Information overload within the health care system: a literature review

There is a widespread view held by health clinicians that their work effectiveness is impaired by 'information overload.' Building upon a previous work by Wilson, a review of the literature was undertaken to look for the evidence of this. It was found that the literature, particularly in the context of the clinical environment, was limited. This review explores the diverse overarching theories of information overload, effects of the phenomenon that are perceived to occur and proposed solutions to this problem. Many of the papers noted an information explosion but only three authors explicitly attempted to measure both the quantity and the complexity of this information. It was also found that the typology of the information studied was severely limited with most studies exploring information such as guidelines, access to journals, research findings and other knowledge intensive areas. Solutions proposed seem to concentrate on technological means rather than exploring the use of humans either in management of information or as a step in the filtering process.     

力量素质和决定力量素质的诸因素

沃罗比耶夫是苏联原国家举重队总教练,医学副博士,本人亦曾经多次创造90公斤级举重世界纪录。他在1977年所著《举重运动的生理学与训练》一书,系统地总结了苏联优秀举重运动员的训练经验,并使之与运动生物力学、运动生理学、运动医学紧密结合,融为一体。该书资料丰富,数椐处理严格、论据明确,科学性强。对我国举重教练员、运动员、运动医生有较大参考价值。由于时隔五年,个别论述已失之陈旧。本刊拟摘其精华,编译登载。本期刊登的是该书第二章“力量素质和决定力量素质的各种因素”的主要内容,以后将陆续编译刊登其它部分。     

一个单步的运动学数据

在二十二届奥运会上,新西伯利亚的短跑运动员,教练蒲哈雪夫的学生维克多尔·马尔钦获得了出色的成绩,他不仅在400米和4×400米接力赛中获得两枚金牌,而且创造了新的欧洲纪录一44〃60!看奥林匹克冠军赛的电影镜头(电影镜头是在80年7月30日,在离起跑40—45米处以50格     

Republican Scientific-Medical Library, The Republic of Armenia: progress and programs

In 1990, the Republican Scientific-Medical Library (RSML) of the Ministry of Health of Armenia in collaboration with the Fund for Armenian Relief created a vision of a national library network supported by information technology. This vision incorporated four goals: (1) to develop a national resource collection of biomedical literature accessible to all health professionals, (2) to develop a national network for access to bibliographic information, (3) to develop a systematic mechanism for sharing resources, and (4) to develop a national network of health sciences libraries. During the last decade, the RSML has achieved significant progress toward all four goals and has realized its vision of becoming a fully functional national library. The RSML now provides access to the literature of the health sciences including access to the Armenian medical literature, provides education and training to health professionals and health sciences librarians, and manages a national network of libraries of the major health care institutions in Armenia. The RSML is now able to provide rapid access to the biomedical literature and train health professionals and health sciences librarians in Armenia in information system use. This paper describes the evolution of the RSML and how it was accomplished.     

A medical book collection for physician assistants

Selecting resources for physician assistants is challenging and can be overwhelming. Although several core lists exist for nursing, allied health, and medical libraries, judging the scope and level of these resources in relation to the information needs of the physician assistant is difficult. Medical texts can be highly specialized and very expensive, in essence, "overkill" for the needs of the physician assistant. This bibliography is meant to serve as a guide to appropriate medical texts for physician assistants. Titles were selected from the Brandon/Hill list, Doody's Electronic Journal, and various other reference resources. Resources were evaluated based on the subject and scope, audience, authorship, cost, and currency. The collection includes 195 titles from 33 specialty areas. Standard texts in each area are also included.     

Evidence-based practice: extending the search to find material for the systematic review

BACKGROUND: Cochrane-style systematic reviews increasingly require the participation of librarians. Guidelines on the appropriate search strategy to use for systematic reviews have been proposed. However, research evidence supporting these recommendations is limited. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the effectiveness of various systematic search methods used to uncover randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for systematic reviews. Effectiveness is defined as the proportion of relevant material uncovered for the systematic review using extended systematic review search methods. The following extended systematic search methods are evaluated: searching subject-specific or specialized databases (including trial registries), hand searching, scanning reference lists, and communicating personally. METHODS: Two systematic review projects were prospectively monitored regarding the method used to identify items as well as the type of items retrieved. The proportion of RCTs identified by each systematic search method was calculated. RESULTS: The extended systematic search methods uncovered 29.2% of all items retrieved for the systematic reviews. The search of specialized databases was the most effective method, followed by scanning of reference lists, communicating personally, and hand searching. Although the number of items identified through hand searching was small, these unique items would otherwise have been missed. CONCLUSIONS: Extended systematic search methods are effective tools for uncovering material for the systematic review. The quality of the items uncovered has yet to be assessed and will be key in evaluating the value of the systematic search methods.