Information Overload

I have been giving links to different sources of information, and that can be a good thing(as a librarian I tend to think this!), but there is also the challenge of information overload.

The ability to find relevant, accurate, helpful information to answer clinical questions is a skill that can be learned, but it's not all about looking at more and more sites.

Ask yourself:

• Which sites are easier for me to navigate? Medline comes in many interfaces from PubMed to Ebsco Medline, plus many others.
• Have I looked at the sources that are respected by others in my field, or who are experts in their field? Medical Associations often issue guidelines based on extensive research and discussion.
• Am I avoiding looking things up because I don't know where to start and feel overwhelmed? If you work backwards, starting with a guideline from a site like Guideline.gov, or a chapter from Uptodate, you can see where the writers got their information in their list of references.

Remember that I am available for questions you might have, which is another way to deal with information overload.

BMC Family Practice Journal

BMC Family Practice is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of primary health care, including clinical management of patients, professional training, shared decision making, and the organisation and evaluation of health care in the community.

How do I find an article? Part 2: PMID number

The PMID number is a unique identifier for medical articles. While it's nice to have authors, title, page numbers etc., the PMID is a quick and easy way to capture that information. You'll find the PMID number at the end of each reference in PubMed. It also pops up in Uptodate--they provide a list of articles the author consulted for whatever section you are reading. So for example:

1. If you want to read one of these original articles, go to the references at the end of the section.
   
2. Click on the one you are interested in.


3. Look at the bottom of the page for the PMID number.


4. The PMID number is a unique identifier for articles in Medline, and if you type it into the search box, either you will get the full text article(yay!!) or need to provide a credit card number to the publisher for "pay per view."
   

Free Online English-Spanish Dictionary of Healthcare Terms

The English-Spanish Dictionary of Health Related Terms has

nearly 14,000 terms covering topics such as emergency and disaster preparedness, terms related to anatomy, signs and symptoms, communicable diseases, chronic diseases, maternal and child health, nutrition, occupational health, environmental health, oral health, mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and traditional medicine. Also, many popular terms used in Mexico and Central America to describe signs and symptoms of illness have been included in the dictionary.

A project of the Health Initiative of the Americas, this guide is available as a pdf file, and is freely available in order to help strengthen communication between Spanish speaking people and healthcare workers.

Related Post:
MedicalSpanish.com

How do I find a full text article? Part 1: Medline

Where do I find articles? In 1959, Librarian Herman H. Henkle's print journal collection, might have been your source! But in 2009, you have more options.

There are still a few print journals left on the shelves at Montgomery Hospital's Library, but most of your articles will come from three sources:


1. Medline is the largest database of article information. The National Library of Medicine(NLM) funded by the U.S. government, employs a large staff of librarians to summarize medical articles, and assign subject headings/tags to each one. The data is freely accessible, and many companies repackage it with different interfaces.

PubMed Medline: This interface is produced by the NLM, and is available from any computer for free. If you want free full text though, only 10% of the articles have a link to the full text online from the publisher. To restrict to full text articles, click the limits button, and choose the "links to free full text" option.

2. Interlibrary Loan NOTE due to closure of the library interlibrary loan is not available.

3. Google: Sometimes, if you are fortunate, a publisher will post an article in free full text to the web, perhaps because of the public health implications, or just because they feel like it.

Related Posts:

How do I find an article? Part 2: PMID Number

Explaining things with medical analogies

Altoona Hospital's Family Practice program has a list of medical analogies to help explain disease concepts to patients if they are having difficulty understanding. Analogies tell a kind of story, explaining a disease in terms of another subject that is more familiar, for instance comparing the risks of hypertension to pressure in a pipe, that often isn't noticed until the pipe bursts.
For other analogies check out http://www.scienceanalogies.info/webanalogylinks.html

Guide to Clinical Preventive Services

The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services was produced by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, and includes guidelines and recommendations for preventive measures. If you need to know who to screen, at what age, for what disorder, this is the site for you.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) was convened by the Public Health Service to rigorously evaluate clinical research in order to assess the merits of preventive measures, including screening tests, counseling, immunizations, and preventive medications. USPSTF also provides pocket guides, email alerts and downloads for your mobil device.