using a methodology refined from a previous web usability exercise, the various elements in the process are described. The outcomes of the project are briefly discussed, along with lessons learnt from the process

Psychological, social and welfare interventions for psychological health and well-being of torture survivors

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: Primary objective 1. To assess beneficial and adverse effects of psychological, social and welfare interventions versus no treatment for the reduction of psychological distress in torture survivors. Secondary objectives 2. To describe the quality and generalisability of the studies evaluating the effects of these treatment approaches on torture survivors, and specifically: • to provide an objective assessment of risk of bias in these studies; • to describe the specific populations evaluated in studies of torture survivors (including demographics, torture experiences and psychological status); • to describe the variety of interventions that have been evaluated in these populations; and • to describe the outcomes evaluated in these intervention studies