The information needs and behaviour of clinical researchers: a user-needs analysis

AIMS: As part of the strategy to set up a new information service, including a physical Resource Centre, the analysis of information needs of clinical research professionals involved with clinical research and development in the UK and Europe was required. It also aimed to identify differences in requirements between the various roles of professionals and establish what information resources are currently used. METHODS: A user-needs survey online of the members of The Institute. Group discussions with specialist subcommittees of members. RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety members responded to the online survey of 20 questions. This makes it a response rate of 7.9%. Members expressed a lack of information in their particular professional area, and lack the skills to retrieve and appraise information. DISCUSSION: The results of the survey are discussed in more detail, giving indications of what the information service should collect, what types of materials should be provided to members and what services should be on offer. RECOMMENDATION: These were developed from the results of the needs analysis and submitted to management for approval. Issues of concern, such as financial constraint and staff constraints are also discussed. CONCLUSIONS: There is an opportunity to build a unique collection of clinical research material, which will promote The Institute not only to members, but also to the wider health sector. Members stated that the most physical medical libraries don't provide what they need, but the main finding through the survey and discussions is that it's pointless to set up 'yet another medical library'.     

Architecture and evaluation of BRUJA, a multilingual question answering system

Given a user question, the goal of a Question Answering (QA) system is to retrieve answers rather than full documents or even best-matching passages, as most Information Retrieval systems currently do. In this paper, we present BRUJA, a QA system for the management of multilingual collections. BRUJ rkstions (English, Spanish and French). The BRUJA architecture is not formed with three monolingual QA systems but instead uses English as Interlingua to make usual QA tasks such as question classifications and answer extractions. In addition, BRUJA uses Cross Language Information Retrieval (CLIR) techniques to retrieve relevant documents from a multilingual collection. On the one hand, we have more documents to find answers from but on the other hand, we are introducing noise into the system because of translations to the Interlingua (English) and the CLIR module. The question is whether the difficulty of managing three languages is worth it or whether a monolingual QA system delivers better results. We report on in-depth experimentation and demonstrate that our multilingual QA system gets better results than its monolingual counterpart whenever it uses good translation resources and, especially, CLIR techniques that are state-of-the-art.     

Assessing knowledge skills in the NHS: a training needs analysis approach

This feature discusses the use of a training needs analysis exercise carried out by library staff at the NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHSGGC) Library Network to support the development of a fit for purpose programme of information skills training. A survey was designed based on a well‐known information skills competency framework and used to gain an understanding of the knowledge skills needed by staff and how library training could best support these. The survey received a good response rate and led to the successful writing of a training plan for the Library Network for the delivery of information skills training. H.S.     

Towards better information services: A framework for immigrant information needs and library services

Immigrants are among the populations in modern society that libraries are striving to serve. This study aims to develop a framework on immigrants, their information needs, and library services. Using a systematic literature review based on the grounded theory approach, 28 related articles were reviewed to identify the causes, characteristics, and the content of the information needs of immigrants. Also explored were the possible sources to satisfy these information needs and the barriers to accessing needed information. Findings indicate that personal social networks, the Internet, media sources, and institutions are the main information sources for immigrants; language, cultural differences, the digital divide, unfamiliar information systems, and psychological factors are the five major challenges for immigrants obtaining information. Based on the findings, a unified framework about immigrants, their information needs, sources to satisfy those needs, and library information services is, therefore, proposed. This framework may provide guidance for libraries and other information service agencies to better develop services and information systems for immigrants.     

Transforming local e-government services: the use of application service providers

This study examines the potential of application service providers (ASPs) to transform electronic government (e-government) services at the local level. The ASP model helps local governments overcome barriers to offering next wave e-government services such as a shortage of skilled IT staff and limited financial resources. The realization of full potential, however, requires first the adoption of an ASP model. Five conditions that favor the decision to use an ASP are (1) strong top management support, (2) promise of large efficiency gains, (3) enough IT capability on the part of the government unit to identify key piece of technology, (4) less burdensome outsourcing rules and procedures, and (5) a variety of high quality and reliable ASPs from which to choose locally. To ensure the success of an ASP project, local governments need to build in-house IT capability to evaluate an ASP and to develop proper performance measures. Management should focus on serving citizens and businesses and develop the capability to negotiate as well as manage service-level contracts with ASPs. Continual top management support is necessary for dealing with possible initial resistance and ensuring interdepartmental communication and cooperation.     

Evaluating clinical librarian services: a systematic review

Background: Previous systematic reviews have indicated limited evidence and poor quality evaluations of clinical librarian (CL) services. Rigorous evaluations should demonstrate the value of CL services, but guidance is needed before this can be achieved. Objectives: To undertake a systematic review which examines models of CL services, quality, methods and perspectives of clinical librarian service evaluations. Methods: Systematic review methodology and synthesis of evidence, undertaken collaboratively by a group of 8 librarians to develop research and critical appraisal skills. Results: There are four clear models of clinical library service provision. Clinical librarians are effective in saving health professionals time, providing relevant, useful information and high quality services. Clinical librarians have a positive effect on clinical decision making by contributing to better informed decisions, diagnosis and choice of drug or therapy. The quality of CL studies is improving, but more work is needed on reducing bias and providing evidence of specific impacts on patient care. The Critical Incident Technique as part of a mixed method approach appears to offer a useful approach to demonstrating impact. Conclusions: This systematic review provides practical guidance regarding the evaluation of CL services. It also provides updated evidence regarding the effectiveness and impact of CL services. The approach used was successful in developing research and critical appraisal skills in a group of librarians.     

Archiving Web-published materials: A needs assessment of librarians,researchers, and content providers

The Web-at-Risk project is a digital preservation project funded by the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. The project is developing a Web archiving service to enable curators to build, store, and manage archived collections of Web-published materials captured largely from U.S. federal and state government agency Web sites. In 2005 the project’s 22 curators, as well as librarians and archivists working primarily in academic libraries (n = 43), university researchers (n = 7), and content providers (n = 7) participated in a study to identify their needs in relation to Web archiving. This paper summarizes the issues and challenges these groups face and discusses the need for collaborations among libraries and government entities for preserving Web-published materials.     

The role of training in the reorganization of cataloging services

The Cataloging Services Department at Widner Library, Harvard College, was restructured into teams in mid-1993. Two types of training for staff were implemented. This paper discusses the new organizational culture based on the library's vision statement, the Group Process Training and Functional Training modules, the working assumptions, and the strengths and weakness of each training module.     

Addressing the health information needs of rural Missouri health care providers: an IAIMS assistant experience

A one-year internship at the University of Missouri-Columbia offered an opportunity for a health sciences librarian to contribute to Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems (IAIMS) activities and take information management ideas back home. The IAIMS Assistant addressed information access issues. The Assistant helped to develop and administer a "Rural Provider Questionnaire" to assess the information needs of rural Missouri health care providers. The Health Sciences Library developed a Web page to bring together services and information resources in response to the perceived needs of health care providers associated with the Health Sciences Center. The article discusses the librarians' role in IAIMS initiatives.     

The contribution of hospital library information services to clinical care: a study in eight hospitals

Hospital health sciences libraries represent, for the vast majority of health professionals, the most accessible source for library information and services. Most health professionals do not have available the specialized services of a clinical medical librarian, and rely instead upon general information services for their case-related information needs. The ability of the hospital library to meet these needs and the impact of the information on quality patient care have not been previously examined. A study was conducted in eight hospitals in the Chicago area as a quality assurance project. A total of 176 physicians, nurses, and other health professionals requested information from their hospital libraries related to a current case or clinical situation. They then assessed the quality of information received, its cognitive value, its contribution to patient care, and its impact on case management. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents asserted that they would definitely or probably handle their cases differently as a result of the information provided by the library. Almost all rated the libraries' performance and response highly. An overview of the context and purpose of the study, its methods, selected results, limitations, and conclusions are presented here, as is a review of selected earlier research.     

新产品开发中的信息需求分析

新产品开发是现代企业保持竞争优势的重要手段，在新产品开发活动过程中，企业必须有充分、可靠的信息作为依托。本文介绍了新产品开发过程中信息需求的类型，分析了信息需求的特征，重点论述了在新产品开发过程中企业获取信息的途径。     

Medical knowledge for clinical problem solving: a structural analysis of clinical questions.

Despite technological advances that support wide-ranging access to and transfer of knowledge, practicing physicians continue to underutilize current biomedical literature. This paper explores the nature of clinically applicable medical knowledge through a structural analysis of clinical questions. The author analyzed a set of sixty questions, based on actual online search requests of practicing physicians, for stated and unstated needs, certainty levels, implicit and explicit assumptions, decision-making processes, and type of answer required. As a result, four states of information valuable in patient care were identified: prediagnostic assessment, diagnosis, treatment choice, and learning. These states are presented in frame-like structures that integrate declarative and procedural components of medical decision making. It is concluded that clinical problem solving requires a blend of declarative and procedural knowledge. The ratio depends, in part, upon the reasoning process underway at the time of the request. Procedural knowledge required for clinical problem solving may be absent from current biomedical journal literature or difficult to identify.     

The Research Funding Service: a model for expanded library services

Traditionally, libraries have provided a modest amount of information about grants and funding opportunities to researchers in need of research funding. Ten years ago, the University of Washington (UW) Health Sciences Libraries and Information Center joined in a cooperative effort with the School of Medicine to develop a complete, library-based grant and funding service for health sciences researchers called the Research Funding Service. The library provided space, access to the library collection, equipment, and electronic resources, and the School of Medicine funded staff and operations. The range of services now includes individual consultation appointments, an extensive Web site, classes on funding database searching and writing grant applications, a discussion series that frequently hosts guest speakers, a monthly newsletter with funding opportunities of interest to the six health sciences schools, extensive files on funding sources, and referral services.     

Bibliographic control of audiovisuals: analysis of a cataloging project using OCLC

The staff of the Quillen-Dishner College of Medicine Library cataloged 702 audiovisual titles between July 1, 1982, and June 30, 1983, using the OCLC database. This paper discusses the library's audiovisual collection and describes the method and scope of a study conducted during this project, the cataloging standards and conventions adopted, the assignment and use of NLM classification, the provision of summaries for programs, and the amount of staff time expended in cataloging typical items. An analysis of the use of OCLC for this project resulted in the following findings: the rate of successful searches for audiovisual copy was 82.4%; the error rate for records used was 41.9%; modifications were required in every record used; the Library of Congress and seven member institutions provided 62.8% of the records used. It was concluded that the effort to establish bibliographic control of audiovisuals is not widespread and that expanded and improved audiovisual cataloging by the Library of Congress and the National Library of Medicine would substantially contribute to that goal.