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Changes Coming to My NCBI

My NCBI is going to be getting a little bit of a make-over in the near future. If you are not familiar with My NCBI, it is most known for being a tool that allows you to save searches, set auto-alerts in PubMed, and manages your “My Bibliography” (which is used for managing your personal publications and NIH grant funding).  There are quite a few changes coming, but we’ll just focus on the ones that are most noticeable.

My NCBI Homepage

At this time, it’s not always easy to see what is available in My NCBI, but coming soon, the main page will be streamlined so that most features can be accessed from the main page. From the preview, it appears that the options will be laid out in titled boxes such as: My Bibliography, Filters, Saved Searches, etc.

Image of the new My NCBI landing page

Saved Searches

With the new Saved Searches box, you can set up an auto-alert if you want to receive an email when new research is published, or you can create a permanent saved search.  Within MyNCBI, there will be a table set up to show you when you last ran a search, how many new citations have become available since then, and a link that lets you go directly to the new stuff.

Image of My NCBI Saved Search Screen

My Bibliography

This is the area of My NCBI can be used to create a list of the articles that you have personally published. This list can be private or shared with others, and now, you can designate someone other than yourself to add and make changes to this part of your account without giving them your personal login information.  You also have more options for how you would like to display and share these citations. One display option lets you link your account with the eRA commons and see whether or not your articles are in compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy.

Image of My Bibliography when linked to ERA

 If you would like to know more about these changes and the many others that are coming to My NCBI, check out the NLM Technical Bulletin: My NCBI Redesign.

As always, if you have any questions about using My NCBI, PubMed or other library resources, contact us. We’re happy to help.

WISER 4.4 now available!

WISER Web Site

Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER), a service from the National Library of Medicine, has released a new version of its free system!

WISER is a mobile application that provides immediate information for first responders operating in hazardous material incident environments. WISER provides a wide range of information on hazardous substances, including substance identification support, physical characteristics, human health information, and containment and suppression guidance.

This new version includes:

  • A new tool for viewing custom sets and combinations of chemicals.
  • An enhanced overview of the resulting potential hazards.
  • Additional support materials, as well as a set of new reagents and chemicals, including Crude Oil and the Corexit 9500 and Corexit 9527 dispersants.
  • Data updates based on the latest information from the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs).

To access the WISER tool, simply download from http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/register.html or the Apple iTunes store.

MeSH database redesign launched February 14

Have you noticed that PubMed looks a little different when you’re using MeSH?

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) Database was redesigned on February 14, 2011 to provide users with the same streamlined interface now available in PubMed® and the NLM® Catalog. If you haven’t heard of MeSH, it stands for medical subject headings and is a wonderful way to find relevant articles when searching.

What does this mean for you? Well, it means a much cleaner design within the MeSH database.  One of the best features is that the subheadings are now arranged into neat columns rather than in one jumbled paragraph. Another lovely feature is the PubMed Search builder that now shows up on the right side of the page.

Screenshot demonstrating columns for MeSH subheadings

If you’d like to learn more about all the changes that have taken place, you can check out the NLM Technial Bulletin that was updated on February 14 of this year.

New Doors to PubMed

As the volume of content in PubMed continues to expand, the need for sophisticated and skillful searching is more important than ever. In addition to developing fluency with MeSH and limits, however, today’s researchers have access to an increasing number of third-party, home-grown, and open-source tools with which to refine their literature searches.

One such resource is the intriguing PubReMiner (http://bioinfo.amc.uva.nl/human-genetics/pubreminer/), which is a front end search overlay that allows PubMed searchers to view search results in frequency tables. This provides an interesting lens for focusing subsequent queries and optimizing results. PubReMiner is web-based, operating system agnostic, and free-of-charge.

For example, a search for terms such as BRAIN NEOPLASM “STEM CELL” TREATMENT might result in a set of frequency tables which would reveal the frequency of each (and all) of the terms as they occur in a variety of fields, such as Journal Title, Country of Origin, or Author.

Using these tables, PubReMiner then allows a user to select terms by checking boxes  to create a query string that can be sent directly to PubMed!

This is only one example of the emerging breed of search tools that are available for your experimentation and use. If you’d like to learn more, please contact Shane Wallace, the Emerging Technologies Librarian at Hardin!

VisualDx beta available for Droids

visual dxVisualDx visual diagnostic decision support system links health care professionals to superior-quality medical images and information.  The University of Iowa Libraries subscribes to VisualDX, and it can be accessed on campus, with an iPhone/iPad/iTouch or now with a Droid phone.

The download and instructions for installing the Droid version are available online (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.visualdx.android/).

If you need help installing VisualDX on your smartphone, we have drop in hours on Fridays from 10am-3pm.

Changes to Natural Standard Database

   

Natural Standard is a series of electronic tools that provide evidence-based information about complementary and alternative therapies. It contains 9 databases, symptom and interaction checkers, and tools such as calculators and a product label database.

For each therapy covered by Natural Standard, a research team gathers scientific data and expert opinions. Validated rating scales are used to evaluate the quality of available evidence. Information is incorporated into comprehensive monographs which are designed to facilitate clinical decision making. All monographs undergo blinded editorial and peer review prior to inclusion.

Recently, an updated site was released. There are both functional and cosmetic changes; some of the most notable are as follows:

  • Removal of pop ups
  • Addition of breadcrumbs and back arrows for improved navigation
  • Addition of  print/PDF  and email functionality
  • Enhanced feedback functionality
  • Content increased with new monographs; updating of old monographs is occurring in real time
  • Extended the free handheld download program for subscribers thru end of 2011. You can obtain the free download of this product from this page.
A few of the new features are highlighted above

 

 Please contact your library liasion if you are interested in learning more about this resource: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/hardin/liaisons.html

Accessing Cyber Anatomy

The resource, Cyber Anatomy, has been a hot topic of discussion lately. Some of you may have seen the YouTube Video showing students using the 3-D version, or you may have heard the online version being discussed during this year’s State of Carver College of Medicine Address.  If you have not heard about it, Cyber Anatomy is a resource that allows one to view anatomical structures in a 3-D format. The images can be rotated, peeled and otherwise manipulated.  Recently, both Harvard Medical School and Cornell have started using the 3D adaption, but it was at Hardin Library for the Health Sciences first.

Hardin Library currently provides access to both the online version and the 3D version on Cyber Anatomy.  To access the online version, you only need a computer that is hooked up the internet and a HawkID and password.   You can access the software by going to the Hardin Library website and clicking on the link for “Health Sciences Resources A-Z.” You will need administrative rights to the computer so that a 3DVIA player plug in can be installed. 

If you are interested in a more immersive experience, we have the 3D version of Cyber Anatomy in the Hardin Library Simulation Center.  You will need to reserve Cyber anatomy ahead of time.

If you have any questions about this software or the Hardin Simulation Center, please contact Amy Blevins, Clinical Education Librarian.

Redesign of CINAHL (nursing/allied health database)

There have been quite a few changes to the CINAHL (Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) database during the past few weeks.  In addition to reference to articles from the nursing and allied health literature, CINAHL also includes references to book chapters, research instruments, evidence-based care sheets, and drug reports.  

So what has changed?

  • Interface has been redesigned, resulting in a different look and feel.
  • Many search and display tools have simply been relocated. For example, most of the features that would be used to review and limit results are now located on the left side of the page.
  • Directly over the search box there is a box that says suggest subject terms.  This box is now already selected, taking you directly to a list of best matched subject headings for the term entered. If you do not want to perform a subject heading search, this box will need to be deselected.   However, it is always a good idea to let CINAHL look for subject headings.
  • There are several changes that will affect those who search by subject heading. When performing a search by concept, or subject heading,  a list will display terms which are related to the term entered. Available from this screen are the following features:
    • A checkbox to select explode.  Exploding causes the narrower, related terms indented under your term to be included in your search.   If you don’t see the narrower terms, click on your term to make them appear.  When this option is unavailable for your term, the check box will be inactive, or greyed out.
    • A new icon for scope notes.  If a definition (scope note) is available, an icon will appear to the right of the term.
    • A checkbox in front of the term which allows you to select the term for your search and to see (and select) that term’s subheadings.  Checking this box causes the subheadings to appear to the right of the screen.
    • A checkbox to designate that your term should be a “major concept.”  This designation will only locate articles that are chiefly about the concept that you have selected.
    • Selected subject headings displayed in a box on the right side of the page.  Subject headings can be combined and searched directly from this box, or may be searched one at a time, and combined later from the Search History (still available on CINAHL’s main page).

To view the vendor’s information about these changes which includes more detail about these and upcoming changes, select new features from within CINAHL, on the top right side of navigation bar.

Please contact the Hardin Library Reference desk if you would be interested in arranging  individual or group instruction on this resource.

Changes to National Guideline Clearinghouse

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is in progress of redesigning the National Guideline Clearinghouse site (NGC). NGC is a collection of clinical practice guidelines aimed at improving information access for promotion of policy development and health care quality.   

 A few highlights of the changes are as follows:

  • Access to a growing collection of expert commentaries.  These may offer reviews of  EBM topics, issues related to guideline development, or critiques of guidelines.
  • Access to annotated bibliographies. You can search over 5000 citations for information about guidelines, and access the  journal citations easily by using PubMed links provided.
  • Significant improvement in guideline summary display.
  • Improved organization, visual appeal, and access to content previously available.

 Check out the site here (no change in URL):  http://www.guideline.gov/ There will be more changes coming!

HCUPNet: Statistics on hospital inpatient and emergency department utilization

HCUPNet is produced by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ) and contains estimates of hospital and emergency department use based on data from over 1000 hospitals involved in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization project.

With HCUPNet you can find information on trends, the most common diagnoses and procedures, or pick specific diagnoses or procedures from a set of lists. You can retrieve information on the number of discharges, length of stay, mortality, and costs. You can limit by patient age, gender, insurance status, patient zip code, as well as hospital characteristics. The results can be viewed in the browser or exported to Excel.

HCUPNet is one of the most flexible and easy to use tools for finding information on hospital and emergency department utilization.