Use and perceptions of information among family physicians: sources considered accessible,relevant, and reliable

Objectives:

The research determined (1) the information sources that family physicians (FPs) most commonly use to update their general medical knowledge and to make specific clinical decisions, and (2) the information sources FPs found to be most physically accessible, intellectually accessible (easy to understand), reliable (trustworthy), and relevant to their needs.

Methods:

A cross-sectional postal survey of 792 FPs and locum tenens, in full-time or part-time medical practice, currently practicing or on leave of absence in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan was conducted during the period of January to April 2008.

Results:

Of 666 eligible physicians, 331 completed and returned surveys, resulting in a response rate of 49.7% (331/666). Medical textbooks and colleagues in the main patient care setting were the top 2 sources for the purpose of making specific clinical decisions. Medical textbooks were most frequently considered by FPs to be reliable (trustworthy), and colleagues in the main patient care setting were most physically accessible (easy to access).

Conclusions:

When making specific clinical decisions, FPs were most likely to use information from sources that they considered to be reliable and generally physically accessible, suggesting that FPs can best be supported by facilitating easy and convenient access to high-quality information.

Highlights

• Medical textbooks were the most popular information source for family physicians'' (FPs'') clinical decision-making purposes, and medical journals were the most popular information source for the purpose of updating FPs'' general medical knowledge.
• FPs considered medical textbooks to be the most reliable (trustworthy) source, colleagues the most physically accessible, and continuing medical education the most relevant and intellectually accessible.
• The lowest ranked information sources across all four attributes were personal digital assistants, mental health professionals, pharmaceutical sales representatives, and other decision aids.

Implications

• The most popular information sources for clinical decision-making purposes among FPs were sources characterized as reliable and generally physically accessible.
• This study suggests the need for further research into interventions that target information access barriers in FPs'' practice settings and the promotion of reliable evidence for FPs'' clinical decision-making purposes.

     

Neuroimaging: Directions and Potentials for Communication Research

The field of Communication Studies and the field of Social Neuroscience have a common goal of studying and understanding human social behavior. This article invites those in the Communication field to learn about the neuroimaging practices that are common in the Social Neuroscience field. The article relays the basics of neuroimaging, especially functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Using a recent article on violent media perception as an example, we will go over the details of how neuroimaging studies are designed, analyzed and interpreted, with attention paid to common pitfalls and current trends in the field. In addition, for one interested in the potential for neuroimaging, suggestions on how to initiate such research pursuits are detailed.     

An Examination into the Dyadic Effects of Mood in Social Interactions

Much of the research on mood and communication has failed to examine the potential social and interactive attributes of mood suggested by studies involving affective contagion. An experiment involving 63 dyads was conducted manipulating the mood of both individuals involved to investigate these issues. Results suggest that the mood of both individuals can potentially impact an individual within an interaction. The findings are discussed, and future directions are suggested.     

Faculty and Librarian Perceptions of a New Faculty Purchase Program

This study explores new faculty members' and librarians' perceptions of a program that provides each new faculty member with funds to purchase materials supporting their teaching and scholarship. The article describes the results of a survey of perceptions of the faculty and librarians who have participated in the program at Illinois State University. The findings suggest that the program has not been successful as a recruitment tool but has been very valuable for establishing early and strong subject liaison relationships with new faculty members.     

A ‘powerful,creative history’: the reticence of women architects to donate their professional records to archival repositories

The article reports the findings from research investigating the impact of international standards for records management. This is a significant issue for the recordkeeping community given the significant resourcing devoted to the development of international standards. Previous attempts to measure impact have met with little success, so this research approached the problem area from a new angle, namely the indirect influence of standards on practice via their use in education and training. Data was collected from a global survey of educators and trainers. Findings demonstrate that the standards are being used extensively at undergraduate and postgraduate level as well as in vocational training. However, a number of barriers to use are identified. The research provides a strong foundation for further investigation of impact and use of the international standards.     

Use of Polarised Light Microscopy to Improve Conservation of Parchment

ABSTRACT

The preservation state of parchment primarily depends on the structure of the collagen fibre network, which in turn is responsible for optical anisotropy, i.e. birefringence. Polarised light microscopy can therefore be used as a non-invasive technique that allows recording of birefringence distribution in the parchment, which directly relates to stress–strain distribution. Using samples from diverse sources (commercial parchment, parchment used by restorers for book binding, and parchment fabricated for the purpose of this study), we assessed the capability of polarised light microscopy for various diagnostics. We performed, for instance, identification of gelatinised regions, layered or ?brous regions in parchment cross section, qualitative analysis of parchment fat content (lipids), observation of stress-induced patterns resulting from tensile tests, and observation of water diffusion. These proof-of-principle experiments extend the capability of polarised light microscopy far beyond its common use and open the path to its deployment in conservation studies.     

New “Starting Points” for Resources by Subject

The objective of the Starting Points Web page series at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT HSC) Libraries is to provide specialized information resources in an organized online format. Highlighted resources include databases, journals, UT HSC campus information, funding sources, PubMed® RSS article feeds, and information about professional associations. This paper discusses the development process, planning, challenges, and outcomes of the Starting Points series.     

Sharing MedlinePlus®/MEDLINE® for Information Literacy Education (SMILE): A Dental Public Health Information Project

The SMILE project represented a partnership among the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Libraries, the Gateway Clinic in Laredo, and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. The project focused on improving dental practitioners' access to reliable information resources and integrating the best evidence into public health dental practice. Through its training program, SMILE cultivated a set of “power information users” among the dentists, dental hygienists, and community health workers (promotores) who provided public health preventive care and oral health education. The dental public health practitioners gained information literacy skills and increased their knowledge about reliable sites such as blogs, PubMed®, and MedlinePlus®. This project fostered opportunities for expanded partnerships with public health personnel.     

Health Sciences Librarians' Research on Medical Students' Use of Information for Their Studies at The Medical School,University of Queensland,Australia

This study reports the findings of research undertaken by health sciences librarians at the University of Queensland Library into how medical students use information for their studies, particularly resources and services provided by the Library. The methods utilized were an online survey and focus groups. Results indicated that students favor print resources over electronic, value accessing resources on a one-stop basis, and prefer training to be delivered flexibly. The implication of these results for future resource selection, service provision, and instructional design and delivery is discussed.     

The Child Care Ecology Inventory: A domain-specific measure of home-based child care quality to promote social competence for school readiness

This study investigates the reliability and validity of the Child Care Ecology Inventory (CCEI), a measure of the quality of family child care in the social domain. The CCEI focuses on research-based environmental features and caregiving practices for promoting positive social development in preschool-age children. A total of 198 family child care homes in the Northwest USA participated. Good scale reliabilities were found for the measures of the environment (Enrichment and Organization) and for caregivers’ practices (Monitoring, Positive Attention, Promoting Social Skills, and Teaching Rules) and interrater reliability was adequate for research purposes. The CCEI was associated with other commonly used measures of child care quality that assessed similar environmental and caregiving constructs. Linear regression models were run to determine the features of family child care quality that were concurrently associated with observed child behavior. The child–caregiver ratio, Environment Organization, and caregivers’ Teaching Rules were negatively associated with children's problem behavior (noncompliance and aggression). Caregivers’ provision of Planned Activities/Routines and Positive Attention were associated with positive child behavior. Results indicate that different aspects of quality are related to different aspects of children's social interactions and behaviors.