Journal of the Medical Library Association最新文献

Objective: Research published in languages other than English (LOTE) is often ignored in evidence syntheses, marginalising diverse knowledge and global perspectives. While the extent of LOTE inclusion and the associated attitudes of LOTE inclusion amongst authors of systematic reviews has been well characterised, LOTE inclusion in other evidence synthesis forms has yet to be explored. Scoping reviews, in comparison to systematic reviews, examine a broader range of sources to build a conceptual summary of a field of inquiry, making LOTE literature an important source of information for scoping review authors. This study therefore aimed to characterise the current state of LOTE inclusion intentions in scoping reviews.

Methods: Peer-reviewed, PubMed indexed scoping review protocols published from 01-Jan-2024 to 11-Aug-2024 were analysed for LOTE inclusion. Author affiliation, which LOTEs (if any) were included, and what methods authors planned to use to read LOTE literature were recorded.

Results: Overall, LOTE inclusion intentions and attitudes were diverse, with just under half of the 249 protocols analysed including a LOTE. Many LOTE-included articles relied on the authorship team's own LOTE proficiency to gather evidence. Machine translation was also intended to be used in one quarter of the LOTE-included protocols. Only 30% of the exclusive protocols planned to exclude LOTEs at the screening stage, allowing for readers to identify the number of LOTE articles.

Conclusion: This analysis demonstrates the need for increased LOTE inclusion and reporting guidelines for scoping reviews, as well as the importance of analysing LOTE inclusion for other forms of evidence synthesis.

Objective: This case study identifies the presence and prevalence of precision indexing errors in a subset of automatically indexed MEDLINE records in PubMed (specifically, all MEDLINE records automatically indexed with the MeSH term Malus, the genus name for apple trees). In short, how well does automatic indexing compare [figurative] apples to [literal] apples?

Methods: 1,705 MEDLINE records automatically indexed with the MeSH term Malus underwent title/abstract and full text screening to determine whether they were correctly indexed (i.e., the records were about Malus, meaning they discussed the literal fruit or tree) or incorrectly indexed (i.e., they were not about Malus, meaning they did not discuss the literal fruit or tree). The context and type of indexing error were documented for each erroneously indexed record.

Results: 135 (7.9%) records were incorrectly indexed with the MeSH term Malus. The most common indexing error was due to the word "apple" being used in similes, metaphors, and idioms (80, or 59.2%), with the next most common error being due to "apple" being present in a name or term (50, or 37%). Additional indexing errors were attributed to the use of "apple" in acronyms, and, in one case, a reference to Sir Isaac Newton.

Conclusion: As indicated by this study's findings, automatic indexing can commit errors when indexing records that have words with non-literal or alternative meanings in their titles or abstracts. Librarians should be mindful of the existence of automatic indexing errors, and instruct authors on how best to ameliorate the effects of them within their own manuscripts.

Background: In 2023, JJ Pionke became President of the Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MWCMLA). He determined that for his presidential year, he would form a task force to determine the accessibility levels of the chapter and remediate accessibility issues as appropriate.

Case presentation: To accomplish the accessibility audit of the MWCMLA, Pionke formed an Accessibility Task Force that was time limited to one year. Task force meetings were held once a month to keep people accountable and to share out progress and requests for assistance. The task force was broken up into four teams: annual meeting, policy, social media, and website. Task force members could be on more than one team. The goals of each team were generally the same: what are other organizations doing, what do we have already if anything, and develop best practices/policy/etc. as needed.

Conclusions: The teams fulfilled their mandate by creating best practices/guidelines/policies documents. Some accessibility remediation was needed for the chapter website. The task force's findings and materials were shared out among the MWCMLA as well as passed on to the presidents of the other chapters, many of whom had expressed interest in the results.

Objectives: To identify the most frequently-observed forms of cognitive bias among Health Information Professionals (HIPs) during decision-making processes. To determine if number of years in the profession influences the types of cognitive biases perceived in others' decisions.

Method: This cross-sectional study invited participation of 498 elected and appointed leaders at the national, caucus, and chapter levels of the Medical Library Association. The 149 participants (32%) were presented with 24 cognitive biases often associated with expected decision-making contexts among HIPs.

Results: The most frequently observed forms of cognitive bias in decision-making situations were: Status Quo, Sunk Costs, Novelty, Professionology, Authority, Worst-Case Scenario, and Group Think. Four of these overlapped with a previous 2007 study. Results were analyzed by length of years in the profession. Four forms of cognitive bias showed statistically significant differences in frequency by years in the profession: Authority, Naïve Realism, Overconfidence, and Status quo forms of cognitive bias.

Discussion: This study identified commonly observed cognitive biases that interrupt decision-making processes. These results provide a first step toward developing solutions. Mitigation strategies for the seven most common forms of identified cognitive bias are explored with more general recommendations for all forms of cognitive bias. This study should guide the profession on the most commonly-perceived forms of cognitive bias occurring in decision-making environments with an eye upon possible mitigation strategies.

This article briefly documents the history and significance of PubMed Central (PMC) Journal Backfiles Digitization, 2004-2024 to raise awareness of this open access project among researchers who will find much to discover to advance understanding about the human condition across time and place. The success of PMC Journal Backfiles Digitization-including the interdisciplinary teamwork and partnerships underpinning it-provides a blueprint for future efforts to make the globally appreciated collections of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) accessible to all. By continuing to prioritize open access, teamwork, and partnerships, NLM and likeminded institutions can ensure that knowledge and data inform the advancement of medicine and public health.

Objective: Academic health science library catalogs were analyzed to determine the presence and frequency of graphic medicine titles in print format in the collections. The secondary objectives were to gauge if students could access graphic medicine titles, through other libraries within the same system or as eBooks, and to examine if libraries highlighted graphic medicine collections and their uses on their websites.

Methods: A convenience sample of health science libraries was created from the Association of Academic Health Science Libraries member list. A title list was developed from collection resources and award lists for graphic medicine and graphic novels. Data was collected from public-facing library catalogs.

Results: Fifty-six percent of the libraries analyzed had at least one title from the list in their collections available as print. An additional thirty percent had at least one title available as an eBook, leaving only fourteen percent with no graphic medicine titles.

Conclusions: This study provides a starting point in describing the prevalence and breadth of graphic medicine collections in academic health science libraries. Although their presence may be small, our findings suggest that graphic medicine is being collected by academic health science libraries. Academic librarians can support the growing interest in the comic art format by incorporating graphic medicine into their collections and educating their patrons on this important genre.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to understand the process of physicians' evidence-based clinical decision-making for new drug prescriptions.

Methods: Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted, and thematic coding was used for data analysis.

Results: Several findings emerged. First, point-of-care information seeking focuses more on accessible and easy-to-use sources, such as medical websites, while out-of-practice searches encompass broader sources such as printed sources and extended networks. Medical websites are becoming preferred sources of information. Second, critical appraisal of information is performed passively by using pre-appraised information sources and referring to professional networks. Third, professional networks (i.e., specialists and senior colleagues) remain essential throughout the process and are pivotal for the decision to change prescription practices.

Conclusions: Medical information systems that facilitate immediate access to summarized reliable evidence and feature real-time connectivity to the communities of practice can be an effective strategy for improving physicians' evidence-based practice for new drug prescriptions.

In our editorial in the January/April 2023 issue of the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA), we spoke of the challenges we faced when we took on the co-lead editor roles. At the end of that editorial, we stated our intention to get the publishing schedule back on track and to finally tackle other projects. And while it took us some time to report it, we are pleased to share that, in the publication year of 2024, JMLA resumed its regular quarterly publishing schedule.

Background: Investigators encounter challenges in uncovering valuable studies when they are researching health disparities and minority health literature. This evidence scan and qualitative/quantitative crosswalk analysis looked at maternal health literature to gain a better understanding of the nuances in articulating the social determinates of health (SDoH) concepts aligned with the NIMHD Research Framework. SDoH concepts describe the multifaceted causes of health disparities, as opposed to effects that result in health outcomes.

Methods: An evidence scan was conducted to identify literature for a health disparity population using infant low birth weight as a sample population. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of results was performed to examine the medical subject headings (MeSH) terms used to index the literature, along with the terminology used to describe various concepts related to the SDoH within the literature. A crosswalk of MeSH terms to SDoH concepts was used to see if a concentrated focus on SDoH concepts would improve discoverability of the literature.

Results: The 31 articles selected demonstrated that 80% of the MeSH indexed keywords are unique within this collection of full text articles, despite the commonality of the topic. VOSviewer and a Python term counting program were used to visualize the diffusion of terminology. NVivo textual analysis revealed SDoH concepts within meaningful phrases within the literature. Major SDoH themes emerged from the analysis, although were not indexed. Authors used a crosswalk approach with SDoH concepts, to demonstrate that MeSH terms could be used to identify content with a more granular SDoH focus.

Conclusion: Identifying literature that has SDoH concepts within the full text is difficult, due to the diffused nature of the terminology used to describe these concepts. This paper proposes to demonstrate how a crosswalk approach from MeSH terminology to SDoH concepts can provide a methodology for improving the discoverability of the literature. New technologies such as natural language processing, combined with existing technologies to normalize disparate ways of describing similar or related constructs, could be used to help discover and synthesize literature related to SDoH. Investigators, indexers, and librarians can work together to create an improved process for researchers.