Big Idea for a Big Challenge: Influencing Reproducibility on an Institutional Scale

To describe and evaluate the use of a library-sponsored national conference to influence institutional culture around reproducibility through awareness building

Impact of COVID-19 on academic health sciences library programs and Services.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the programs and services provided by Academic Health Sciences Libraries and to identify best practices for responding to future events. METHODS: This multi-site qualitative study captured the evolution of Academic Health Sciences Libraries during the pandemic. Surveys were administered in May 2020, August 2020, and February 2021 to gather data on the current state of library programs and services using a phenomenological approach. RESULTS: May 2020 and August 2020 data illustrate the transition of libraries during the early stages of the pandemic. In May 2020, library leaders were energized as they focused on the transition to remote services and well-being of staff. By August 2020, library leaders seemed exhausted, maintaining much of their focus on internal communication and well-being, but also working through the challenges of budget reductions and planning for reopening spaces

Evaluation of a new method for librarian-mediated literature searches for systematic reviews

Objective: To evaluate and validate the time of completion and results of a new method of searching for systematic reviews, the exhaustive search method (ESM), using a pragmatic comparison. Methods: Single-line search strategies were prepared in a text document. Term completeness was ensured with a novel optimization technique. Macros in MS Word converted the syntaxes between databases and interfaces almost automatically. We compared search characteristics, such as number of search terms and databases, and outcomes, such as number of included and retrieved references and precision, from ESM searches and other Dutch academic hospitals identified by searching PubMed for systematic reviews published between 2014 and 2016. We compared time to perform the ESM with a secondary comparator of recorded search times from published literature and contact with authors to acquire unpublished data. Results: We identified 73 published Erasmus MC systematic reviews and 258 published by other Dutch academic hospitals meeting our criteria. We pooled search time data from 204 other systematic reviews. The ESM searches differed by using 2 times more databases, retrieving 44% more references, including 20% more studies in the final systematic review, but the time needed for the search was 8% of that of the control group. Similarities between methods include precision and the number of search terms. Conclusions: The evaluated similarities and differences suggest that the ESM is a highly efficient way to locate more references meeting the specified selection criteria in systematic reviews than traditional search methods. Further prospective research is required

Impact of Covid-19 on Academic Health Sciences Library Programs and Services: Lessons Learned

Our research team conducted longitudinal surveys of academic health sciences library leaders to record the impact of COVID-19 on their library programs and services over time: April 2020, August 2020, and February 2021. Our multi-modal analysis highlights lessons learned in the context of new service models, new opportunities, skills needed, wellness as an integral necessity, and policy considerations for libraries. Overwhelmingly, libraries were successful in providing many services remotely and will continue in some variation thereof. Libraries also experimented with new configurations of space, staffing models, and reduced hours. New opportunities abounded to demonstrate the expertise of our profession: educational expertise and course development to support medical education; collaboration with institutional and external partners for COVID-19 information gathering, analysis, and dissemination; remote learning support; and library space upgrades or space utilization by external groups for COVID-19 support. Flexibility, agility, adaptability, and resiliency were repeatedly mentioned as skills needed to both support one another and to provide continuity of services. The needs related to wellness morphed over time, as many libraries were initially in “support” mode for their staff and navigating ways to connect with one another, both personally and professionally; later on, wellness concerns underscored anxiety over returning to work. Additionally, some libraries consciously began discussions regarding equity, both around acknowledging financial disparities among staff, and the inequity in current library staffing structures. As libraries moved out of acute crisis mode, many recognized the need for better policies around topics such as remote work, technology needs, and disaster preparedness.Part of the FNLM Virtual Workshop Post-Pandemic Libraries: The Upcoming Era of Change, online. Friends of the National Library of Medicine Educational Program 2022, online. 3/17/2022. https://vimeo.com/689692077/899104f66

If you feed them, they will come: A prospective study of the effects of complimentary food on attendance and physician attitudes at medical grand rounds at an academic medical center

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence suggests that attendance at medical grand rounds at academic medical centers is waning. The present study examined whether attendance at medical grand rounds increased after providing complimentary food to attendees and also assessed attendee attitudes about complimentary food.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this prospective, before-and-after study, attendance at medical grand rounds was monitored from September 25, 2002, to June 2, 2004, using head counts. With unrestricted industry (eg, pharmaceutical) financial support, complimentary food was provided to medical grand rounds attendees beginning June 4, 2003. Attendance was compared during the pre-complimentary food and complimentary food periods. Attitudes about the complimentary food were assessed with use of a survey administered to attendees at the conclusion of the study period.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean (± SD) overall attendance by head counts increased 38.4% from 184.1 ± 90.4 during the pre-complimentary food period to 254.8 ± 60.5 during the complimentary food period (<it>P </it>< .001). At the end of the study period, 70.1% of the attendee survey respondents indicated that they were more likely to attend grand rounds because of complimentary food, 53.6% indicated that their attendance increased as a result of complimentary food, and 53.1% indicated that their attendance would decrease if complimentary food was no longer provided. Notably, 80.3% indicated that food was not a distraction, and 81.7% disagreed that industry representatives had influence over medical grand rounds because of their financial support for the food.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Providing free food may be an effective strategy for increasing attendance at medical grand rounds.</p

A systematic approach to searching: an efficient and complete method to develop literature searches

Creating search strategies for systematic reviews, finding the best balance between sensitivity and specificity, and translating search strategies between databases is challenging. Several methods describe standards for systematic search strategies, but a consistent approach for creating an exhaustive search strategy has not yet been fully described in enough detail to be fully replicable. The authors have established a method that describes step by step the process of developing a systematic search strategy as needed in the systematic review. This method describes how single-line search strategies can be prepared in a text document by typing search syntax (such as field codes, parentheses, and Boolean operators) before copying and pasting search terms (keywords and free-text synonyms) that are found in the thesaurus. To help ensure term completeness, we developed a novel optimization technique that is mainly based on comparing the results retrieved by thesaurus terms with those retrieved by the free-text search words to identify potentially relevant candidate search terms. Macros in Microsoft Word have been developed to convert syntaxes between databases and interfaces almost automatically. This method helps information specialists in developing librarian-mediated searches for systematic reviews as well as medical and health care practitioners who are searching for evidence to answer clinical questions. The described method can be used to create complex and comprehensive search strategies for different databases and interfaces, such as those that are needed when searching for relevant references for systematic reviews, and will assist both information specialists and practitioners when they are searching the biomedical literature