The impact of COVID-19 on reference services: a national survey of academic health sciences librarians

Objectives:The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the scope and adaptive nature of reference services provided by academic health sciences librarians over a one-year period (between March 2020 and March 2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods:In March 2021, academic health sciences librarians in the United States were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey about their experiences providing reference services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was developed, pretested, and distributed to various listservs.Results:A total of 205 academic health sciences librarians and other information professionals with health sciences liaison responsibilities in the US (N=205) responded to the online survey. The scope of reference services provided during the COVID-19 pandemic included email-based reference services (97%), virtual reference (89%), telephone (80%), text-based (33%), and in-person (31%). The most common types of COVID-related reference questions included COVID-19 treatments (53%), safety precautions (46%), vaccines (41%), and prevalence (38%). Additionally, the identification of challenging reference questions and examples of misinformation were provided by respondents.Conclusions:The results of the survey characterize the evolving nature and scope of academic health sciences reference work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Librarians reported an increase in reference questions during the pandemic and are answering them in creative ways despite barriers (e.g., limited time and reduction in resources). There is an opportunity for librarians to continue to address COVID-related misinformation. Overall, these findings provide useful insight for library practitioners and administrators planning reference services during public health crises.     

Sharing of retracted COVID-19 articles: an altmetric study

Objective:This study examines the extent to which retracted articles pertaining to COVID-19 have been shared via social and mass media based on altmetric scores.Methods:Seventy-one retracted articles related to COVID-19 were identified from relevant databases, of which thirty-nine had an Altmetric Attention Score obtained using the Altmetrics Bookmarklet. Data extracted from the articles include overall attention score and demographics of sharers (e.g., geographic location, professional affiliation).Results:Retracted articles related to COVID-19 were shared tens of thousands of times to an audience of potentially hundreds of millions of readers and followers. Twitter was the largest medium for sharing these articles, and the United States was the country with the most sharers. While general members of the public were the largest proportion of sharers, researchers and professionals were not immune to sharing these articles on social media and on websites, blogs, or news media.Conclusions:These findings have potential implications for better understanding the spread of misleading or false information perpetuated in retracted scholarly publications. They emphasize the importance of quality peer review and research ethics among journals and responsibility among individuals who wish to share research findings.     

Funding,Time, and Mentoring: A Study of Research and Publication Support Practices of ARL Member Libraries

ABSTRACT

This study is an exploration of how Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions encourage and support their librarians engaged in research and publication. Using an online survey sent to members of the ARL library directors’ listserv, the authors gathered information about the role of research and publication in the respondents’ evaluation systems, the approaches used to support this activity, the respondents’ own records of research and publication, and their opinions about which approaches have the most impact. The results indicate that funding, time, and mentoring are the most frequently used approaches to promote research and publication productivity.     

COVID-19 Evidence Reviews website: a VA effort to catalog and curate COVID-19 evidence reviews

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a wave of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 research that organizations around the world have been synthesizing in evidence reviews to provide high-quality evidence to support policymakers and clinicians. The urgency of these efforts opens these organizations to the risk of duplicated efforts, which could waste valuable time and resources.Case Presentation:The VA Evidence Synthesis Program (VA ESP) formed a COVID Response Team that launched an online catalog of COVID-19 evidence reviews in March 2020 (https://www.covid19reviews.org/). The goal of this website is to capture the work of evidence synthesis groups in the US and around the world to maximize their collective contributions to patients, frontline clinicians, researchers, and policymakers during the COVID-19 pandemic and avoid duplicating efforts.Conclusions:This ongoing and evolving project provides a helpful catalog of evidence reviews at various stages of production; in addition, the website provides further value with informational icons, review collections, and links to similar resources. The VA ESP will maintain this website to continue to support the needs of policymakers, clinicians, and researchers both within the VA and around the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Visual topical analysis of Chinese and American Library and Information Science research institutions

Research institutions play an important role in scientific research and technical innovation. The topical analysis of research institutions in different countries can facilitate mutual learning and promote potential collaboration. In this study, we illustrate how an unsupervised artificial neural network technique Self-Organizing Map (SOM) can be used to visually analyze the research fields of research institutions. A novel SOM display named Compound Component Plane (CCP) was presented and applied to determine the institutions which made significant contributions to the salient research fields. Eighty-seven Chinese and American LIS institutions and the technical LIS fields were taken as examples. Potential international and domestic collaborators were identified based upon their research similarities. An approach of dividing research institutions into clusters was proposed based on their geometric distances in the SOM display, the U-matrix values and the most salient research topics they involved. The concepts of swarm institutions, pivots and landmarks were also defined and their instances were identified.     

Applying LDA Topic Modeling in Communication Research: Toward a Valid and Reliable Methodology

ABSTRACT

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic models are increasingly being used in communication research. Yet, questions regarding reliability and validity of the approach have received little attention thus far. In applying LDA to textual data, researchers need to tackle at least four major challenges that affect these criteria: (a) appropriate pre-processing of the text collection; (b) adequate selection of model parameters, including the number of topics to be generated; (c) evaluation of the model’s reliability; and (d) the process of validly interpreting the resulting topics. We review the research literature dealing with these questions and propose a methodology that approaches these challenges. Our overall goal is to make LDA topic modeling more accessible to communication researchers and to ensure compliance with disciplinary standards. Consequently, we develop a brief hands-on user guide for applying LDA topic modeling. We demonstrate the value of our approach with empirical data from an ongoing research project.     

A health literacy analysis of the consumer-oriented COVID-19 information produced by ten state health departments

Objective:The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the public''s need for quality health information that is understandable. This study aimed to identify (1) the extent to which COVID-19 messaging by state public health departments is understandable, actionable, and clear; (2) whether materials produced by public health departments are easily readable; (3) relationships between material type and understandability, actionability, clarity, and reading grade level; and (4) potential strategies to improve public health messaging around COVID-19.Methods:Based on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics from June 30, 2020, we identified the ten states with the most COVID-19 cases and selected forty-two materials (i.e., webpages, infographics, and videos) related to COVID-19 prevention according to predefined eligibility criteria. We applied three validated health literacy tools (i.e., Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool, CDC Clear Communication Index, and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level) to assess material understandability, actionability, clarity, and readability. We also analyzed correlations between scores on the three health literacy tools and material types.Results:Overall, COVID-19 materials had high understandability and actionability but could be improved in terms of clarity and readability. Material type was significantly correlated with understandability, actionability, and clarity. Infographics and videos received higher scores on all tools.Conclusions:Based on our findings, we recommend public health entities apply a combination of these tools when developing health information materials to improve their understandability, actionability, and clarity. We also recommend using infographics and videos when possible, taking a human-centered approach to information design, and providing multiple modes and platforms for information delivery.     

Online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, students have trouble coping with the available health information regarding the coronavirus in their daily lives because of misinformation.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to evaluate online health information seeking and digital health literacy among information and learning resources undergraduate students at Taibah University during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsTo investigate the primary goal, this study used a simultaneous exploratory mixed methods design. Seventeen students participated in phone interviews, and 306 were invited to complete an online survey.AnalysisThe collected data was analyzed using both quantitative (SPSS) and qualitative (NVivo 10) methods.ResultsSearch engines, social media, and YouTube were most often used by the respondents as sources to search for COVID-19-related information. COVID-19 symptoms, restrictions, and the current spread of COVID-19 were the most searched topics by the respondents. Significant and relevant differences emerged for the digital health literacy subscales “information search” and “adding self-generated content”. However, there were no significant differences in the digital health literacy subscale “determining relevance”.ConclusionUsing the internet to provide health information tailored to the needs and interests of students to seek health information online and thereby improve their health literacy.     

Topics in dynamic research communities: An exploratory study for the field of information retrieval

Research topics and research communities are not disconnected from each other: communities and topics are interwoven and co-evolving. Yet, scientometric evaluations of topics and communities have been conducted independently and synchronically, with researchers often relying on homogeneous unit of analysis, such as authors, journals, institutions, or topics. Therefore, new methods are warranted that examine the dynamic relationship between topics and communities. This paper examines how research topics are mixed and matched in evolving research communities by using a hybrid approach which integrates both topic identification and community detection techniques. Using a data set on information retrieval (IR) publications, two layers of enriched information are constructed and contrasted: one is the communities detected through the topology of coauthorship network and the other is the topics of the communities detected through the topic model. We find evidence to support the assumption that IR communities and topics are interwoven and co-evolving, and topics can be used to understand the dynamics of community structures. We recommend the use of the hybrid approach to study the dynamic interactions of topics and communities.     

新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情期间专题信息服务工作及引发的思考

介绍新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情防控期间中华医学会杂志社开展的专题信息服务工作,包括开放阅读专业学术期刊、搭建学术交流平台、开展新型冠状病毒肺炎相关研究的优先数字出版、推出人文内容、制作学术专辑等。结合国内外学术出版机构或信息平台的新型冠状病毒肺炎专题信息发布工作,讨论了专题信息服务及学术出版在出版效率、数据可视化、智慧出版、研究和伦理规范、科研评价、社会责任等方面的现状及存在的问题,进行了相关思考,提出了解决的路径。     

Managing Remote Projects Effectively with an Action Dashboard

Abstract

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the College’s library, learning center, & archives and the office of institutional research & training (OIRT), along with all departments of our college, shifted to working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we continue to work from home, in this column we share with you a follow-up to our previous column, specifically what worked and didn’t work in regards to the techniques and tools we continue to use to manage our staff remotely with communication tools (Slack, Zoom Calls, FlipGrid) and a project management tool (Notion) during the early stages of the pandemic. We added a new technique to the mix since our last publication—an Action Dashboard in Notion, and describe how we built it, and our plans for next steps using Notion as a comprehensive project management tool moving forward.     

Announcement Information Provided by United States’ Public Libraries during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

This study synthesizes timely information about the COVID-19 virus and examines how public libraries have responded to the pandemic in real-time through their online announcements to the public. A content analysis of library announcements relating to the COVID-19 pandemic posted during the period of March 14–April 12, 2020, was performed. Over 90 percent of libraries announced a closure due to the pandemic and 98 percent libraries indicated programs were suspended. Over half of libraries posted about COVID-19 and general hygiene practices. Many announcements changed in terms of content from March 14 to April 12, demonstrating the rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic. This study suggests that libraries can and do play an important role in providing reliable information about pandemics like COVID-19 for patrons.     

Research dynamics: Measuring the continuity and popularity of research topics

Dynamic development is an intrinsic characteristic of research topics. To study this, this paper proposes two sets of topic attributes to examine topic dynamic characteristics: topic continuity and topic popularity. Topic continuity comprises six attributes: steady, concentrating, diluting, sporadic, transforming, and emerging topics; topic popularity comprises three attributes: rising, declining, and fluctuating topics. These attributes are applied to a data set on library and information science publications during the past 11 years (2001–2011). Results show that topics on “web information retrieval”, “citation and bibliometrics”, “system and technology”, and “health science” have the highest average popularity; topics on “h-index”, “online communities”, “data preservation”, “social media”, and “web analysis” are increasingly becoming popular in library and information science.     

面对重大突发公共卫生事件科技期刊如何履责担当——以金属加工杂志社新冠肺炎疫情报道为例

介绍在新冠肺炎疫情期间,金属加工杂志社快速反应、快速决策,以高度的社会责任感和使命感,策划抗疫专题,组织在线讲堂,统一规划部署,充分发挥全媒体平台特别是强大的数字媒体平台优势,主动向制造业企业、专家和作者约稿,利用网站、微信、微博、今日头条等数字媒体平台发布专题,并对在线讲堂进行宣传推广,以实际行动践行科技期刊在重大突发公共卫生事件中的社会责任、发挥引领作用。     

The Availability of Faculty Publication Databases from Library Web Pages

Abstract

Faculty publication databases or author bibliographies offer libraries an opportunity to provide services to users. Initially, these databases remained initiatives of special libraries in the health-sciences fields. Librarians used the publication information derived from these databases to compile lists for annual reports. However, the advent of new technologies, especially the Web, prompted numerous libraries to develop faculty publication databases for their institutions. The author conducted a survey of various listservs to discover the history and development of these databases. The results illustrate the popularity of Web-based faculty publication databases. The motivation for their creation varied, but most respondents emphasized the desire to highlight the research activities of their institutions. In addition, the content of materials included in the databases and the definition of faculty also varied, depending on the type of library. Librarians reported a wide range of software employed in the development of these databases highlighting their creation by librarians with various levels of programming skills. Moreover, additional features included in these projects underscore the potential for librarians to provide added value from this service. Finally, while institutional repositories seemingly present similar content, publication databases differ in their focus on a citation format that offers a solution to items without copyright permission for full-text accessibility.     

Using Barbie Stories To Develop An Understanding of Polysemy and Encoding/Decoding

Courses: Media Studies, Gender and Communication, Communication Research Methodologies

Objectives: Students will develop a complex understanding of the critical/cultural media studies concepts of “polysemy” and “encoding/decoding” used in audience research and apply their knowledge of these theories in writing.     

When Data Curation Isn't: A Redefinition for Liberal Arts Universities

ABSTRACT. Data curation is one way that libraries are extending traditional services to meet the changing needs of patrons. Requirements from research funders have placed increased pressure on grant recipients to create Data Management Plans and to securely store raw data. Research universities have stepped up to provide comprehensive data support services. Despite discrepancies in funding and staff, smaller institutions can similarly provide robust services by focusing on their strengths, such as interdepartmental collaboration, flexibility, and rapid turnaround time. This article details how librarians at Trinity University adapted the larger practice of curation to meet local data management needs.     

Health informatics publication trends in Saudi Arabia: a bibliometric analysis over the last twenty-four years

Objective:Understanding health informatics (HI) publication trends in Saudi Arabia may serve as a framework for future research efforts and contribute toward meeting national “e-Health” goals. The authors’ intention was to understand the state of the HI field in Saudi Arabia by exploring publication trends and their alignment with national goals.Methods:A scoping review was performed to identify HI publications from Saudi Arabia in PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. We analyzed publication trends based on topics, keywords, and how they align with the Ministry of Health''s (MOH''s) “digital health journey” framework.Results:The total number of publications included was 242. We found 1 (0.4%) publication in 1995–1999, 11 (4.5%) publications in 2000–2009, and 230 (95.0%) publications in 2010–2019. We categorized publications into 3 main HI fields and 4 subfields: 73.1% (n=177) of publications were in clinical informatics (85.1%, n=151 medical informatics; 5.6%, n=10 pharmacy informatics; 6.8%, n=12 nursing informatics; 2.3%, n=4 dental informatics); 22.3% (n=54) were in consumer health informatics; and 4.5% (n=11) were in public health informatics. The most common keyword was “medical informatics” (21.5%, n=52). MOH framework–based analysis showed that most publications were categorized as “digitally enabled care” and “digital health foundations.”Conclusions:The years of 2000–2009 may be seen as an infancy stage of the HI field in Saudi Arabia. Exploring how the Saudi Arabian MOH''s e-Health initiatives may influence research is valuable for advancing the field. Data exchange and interoperability, artificial intelligence, and intelligent health enterprises might be future research directions in Saudi Arabia.