National Medical Librarians’ Month - 2009 Prize Winners

The Affinity Library Services Staff wishes to extend a hearty “Thank You” to all who participated in the National Medical Librarians’ Month contests.

From the Clark Family Library at Mercy Medical Center:

Crystal Neiling (NHP) had the closest guess for the amount of Dove Chocolates in our 2009 “Choco Challenge” and won the candy.

Shirley K., a regular library visitor, won the drawing for a $20.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

From the Health Science and Resource Café Libraries at St. Elizabeth Hospital:

Kimberly Huntley (Peds/Gyn) had the closest guess for the 2009 “Choco Challenge” at the Resource Café Library and Stephanie Runde, (PACU) had the closest guess for the 2009 “Choco-Challenge” at the Professional Library. Kimberly and Stephanie won the chocolate from their respective libraries.

Jennifer Schultz (Med/Oncology) won the drawing for a $20.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Again, thanks to all who participated from your Affinity Library Staff (Michele and Ann at Mercy; Margo and Karen and St. E’s)

Affinity-Full-Text through Google Scholar

Did you know that if you use Google Scholar from an Affinity computer, you’ll be able to tap into the treasure trove of full-text articles made available by Affinity Lbirary Services? It’s true!

Google Scholar is the “smart” Google that searches the published journal literature.

If you try searching Google Scholar from home, publishers will typically ask you for a credit card in order to see full articles. If you use an Affinity computer, the publishers we work with know you’re with Affinity, and will grant you access to the full articles.

Use this PDF handout (Affinity access only) of step-by-step screen shots to make Google Scholar and Affinity Full-Text work for you. It includes

1) Getting to Google Scholar

2) Using the Advanced Search to focus results

3) Getting to Full-Text.

Questions or comments? Contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski at MMC (3-0340)
Margo Lambert at STE (8-2325)

PubMed Redesign

For those of you who use PubMed Medline, NCBI has announced some changes to the search interface in coming weeks. Read more about the PubMed Redesign here.

PubMed is a powerful search engine that indexes the medical, nursing, and health sciences journal literature. Access millions of scholarly journal articles through PubMed, and zero in on just what you’re looking for!

Remember this added benefit : Using the PubMed link on the Library website ties into Affinity full-text offerings. You’ll get to more “free” full-text by using this link from an Affinity computer. If you find the perfect article(s) but can’t get to the full-text, contact Library Services. We have connections, and most often we can deliver the articles you seek. Just ask us!

If you have any problems with the new PubMed, do not hesitate to contact your Librarians : Via Outlook, contact Michele Matucheski (Voice 3-0340) at MMC or Margo Lambert (Voice 8-2325)at STE. We can help you navigate and get used to the new and improved PubMed.

Ovid Medline is also still alive and well if you prefer this version. Michele and Margo are also available to do the searching for you. Just tell us what you’re looking for, and we’ll do the rest!

Additional PubMed Training Resources.

MDConsult 30-Minute Online Training Sessions

Affinity staff and employees already have access to MDConsult through Affinity Library Services.

MDConsult contains the most comprehensive and relevant clinical information you need, all in an easy-to-use online format.

Training sessions are under 30 minutes. Join MDConsult Trainers for a brief on-line demonstration to learn more.

This October you can learn more about
· what it is
· what it can can do
· and how it can benefit you.

This training session discusses the following:

* Overview of MD Consult

* Searching

* Navigation

* Content available on MD Consult

Sessions are scheduled from now until the end of October. Use this link to find days and times to attend that are convenient for you.

If these sessions don’t fit your schedule, your Librarians can give you a personalized tour of MDConsult. Via Outlook, contact Michele Matucheski at MMC or Margo Lambert at STE.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.
Number Seven: You will save time.
Number Six: You will be more productive.
Number Five: You will get your work done.
Number Four: You will do better work.
Number Three: You might even become a “fast-tracker”.
Number Two: You will contribute to knowledge sharing within your organization.

Number One: You will save money.

Due to AHS Libraries’ relationships with other regional libraries, we are able to obtain resources at much lower costs than would be available to individuals. Also, librarians save a great deal of time in both searching for information and determining the validity of that information.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Choco-Challenge : Dove Chocolates

How many Dove chocolates in the jar?
The closest guess wins all the chocolate!


Enter your guess online by visiting the library website,
or use this web form.


Or stop by the Libraries at :

* Mercy Medical Center Library
* St. Elizabeth Hospital Professional Library
* St. Elizabeth Hospital Resource Café
* Affinity Health & Wellness Center at the20th Ave Oshkosh YMCA.


Contest ends October 31.
One entry per person, please.

Door Prize
You could also win a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate!

Fishing for Quality Health Information? : @sk Your Medical Librarians

October is (once again) National Medical Librarian's Month

Celebrate with Affinity Library Services.

We'll be having special festures all month. Stay tuned!

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.
Number Seven: You will save time.
Number Six: You will be more productive.
Number Five: You will get your work done.
Number Four: You will do better work.
Number Three: You might even become a “fast-tracker”.

Number Two: You will contribute to knowledge sharing within your organization.

You never know when the information you get for one project might be useful to a colleague working on a similar project. Let your librarians do the legwork. We can save you time and sharing the information you get could help a colleague avoid “reinventing the wheel”.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number One in a future blog post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Health Care Reform 101

We’re starting to get questions like: "You know, I haven't really been following this whole thing in detail, but now.... are there any good summaries of the debate I could look at?"

Here are some good places to start :

New York Times Topics: Health Care Reform

Health Affairs: Fact vs Fiction

Health Affairs: Health Policy Brief Key Issues in Health Reform (PDF)

Kaiser Family Foundation : Health Reform

Comparison of Pending Health Care Bills

For those of you more visually oriented, try the series of "napkin" talks by Dan Roam - a noted speaker on visual presentation of info

They may not be best-sellers, but we are all hearing about the House bill, H.R. 3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act and the Senate bill, S. _: Affordable Health Choices Act, together more commonly known and debated as Health Care Reform. These two bills – 1000+ pages from the House and 600+ pages from the Senate - are generating plenty of discussion, but what is really in them? If you are looking for good, readable summaries in order to better understand these two plans, the following may help :

A summary of the S._: Affordable Health Choices Act was prepared and released by the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on July 15. See the summary here (PDF).

Three House Committees: Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor prepared and released this summary of H.R. 3200: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act available here. This possibly more objective summary was prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The complete bills can be found here:
Final version of H.R. 3200
and draft version of S._

If you are interested in following the progression, Slate.com created this online guide to sources.

For an examination of how other countries manage their health care systems, check out this program from PBS :

Frontline: Sick Around the World
You can even watch it online.

Special thanks to Medlib-L for the above summary.

Business Databases Courtesy of Badgerlink

Badgerlink * offers several full-text research databases covering business management, marketing, trade, and industry journals, company profiles and news. The Ebsco Business Databases (Badgerlink) include the following :

· Business Source Premier
Business Source Premier is the industry’s most used business research database, providing full text for more than 2,300 journals, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed titles. Provides full-text coverage in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Updated daily.
· GreenFILE
GreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles includes content on global warming, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.
· Newspaper Source Plus
Newspaper Source Plus includes 1,520 full-text newspapers, providing more than 28 million full-text articles. In addition, the database features more than 601,300 television and radio news transcripts, videos & podcasts.
Regional Business News
Provides comprehensive full-text coverage for regional business publications. Regional Business News incorporates coverage of more than 80 regional business publications covering all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States.

Click on the links above to access, or follow the navigation below :
Affinity Intranet > Library > Find Articles in Databases > Databases by Subject > Ebsco Business Resources

Affinity Intranet > Library > Badgerlink > Service List > Business Resources

* Badgerlink is a project of the Department of Public Instruction’s Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning for the citizens of Wisconsin. Funding is provided through the Public Service Commission Universal Service Fund. Try it : Full-text access from work, school, or home!

Emailed Tables-of-Contents to Cancer Journals

The following is a subset of professional and clinical journals focusing on Cancer and Oncology. You can receive emailed updates for each new issue, with links to the full-text articles (as long as you’re using an Affinity computer or remote access).

Sneak a peak at what you’ll get for the titles below.
Click article titles to access full-text.
Sign-up for email notices if you like what you see.

Blood (HighWire) Table of Contents

Cancer (Wiley) Table of Contents

Cancer Nursing (Ovid) Table of Contents

European Journal of Cancer (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

European Journal of Haematology (Wiley / Blackwell) Table of Contents

Gynecologic Oncology (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Journal of Clinical Oncology (Publisher) Table of Contents Email Alerts

Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN (Publisher) Table of Contents Email Alerts

Seminars in Radiation Oncology (ScienceDirect)   Table of Contents

See the complete set of over 140 eligible journals here.

Questions, comments, or assistance, please contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski (MMC) at 3-0340 or Margo Lambert (STE) at 8-2325.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.
Number Seven: You will save time.
Number Six: You will be more productive.
Number Five: You will get your work done.

Number Four: You will do better work.

Affinity Librarians go to great lengths to make sure that the information we find for you comes from sources you can trust. If you are working with reliable information, you’ll have a higher quality end product.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Three in a future blog post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Emailed Tables-of-Contents to Critical Care Nursing Journals

The following is a subset of professional and clinical journals focusing on Critical Care Nursing.

You can receive emailed updates for each new issue, with links to the full-text articles (as long as you’re using an Affinity computer or remote access).

* Sneak a peak at what you’ll get for the titles below.
* Click article titles to access full-text.
* Sign-up for email notices if you like what you see.

AACN Advanced Critical Care (Ovid) Table of Contents

American Journal of Critical Care (EbscoHost) Contact Affinity Library Services to register for email alerts for this journal.

Critical Care Medicine (Ovid) Table of Contents

Critical Care Nurse (EbscoHost)
Contact Affinity Library Services to register for email alerts for this journal.

Critical Care Nursing Quarterly (Ovid) Table of Contents

Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing (Ovid) Table of Contents

Nursing Critical Care (Ovid) Table of Contents

Nursing (Ovid) Table of Contents

See the complete set of over 120 eligible journals here.

Questions, comments, or assistance, please contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski (MMC) at 3-0340 or Margo Lambert (STE) at 8-2325.

Emailed Tables-of-Contents to Pain Journals

The following is a subset of professional and clinical journals focusing on pain and pain management. You can receive emailed updates for each new issue, with links to the full-text articles (as long as you’re using an Affinity computer or remote access).

* Sneak a peak at what you’ll get for the titles below.
* Click article titles to access full-text.
* Sign-up for email notices if you like what you see.

Anesthesia & Analgesia (Ovid) Table of Contents

Journal of Clinical Anesthesia (ScienceDirecet) Table of Contents

Journal of Pain (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Journal of Pain & Symptom Management (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

Pain Management Nursing (ScienceDirect) Table of Contents

See the complete set of over 100 eligible journals here.

Questions, comments, or assistance, please contact your Librarians :
Michele Matucheski (MMC) at 3-0340 or Margo Lambert (STE) at 8-2325.

A-Z Journal List: Full Text Electronic and Print Journal Holdings

If you have ever wondered if the Affinity libraries have a specific journal, the answer can be found at your fingertips.

The Library A-Z Journal List can be found on the Library web page on the Affinity Intranet. (It is the first link under “Most Popular Links” on the right.) Browse an alphabetical listing of titles, search for specific titles or do a keyword search and find all titles containing a particular word. You’ll be able to find how far back the titles go and whether they are available in print or electronically. (You can access electronic titles directly from the A-Z List and print or download full-text articles from there.)

Please contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at
St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324) for help or for more information.

Consumer Health Complete (Badgerlink*)

Since the recent updates and upgrades in Badgerlink, we as Wisconsin-ites now have “free” access to a new tool : Consumer Health Complete (CHC).

Consumer Health Complete offers comprehensive consumer-oriented health information, including
· Full-text reference books like :
o AMA Complete Medical Encyclopedia
o Complete Guide to Prescription and Non-prescription Drugs
o Cornell Illustrated Encyclopedia of Health
o Mayo Clinic Family Health Book, and many more …
· Evidence-based practice reports
· Fact-sheets and handouts
· Video animations
· Articles, and more.

Watch an introductory tutorial about Consumer Health Complete.

Where to find it on the Library Pages :
Affinity Intranet > Library > Most Popular Links > Consumer Health Complete
Or
Library > Find Patient Education Handouts > Consumer Health Complete



* Badgerlink is a project of the Department of Public Instruction’s Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning for the citizens of Wisconsin. Funding is provided through the Public Service Commission Universal Service Fund. Try it : Full-text access from work, school, or home!

The Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act

Ever wonder where to find the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act?
It’s Chapter N1 from the Wisconsin State Statutes. Officially, it’s called "The Board of Nursing," from the Department of Regulation and Licensing. However, most Wisconsin nurses know it as “The Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act.” Googling this one doesn't bring up what you might think ...

Where to find it on the Affinity Intranet :
Affinity Intranet > Library > General Reference Links > Board of Nursing Wisconsin

The Nurse Practice Act describes the standards of practice for nurses (RN and LPNs) in Wisconsin. In some areas, the Wisconsin Nurse Practice Act is intentionally vague. Therefore, we’ve added links for the Board of Nursing’s White Papers and position statements that address timely topics like the following :

> Scope of Practice Decision Tree : Guidelines for RN and LPN Licensure
> Use of Nurse Technicians
> Delegation
> Pain Management
And more …

There is also a Wisconsin RN Practice FAQ that may also be helpful for certain questions.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.
Number Seven: You will save time.
Number Six: You will be more productive.

Number Five: You will get your work done.

Gathering background information is one of the more time-consuming aspects of any project. If you let your librarians help with any research “leg work”, you’ll be able to concentrate on other things and get those things done.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Four in a future post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

A.D.A.M. Consumer Health Information Available in MD Consult

By now many of you know that, beginning in July, we will no longer offer access to the A.D.A.M. Quick Sheets Patient Education / Consumer Health Information.

We are happy to inform you that, even though the A.D.A.M. Quick Sheets will be discontinued, you’ll be able to get the same content in the Patient Education section of MD Consult.

In addition to offering identical A.D.A.M. content, you can also personalize patient handouts if you create an account in MD Consult. (Check the library website for instructions.)


Please contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at
St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324) if you would like more information about setting up an MD Consult account or for help locating ADAM Patient Education information in MD Consult.

New Links for CAMH Manual and Joint Commission Resources

In order to make it easier to find the Joint Commission Resources, we’ve added a few additional links to the Affinity Libraries Home Page.

1) Look for a new link for The Joint Commission CAMH Manual on the Library Web Home Page in the center column. Since this requires a username and password, we wanted the description to be visible.

2) We also added a link to Joint Commission Resources in the Most Popular Column on the right-hand side. This page also contains a link for the CAMH Manual above.

To Get to the Affinity Library Webpage,
Affinity Intranet > Library

On the Library home page, scroll down the page to see the new links for the Joint Commission.

Contact Michele Matucheski at 3-0340 with questions or suggestions.

Harvard Medical School Newsletters

If you want to keep up with medical news or find simple, reliable information for yourself or your patients, take a look at our Harvard Medical School Newsletters.

We have the following titles:

Harvard Health Letter
Harvard Heart Letter
Harvard Men’s Health Watch
Harvard Mental Health Letter
Harvard Women’s Health Watch

These short newsletters come out monthly, so you can visit the library at Mercy Medical Center or the Resource Café Consumer Health Library at St. Elizabeth Hospital if you want to take a look. (You are welcome to photocopy articles from these and our other magazines and newsletters, but please do not take the originals from the libraries.) You can also access these newsletters online from the A-Z Journal List on the Library web page.

If you want to find articles on a particular topic that may have been published in the Harvard Medical School newsletters, contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324). We’ll be happy to help.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.

Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.

Number Eight: You will make better decisions.

Number Seven: You will save time.

Number Six: You will be more productive.

You will be able to devote more time and energy to your primary job responsibilities if you let library staff help with your information gathering needs.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Five in a future edition of The Weekly.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Managing Email Overload

Here are some quick tips to tame your email in-box :
1) Stop “Doing email”
2) Start scheduling time to scan your email
3) Use email when appropriate
4) Deal with email by subject
5) Keep your inbox nearly empty
6) Filter your messages
7) Do not forward chain letters, spam, or virus hoaxes. Delete them.
8) Do not answer spam, ever
9) Limit listserves
10) Follow good email etiquette
11) Delete and archive
12) Stop using your email box as a to-do list

Remembering Nancy P.

Nancy Piencikowski was a longtime nurse at Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh, WI, who died last month. Read more about her in the official obituary.

She started the Wound Clinic here and lovingly took care of Ostomy Patients. She was also a big part of the American Cancer Society. I'll always associate her with the spring Daffodil Sales to raise money for The American Cancer Society. She was always just as bright as those flowers.



Nancy always had a bright smile. Her whole face lit up.

Her spirit lives on in all who knew her.

She will be greatly missed.

Library as Place – Do you need some peace and quiet?

Actually, this isn’t new. Some people have always known that they could go to the Affinity Libraries if they needed a few minutes of peace and quiet.

Libraries have always had the reputation of being quiet places. But if you have visited a public library in, say, the last ten years, you’ll know that those libraries are becoming hubs of activity and you can’t always expect a quiet atmosphere when you visit.

The Affinity Libraries are places you can go if you need to get even a few moments of peace. The medical libraries at Mercy Medical Center and St. Elizabeth Hospital offer comfortable lounge areas with newspapers and magazines so that you can create a mini-escape during your busy day. If watching fish calms you, visit the library at Mercy Medical Center and see their new fish tank. (Of course, if you love people-watching and the smell of espresso, the atmosphere at the Resource Café Consumer Health Library at St. Elizabeth Hospital might be more to your liking.)

Other than a cheerful greeting and an offer of help if you look like you need it, library staff won’t intrude on your break time.

So, if you need to escape during the course of a busy workday, the Affinity Libraries might just be the perfect destinations.

Swine Flu Resources

Swine Flu Investigation Page (CDC)

RSS feed on Swine Flu - Get regular updates from the CDC

Google Maps Tool for Tracking Swine Flu (not EBM)

Swine Flu on MedlinePlus for consumer health information

The National Library of Medicine's EnviroHealth web page on Swine Flu
This web page contains information from several US and international agencies and organizations, treatment information, genetic sequence data, information in Spanish, searches of PubMed, the NLM Catalog, and more.

Librarian Secrets to Successful Searching : Focusing Clinical Questions with P-I-C-O

The first step to doing research is to define your topic : What are you looking for?

Example : “Tell me all you know about elderly taxi drivers in Mongolia who have heart attacks while drinking decaffeinated coffee on Friday nights after the bars close and whether prescribing aspirin might help reduce the risk of further heart attacks.”

Break the topic down into individual concepts with P-I-C-O.

P – Patient Population or Problem = Heart Attacks in the Elderly
I – Intervention = Aspirin
C – Comparison = Nothing
O – Outcome = Prevention of future heart attacks

P-I-C-O helps you pick out the important concepts while leaving out some of the extraneous stuff.

The P-I-C-O model helps define and refine a search topic, whether you are searching a powerful database like Medline/PubMed or just Google.

Your Librarians, Michele Matucheski (at MMC) and Margo Lambert (at STE) are available to do the research for you. Just let us know what you’re looking for.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you're involved in patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions.
Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.
Number Eight: You will make better decisions.

Number Seven: You will save time.

Research can be time-consuming and challenging, but it is one of the more interesting (and enjoyable) tasks for a librarian. Having us handle your research can free up substantial amounts of time for you to take care of other things.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Six in a future post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Joint Commission Manual CAMH Online Access

Access to the E-diton of the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (aka The Joint Commission Manual or CAMH) is once again available on the Affinity Intranet.

Joint Commission Manual - Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (CAMH) - Current E-dition
Username and password required. More info below. Affinity access only.

OR

Follow this path to get there :
Affinity Intranet > Library > General Reference Links > Joint Commission Resources > Joint Commission Manual
Note the username and password in the description.

Also available through the Electronic Bookshelf at :
Follow this path to get there :
Affinity Intranet > Library > Find Books > Electronic Bookshelf > Books by Title > Scroll down to Joint Commission Manual
Note Username & Password in the description.

Practice Guidelines – Where to Find Them

Practice Guidelines have become a mainstay of patient care, and have been developed to help caregivers assimilate and apply the ever-expanding (and sometimes contradictory) body of medical knowledge. Below are a few common sources for practice guidelines.

National Guideline Clearinghouse ** Best Bet! **
Comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Brief summaries and full-text available in most cases.

AHRQ National Quality Measures Clearinghouse

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
Use the search box.

MDConsult (Affinity access only)
Click the Guidelines Tab to search or browse the collection.

TRIP Database
An evidence-based practice search engine, TRIP covers guidelines.

Professional Associations issue guidelines and practice statements. Some are available on their websites. See the following examples :

American Heart Association – Guidelines & Statements

The American Psychiatric Association – Practice Guidelines

In addition, the CINAHL and Medline databases can effectively be used to identify and locate additional practice guidelines. Use the Practice Guideline Limit to pare down your results.

Affinity Librarians are also available to do the searching for you.
Just tell us what you’re looking for.

Michele (MMC Library in Oshkosh) 3-0340
Margo (STE in Appleton) 8-2325

Harrison's Online

Did you know … Affinity employees have access to Harrison’s Online?

Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine via Books@Ovid
This major reference for clinicians offers strategies for understanding, diagnosing and managing disease.

Harrison’s Manual of Medicine via Books@Ovid
This eBook offers a thorough synopsis of pathogenesis and clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment for each medical condition.

Keep these links handy by

* adding them to your IE favorites or

* adding shortcuts to your desktop.

Access via any Affinity computer.

Browse the other 160+ titles at Books@Ovid (Affinity access only).
See what else is available to you via our Electronic Bookshelf.

How to Check Out Library Materials

The Affinity Libraries offer a wealth of materials for those who care for patients and for those who wish to be well-informed about health and wellness.

In the interest of good stewardship, we need to keep track of who uses library materials so that our collections can continue to be available to Affinity staff members and customers.

Our Simple Procedures for Checking Out Library Materials:

Locate the check-out card(s) on the inside or outside back covers.
Clearly write your full name and department on the card(s)
(No initials, please.)
Drop the card(s) in the black boxes on or near each library’s service desk.
We will verify your contact information in our computer system and check the materials out to you.
Your contact information will be kept confidential. Once we have checked out the material in our computer system, we’ll cross your name off the card(s).
Professional Library materials should be returned in two weeks. Consumer Health materials should be returned in four weeks.
If you do not return your materials on time, we will send you an overdue notice. PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE NOT TRYING TO HARASS YOU. WE ARE SIMPLY TRYING TO GET OUR MATERIALS BACK SO THAT OTHERS CAN USE THEM.

Items marked “Reference” and medical, nursing, and allied health journals are to be used within the library. You are welcome to photocopy information that you need, but these materials may not be checked out because, in most cases, they cannot be replaced.

Again, we want to make sure that library materials are available for anyone who might need health or medical information.

We appreciate your cooperation.

Please contact Margo (738-2324) or Michele (223-0342) if you need additional information.

Household Products Database

Many of us have just finished updating our Hazardous Materials Inventories for our work areas.
But have you ever wondered about all the chemicals we keep at home, under the kitchen sink, in the laundry room, and in our garages?

The Household Products Database provides information on the potential health effects, safe use and handling of common products in and around our homes. Information is taken from manufacturers' product labels and Material Safety Data Sheets. Research consumer products based on chemical ingredients.

Examples :
AntiFreeze
Air Fresheners
Cleaning Supplies
Lawn Care Products, and much more …

The Household Products Database is a free resource from the National Library of Medicine (our tax dollars at work!)

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions

Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.

Number Eight: You will make better decisions.

Since librarians are trained to evaluate information sources for reliability you can be assured that the information you’d get from us is information you can trust. Using credible information will help you to make better decisions, whether these decisions relate to direct patient care or to other aspects of your work.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Seven in a future edition of this Blog.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database

We recently renewed our online access to NMCD.
It is an excellent tool for medication reconciliation.

NMCD is considered the scientific “gold standard” for evidence-based clinical practice info on herbals and other dietary supplements like Gingko or St. Johns Wort.

Search Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database
* Search - enter any natural product name, disease or condition, or drug name...gives you objective product information, Effectiveness Ratings, or potential interactions with drugs, etc.
* Natural Product Effectiveness Checker - tells you the level of effectiveness for natural products used for various medical conditions.
* Natural Product / Drug Interaction Checker - tells you potential interactions between any natural product and any drug. Automatically checks for interactions with EACH INGREDIENT of each product.
* Disease / Medical Conditions Search - shows you medical conditions, and allows you to see which natural products might be effective.
* Advanced Search - helps you find specific information or keywords anywhere in the Database.

How to get there :
Affinity Intranet > Library > Scroll down to Natural Medicines

Affinity Intranet > Library > Find Drug Info > Scroll down to Natural Medicines

Please feel free to contact Library Services with questions.
MMC Library : 3-0340 STE Library 8-2325

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions

Number Nine: You will get more accurate information.

Information found for free on the World Wide Web does not always come from credible sources. Your Affinity Librarians provide access to a number of electronic resources from the Library page on the Affinity Intranet that have been vetted and provide reliable information that you can use in caring for patients or for other work-related projects.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or for help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Eight in a future post.

Source: Special Libraries Association

Evaluating Medical News Reports in the Popular Media

It seems as though every time you turn around medical news is reported in the popular media. With the hype surrounding some of these reports, it can be tempting to take the information at face value. However, for your safety and the safety of your loved ones and your patients, it is important to look critically at medical news.

If you ask the following questions about the studies reported on in the media, you’ll be better able to distinguish between potentially useful and potentially useless information. (For a more in-depth explanation of the points listed below, check out The Healthy Skeptic: Cutting through the Hype about Your Health by Robert J. Davis, PhD. available at both the St. Elizabeth Hospital and Mercy Medical Center libraries.)

What kind of study is being reported on?
There are numerous types of studies that serve different research aims. In terms of applying study findings to your situation, randomized clinical trials and cohort studies can be considered most credible, while test-tube research and animal studies are not as credible.

How big is the effect of the study?
As a general rule of thumb, the larger the effect, the more you can believe in the results.

Could the findings be a fluke?
If the study outcome can be chalked up to chance, the results might not be as reliable.

Who was studied?
This is an important question to ask if you want to discover whether a study’s findings might apply to you.

Is there a good explanation for the results?
If study findings don’t make sense biologically, you should exercise caution in interpreting the results.

Who paid for the research?
Much research is funded by organizations with vested interest in the outcome. While findings of such studies aren’t always suspicious, you’d be more able to trust findings of studies funded by entities that don’t stand to profit from the results.

Was the study peer reviewed?
Having outside experts in the field scrutinize the results can add an extra layer of credibility to a study.

How does this study square with other studies?
Research does not often stand on its own. How does this study fit with others that came before it? Are the findings consistent?

Your Affinity librarians can help. If you see or read a medical news report and would like to know if the information is reliable, we can do the research and look for answers to the questions above.

Please contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at
St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324) if you, a loved one, or one of your patients needs help finding information or using the library resources that will help them to become wise health consumers.

MDConsult and ADAM Patient Education Handouts

With ADAM Quicksheets going away in July, clinicians will be delighted (and relieved) to know that MDConsult contains the same high-quality ADAM patient-education handouts. You’ll recognize the same style of illustrations and content.

When you sign up for an MDConsult Personalized Account, you’ll be able to customize the Patient Education Handouts. Clicking on the following link for generic access to MDConsult (no need to sign in for generic access). Sign in or Create an account to customize handouts.

New to MDConsult? If generic access is via IP, why should I register?

We recommend that you register for a Personal Login if:
* You want to access MDConsult outside Affinity (remote access at home, at the coffee shop, on vacation, etc. …)
* You want to personalize the Patient Handouts
* You want to use the PDA Resources

A step-by-step, detailed guide with screen shots on How to Register for MDConsult is available online.

Request an MDConsult User’s Guide from Library Services at :

Michele Matucheski at MMC Library (3-0340)
Margo Lambert at STE Library (8-2324)

Library Staff is also willing to give you a personalized tour of MDConsult.
Just give us a call. We’re here to help!

February is National Wise Health Consumer Month

In this era of information overload, it can be difficult for people to find health information they can trust.

The St. Elizabeth Hospital and Mercy Medical Center libraries offer materials on a broad range of health topics that staff, patients, and community members can check out. We also provide patient education information through online resources such as MDConsult, eMedicine, and Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.

Please contact Michele at Mercy Medical Center (223-0342) or Margo at
St. Elizabeth Hospital (738-2324) if you, a loved one, or one of your patients needs help finding information or using the library resources that will help them to become wise health consumers.

The ABCs of Evaluation for "Healthy" Internet Searching

Most people don’t stop to think about the quality of the health information they find on the internet. With few rules and regulations, and no one in charge, how do you know if the health information you find on the internet is accurate?

Here are some things to consider :

Accuracy
o Does the site provide references to scientific literature?
o Popular press doesn’t count here.

Authority
o Is the information from a credible source?
o Check the About Us section
o Check the site’s domain
§ .org = not-for-profit agency
§ .edu = educational institution
§ .gov = government institution
§ .com = commercial
· Evaluate .com sites carefully
· Used by businesses to make money or promote a product
· They may contain some good information, but it may not be balanced or complete.

Bias
o Who pays for the site?
o Are ads / sponsored content clearly labeled?

Currency
o Are there dates on the material?
o Is it under 5 years old?

Coverage
o Does the information cover all aspects of the topic?
o Or does it leave out certain parts (ie only talking about drug treatments and not lifestyle approaches)?

A great place to look for health information on the internet is MedlinePlus.
From The National Library of Medicine, they’ve already done the quality checks for us. It has our best interests at heart.

Top Ten Reasons to Use Your Library (whether or not you are involved in direct patient care)

Number Ten: You will get valuable information to help you make decisions

Michele Matucheski (at MMC) and Margo Lambert (at SEH) can gather information from a wealth of online and print sources to help you decide on a course of action, whatever your function in the organization.

Please contact Michele (223-0340) or Margo (738-2325) for additional information or help with your project.

Stay tuned for Reason Number Nine in a future edition of this Blog.

Source: Special Libraries Association (www.sla.org)

NCLEX-RN Success Podcasts

You have access to Davis’s NCLEX-RN® Success podcasts! Nursing students can connect with Sally Lagerquist, who has helped more than 200,000 candidates pass the NCLEX-RN nursing licensure exam since 1976! She has partnered with STAT!Ref to provide a series of podcasts aimed at assisting students with their preparation for the NCLEX-RN® exam. Students can find the podcasts on the STAT!Ref homepage and listen to them or download them for mp3 players. Then, they can learn more about each section in the title in STAT!Ref.

NCLEX-RN Success Podcasts

How to get there :
Affinity Intranet > Library > StatRef > StatRef Logo

Sally Lagerquist, RN, MS, is president and course coordinator of Review for Nurses, Inc. and has been helping nursing students pass licensure exams for more than 30 years. The author and editor of seven books and 28 editions, she is also a faculty member at the University of California at San Francisco, School of Nursing. Containing 2,500 practice questions and test-taking tips based on the latest official NCLEX-RN® test plan, Davis’s NCLEX-RN® Success concentrates on nursing concerns for every Client Needs category. More >>

Old AudioDigest CDs Free to a Good Home

Once again, the MMC and STE Libraries have 1 year's worth of old AudioDigest CDs available for FREE. Although these programs are too old to apply for CE credits, they do still offer a lot of good information for Physicians, PAs, Nurses, and other health professionals.

Subject areas include the following :

Urology

Psychiatry

Pediatrics

Otolaryngology

Orthopedics

Ophthalmology

Obstetrics & Gynecology

Internal Medicine

General Surgery

Gastroenterology

Family Practice

Emergency Medicine

Anesthesiology.

Look for them on the book sale tables at each library this month.

Why are we giving them away?

--limited shelving space for audiovisuals

--CE credits are available only for 3 years since date of publication

--Our libraries emphasize the most up-to-date info, so we want to make room for more recent issues.

-- Newer editions are available on AudioCD and MP3 files that can be downloaded to your computer or MP3 player. Contact Michele Matucheski for more details on accessing recent AudioDigest MP3 files.

First-come, First-served. These are hot items! We expect them to go fast!

SEH Library (8-2324)

MMC Library (3-0340)

Patient Education in Hmong

Patient Education materials in Hmong are more readily available than just a year ago. Below are some collections you may find helpful in caring for Hmong patients and their families.

MEDLINEPlus : Health Information in Hmong - from The National Library of Medicine. Provides handouts in both English and Hmong, so you know what you are giving our Hmong patients. BEST BET!

Asian Pacific Islander Cancer Education Materials - Hmong

From The American Cancer Society and The Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research, and Training (AANCART)Provides links for education materials that have been screened for medical accuracy and cultural relevance.

Emergency and Community Health Outreach (ECHO) – Hmong

Provides videos (viewable online) on emergency and community health topics.

Hmong Health Website Provides access to health information for Hmong people and those who provide health, education and social services to the Hmong community. Categories of topics include family health, healthy living, traditional healing, talking with health providers, and more. Based in Wausau, WI.

Pediatric Health Information : Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.

Links to bilingual articles in Hmong and other languages.

Refugee Health Information Network (RHIN) - Hmong

SPIRAL – Selected Patient Information in Asian Languages – Hmong - From Tufts University

Seven Simple Rules for using the Library Color MFDs (Multi-Function Devices)

1 – Limit printouts to fewer than 50 copies. (The Affinity Print Shop is equipped to handle larger print jobs.)

2 – Pick up printouts promptly, especially those containing personal names or other confidential information.

3 – Consider scanning documents and emailing them to yourself (or others) rather than using paper if this would work for you and your colleagues. (See library staff for help.)

4 – Use black and white unless color is absolutely necessary for your print job.

5 – Print on both sides of the page if appropriate (again, library staff can help).

6 – If you use the MFD for a print job and then need to print something to your usual printer afterwards, please make sure that your computer is set to print to your usual printer. (This will ensure one printout for you instead of ten orphaned printouts going into the recycling bin.)

7 – If you access the computer room after hours, please turn off lights and lock the door when you leave.

Contact Library Staff or I.S. Staff if you need help using the computers and/or MFD in the library computer rooms.

Thank you!

Affinity Library Holiday Hours

Please note the following holiday hours for the Affinity Health System Libraries:

Christmas

Wednesday, December 24 Libraries close at 3 PM
Thursday, December 25 Libraries Closed
Friday, December 26 Libraries Closed

New Year

Thursday, January 1 Libraries Closed

Even though the libraries will be closed, please remember that Affinity employees do have 24-hour access to the libraries. If you wish to use the library or the computer rooms, please ask a Security Officer to provide access. Also, the Affinity “Library without Walls” is also available 24/7 via the Intranet.

The Affinity Library Staff wishes you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season!

Just for Fun ... Polite Dissent on House

Polite Dissent is a website that discusses the medicine behind the tv series, House.

If you like gripping tales of differential diagnosis, or you just like to point out where the writers went astray, this could be an interesting website.

Top Journals for eTOCs

Stay up-to-Date with emailed Tables-of-Contents to your favorite professional journals. It’s quick and easy!
* Click on the titles below for a free taste.
* Signing up is quick and easy. Just enter your email address and click submit.
* Full-text articles are just a click away! – No more waiting!

Here is a brief list of the top titles currently available:

Top Leadership Journals
Harvard Business Review
Health Care Financing Review
Hospitals & Health Networks
Modern Healthcare

Top Medical Journals
Annals of Internal Medicine
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
Journal of Pediatrics
New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
Spine

Top Nursing Journals
AACN Advanced Critical Care
American Journal of Nursing (AJN)
Nursing
Nursing Made Incredibly Easy
RN

For a more complete list of titles, click here.
Don’t see your favorite journal listed? Need help?
Contact Michele Matucheski (MMC) or Margo Lambert (STE).

Find Drug Information for Health Professionals

Find Drug Information for Health Professionals

Navigate there : Affinity Intranet > Library > Find Drug Info

Visit the above library web page on the Affinity Intranet for links to the following high quality Drug and Toxicology Tools :

DailyMed (Drug Information) : Provides high quality information about marketed drugs. Includes FDA approved labels (package inserts). Provides health care providers and the public with a standard, comprehensive, up-to-date, look-up and download resource of medication content and labeling as found in medication package inserts (similar to the PDR but easier to use).

Dietary Supplements Labels Database : Offers information about ingredients in 2,000+ selected brands of dietary supplements. Includes links to PubMed and MedlinePlus and FDA Warnings and Recalls.

Drug Information Portal : Gateway to current and accurate drug information from the National Library of Medicine and to other key government agencies.

LactMed : Drugs and Lactation : Includes information such as maternal levels in breast milk, infant levels in blood, potential effects in breastfeeding infants and on lactation itself, the American Academy of Pediatrics category indicating the level of compatibility of the drug with breastfeeding, and alternate drugs to consider.

MDConsult : Includes full-text Medical Books, Journals, Patient Handouts, Practice Guidelines and more.

Micromedex Drug Information : Drug and Toxicology Information, Drug Interactions, Dosing Tools, AltMed Leaflets, PDA Resources. Includes access to the PDR.

How to Find the PDR Online : Step-by-step screenshots to navigate your way to the PDR online.

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database : Scientific Gold Standard for Evidence-Based, Clinical Information on Natural Medicines.

After Hours Library and Computer Room Use

The Affinity Library staff strives to make sure that every Affinity employee can access the library spaces and resources even if you cannot visit during hours.

Brick & Mortar Libraries
Affinity employees have 24-hour access to the medical libraries seven days a week. (Note: The Resource Café Library at St. Elizabeth hospital is only accessible when the libraries are open.)

If you need to visit the library or use computers when the libraries are closed, simply ask a security officer to open the room(s) for you.
Ø After hours access is limited to Affinity staff.
Ø Just make sure you turn off the lights and lock the doors when you leave.

If you wish to check out library materials when a staff member is not present, simply follow the instructions located on or near the service desks.
Ø Please note that items marked “Reference” and journals cannot leave
the library. You are welcome to copy information from those materials.

Library without Walls Available 24/7
The library website is available from any computer with access to the AHS Intranet.
Ø Check to see what we have available in print, audio, video and online formats.
Ø Use any of the indexes and databases from your office or unit, as any of
our online full-text journals.

Thanksgiving Food Safety Tips

Have a safe and healthy Thanksgiving Day feast with food safety tips from MedlinePlus.


Learn about food safety, food storage, preparation and handling for this holiday and everyday in the kitchen.

If knowledge is power, libraries are power plants!

Search Help for Ebsco CINAHL

In early October, our access to the CINAHL Nursing & Allied Health database changed from Ovid to Ebsco.

How do I find CINAHL on the Affinity Intranet?
Affinity Intranet Home > Library >
Scroll down to the very bottom of the page.
CINAHL is the last thing in the right column under “Most Popular Links.”

Here are some resources to help with the transition of getting used to Ebsco CINAHL :

Ebsco CINAHL with Full-Text Database Guide from Ebsco

CINAHL Search with Subject Headings – Duke University Medical Center Library. This is a 5 minute video that demonstrates using Subject Headings to search CINAHL. It requires Macromedia Flash and speakers.

Using CINAHL - From the University of Florida Health Sciences Center Libraries, this website offers interactivity in the form of narrated examples and click-to-learn tutorials. It also provides valuable information pertaining to CINAHL navigation and search strategies.

In addition, Affinity Librarians, Margo (STE ext. 8-2325) and Michele (MMC ext. 3-0340) are available for one-on-one sessions to help staff get used to the new Ebsco CINAHL. We can show you the basics of searching CINAHL to more advanced techniques like subject and keyword searching, using limits, full-text access, and saving searches/creating alerts.

If you would prefer, we are also available to search CINAHL on your behalf. Just tell us what you’re looking for, and we’ll craft the search strategy and present you with a list of relevant citations.