Characteristics of early adopters of end-user online searching in the health professions

This paper examines end-user, online searching using data from a questionnaire mailed to 150 Canadian health professionals in practice settings. The response rate was 83% (n = 124). The data provide a demographic profile of early adopters of end-user searching in the health care community. Positive correlations with the user's level of implementation of end-user searching were found for the following variables: amount of time spent in research activities, amount of system training received, and use of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). There was a negative association between the amount of time spent in patient care and implementation level. General practitioners and family physicians had lower implementation levels than physicians in other specialties. Successful implementers were more likely to be computer literate and to place a high value on formal information sources such as books, journals, and libraries. Health professionals using so-called "user-friendly" or menu-based software had lower levels of personal commitment to using online databases, as measured by a combination of continuance of use, willingness to pay personally, type of recommendations made to colleagues, and hardware ownership.     

The role of sports as a social status determinant for children.

This study was designed to examine children's attitudes toward the role of sports in determining social status, as well as the activities in which children prefer to participate. A total of 227 boys and 251 girls in Grades 4, 5, and 6 completed a questionnaire to determine which criteria were most important in determining personal, female, and male popularity. Personal popularity was answered by the girls and boys according to "what would make you well liked by your classmates." Female and male popularity was determined by asking both girls and boys to decide "what would make (girls, for female subjects, and boys, for male subjects) well liked by your classmates." A comparison of results from the Buchanan, Blankenbaker, and Cotten (1976) investigation and the present study indicated that, in the last 15 years, appearance has become more important and academic achievement less important in determining personal popularity for girls. For boys, the comparison revealed that sports have become more important and academic achievement less important in determining personal popularity. Boys reported sports to be the most important determinant of personal and male popularity and appearance as the most important determinant of female popularity. Sports and appearance became more important for boys with each higher grade level. Girls reported appearance to be the most important determinant of personal, male, and female popularity. For girls, appearance became more important with each higher grade level. A comparison of results from the Buchanan et al. (1976) and the present study indicated that the activities in which girls and boys preferred to participate have changed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Impact of end-user search training on pharmacy students: a four-year follow-up study.

The Alfred Taubman Medical Library at the University of Michigan has offered instruction in online literature searching to third-year pharmacy students as a component of the course "Drug Information and Scientific Literature Evaluation" since 1983. In the spring of 1989, a follow-up study was conducted to assess the impact of instruction on four classes of graduates. Of a pool of 151 graduates, 90 (60%) responded to a mailed questionnaire on their use of information and computerized literature searching. The respondents were divided into four subgroups: end-user searchers, users of intermediaries, end users who used intermediaries, and those who did not use computerized literature search systems. Seventy-two percent of the respondents used some type of computerized literature searching, and 42% performed their own searches. The four subgroups differed in general computer use, familiarity with MEDLINE search terminology, information use, reasons for using or not using literature searching, and characteristics of searches (i.e., type, time frame, amount, and frequency). Training in end-user search systems appears to have had an impact on the continued use of computerized literature searching several years after the formal educational program.     

The Buffalo Medical Journal: 1845-1919

Fielding H. Garrison's paper "The medical periodical and the scientific society" cited the Buffalo Medical Journal in the company of eminent periodicals published in Berlin, Boston, and Edinburgh. This article provides an overview of the Journal and places it in context of 19th-century medical journalism. The Journal is assessed in terms of original scientific contributions and as a source of social and local history.     

The MEDLARS regional center at UCLA: a progress report

This paper supplements information given in earlier papers on the UCLA MEDLARS Search Station. Four major machine problem areas in the operation of a decentralized station are identified: adjustments required to run a large information retrieval type program in an academic computing facility serving many users; handicap in running time for COBOL programs; advent of the third generation of computers with attendant preparation; and need for constant current communication among all members of a decentralized network system. Statistics are given for the initial operating period, January-May 1966: 119 search requests received, 109 formulated, and 60 fully processed. Parallel searches with other MEDLARS installations, comparisons of MEDLARS and manual Index Medicus searches, and other search activities are reported.     

Sources of information on medical geography

Adequate research in the peripheral field of medical geography requires familiarity with the literature of medicine, geography, and other environmentally oriented fields. The pertinent literature of the two primary disciplines, as well as that of anthropology, nutrition, and human bioclimatology, is surveyed from a bibliographical point of view. A brief review of historical sources is presented, followed by a discussion of the contemporary organizations, both international and national, active in the field. Emphasis is placed on the publishing programs and projects, maps, atlases, symposia, reports, and other literature sponsored or stimulated by these organizations. Regional bibliographical surveys for East Africa, India, and the Soviet Union are also noted. Pertinent aspects of bibliographies, indexes, abstracts, library card catalogs and accession lists, and other resources are listed, with emphasis on the various subject headings and other approaches to them. Throughout, the sources of information are approached from a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary viewpoint.     

The hospital library committee: its composition and tasks

Since a sizeable hospital must have a library, it must have a library committee. Like all hospital committees, this one is to help maintain standards of medical care and to mediate between staff and administration. Unlike others, it clusters around one elected member (the chairman) and one employee (the librarian). A dynamic librarian can, and should, influence and inspire the committee's deliberations; and must be able to depend upon the support of the physician members of the committee.