Nutrition, Food Science, and Dietetics Faculty Have Information Needs Similar to Basic and Medical Sciences Faculty – Online Access to Electronic Journals, PubMed/Medline, and Google. A Review of: Shpilko, I. (2011). Assessing information-seeking patterns and needs of nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty. Library & Information Science Research, 33(2), 151-157.

<b>Objective</b> – To determine the information needs of nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty members by specifically examining how they locate and access information sources and which scholarly journals are consulted for teaching, research, and current awareness; and identifying any perceived information service needs (e.g., training).<br><b>Design</b> – Online survey questionnaire.<br><b>Setting</b> – Four senior colleges within the City University of New York (CUNY) system.<br><b>Subjects</b> – Nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty members.<br><b>Methods</b> – Using institutional websites and the assistance of relevant affiliated librarians, 29 full-time and adjunct nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty members were identified at Queens College, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and Lehman College (all part of the CUNY system). A survey was emailed in June and July 2007 and had 14 (48.4%) responses. The study was temporarily halted in late 2007. When resumed in January 2009, the survey was re-sent to the initial non-respondents; five additional responses were received for a final 65.5% (n=19) response rate.<br><b>Main Results</b> – The majority of respondents held a PhD in their field of study (63.1%), were full-time faculty (no percentage given), and female (89.5%). Information sources were ranked for usage by respondents, with scholarly journals unsurprisingly ranked highly (100%), followed by conference and seminar proceedings (78.9%), search engines (73.6%), government sources (68.4%), and information from professional organizations (68.4%). Respondents ranked the top ten journals they used for current awareness and for research and teaching purposes. Perhaps due to a lack of distinction by faculty in terms of what they use journals for, the two journal lists differ by only two titles.The majority browse e-journals (55.6%) rather than print, obtain access to e-journals through home or work computers (23.6%), and obtain access to print through personal collections (42.1%). Databases were cited as the most effective way to locate relevant information (63.1%); PubMed was the most heavily used database (73.7%), although Medline (via EBSCO), Science Direct, and Academic Search Premier were also used.Respondents were asked how they preferred to obtain online research skills (e.g., on their own, via a colleague, via a librarian, or in some other way). The linked data does not answer this question, however, and instead supplies figures on what types of sessions respondents had attended in the past (44.4% attended library instruction sessions, while others were self-taught, consulted colleagues, attended seminars, or obtained skills through their PhD research).<br><b>Conclusion</b> – Strong public interest in nutritional issues is a growing trend in the Western world. For those faculty members and scholars researching and teaching on nutrition and related areas, more work on their information needs is required. This study begins to address that gap and found that nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty share strong similarities with researchers in medicine and the other basic sciences with regard to information needs and behaviours. The focus is on electronic journals, PubMed/Medline, and online access to resources. Important insights include the fact that print journals are still in modest use, researchers use grey literature (e.g., government sources) and other non-traditional formats (e.g., conference proceedings and electronic mail lists) as information sources, and training sessions need to be offered in a variety of formats in order to address individual preferences

Information Needs of Public Health Staff in a Knowledge Translation Setting in Canada

Introduction: In response to emerging public health crises in the early 2000s, the Government of Canada recognized the need for a more coordinated public health approach and launched the six National Collaborating Centres for Public Health (NCCPH). The information needs and information-seeking behavior of public health professionals is a relatively understudied area. In this paper, the results of a survey of NCCPH staff is provided and discussed as a means to help fill this gap in the literature. Also examined is the use of information specialists to ascertain whether they are being used to their full potential. Methods: A combination of telephone interviews, a literature review, and a questionnaire distributed to relevant staff. Results: The results indicated some similarities with previous studies such as a reliance on journal articles and colleagues as information sources. It was also shown that staff is unaware of many information resources now available. Training was indicated as a potential area of skills-based growth, as most staff have received limited instruction on searching and information retrieval skills, and required competencies can change frequently as new services, tools, and databases are introduced. Discussion: There is a strong inclination from the staff surveyed to seek information on their own, without the use of an information specialist. However, respondents indicated they are challenged most in their information seeking by a lack of time and awareness of what resources are available, two knowledge areas for which an information specialist is uniquely qualified. Awareness must be raised of the specialized skills of information specialists and how they are able to assist in the information-seeking and retrieval process

More Academic Librarians in Arkansas with Faculty Status and Rights but Decreased Benefits and Increased Responsibility. A Review of: Vix, H. M., & Buckman, K. M. (2011). Academic librarians: Status, privileges, and rights. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(1), 20-25. doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2011.11.004

Objective – To provide cross-comparable information on the number of students per librarian, salary, faculty status, contract lengths, and maternity benefits of academic librarians.Design – Online questionnaire.Setting – Four-year private, four-year public, and two-year public academic institutions in Arkansas.Subjects – Academic library deans and directors were surveyed three times over a six year period.Methods – Three surveys were sent to library deans and directors of four-year private, four-year public, and two-year public academic institutions in Arkansas in 2007, 2009, and 2011. The surveys were created by the College and University Library Division of the Arkansas Library Association, with questions created based on reports from the Association of College and Research Libraries (e.g., Standards and Statements). Committee members tested the survey before distribution. Over the course of the six-year period the questions were modified and were chosen to ensure that respondents could easily answer them (i.e., no questions on topics such as retirements, vacation, which can vary significantly from librarian to librarian). All responses were confidential. Main Results – The 2007 survey had a 78% response rate (n=35/45); the 2009 survey had a 93% response rate (n=42/45); and the 2011 survey had a 90% response rate (n=44/49). While the survey covered a number of topics (shown in supplementary material online), the article focused on five areas of interests and had the following findings. 1) The number of students per librarian is increasing at four-year private and two-year public institutions. While the data shows a decrease in the ratio at four-year public institutions the authors believe this is due to the addition of new institutions in the follow-up surveys, one of which had a very low study-to-librarian ration. 2) Tenured librarians make more than non-tenured librarians. 3) The number of institutions granting faculty status is increasing at a statistically significant rate at four-year private and two-year public institutions, and has remained relatively constant at four-year public institutions. 4) Most libraries have 12-month contracts for librarians, although this has decreased slightly over the survey period. 5) The number of institutions providing paid maternity leave has decreased.Conclusion – This study provides a broad overview of the changing state of academic librarians’ rights and benefits in Arkansas over the last six years. Some of the trends demonstrated, such as an increase in the number of students per librarian, are potentially troubling and may have a negative impact on the quality of service provided by individual institutions. Other trends, such as increases in institutions granting faculty status to librarians and decreasing the number of 12-month contracts, may signal that some institutions are beginning to acknowledge the significance and impact of librarian research. Ultimately, this article provides a starting point for other states and provinces to begin collecting similar data in an attempt to understand changing trends in academic libraries

Librarian Involvement in Knowledge Synthesis at the University of Manitoba

Introduction: Librarians play a vital role in knowledge synthesis (KS) research from constructing the search strategies and completing the data collection. Depending on the level of support librarians may be given co-authorship, an acknowledgement, or an in-text mention. While building upon previous work that benchmarks KS output at an institution, this work specifically examines KS at [institution name] wherein our faculty are primary authors and if and how librarians were credited for their work. Methods: We undertook a content analysis of all KS published between 2017-2022 by University of Manitoba authors. We searched affiliation in PubMed and Scopus to retrieve 2,602 records. After screening, we had 696 records. From these records we determined the type of KS (e.g., rapid, scoping), the broad topic area (e.g., medicine, nursing, education) whether the primary authors were UM-affiliated, and the credited role of the librarian (if any). Results: We will calculate the type and number of KS completed during this period, the most popular disciplines, if the project used a librarian and if so, how the librarian was acknowledged. Results will be available in Spring 2023. DISCUSSION: The information gathered in this research will be turned into action in three ways: 1) Advocating to our administration and faculty on the importance of this work with accurate data on the true scope of KS research at our institution; 2) Identifying UM-affiliated authors who are doing KS research without the support of librarians and who may be amendable to outreach 3) Quantifying the level of credit librarians are getting for their KS work

BZRA Recommendations from Guidelines and Guidance Documents: Scoping Review

Project is focused on determining the extent of overlap or inconsistency between various guidelines and gray literature guidance documents on benzodiazepine and Z-Drug prescribing for anxiety and insomnia issues

Considering Sex and Gender in Therapeutics throughout the Product Life Cycle: A Narrative Review and Case Study of Gilteritinib

Background: Biological sex–related factors influence pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and disease processes that may affect the predictability of drug dosing and adverse effects, which may in turn have clinical consequences for patients’ lives. Nonetheless, sex-related factors are not always taken into account in clinical trial design or clinical decision-making, for multiple reasons, including a paucity of studies that clearly and objectively study and measure sex-disaggregated and sex-related outcomes, as well as gaps in regulatory and policy structures for integrating these considerations. Objectives: To complete a narrative review and use a case study to understand available evidence, inform future research, and provide policy considerations that incorporate information on sex- and gender-related factors into clinician-facing resources. Methods: A comprehensive review of available literature was conducted using a sex- and gender-based analysis plus (SGBA Plus) approach to identify sex- and/or gender-disaggregated information for gilteritinib, a chemotherapeutic agent. Systematic searches were performed in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CENTRAL (Wiley), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (Ovid), Scopus, and ClinicalTrials.gov, from inception to March 18, 2021. The information was then summarized and compared with the Canadian product monograph for this drug. Results: Of 311 records screened, 3 provided SGBA Plus information as a component of outcomes, rather than just as categories or demographic characteristics. Of these, 2 were case studies, and 1 was a clinical trial. No studies from the ClinicalTrials.gov database that were in progress at the time of this review provided details about sex-disaggregated outcomes. The Canadian product monograph did not include sex-disaggregated outcome data. Conclusions: The available evidence from clinical trials, other published literature, and guidance documents does not provide details about sex-disaggregated outcomes for gilteritinib. This paucity of available evidence may create a challenge for clinicians who are making decisions about the efficacy and safety of prescribed therapies in sex-specific populations that have not been well studied. RÉSUMÉ Contexte : Les facteurs liés au sexe biologique influencent les processus pharmacocinétiques, pharmacodynamiques et pathologiques, qui peuvent avoir une incidence sur la prévisibilité du dosage des médicaments et des effets indésirables. Ceci peut à son tour avoir des conséquences cliniques sur la vie des patients. Néanmoins, les facteurs liés au sexe ne sont pas toujours pris en compte dans la conception des essais cliniques ou la prise de décision clinique, et cela pour de nombreuses raisons – notamment le manque d’études qui examinent et mesurent clairement et objectivement les résultats ventilés par sexe et liés au sexe ainsi que les lacunes dans les réglementations et structures politiques pour intégrer ces considérations. Objectifs : Mener un examen narratif et utiliser une étude de cas pour comprendre les preuves disponibles, éclairer les recherches futures et fournir des considérations politiques qui intègrent des informations sur les facteurs liés au sexe et au genre dans les ressources destinées aux cliniciens. Méthodes : Une revue complète de la littérature disponible a été réalisée à l’aide d’une analyse comparative fondée sur le sexe et le genre Plus (ACSG Plus) pour identifier les informations ventilées par sexe et/ou par genre pour le giltéritinib, un agent chimiothérapeutique. Des recherches systématiques ont été effectuées dans MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CENTRAL (Wiley), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (Ovid), Scopus et ClinicalTrials.gov, depuis la création de chaque base de données jusqu’au 18 mars 2021. Ces informations ont ensuite été résumées et comparées avec la monographie canadienne de produit pharmaceutique pour ce médicament. Résultats : Sur les 311 documents examinés, 3 ont fourni des informations ACSG Plus en tant que composante des résultats, plutôt que simplement en tant que catégories ou caractéristiques démographiques. Parmi ceux-ci, 2 étaient des études de cas et 1 était un essai clinique. Aucune étude de la base de données ClinicalTrials.gov en cours au moment de cette revue n’a fourni de détails sur les résultats ventilés par sexe. La monographie de produit canadienne ne comprenait pas de données sur les résultats ventilées par sexe. Conclusions : Les preuves disponibles issues d’essais cliniques, d’autres publications et de documents d’orientation ne fournissent pas de détails sur les résultats ventilés par sexe pour le giltéritinib. Ce manque d’éléments probants disponibles peut constituer un défi pour les cliniciens qui prennent des décisions sur l’efficacité et l’innocuité des thérapies prescrites chez des populations sexospécifiques qui n’ont pas été bien étudiées