Developing an interdisciplinary collaboration center in an academic Health Sciences Library

This article describes the evolution of the Health Sciences Library's plans for an interdisciplinary, technology-enhanced collaboration center, from a technology-driven space to one with a vision of support for peer-to-peer learning and research. The center offers an exciting opportunity to be an essential partner in collaborative and interdisciplinary programs such as the new Carolina Center for Exploratory Genetic Analysis. The Library is a centrally located and neutral place, which helps minimize geographical and territorial obstacles to effective collaboration. The collaboration center raises the Library's visibility and allows staff to demonstrate the value of knowledge resources, services, technology expertise, infrastructure, and facilities for group study and collaboration.     

Evidence-based retrieval in evidence-based medicine.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical decisions based on a meta-analysis that is based on an ineffective retrieval strategy may have serious negative consequences for patients. The study objective was to investigate the extent to which meta-analyses report proof of their retrieval strategies' effectiveness. METHODS: The authors examined a random sample (n = 100) of articles in the 1996 to 2002 full-text subset of Ovid MEDLINE indexed as "meta-analysis." We classified the articles in three ways: the article (A) reported both a retrieval strategy in sufficient detail (such that it could be repeated) and with evidence of the strategy's effectiveness, (B) reported a retrieval strategy in sufficient detail but not with evidence of the strategy's effectiveness, or (C) neither reported a strategy in detail nor evidence of the strategy's effectiveness. Articles classified as (A) were further classified according to the level of evidence reported. RESULTS: Of the eighty-nine articles in our final analysis, six (6.7%) were classified as category (A), fifty-seven (64%) as (B), and twenty-six (29%) as (C). Articles in category (A) reported a previously validated search, a published strategy, or strategy based on expert opinion. CONCLUSION: Peer-review standards must be developed that require authors of meta-analyses to report evidence for the effectiveness of their retrieval strategies.     

Effects of focus of attention depend on golfers' skill

In this study, we examined the influence of internal and external attention instructions on the performance of a pitch shot by golfers who were either highly skilled (mean handicap = 4) or low skilled (mean handicap = 26). Ten golfers in each skill group used a 9-iron to pitch a ball as close as possible to an orange pylon, which was located at distances of 10, 15, 20 or 25 m from the golfer. Focus of attention was manipulated within participants (counterbalanced across golfers). Under internal focus of attention instructions, the participants were told to concentrate on the form of the golf swing and to adjust the force of their swing depending on the distance of the shot. For the external focus of attention conditions, the participants were told to concentrate on hitting the ball as close to the target pylon as possible. The most intriguing finding was an interaction of skill with focus of attention instructions for variability in performance. Similar to the findings of Wulf and colleagues, the highly skilled golfers performed better with external attention instructions than with internal focus instructions. In contrast, the low-skill golfers performed better with the internal than with the external focus of attention instructions. These findings are discussed relative to theoretical issues in motor learning and practical issues for golf instruction.     

Unblocking the dyslexic teen-age reader: Paul’s Gift

Annals of Dyslexia -