The video from yesterday's PubMed Search Clinic is now available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/disted/clinics/pmupdate08.html so if you missed it you can still learn about the changes.

The presentation covers the changes made to PubMed including: automatic term mapping, citation sensor, and advanced search page.

Citation Senor:
It is a new feature designed for users seeking specific citations. Simply put the citation information into the search box and click Go. The Citation Sensor looks at that information and if it looks like it is citation information it will try and find matches. It will display the matches in a yellow box.

I see this as handy, but I have to say I really like the regular Citation Matcher that is listed on the left hand side (in the blue bar) of the front page. I like it because quite often people have the wrong spelling, wrong journal, wrong year when looking for a specific citation. I think the Citation Matcher makes it easier to account and adjust for these errors. For example, it suggests author and journal titles. There are a lot of ways to misspell Tchorzewski, however if you are close and at least type in Tch, PubMed will at least suggest the rest. You don't get that with Citation Sensor. But who knows maybe Citation Sensor will grow on me.

Automatic Term Mapping (ATM):
PubMed has had automatic term mapping for quite a while, they just have made some recent changes. The old ATM mapped search terms to subject, journal, and author tables in a certain order. If a match was found in the MeSH table it would stop mapping, it wouldn't search the author or journal tables. According to NLM this was frustrating to users. The new ATM still does check the original fields (subject, journal, author) in the same order but it also now checks all fields for phrase and individual terms.

July 2, 2008 changes to ATM:
Based on user feedback, they made some enhancements to ATM. Substance names (known as MeSH supplement or concepts) and MeSH with stand alone letters or numbers will not be broken apart and searched. They will be searched as a phrase. For example: "factor b" will not be split up.

The new ATM changes mean that users will retrieve more results. They found that searches retrieved on average 10% more citations. NLM has provided an FAQ for more information and reasoning for the new ATM.

Personally, I still don't like PubMed's searching and mapping features. I really really like the way Ovid maps and suggests terms. It almost forces keyword searchers to think about using MeSH terms. PubMed doesn't do that, people enter terms and are blindly mapped to terms and keywords. Yes, they can click the Details tab to see what it is doing, but how many users do that? Getting PubMed to search MeSH terms is better than it has been in the past but I still think it is clunky.

Advanced Search:
The beta for Advanced Search was launched on May 15, 2008. The screen has four collapsable sections allowing you to shrink or expand various sections as needed. The search box and the History are at the top, History works the same as previously. The Search by Field section is next and the default fields displayed are Author, Journal, and Publication Date which are the most commonly searched. However, you can search by other fields as well. Just right of the search fields input box there is an odd little icon/button that gives you access to the index for the selected field. The Limit section is the next section on the page and you can carry your limits to future searches using the lock icon (defaulted to carry your limits to future searches). Finally, there is the Index of Fields and Field Values box. This feature is helpful if you want to add multiple items from one specific index.

If after viewing the clinic, you still have some general PubMed suggestions you should consider sending an email to their customer service which you can find on the bottom of most NLM pages as Write to the Help Desk. The instructors feel that the PubMed improvements have helped with searching. If it hasn't they want your feedback with real searches and real examples.

Labels: ContinuingEducation, Medline Database, NLM, PubMed

Nikki (Eagle Dawg Blog) has posted a guest post on David Rothman's site reminding us all about the 30 min. PubMed search clinic offered tomorrow July 17 at 2pm Eastern time.

Don't forget the class is only open to the first 300 participants to login. If you get shut out or you can't otherwise make it at that time, never fear, the session will be recorded and available for viewing at a later time.

Do you have questions for the search clinic? Unfortunately they will not be able to take questions using audio. Please use the Chat (Q&A) pod to type questions and comments to the trainers. Feel free to enter your questions throughout the presentation.

Nikki also reminds us of the technical requirements for participating in the class. "If you have not used Adobe Connect before (or since they acquired Macromedia Breeze), check that you have the most recent free Adobe Flash update (version 9.0.124) as using 9.0.115 and earlier versions may result in audio problems while accessing the archive later on. I recommend viewing the recent ‘Awakening the Searcher Within’ seminar series from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Northwest Region (NN/LM PNR) archive both as a way to test your audio and see how the chat pod is used in Adobe Connect in addition to reviewing some great search strategies."

Labels: ContinuingEducation, Medline Database, NLM, PubMed

The final version of the Long Range Plan is on the NLM website, currently the plan is in PDF but an HTML version is forthcoming.

The plan states the strategic vision of NLM (derived from the meeting of the Strategic Vision Working Group in Washington, DC on Apr. 11-12, 2005), previous decades of progress (1986-2006, and the Plan for 2006-2016.

The Plan has four goals:

1. Seamless, uninterrupted access to expanding collections of biomedical data, medical knowledge, and health information.
2. Trusted information services that promote health literacy, improve health outcomes, and reduce health disparities worldwide.
3. Integrated biomedical, clinical, and public health information systems that promote scientific discovery and speed the translation of research into practice.
4. A strong and diverse workforce for biomedical informatics, research, systems development and innovative service delivery.

Goal 1: In order to provide "seamless, uninterrupted access to expanding collections of biomedical data, medical knowledge, and health information," NLM has six recommendations.

1. Space - "Ensure adequate space and storage conditions for NLM's current and future collections to guarantee long term access to information and efficient service delivery." The no vacancy sign is flashing at NLM, and information, which multiplies about as fast as tribbles, highlights the need for expansion.
2. Preservation - "Preserve NLM's collections in highly usable forms and contribute to comprehensive strategies for preservation of biomedical in the U.S. and worldwide." NLM looks to continue to digitally preserve and provide access to the NLM print, pictorial, multimedia and archival materials. Digital material presents unique difficulties for preservation (licensing, technology, etc.) but there is a clear commitment to try and preserve that information as well.
3. Knowledge management - "Structure NLM's electronic information services to promote scientific discovery and rapid retrieval of the 'right' information by people and computer systems." NLM is one the largest collectors of tribbles...uh I mean information, and there is so much of it within NLM systems that while users are highly satisfied they "fail to take advantage of the rich variety of linkages that already exist among NLM related data sets." NLM is looking to improve retrieved information from disparate resources, improve interfaces, measure user behavior, work with outside technology companies, and continue to support and develop advance information retrieval techniques.
4. Multimedia - "Evaluate interactive publications as possibles means to enhance learning, comprehension, and sharing of results." As more and more multimedia files (video, audio, etc.) are attached to text (for example: a video of heart sounds, CAT scans, or MRIs included in a text reference to clinical coronary angiogram) NLM is looking at NCBI's early attempts of processing multimedia publications into PubMed Central. This is tricky because there are no agreed upon file standards.
5. Disaster preparedness - "Ensure continuous access to health information and effective use of libraries and librarians when disaster occurs." NLM will continue to ensure information services are available during emergencies. NLM should continue to strengthen and test its emergency response system with RML's and look to possibly provide library personnel and services during emergencies. That includes working with appropriate federal, state, local agencies to have librarians and libraries included in disaster response.
6. Disaster preparedness continues - "Establish a Disaster Information Management Research Center at NLM to make a strong commitment to disaster remediation and to provide a platform for demonstrating how libraries and librarians can be part of the solution to this national problem." More disaster planning recommendations, and I don't know why this is separate and wasn't a part of 5th recommendation. Oh well.
   

Goal 2: In order to provide "trusted information services that promote health literacy, improve health outcomes, and reduce health disparities worldwide," NLM has five recommendations.

1. Outreach to under served - "Advance new outreach programs by NLM and NN/LM for under served populations at home and abroad; work to reduce health disparities experience by minority populations; share and actively promote lessons learned." NLM continues to partner with public libraries, schools, public health departments, etc. to improve literacy and eliminate health disparities. Expand NN/LM to include new members such as community based organizations. The sharing of outreach outcomes and examples through the use collaborations tools (wikis,blogs, etc.) is to be considered.
2. Electronic resources - "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." NLM to continue special initiatives and collaboration, as well as look promoting library peering, support models, and informatics literacy training programs.
3. Promotion - "Promote knowledge of the Library's services through exhibits and other public programs." Current methods of promotions to consumers and health professionals should be broadened and intensified.
4. Technology - "Test and evaluate digital infrastructure improvements (e.g. PDAs, intelligent agents, network techniques) to enable ubiquitous health information access in homes, schools, public libraries, and work places." NLM should be a "significant" participant regarding policies, technical research, guidelines, and innovation for portable and wireless devices.
5. "Support research on the application of cognitive and cultural models to facilitate information transfer and trust building and develop new methodologies to evaluate the impact of health information on patient care and health outcomes." Increase research on the impact of health behavior and health outcomes, effective health communication, and consumer trust.

Goal 3: In order to provide "integrated biomedical, clinical, and public health information systems that promote scientific discovery and speed the translation of research into practice," NLM has three recommendations.

1. Linking Databases - "Develop linked databases for discovering relationships between clinical data, genetic information, and environmental factors." NLM's tools must be integrated and searchable across disciplines. Privacy concerns, effective and efficient information delivery, and maintenance of decision support tools must be addressed.
2. EMR - "Promote development of Next Generation electronic health records to facilitate patient-centric care, clinical research, and public health." Current EMRs are based largely on and resemble the paper records and have limited decision support tools. Large amounts of the current EMR is still stored as free text and the names of drugs, tests, diagnoses and therapies are ambiguously stored. NLM will continue to enhance the U.S. governments attempts at standardization and also investigate other areas for expansion such as the handling of images, sounds, storage, security, and linking to decision support tools.
3. "Promote development and use of advanced electronic representations of biomedical knowledge in conjunction with electronic health records." NLM should continue to research, promote, and develop approaches to electronic knowledge and decision support algorithms for use with the EMR. "Topics worthy of additional concentration include: drug information structured to interact with personal health records, clinical tirals results reporting, automated summarization of published evidence, representations of knowledge and rules that facilitate sharing and reuse, management and updating of digital libraries of clinical and public health support tools, and methods and timing for presenting knowledge and decision support that have the greatest probability of being used." Whoa that is mouthful, it sounds like that fits under recommendation number 2 and also goes along with my trends in hospital libraries predictions.

Goal 4: In order to provide "a strong and diverse workforce for biomedical informatics, research, systems development and innovative service delivery," NLM has three recommendations.

1. Recruitment - "Develop an expanded and diverse workforce through enhanced visibility of biomedical informatics and library science for K-12 and college students." I suggest a sexy CSI type of show featuring librarians and biomedical informaticians Perhaps it would cause students to want to become librarians just like how "thousands of students flocking to forensic science courses" as a result of the proliferation of hip forensic shows.
2. Librarian training support - "Support training programs that prepare librarians to meet emerging needs for specialized information services." Pretty self explanatory.
3. Biomedical informatics support and training - "Continue support for formal, multidisciplinary education in biomedical informatics to increase the supply of informatics researchers who can work at the intersections of molecular science, clinical research, health care, public health, and disaster management." NLM should look to encourage informatics education and research as well as seek out additional partnership opportunities to build the informatics research workforce.

There you have it, a brief synopsis of NLM's long range plans and goals for 2006-2016. Oh and if they actually get a T.V. deal for the sexy sleuthing library CSI type show, I am available to consult. :)

Labels: NLM