Potentials of social media for tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians : preliminary findings

Tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians, such as the sharing of clinical experiences, skills, or know-how, or know-whom, is known to have a significant impact on the quality of medical diagnosis and decisions. This paper posits that social media can provide new opportunities for tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians, and demonstrates this by presenting findings from a review of relevant literature and a survey conducted with physicians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten physicians from around the world who were active users of social media. Initial thematic analysis revealed eight themes as potential contributions of social web tools to facilitate tacit knowledge flow amongst physicians. The emergent themes are defined, linked to the literature, and supported by instances of interview transcripts. Findings presented here are preliminary, and final results will be reported after accomplishing all phases of data collection and analysis.<br /

Knowledge Commercialization in Iran University of Medical Sciences: Faculty Members' Viewpoints

Knowledge commercialization is one of the requirements of success in the modern economy. Universities and, accordingly, their faculty members play a crucial role in knowledge production and commercialization. The main purpose of the current study is to identify and review the factors influencing knowledge commercialization in the Iran University of Medical Sciences from the viewpoints of the faculty members. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted on 267 randomly selected faculty members of the Iran University of Medical Sciences in line with the purpose of the study. The face validity of the scale was evaluated by seeking the opinions of five Medical Library and Information Science faculty members. The reliability of the scale was also confirmed by achieving Cronbach’s alpha test coefficient equal to 0.86. The data analysis was done using the SPSS software, version 21, descriptive statistics, and the Friedman test. Managerial requirements (M=7.71, SD=±25.69) were revealed as the most influential factor in knowledge commercialization. The cultural requirements (M=6.56, SD=+-2.82) showed the least effect. Employing experienced professional staff, faculty members’ problem-solving skills and knowledge and their research morale, supporting and equipping the involved bodies, developing a purposive, precise, and professional system for project evaluations, public financial and intellectual support, the inclusion of knowledge commercialization in the state’s strategic planning, as well as the development of a research-centered and project-centered culture in the university, are among the most important components of knowledge commercialization. Furthermore, according to the Friedman test, the structural, managerial, legal, individual, cultural, and environmental factors seemingly significantly affect knowledge commercialization in the university. Paying attention to the requirements of knowledge management implementation, especially managerial requirements, is very important for successful knowledge commercialization in universities.https://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.20088302.2022.20.1.28.

Potentials of social media for tacit knowledge sharing among clinicians: Preliminary findings

Tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians, such as the sharing of clinical experiences, skills, or know-how, or know-whom, is known to have a significant impact on the quality of medical diagnosis and decisions. This paper posits that social media can provide new opportunities for tacit knowledge sharing amongst physicians, and demonstrates this by presenting findings from a review of relevant literature and a survey conducted with physicians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten physicians from around the world who were active users of social media. Initial thematic analysis revealed eight themes as potential contributions of social web tools to facilitate tacit knowledge flow amongst physicians. The emergent themes are defined, linked to the literature, and supported by instances of interview transcripts. Findings presented here are preliminary, and final results will be reported after accomplishing all phases of data collection and analysis

Assessing the Factors Affecting the Use Of Web 2.0 Tools in Selected Iran Medical University Libraries

Background: Capabilities offered by Web 2.0 tools have attracted many academic libraries. The present study aimed to identify factors affecting the use of Web 2.0 tools in selected Iran medical university libraries including Iran, Tehran, and Shahid Beheshti universities of medical sciences. Methods: The study was conducted through a survey distributed among librarians working in the libraries of Iran, Tehran, and Shahid Beheshti universities of medical sciences. The data was collected using a questionnaire which examined the factors affecting the use of Web 2.0 technologies in terms of three general categories: factors related to librarians, users, tools/technology, and organizations. In order to ensure the content validity, the opinions of 10 medical library and information science faculty members were used. Further, the reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by calculating the Cronbach\u27s alpha. Findings: The results of the study indicated that among the librarian-related factors, the greatest impact was related to the teaching Web 2.0 applications to the librarians with the average of 4.19. Considering user-related factors, the users’ need to use these tools had the greatest impact with an average of 4.4. Regarding the tools/technological-related factors, Internet speed, Internet bandwidth, and filtering some Web 2.0 tools, with an average of 4.62, had the most inhibitor effect to adopt these tools. Finally, the support of library managers was the most influential factor for adopting Web 2.0 tools in libraries in terms of organization-related factors. Conclusions: Identifying the factors influencing the adoption of Web 2.0 tools and planning to control the inhibitor factors in using these tools can help libraries to appropriately adopt and use these technologies

Evaluation of the Effect of Training on the Health Literacy, Self-Care, and HbA1c of Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes is a significant health problem. Improving health literacy helps control complications in people with type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the impact of training on health literacy, self-care, and HbA1c blood tests of people with type 2 diabetes. Methods: A semi-experimental study was conducted with a group before and after the intervention. Two hundred thirty-two patients from Tafihan Medical Center, Shiraz, Iran, were selected based on criteria. A clinical librarian conducted a three-month education. HELIA and SDSCA questionnaires measured health literacy, self-care, and HbA1c. Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon test analyzed the data. Results: Before the intervention, the health literacy of most of the participants was insufficient (46.1%). While after the intervention, the health literacy of most of the participants improved to an adequate level (52.2%). The HbA1c mean was 8.49±1.01 before and 6.88±1.42 after the  intervention. The self-care average was 47.5 before the intervention and 96.7 after the intervention. Before the intervention, the self-care level was 53.9% semi-optimal, and after the intervention, it was 79.3% optimal. Statistical tests on changes were significant. Improved health literacy enhances self-care and HbA1c in type 2 diabetes patients. Conclusion: Providers must assess health literacy and develop interventions to enhance the health of type 2 diabetic patients, as health literacy influences self-care and HbA1c control. Health literacy should be crucial to education and healthcare in order to improve outcomes

Using Social Media for Marketing Library Services in Libraries of Iran, Tehran, and Shahid Beheshti Medical Universities

Introduction: The use of social media for marketing library services of academic libraries is growing day&nbsp;by&nbsp;day. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of social media in marketing services of libraries of Iran, Tehran and Shahid-Beheshti universities of medical sciences. Methods: The study used a survey method. The questionnaire was used for data collection. The study population included all librarians working in the libraries of Iran, Tehran and Shahid-Beheshti universities of medical sciences with at least a bachelor's degree in librarianship. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used to analyze the data by Spss24 software. Results: The status of using social media for marketing library services in libraries of Iran, Tehran and Shahid-Beheshti universities of medical sciences, based on 4P marketing mix, was as follows: in price components (cost-benefit) with an average of 2.4, location (social media) with an average of 2.36, product (library services) with an average of 2.29, and promotion components with an average of 2.27. Their level of use in all four components was relatively unfavorable. Conclusion: Due to the unfavorable level of using social media for marketing library services in these universities, it is necessary to encourage more effective planning to hold retraining and in-service courses in the areas of marketing, social media tools and content production in these media to encourage medical Librarians to know and use these tools in library services

Prehospital Emergency Medical Services Challenges in Disaster; a Qualitative Study

Introduction: Prehospital Emergency Medical Care (EMC) is a critical service in disaster management. The aim of this study was to explore the challenges of prehospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) during disaster response in Iran.Methods: A qualitative study was conducted from April 2015 to March 2017. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 23 experienced individuals in the field of disaster that were selected using purposeful sampling. Data were analyzed using content analysis approach.Results: Fifteen sub-themes and the following six themes emerged in the analysis: challenges related to people, challenges related to infrastructure, challenges related to information management systems, challenges related to staff, challenges related to managerial issues and challenges related to medical care.Conclusions: Iran’s prehospital EMS has been chaotic in past disasters. Improvement of this process needs infrastructure reform, planning, staff training and public education.

Fostering interpersonal trust on social media: physicians’ perspectives and experiences

Background The problem of developing and sustaining mutual trust is one of the main barriers to knowledge sharing on social media platforms such as blogs, wikis, micro-blogs and social networking websites. While many studies argue that mutual trust is necessary for online communication and knowledge sharing, few have actually explored and demonstrated how physicians can establish and sustain trusted relationships on social media. Objectives To identify approaches through which physicians establish interpersonal trust on social media. Methods Twenty-four physicians, who were active users of social media, were interviewed using a semi-structured approach between 2013 and 2014. Snowball sampling was employed for participant recruitment. The data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Results Physicians trust their peers on social media in a slightly different way than in face-to-face communication. The study found that the majority of participants established trust on social media mainly through previous personal interaction, authenticity and relevancy of voice, professional standing, consistency of communication, peer recommendation, and non-anonymous and moderated sites. Conclusions Healthcare professionals need to approach social media carefully when using it for knowledge sharing, networking and developing trusted relations with like-minded peers

A Bibliometric Analysis in Web of Science Publications for Obtaining Global Research Trends and Hot Topics in Library and Information Science

This research aimed to specify research trends in Library and Information Science (LIS) from 2011 to 2020 and hot papers in this field from July 2020 to July 2021 in the Web of Science (WoS) database. This research was of the type applied, scientometric, and descriptive. The study population was all articles in the field of LIS from 2011 to July 2021. The WoS database was used to collect data. To determine the research trend in the field of LIS, the results were limited to 2011-2020, and to determine the hot papers, this period was limited to July 2020 to July 2021. The obtained data were analyzed using the word co-occurrence technique and social network analysis. UCINET, NetDraw, and VOSviewer software were used to draw scientific maps and identify central subjects and people. "Social media" with 259 and "qualitative" with 53 were the keywords with the highest and lowest frequencies, respectively. Library and emerging technologies (106), citation analysis, scientometrics and webometrics (58), electronic information, information security, and protection (56) were three significant topic clusters in the studied area. The results indicated that the research topics in LIS have changed and evolved in the last ten years despite new and up-to-date topics