Need to Know

Evidence-Based Clinical Tools Available To All University of Iowa Affiliates

doctor and nurse working on patient in hospital setting

by Heather Healy, Clinical Education Librarian

Hardin Library has many evidence-based clinical tools for you to use in your practice or coursework.

Many have an app version available. See Mobile Resources Guide for installation.

DynaMed

Evidence-based summary, point-of-care tool
DynaMed Editorial Team monitors over 450 medical journals and guidelines organizations
Team of practicing physicians appraises and summarizes the evidence
Embedded citations of specific studies and DynaMed evidence levels
Mobile app available

BMJ Best Practice

Evidence-based summary, point-of-care tool
Combines latest research evidence, guidelines, and expert opinion
Step-by-step approach, covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis
Referenced studies are listed and full-text is linked when available
Mobile app available

UpToDate

Evidence-based summary, point-of-care tool
Recognized faculty of experts synthesize the latest evidence and practices and provide detailed recommendations
References are provided for recommendations
Mobile app available

Essential Evidence Plus and AHFS DI Essentials

Evidence-based summary, point-of-care tool
Includes 13,000 conditions, diseases, and procedures
Strength-of-evidence recommendation ratings

Micromedex

Evidence-based summary, point-of-care tool for drug information
Strength of recommendation and strength of evidence ratings
Includes many tools, including Drug Interactions, IV Compatibility, Drug Comparison, and more
Mobile apps available

Clinical Overviews

Search the overviews in ClinicalKey using the dropdown menu by the search box
Overviews that are easy-to-scan, actionable information on diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, screening, and prevention of diseases and conditions
Content developed by Elsevier’s Point of Care Editorial team (global community of 4800 physicians)
Mobile app of ClinicalKey available; look for results labeled as Clinical Overviews

Cochrane Clinical Answers

Truncated summaries of Cochrane systematic reviews
Easy-to-read, clinically focused
Actionable, and designed to inform decision-making at point-of-care
Contains a clinical question, short answer, ability to drill down to evidence

Cochrane Library

High-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making
Includes the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, a gold-standard of medical literature
Includes the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), a repository of trial citations

ACP Journal Club

Summarizes the best new evidence for internal medicine from over 120 clinical journals.
Research staff and clinical editors rigorously assess scientific merit of medical literature

PubMed Clinical Queries

Point-of-care search interface for PubMed
Allows focusing search by clinical question type (therapy, diagnosis, etiology, prognosis, or clinical prediction guides)
Can also focus searches on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 articles by category (treatment, mechanism, long COVID, and more)

Natural Medicines

Evidence-based information and ratings for over 90,000 dietary supplements, natural medicines and integrative therapies
Includes interaction checker, effectiveness checker, and a nutrient depletion checker

Meet Carlisle Isley: Practicum Student in the John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

photo of Carlisle Isley, white woman, in front of art and fountain

Carlisle Isley, BFA, is an artist, papermaker, bookmaker and world traveler. She grew up in a multicultural world in seven different countries — a neither/nor world that cannot be stereotyped as a typically “white American childhood.”

The non-traditional way she was raised allowed her to engage, understand and respect many other cultural voices. In June of 2021 she moved from Rwanda to Iowa City to pursue a Masters in Library Information Science. Having access to information will allow a person to discover and empower their identities as information seekers. She believes her purpose is to promote information literacy so a community can have the tools to get their voices and thoughts heard.

Hardin Library Closed On Home Iowa Football Game Saturdays

The Hardin Library will be closed every Saturday there is a home Iowa Football game. The 24-hour study will be available. Bus service is disrupted and there is almost no parking near the library during football gamedays.

Kinnick Football stadium holds 69,250 people and all 2022 games are sold out.

Hardin Library closed:
September 3
September 10
September 17
October 1
October 29
November 12

Cambus service during Football gamedays

Iowa City Transit service Football gamedays

1843 American Cleft Palate Surgery Book | Thomas Dent Mütter | from The John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

by Damien Ihrig, MA, Curator John Martin Rare Book Room

MÜTTER, Thomas Dent (1811–1859). A report on the operations for fissures of the palatine vault. Printed in Philadelphia by Merrihew & Thompson, 1843. 28 pages. 23 cm tall.

The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia is celebrated for its collection of anatomical specimens of rare conditions, from the famous (and infamous), as well as medical instruments. The museum was founded with an original donation from the collection of Thomas Dent Mütter.

Mütter was born in 1811 in Richmond, Virginia. Sickness is a common theme in Mütter’s life and he lost both of his parents by the time he was eight. He was raised by a distant relative in a seemingly supportive environment.

Money left to him by his parents allowed him to attend Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia and medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. Mütter himself fell ill during medical school. He left for Europe after graduation in the hopes of improving his health in a different climate and to further pursue his medical education.

In Paris, he worked with the aforementioned Dupuytren, and in London with Robert Liston. Mütter eventually put together a collection of lectures by Liston, which he annotated with 250 pages of his own.

Dupuytren was known for his exacting nature and Liston for his speed when performing a surgical procedure (which could mean the difference between life and death in the days before anesthesia and antibiotics). Mütter seems to have embraced the teachings of both his mentors, stressing the need for the simplest of tools and techniques when performing his reconstructive surgeries while trying to keep the pain and blood loss to a minimum.

A color photo of the black printed text of the title page from Mütter's A report on the operations for fissures of the palatine vault, 1843.

In 1841, he joined the faculty of the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. It was there that he made a name for himself as an excellent speaker and engaging teacher. He used his ever-expanding anatomical and instrument collection to provide his students with hands-on experience.

Unfortunately, his ill health never truly subsided and he was forced to retire in 1856. He died three years later at the age of 48.

A report on the operations for fissures of the palatine vault demonstrates Mütter’s adherence to his surgical principles. It is not a long book, only 28 pages, but it provides insight into his process and surgical philosophy. It includes several small illustrations of the steps of the procedure and the instruments used, examples of which you can see above.

binding of book. black leather library binding The book is covered in a “library binding” of black cloth and the textblock shows evidence of having been trimmed (see the ownership mark in the upper right corner of the title page above). Indeed, this book was at some point pulled from the circulating Hardin collection and added to the Rare Book Room collection. It still contains the date due slip (last checked out in 1967!) and barcode sticker.

The spine shows a stamped and gold painted title and Library of Congress call number. Although there is some staining on the first and last pages, likely from the glue of a previous binding, the paper is in excellent condition.

Contact me to view this tiny but mighty book or any others from this or past newsletters: damien-ihrig@uiowa.edu or 319-335-9154 to arrange a visit in person or over Zoom.

Read more on the history of books about cleft palate repairs in the July 2022 newsletter.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact our office in advance at damien-ihrig@uiowa.edu or 319-335-9154

Residents: Services for you

black eyed susan flowers in front of old capital building

Welcome Residents!

We are here to help you be successful.

Guide to services we provide

Download useful mobile apps for free, including clinical tools like UpToDate and DynaMed Plus

Expanded Service: Home Delivery To Any US Address

The University of Iowa Libraries now offers home delivery to any U.S. address (except dorms) and you can request a free UPS return mailing label as well.

Antoine Louis, Surgeon Inventor of Guillotine | June 2022 Featured Works from The John Martin Rare Book Room @Hardin Library

The execution of Robespierre and his supporters on 28 July 1794. Note: the beheaded man (6) is not Robespierre, but Couthon: Maximilien Robespierre (10) is shown sitting on the cart, dressed in brown, wearing a hat, and holding a handkerchief to his mouth. His younger brother Augustin (8) is being led up the steps to the scaffold.

LOUIS, ANTOINE (1723-1792). Dissertation sur la question–comment se fait la transmission des maladies héréditaires? [Dissertation on the question–how are hereditary diseases transmitted?] and Observation et remarques sur les effets du virus cancéreux [Observation and remarks on the effects of the cancer virus], Printed in Paris at Chez Delaguette, 1749. 17 cm tall.

Louis was born to a military surgeon family. His father was a surgeon-major, the senior surgeon of a regiment, at a military hospital. Louis apprenticed under his father and by 1743 had joined another regiment as a surgeon himself. He soon went to Paris, though, to further his education at the Salpêtrière hospital, which you may remember from such JMRBR newsletters as “Volume 2, Issue 4.” In 1750 he was appointed professor of physiology, holding that position for 40 years.

Louis was at the head of a movement to push back against the negative perception of surgeons driven by physicians. He wrote often, and effectively, to argue for equal status for surgeons.

And he was not afraid to put his money where his mouth was. Upon the completion of his stint at Salpêtrière, he could have slid right into a position at the college of Surgery, but instead, he wrote and defended his thesis, Positiones anatomicae et chirurgicae (1749). Both of which he accomplished in Latin, thereby demonstrating that surgeons were as liberally educated as their physician colleagues.

While also performing surgeries, writing, and maintaining a busy administrative calendar, Louis found time to invent and improve surgical instruments. His renown eventually led to an association with the most infamous period in French history. A physician opposed to capital punishment petitioned the National Assembly (formed shortly after the French Revolution) to advocate for a more “humane” way to execute criminals.

This would be accomplished by using a machine designed to quickly decapitate them. The Assembly eventually petitioned Louis to design and build it. Originally referred to as the Louisette, it eventually adopted the name synonymous with the Reign of Terror – the Guillotine, named after the physician who originally proposed its use, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin.

Louis wrote and published throughout his life, including several biographies of other surgeons, Encyclopédie entries, and pioneering works on medical jurisprudence. Two boxes of unpublished works were found while cataloging his belongings after his death. These are two of his earlier books. The second is an interesting piece on cancerous growths and remedies, in which Louis refers to cancer as a virus. We now know of several viruses that can lead to cancer.

Our copy is an adorable little book with beautiful marbled endpapers. The contemporary sheepskin cover shows that the book has lived a busy life. It’s a deep, rich brown color with several gilt flowers along the spine. The paper is in excellent condition, showing few signs of age or damage.

Contact curator damien-ihrig@uiowa.edu or 319-335-9154 to arrange a visit in person or over Zoom.

More about the history of surgery in the Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2022 version of the Friends of the John Martin Rare Book Room Newsletter.

Hardin Library Interim Shorter Hours | Saturday, August 6 – Sunday, August 14

The Hardin Library will be open shorter hours for the August interim. The 24-hour study will be available whenever the library is closed.

Saturday, August 6 and August 13	10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Sunday, August 7 and August 14	Noon – 4 p.m.
Monday, August 8 – Friday, August 12	7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Regular hours resume	Monday, August 15

July 4th Holiday Hours and Closing @Hardin Library

image of fireworks Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

The Hardin Library will be closed Sunday, July 3 and Monday, July 4th for the 4th of July Holiday.

The Hardin Library will be open Saturday, July 2 from 10am-6pm.

The 24-hour study is available whenever the library is closed to University of Iowa affiliates with a UIHC Badge or Iowa One Card.

Medical Library Association Spring 2022 Hardin Staff Activities

Hardin Librarians are active in the Medical Library Association. The annual conference is in New Orleans, May 3-6, 2022.

Jennifer Deberg, a 2022 RTI (Research Training Institute) Fellow is presenting a poster:
Exploring DNP (Doctorate Nurse Practitioner) Student Information Literacy Competence for Evidence-Based Practice

Hardin Library Director Janna Lawrence will be attending the in-person Board meeting on Tuesday, May 3. Ms. Lawrence is also co-facilitator of a session, “Staying Ahead of the Future: Developing Your Library’s Collection Philosophy and Policy,” which is part of an in-conference symposium called “The Big Not-So-Easy: a Symposium on 21^st Century Health Sciences Collection Development and Resource Sharing.”

Heather Healy and Jennifer Deberg recently taught a CE (continuing education) course for librarians for the Medical Librarian Association on Librarians and Systematic Review Teams: Negotiating Roles and Recognition.