MLA%202007

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MLA 2007

• NLM update

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NLM Strategic Plan

• Handed out print copies at meeting
• Also available online www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/plan/l
  rpdocs.html
• Plan covers 2006-2016
• 4 main goals

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GOAL 1

• Seamless, uninterrupted access to expanding
  collections of biomedical data, medical
  knowledge, and health information

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GOAL 1 Recommendations

• Evaluate interactive publications as a possible
  means to enhance learning, comprehension, and
  sharing of research results
• Establish a Disaster Information Management
  Research Center at NLM to make a strong
  commitment to disaster remediation

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GOAL 2

• Trusted information services that promote health
  literacy and the reduction of health disparities
  worldwide

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GOAL 2 Recommendations

• Work selectively in developing countries that
  represent special outreach opportunities, such as
  improving access to electronic information
  resources, enhancing local journal publications
  of high quality, and developing a trained
  librarian and IT workforce

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GOAL 2 Recommendations

• Support research on the application of cognitive
  and cultural models to facilitate information
  transfer and trust building and develop new
  methodologies to evaluate impact on patient care
  and health outcomes

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GOAL 3

• Integrated biomedical, clinical, and public
  health information systems that promote
  scientific discovery and speed the translation of
  research into practice

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GOAL 3 Recommendations

• Develop linked databases for discovering
  relationships between clinical data, genetic
  information, and environmental factors
• Promote development of Next Generation electronic
  health records to facilitate patient-centric
  care, clinical research, and public health

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GOAL 4

• A strong and diverse workforce for biomedical
  informatics research, systems developments, and
  innovative service delivery

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GOAL 4 Recommendations

• Develop an expanded and diverse workforce through
  enhanced visibility of biomedical informatics and
  library science for K-12 and college students
• Support training programs that prepare librarians
  to meet emerging needs for specialized
  information services

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New Resource

• New Web Resource for Accessing Information on
  Genetic Diseases
• Created by NCBI and Genetic Alliance
• It is designed to serve the needs of a broad
  spectrum of users, ranging from those who are
  just beginning to learn about a disorder to those
  who understand complex scientific information,
  including those who want to track emerging
  information over time

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New Resource

• Site available at www.geneticalliance.org
• It is called Disease InfoSearch

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What can one find using Disease InfoSearch?

• Disease descriptions from NCBI's Genes Disease
  online book
• Disease and genetic information from Genetics
  Home Reference
• NLM MedlinePlus Web pages
• A guide to genetic testing, and directories of
  geneticists and gene testing laboratories
• Clinical trials that may be available to those
  with genetic diseases
• Medical dictionaries and encyclopedias
• Primers and tutorials on DNA, genetics, genome
  mapping, and other scientific subjects
• The latest research published in scientific
  journals, via PubMed and PubMed Central
• Technical information about the genes, DNA
  sequences, chromosomes and protein structures
  associated with genetic diseases

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Another New Resource

• Radiation Event Medical Management (REMM)
• Created by NLMs Specialized Information Services
  (SIS) with US Dept. of Health Human Services
• Topics such as nuclear reactor accidents, dirty
  bombs, transportation accidents

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REMM Goals

• Provide guidance for health care providers,
  primarily physicians, about clinical diagnosis
  and treatment during mass casualty
  radiological/nuclear (rad/nuc) events
• Provide just-in-time, evidence-based, usable
  information with sufficient background and
  context to make complex issues understandable to
  those without formal radiation medicine expertise
  
• Provide web-based information that is also
  downloadable in advance, so that it would be
  available during an event if the internet is not
  accessible

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New Resource

• InfoSIDA
• www.aidsinfo.nih.gov/infoSIDA
• InfoSIDA enables Spanish-speaking visitors to
  access many of the materials provided by AIDSinfo
  without having to navigate through the English
  site.
• The AIDSinfo Web site, a U.S. Department of
  Health and Human Services project, offers the
  latest federally approved information on HIV/AIDS
  clinical research, treatment and prevention, and
  medical practice guidelines.

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Statistics

• Six new states have Go Local proposals
  accepted.
• 29 of the country covered by Go Local
• 16 million PubMed hits per day
• 2.5 million MedlinePlus hits per day

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MLA 2007

• Poster

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• Analysis of the Reporting of Search Strategies in
  Cochrane Systematic Reviews

Plaut D, McGraw K, Anderson M, Nguyen L, Welik K,
Yoshii A
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Background

• Cochrane systematic reviews high quality
  evidence used to guide clinical decisions
• USC has access through Ovid EBM Reviews.

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Background

• The Cochrane Handbook provides instructions for
  documenting the search strategy for a systematic
  review, listing the elements of the search
  strategy that should be included in the
  description.
• The purpose of detailed documentation of the
  search is to ensure that the process is
  replicable.

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Objective

• To analyze recently published Cochrane reviews to
  determine whether the guidelines for describing
  search strategies are being followed.

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Why Search Strategy Reporting is important

• We need high quality published search strategies
  to use as models when we teach professionals and
  students how to conduct systematic review
  searches.

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Methods

• 7 elements required for inclusion in the search
  method description from the handbook
• Databases searched
• Name of host
• Date search was run
• Years covered by search
• Complete search strategy
• One or two sentence summary of the search
  strategy
• Language restrictions

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Methods

• Downloaded titles of new Cochrane reviews for 1st
  quarter 2006 (83 reviews)
• Randomized titles using a spreadsheet random
  number generator and divided the titles into a
  set for each author
• Two authors together analyzed an initial 30
  reviews to establish evaluation guidelines

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Methods

• Initial analysis of 30 reviews revealed that
  those relying solely on Specialized Registers
  should meet different criteria, so those 13
  reviews were eliminated.
• Authors worked individually and then each sent
  their evaluation to one other author for review.
• Questions concerning evaluating the inclusion of
  items in specific reviews were presented to the
  entire group of authors for resolution.

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Results

• Percentage of reviews with each element
• Database Name 100
• Database Host 20
• Date of Search 13
• Years covered 95
• Search strategy 91
• Search summary 29
• No Language restriction 71

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Results

• None of the Cochrane reviews analyzed contained
  all seven search description elements (n56, one
  author was unable to complete the analysis)
• All reviews listed the databases searched.
• Most reviews included the years covered by
  searches and detailed search strategy.

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Results

• A substantial number of reviews failed to include
  a statement about language restriction.
• The elements most frequently missing were
• Database host
• Date the search was run
• One or two sentence summary of the search

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Discussion

• It is clear that authors are not following
  Cochrane Handbook guidelines for documenting a
  search strategy.
• The most frequently missed element database
  host is a crucial piece of information,
  especially if one needs to replicate a search.

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Discussion

• A text summary of the search strategy is
  important to understanding the overall search
  strategy, particularly for beginning searchers.

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Conclusion/Recommendations

• The Cochrane guidelines for reporting search
  strategies are not being consistently followed.
• The ability to replicate the searches and assess
  the quality of searches in Cochrane reviews is
  hampered by incomplete search descriptions.

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Conclusion/Recommendations

• Adding a checklist or a search strategy
  description template in the Cochrane Handbook
  might improve the reporting of search results.