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June 2013

In this issue...

From the Desk of Professor Cleghorn

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This edition of the newsletter has a common theme once again by highlighting many of the "newer" services that the library and its dedicated, specialist staff perform behind the scenes to enable the multiplicity of research activity undertaken at UQ to achieve its maximum impact with the minimum of fuss for the individual scholar. The University's eSpace is the perfect example of this with the collation of all scholarly work being done on your behalf behind the scenes and then being fed into other databases such as UQ ReSEARCHers and Q-Index. Having an understanding of these systems is now essential for us all to continue to achieve to our potential.


Geoff Cleghorn | Deputy Head (Clinical Schools), The School of Medicine

Open Access: time to set sail

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Why is open access important to health sciences academics? Medical student, Tim Anderson, presents six persuasive reasons, he argues that open access can:

  1. Remove the financial barriers to accessing important medical content;
  2. Fill a huge information gap in private practice, rural, remote and community health clinics - as they generally lack the required infrastructure and finances to have adequate online collections;
  3. Help researchers to benefit from publishing, as their articles can be read, cited and applied if they can be found;
  4. Improve access for patients and their advocates to quality evidence;
  5. Reduce health disparities in developing nations;
  6. Demonstrate accountability to taxpayers1.

With the avalanche of open access developments on local and international shores, UQ Library management recently drafted a discussion paper on open access that was passed onto the UQ Vice Chancellor's Committee. The discussion paper expanded upon the significant world-wide open access developments comprising mandates issued by major bodies such as the NIH, Wellcome Trust, Research Councils UK, The European Commission and in Australia by the ARC and the NHMRC. Other open access issues and scholarly publishing trends were summarised in the paper. In response to the issues and opportunities raised, the VC's Committee recommended a draft policy be presented to the Research Committee for discussion. Following discussion at the Research Committee, a working party has been set up to look at implementation and related issues. To stay abreast of these developments you can visit or subscribe to the library's scholarship blog, available http://www.library.uq.edu.au/blogs/sp

To help UQ researchers' respond to the opportunities and requirements of open access, we are pleased to announce UQ Library's new open access web site, available http://www.library.uq.edu.au/open-access.

For details on how to make your research outputs open access via UQ eSpace please refer to the FAQ on the UQ eSpace site http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/faq

For further assistance contact the UQ Library Scholarly Publishing and Digitisation Service:
http://www.library.uq.edu.au/research-support/scholarly-publishing-and-digitisation-service

1Anderson, Tim. Six reasons open access matters to the medical community. 2011. Available (11 April 2013) from: http://www.righttoresearch.org/blog/6-reasons-open-access-matters-to-the-medical-commu.shtml

Lisa Kruesi | Associate Director, Scholarly Publications

Open Access: the researcher's perspective

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As a researcher I am regularly asked by other researchers and clinicians in developing countries to provide them with the preprint version of my articles. The reason for this situation is that the subscription fees to most quality academic journals are often beyond the capacity of organisations in these countries. While some of the big publishers have moved towards allowing free full-text access based on IP address, access still remains a challenge for many researchers from areas like Asia, South America and Africa. Although increased access has reduced the number of preprint requests I'm asked to provide, it has not completely eliminated the requests.

In my opinion there are both benefits and drawbacks to Open Access (OA) publishing. The key benefit is that OA provides an opportunity for increased visibility of research. The more visible the research, the more likely the article will be cited, leading to increased recognition of an individual author and increased h-index. One drawback of OA publishing is the possible perception that there is a reduction in the quality of the article and therefore the quality of research. 'Predatory' publishers cropping up everyday compound this issue. For more information see:
http://www.nature.com/news/investigating-journals-the-dark-side-of-publishing-1.12666

While some of the mainstream publishers make articles freely available, generally the author pays a fee, and these costs need to be considered and factored into grant applications.

Further reading on OA see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2013/apr/22/open-access-academic-freedom-publishing

Dr. Srinivas Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan | Epidemiologist, Rural Clinical School, School of Medicine

eSpace

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UQ eSpace is the single authoritative source for the research outputs of the staff and students of the University of Queensland and the archival home of UQ Research Higher Degree Theses in only digital form. UQ eSpace raises the visibility and accessibility of UQ publications to the wider world and provides data for mandatory Government reporting requirements such as the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) and Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) as well as for the internal UQ systems such as the Q-Index. It also operates as an institutional repository for open access publications and other digitised materials created by staff of the University such as print materials, photographs, audio materials, videos, manuscripts and other original works. For more information about UQ eSpace please read our Scope and Policy document.

All current University staff (including visiting Faculty, honorary and adjunct staff) can login to UQ eSpace using their usual UQ username and password. The repository can be accessed direct (espace.library.uq.edu.au) or via the Library homepage:

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Logging in allows you to access 'My UQ eSpace', from where you can:

  • View the publications that you have authored and that are linked your UQ author id. These publications are listed in 'My Research'
  • View publications that contain an author matching either your given name or surname. These are listed in 'Possibly my research?'
  • Add publications that are not in either or the above listings - via the 'Add Missing Publication' tab

In addition to allowing you to fulfil internal and external reporting requirements, the benefits of adding your publications to eSpace include:

  • The ability to generate a CV using the 'My publications' function
  • Increased dissemination of your work through harvesting of the repository by search engines such as Google and Google scholar
  • Generation of citation counts for records indexed by Scopus and Web of Science
  • Ability to 'share' your citations via social media e.g.

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UQ eSpace is continuously evolving and developing - if you have suggestions for improvement or need help in its usage please contact us at espace@library.uq.edu.au

Margaret Gauld | Manager UQ eSpace, Scholarly Publishing and Digitisation Service

ResearcherID and ORCHID

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Do you have good Web of Science coverage? Then a ResearcherID is essential.

It is a free product developed by Thomson Reuters. Once registered, a researcher is assigned a unique ID number that expressly associates them with their published works, regardless of any possible name variations or institutional affiliation changes.

With ResearcherID, you can:

  • Manage your publication profile
  • Track your citation metrics, including times cited counts and h-index
  • Identify potential collaborators from around the globe
  • Publicly showcase your published work

Another great advantage for UQ researchers is your ResearcherID can be linked to eSpace. This means if you keep your ResearcherID account up-to-date with your Web of Science publications, then these publications will be automatically added to eSpace and linked to you. This also ensures that your publications contribute to your Q-index.

How do I get a ResearcherID?

  1. Send an email to espace@library.uq.edu.au
  2. Add 'RID request' in the subject line
  3. Include your full name and UQ username (UQ login) in the email

The latest news is ResearcherID and ORCID integration: You can now exchange data between your ResearcherID and ORCID profiles.

What is an ORCID and how can ORCID and ResearcherID integrate?

"Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier" (ORCID) provides a registry of unique research identifiers and a method of linking research activities. Read more. Now that ORCID and ResearcherID are linked, you can update your profile once from one site and cascade to the other. To learn more click here.

ORCID is working with the broader research community and aims to integrate ORCID identifiers in areas such as manuscript submission and patent applications. As an example, the Nature Publishing Group has already responded to this initiative by creating ORCID data fields in all Nature journals' manuscript submission systems. That means all authors submitting their papers to Nature journals now have to have an ORCID. Further, editors are able to view ORCID details attached to authors, and search authors or reviewers using their ORCID.

If you have an ORCID, let us know:

  1. Send an email to espace@library.uq.edu.au
  2. Add 'ORCID' in the subject line
  3. Include your full name and UQ username (UQ login) in the email along with your ORCID

For further information:

Dr Amberyn Thomas | Manager, Scholarly Publications

Nursing Education in Video

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The University of Queensland Library now provides access to a new database.

Nursing Education in Video is a collection of online videos created for the education and training of nurses. The videos cover a wide range of nursing theory and procedure, including the topic of "obstetrical nursing", which has direct relevance to midwifery. Some of the subjects covered by the videos include:

Anatomy and Physiology
Airway Management
Anxiety Disorders
Basic Clinical Skills
Cardiology
Communications
Dietary/Nutrition
Ethical Issues In Nursing
Gastrointestinal Nursing Care

Gerontology
Home Health Care
Immunology
Infection Control
Long Term Care
Medication Administration
Neurological Care
Obstetrical Nursing

Operating Room
Pain Management
Pediatrics
Physical Assessment
Psychiatric Drugs and Patient Care
Surgical Care
Violence in Healthcare
Wound Management

Nursing Education in Video has many technical features that make it a very user friendly resource. First amongst these are searchable transcripts that come with most of the videos. While other features include the ability to make clips, permanent links that include the library ezproxy, and a tool which produces the necessary code to embed a video into a web page. Nursing Education in Video works on most computers and portable devices.

Access Nursing Education in Video via

http://ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/login?url=http://mcom.alexanderstreet.com

Although much of the information in the videos covers basic questions of the science of nursing, Australian nursing students should be aware that the videos in this collection have been created by Medcom-Trainex, primarily for students in the USA, and in compliance with US Federal regulations. Students must seek the guidance of their lecturers as to whether or not particular videos are relevant to the Australian context.

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Michael Fagg | Librarian, Ipswich Library

Catalyst

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Earlier this year the Library commenced a subscription to the relatively new Australian medicines information resource, Catalyst. Developed by Health Communication Network (HCN), Catalyst provides access to independent medicines information, pharmaceutical company product information, and access to AusDI, Advanced independent drug monographs.

Catalyst in a nutshell:

  • Over 2685 Product Information (PI) sheets
  • Over 5050 product summaries
  • Over 2440 drug product images
  • Over 1000 independent drug monographs
  • Over 2775 Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflets
  • Identify unknown products via the Product Identifier Module

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Access Catalyst via http://library.uq.edu.au/record=e1002742~S7

Jenny Hall | Senior Librarian, Dentistry Library

Techie Corner

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The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has developed the Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines app freely available and formatted for iPad and Android Tablets.
http://www.nccn.org/mobile/default.asp

Meet the Librarians

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Kaye Cumming recently joined the Rural Clinical School as the Librarian for the Wide Bay Region. As the school is located in both Bundaberg and Hervey Bay, Kaye is based in Bundaberg but visits the Hervey Bay site once a week. With Library collections in both locations, maintaining two core collections of up to date resources is a primary focus of her role. Kaye also engages with the third and fourth year students undertaking clinical rotations (five rotations per year) at a number of healthcare settings in both Hervey Bay and Bundaberg. She also works closely with the RCS Librarians located at Toowoomba and Rockhampton to support the teaching and learning needs of staff and students in the UQ School of Medicine and the wider Faculty of Health Sciences in regional Queensland.

In addition to supporting teaching and learning, the Rural Clinical School librarians are part of the wider UQ Library Research Information Service (RIS). They therefore provide support for researchers in literature searching, bibliometric analysis, data management advice, and a range of scholarly publishing issues. More information on these services is available at http://www.library.uq.edu.au/research-support. Kaye is also building strong links between the Library and Academic Title holders, to assist with their teaching activities as well as supporting their research interests.

Kaye Cumming | Librarian, Rural Clinical School, Wide Bay Region

Info Skills

Upcoming Workshops:

Check out the range of workshops delivered across the Health Sciences Libraries. Find a workshop to suit your needs including:

  • Getting started - searching basics
  • EndNote, EndNote Express
  • Finding Health Information using PubMed
  • Research data management: introduction

Check out the smorgasbord of workshops at:

https://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/

Editor: Jenny Hall
Webwriters: Gary Smith, Jill Maalsen

January 2013

In this issue...

From the Desk of Professor Cleghorn

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Welcome to this the first newsletter of 2013. As usual the editors and staff have tried to deliver an informative and useful publication. It is hoped there is something for everyone whether you be old or new to the UQ Health Sciences Library. It seems as though everything we do these days revolves around data and evidence and being able to play these metric games is vital for our collective survival with this in mind the themes of this newsletter are particularly pertinent with information regarding data management and the use of metrics to assist in the application for new grants. Once again I commend the staff involved.

Until next time...

Geoff Cleghorn, Deputy Head (Clinical Schools), The School of Medicine

Research Data Management : getting started

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Data management is a key skill researchers must frequently draw upon, in order to remain effective, efficient and to maintain the integrity of their data. This is further emphasised in the digital world, where data can be both vast and fragile.

Data management planning allows for structure to be applied to the management of the data. This process can minimise the risk of data loss, as well as allowing for best practice in data collection, storage and sharing.

The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research states that researchers are responsible for the safety, security and integrity of the research data they collect. It specifies that researchers must ensure research data is kept in secure storage, and retained in a durable and retrievable format.

http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/r39


UQ Library has various data management tools, including the Checklist for a Data Management Plan, which enables researchers to make sure they are including all the relevant information in their Data Management plan, as well as highlighting any relevant policies and procedures that may apply to the security and retention of the data.

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The Checklist covers a comprehensive list of topics surrounding research data:

  • Project Description
  • Context
  • Data Capture and Formats
  • Organising and Storing Data
  • Long-Term Preservation
  • Ethics and Intellectual Property
  • Data Sharing and Re-use

Data management plans are concise documents, which record relevant information in one place, without being wordy or time-consuming to write. Data management plans are living documents, which grow and evolve with the project.

Librarians in the Research Information Service are trained to support researchers with all aspects of data management. In addition to assisting with data management planning, they offer research data management support by providing metadata services for describing research data, to aid in the discovery and dissemination of research data.

http://www.library.uq.edu.au/contacts/librarians/

Library staff also monitor global trends surrounding the issues of data management, open data, data sharing, data citation and data repositories, which we communicate in our eScholarship blog.

http://www.library.uq.edu.au/blogs/sp

For practical advice on managing your data, or making data available for sharing, you can consult staff in our Research Information Service or visit our research support website:

http://www.library.uq.edu.au/research-support/research-data

Helen Morgan Manager, Research Data Collections | Scholarly Publishing and Digitisation Service

Tracking your publications and citations: services provided by UQ Library

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The use of metrics in the area of research evaluation has become increasingly important in a global context, and within Australia this has been applied at the national level through the Federal Government's Excellence in Research for Australia initiative. As a consequence of the national research evaluation exercise, there is an increasing emphasis placed on tracking research outputs and understanding their academic impact.

From the perspective of an individual academic, there is an increasing awareness of the need to use relevant metrics to support claims of research excellence and to use metrics to help differentiate themselves from others in research grant applications and promotion rounds. It is important that researchers keep track of their publications and understand citation metrics in order to:

  1. Use relevant metrics to support claims of research excellence and help differentiate themselves from others in research grant applications and promotion rounds
  2. Assist grant application reviewers in identifying their work and evaluating its academic impact
  3. Provide access to their publications for the global academic community which may help increase the impact of their work

Further, with the increasing role of citation metrics in measuring research performance, researchers need to know:

  • what a citation count is,
  • how to create citation reports,
  • how to benchmark their performance,
  • what their h-index is,
  • about journal and book rankings, and
  • keeping track of their metrics using tools such as ResearcherID

Staff within the UQ Library Scholarly Publishing and Digitisation Service, as well as Librarians in the Research Information Service can provide advice to UQ researchers on how to use metrics information for their grant applications. Being able to demonstrate research quality in this way is also relevant for promotion and job applications. UQ Library staff will work with individual researchers to provide targeted, contextualised information, and detailed advice about what tools and methods are available for tracking research outputs and their impact. In particular, the Library can:

  • Advise academics on what tools are available and how useful they are for tracking research outputs & their citations
  • Help academics identify and find relevant metrics, e.g. h-index
  • Provide context for metrics, including benchmarking and expected citation rates for different discipline areas where appropriate
  • Advise on how to put the metrics into broader context

Tracking your publications and citations: a real life example

UQ Library Staff members visited a researcher to advise on what metrics information she could use to demonstrate her research quality and impact, as well as demonstrate how to get it from databases such as InCites and Web of Science for a grant application. After the visit, the researcher was able to use the advice and access the databases to put together a paragraph for her grant application as shown below:

My PhD was awarded in 2006. My track record includes 45 peer reviewed journal articles, 4 book chapters/sections, and 14 research reports. I am first author on approximately a third (31%) of the articles. Of the 36 (80%) articles available for Scopus research metrics, the maximum citations/paper=95 (8 with >20 citations), total citations=539 and h index=12. For the 31 (69%) articles with citation data for Web of Knowledge research metric analyses, the mean citations/paper=15.03, maximum/paper=90, total citations=466, and h index =11. Of the 32 (71%) papers listed in InCites, over one fifth (22%) are in the top decile for citations in that subject area.

The researcher also used other information discussed at our meeting as follows:

Note on Journal Impact Factors in my Field of Research

  • The best journals in my field (health behaviour/physical activity/population health) have impact factors (IF) ranging from 2.5 to 4.
  • A review of IF trends among 81 public health, environmental health, and epidemiological journals identified a median IF of 1.29 (BMC Public Health 2005, 5:24).
  • An examination of the ISI Web of Science IFs for the journal group labelled "public health occupational health and environment" (n=98) showed a median IF of 1.7.

Dr Amberyn Thomas | Manager, Scholarly Publications

Collection Development at UQ Library

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Wondering which resources have been acquired lately, or where to find news on UQ's collections?

Let the Library website inform you:

  • What's New To UQ Library Collections http://library.uq.edu.au/screens/newttls.html, groups individual titles new to the Library from the previous month, arranged by Library of Congress classification headings. Look for health under R (Medicine)
  • The Library has an e-preferred purchasing policy http://www.library.uq.edu.au/about-us/ebook-faqs#epref, this means that we acquire electronic versions of material, where possible. However, we are flexible: sometimes, other formats better suit particular needs.
  • Curious about the Library's collection development policy? Check it out http://www.library.uq.edu.au/about-us/collection-development
  • Ebooks are being embraced by many at UQ. The Library has purchased or subscribes to over 500,000 ebook titles. This includes key resources such as Australian Medicines Handbook, Harrisons Online, as well as large files of current year output from key STM publishers such as Springer and ScienceDirect. In 2011, there were 226,764 uses of the Springer ebooks, and 67,300 uses of the ScienceDirect ebooks
  • The Library is in the middle of a three year Patron Driven Acquistions trial for ebooks: titles have been added to the Library catalogue, and they are only purchased when accessed. The transaction occurs seamlessly for the reader.
  • Do you know that ebooks and e-textbooks are not the same (content, digital rights management, who can buy)? See more on each at: ebook FAQs http://www.library.uq.edu.au/about-us/ebook-faqs and e-textbook FAQs http://www.library.uq.edu.au/about-us/e-textbook-faqs
  • The Library has recently re-written its subject collection assessments around the Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) Field of Research (FoR) codes. The 101 assessments are arranged by their 22 clusters http://www.library.uq.edu.au/about-us/subject-assessments-for-code, and describe UQ Library's ebook collections, and journals, databases for each
  • Subject Guides have been written for students http://www.library.uq.edu.au/subject-guides : use Filter by Topic to find guides on nursing, health and medicine, mental health, and others.

We are always interested in your point of view. If you'd like to send feedback to the Library, or order material to be included in the collection, please contact your librarian via the Librarians page http://www.library.uq.edu.au/contacts/librarians

Majella Pugh | Associate Director, Collections and Information Resources Service

Needlz: finding a needle in the haystack

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Needlz is the new search application, developed by Leximancer, using the ScienceDirect platform to make finding the right research article much easier.

Needlz not only searches for specific search terms, but variants in spelling as well as synonyms and is designed to identify 'Concepts' within the text - not just keywords but focused clusters of related, defining terms as conceptualised by the author. The Concepts are presented in an interactive display that clearly visualises and analyses the relationships and co-occurrence. Leximancer's CEO, Mac Exon-Taylor believes that Needlz will save researchers time and effort when searching for the right information from various sources. He attributes this time saving capability to "the power of Leximancer's proprietary technology to quickly and accurately analyse text, which helps users locate the critical themes of any kind of document much faster than reading every abstract of every title that comes up in a standard search".

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When the search is conducted, the top 50 articles are pulled into Needlz and ranked according to their coverage of the search topic. Needlz will also allow researchers to view the article abstract and associated details, as well as actual text excerpts containing the concepts used in the search terms. Users are also able to select specific articles and Needlz will return a list of similar articles with an accompanying concept map based.

Presently Needlz is available to UQ staff and students via ScienceDirect database.
For more information
http://www.library.uq.edu.au/uql/librarynews/2012/07/13/needlz-finding-needle-haystack

To see Needlz in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5hxxsG8r6k&feature=youtu.be

Scott Macintyre | Librarian, Herston Health Sciences Library

Spotlight

Did you know that My Library is the UQ Library website designed just for you!

When you log in you'll see widgets dedicated to specific activities, such as:

  • Library Contacts - request a consultation with a librarian, request a training class or request a purchase
  • My activities - a summary of your current loans, holds, fines, document delivery
  • Home library - opening hours and real-time computer availability at your favourite branch
  • My Favourite links - put links to your favourite databases, ejournals and websites here.

Check it out and you'll see that there's so much more!

http://www.library.uq.edu.au/

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Meet the Librarians - UQDI & UQCCR

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Nicky Foxlee is the Librarian who replaces Julie Hansen for the staff and students at the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research (UQCCR) at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Campus at Herston. The UQCCR focuses on patient-oriented research in the areas of Cancer, Brain and Mental Health, Infection and Immunity, and Mothers, Babies and Lifelong Health.

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Jill McTaggart is the Librarian for the staff and students at University of Queensland Diamantina Institute (UQDI) at the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus at Woolloongabba. UQDI concentrates on innovative, ground-breaking research in cancer and autoimmune diseases focusing on translating laboratory findings to the management of disease.

The UQ Library is a valuable resource available to assist the staff and students from these sites in their research process. Jill and Nicky provide a service customised for both individuals and groups, aimed at making the research experience easier and saving time for researchers.

Librarians frequently provide reference support through EndNote troubleshooting and advice on advanced database searches for the literature review process. Managing publication citations via ResearcherID, consultation on metrics, and data management guidance are rapidly evolving areas where librarians can assist researchers.

We also provide a collection development service aimed at making it easier for researchers to gain access to the full text online material including the latest research material and protocols. Additions to the collection include a subscription to the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE ) in 2012 and access to the pharmaceutical databases Catalyst and Australian Medicines Handbook, and the database Faculty of 1000 from 2013. Researchers will also have access to the journal Genome Medicine and to clinical summaries via MedLink Neurology from 2013.

Nicky Foxlee| Manager, Herston Health Sciences Library

Jill McTaggart | Librarian, PAH and PACE Health Sciences Libraries

Info Skills

Upcoming Workshops:

Check out the range of workshops delivered across the Health Sciences Libraries. Find a workshop to suit your needs including:

  • Getting started - searching basics
  • Starting a Systematic Review: Tips and Tricks
  • EndNote, EndNote Express
  • Finding Health Information using PubMed

Check out the smorgasbord of workshops at:

https://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/

Editor: Jenny Hall
Webwriter: Gary Smith

August 2012

In this issue...

From the Desk of Professor Cleghorn

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I am writing this piece while waiting for a train in Munich on my way to Tuebingen to meet with our increasingly valuable and active partners at the Eberhard Karls Universitat at Tuebingen. EKUT Medical School was founded in 1477, which puts UQ's history into some perspective and can count 10 Nobel Laureates as a part of their history. Continuing this historical European theme, it is therefore somewhat fitting that we find one of the articles in this edition of the library news describing the work of Fortunio who in 1616 published De Monstruorum Natura which marked the beginning of studies into malformations of the embryo.

Geoff Cleghorn, Deputy Head (Clinical Schools), The School of Medicine

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New University Librarian

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The Library welcomes the new University Librarian Robert Gerrity who has now commenced his appointment.

Robert was the Associate University Librarian for Library Systems and Information Technology for the Boston College Libraries, a member of the Association of Research Libraries. He was responsible for all technology-based systems and services for the Libraries. Robert joined Boston College in 1999, and oversaw the selection and implementation of a variety of technologies to improve management of and access to the Libraries' burgeoning electronic and digital collections. Most recently, he led the Libraries' development partnership with Ex Libris on Alma, a cloud-based, next-generation integrated library system.

Robert is the editor of Information Technology & Libraries, the official publication of the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) division of the American Library Association. He presents regularly at library conferences, on technology and scholarly-communication topics. In his spare time, Robert is an avid runner and cyclist.

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Fortunio Liceti's De monstorum natura, caussis et differentiis (On the nature, causes and differences of monsters) (1616)

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Fryer Library holds among its rare books a copy of the second 1634 edition of Fortunio Liceti's De monstorum natura, caussis et differentiis (On the nature, causes and differences of monsters). Fortunio Liceti (1577-1657) was an Italian scientist, who studied at the University of Bologna, graduating with doctorates in philosophy and medicine. He then took a chair at the University of Pisa, where he was noted for his expertise on Aristotle and his unusual proposals and investigations into topics in astronomy, phosphorescence, gems, and mysticism. The crater Licetus on the moon is named after him. He is best known, however, for his 1616 book, commonly called De monstorum natura, which is one of the earliest studies of deformities and marks the beginning of scientific studies into malformations of the embryo. Fortunio Liceti's approach differed from the common European viewpoint at the time, as he regarded 'monsters' not as signs of divine punishment but rather as fantastical rarities. His text, with its many illustrations, is the first known attempt to accurately describe and depict these medical conditions and to examine and understand their causes. Although at times it veers toward the fanciful, showing in one illustration a man with the head of an elephant, it was referred to by doctors until well into the nineteenth century, since the conditions it depicts were rare enough to be very difficult to study before the growth of twentieth-century mass media.

Fryer's copy of De monstorum natura contains the bookplate of one James Scott, M.D., stamped with his family coat of arms and motto: "Doe weell and let them say." It also contains the stamp of the University of Queensland Medical School library, where it was held before being transferred to Fryer. On the blank page facing the titlepage the following note is handwritten: "Vide volume 5246 of the Sloane collection of manuscripts in the British Museum by James Paris Du Plessis. Also "All the Year Round" Dec. 28 1861 "A Prodigy Hunter"." This refers the reader to another illustrated account of deformities compiled in the early eighteenth century by James Paris Du Plessis and sold by him to Sir Hans Sloane, a wealthy physician and book collector, who left his collection of books and manuscripts to the British Museum, where this manuscript can still be found. An account of it appears in the December 1861 issue of All the Year Round, a literary periodical edited at that time by Charles Dickens, and it is tempting to think that the piece, with its unusual choice of subject matter and its lively and engaging style, is the work of the great novelist himself, whose works are noted for his deep human sympathy and his understanding of all extremes of the human condition.

The title-page of the 1634 second edition of Fortunio Licetiâ??s De monstorum natura.

The title-page of the 1634 second edition of Fortunio Liceti's De monstorum natura.

An illustration of a young girl born without arms.

An illustration of a young girl born without arms.

Man with the head of an elephant

Man with the head of an elephant, one of the more fanciful illustrations from De monstorum natura.

Laurie McNeice, Manager, Fryer Library

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Evidence based practice and the nursing journal club: the Nurse Researcher's View

Carol_Reid2.jpgNurses from different areas at the RBWH have been successfully conducting Journal Clubs in their specialty areas once every 6 weeks. This approach to evidence based practice training brings together a group of nurses who are passionate about safe practice and who may not otherwise have the opportunity to develop skills in understanding evidence based practice.

The journal club provides the opportunity for nurses to:
â?¢ Consider evidence-based best practice and current trends in patient care and management
â?¢ Improve skills and knowledge in critical appraisal of published research
â?¢ Develop and improve presentation skills.
â?¢ Improve knowledge and skills in information literacy

The clubs meet to discuss relevant journal articles; however the presentations are usually stored electronically and provide access for all staff even if unable to attend the session.

The success of the journal clubs conducted by nurses at the RBWH is the result of a number of factors including that the aim of each journal club is to improve knowledge and skills in evidence based practice and that this occurs on a regular basis.

Meeting times suit the majority of staff and there are incentives such as professional development points to increase attendance. Clinical staff liaise with the librarian in order to learn database searching skills to access appropriate literature relating to their research question. Established critical appraisal processes are employed by the nurse researcher to ensure a good and meaningful understanding of the article by the presenter. The chosen article is then circulated prior to the meeting by the unit coordinator of the journal club. The journal club is led by the nurse researcher who is knowledgeable in research and literature searching skills and is responsible for facilitating the discussion and summarising the findings.
In some cases further research is conducted following involvement in the journal club.

Carol Reid, Nurse Researcher, Centre for Clinical Nursing, RBWH

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Evidence based practice and the nursing journal club: The Librarian's View

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Librarians at Herston Health Sciences Library actively attend clinical journal clubs. Jackie Devenish has the privilege of attending four journal clubs and partnering with teams from Mental Health, Surgical Day Care Unit, Quality and Safety & Hospital Drug and Alcohol.
Jackie feels that the journal club is more than critically appraising an article. It is also a chance for the team to gather and reflect on a current issue and an opportunity for the librarian to better understand how to support the department.

Prior to attending the journal club the librarian meets with the next presenter and assists them in locating the paper to be discussed. This way the presenter gets to find out more about the library resources, brush up on database searching and learn about new library products and services. Preparing for the next journal club gives clinical staff a chance to answer clinical questions with the best available evidence and accrue professional development points too. Some of the articles presented are the catalyst for further clinical discussions, projects and research. Whatever the next step is - the library is well placed to partner with clinical staff.
Jackie asked staff who had presented at or participated in a journal club to finish this sentence.
Journal clubs areâ?¦..

Journal clubs are..."an avenue to challenge our notions of clinical practice through robust discussion of the literature".

Journal clubs areâ?¦ "a fantastic way to promote an evidence based service and provide an opportunity for continuous professional development. As a result of our monthly journal club meetings, a quality improvement project is currently in the development stage to use the recommendations from two articles in particular to have patients participate in the development of an aftercare information tool in order to improve their transfer of care from hospital to home."

Jackie Devenish, Librarian, Herston Health Sciences Library

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eHealth

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A topical issue, of importance for all professionals working in healthcare, is the recent introduction of the patient controlled electronic health records (PCEHRs) in Australia.
Recent acquisitions to the library collections in the area of e-health include the following titles:
Wickramasinghe, N. (2012). Critical issues for the development of sustainable e-health solutions. New York, NY :, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Richesson, R. L. and J. E. Andrews (2012). Clinical research informatics. London ; New York :, Springer.

eHealth Conference Málaga, S., P. Kostkova, et al. (2012). Electronic healthcare 4th International Conference, eHealth 2011, Málaga, Spain, November 21-23, 2011, Revised selected papers. Berlin ; New York :, Springer.

Moumtzoglou, A. and A. Kastania (2011). E-health systems quality and reliability : models and standards. Hershey PA :, Medical Information Science Reference.

Ruth Browne, Librarian, Mater McAuley Library

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Meet the New Paramedic Sciences Program and their Librarian

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Earlier this year, the UQ Ipswich campus welcomed the first intake of students into the new Bachelor of Paramedic Science program, provided by the School of Medicine. The first intake saw nearly 70 students commence the program in February. The three year program includes practical placements with the Queensland Ambulance Service in each year of the degree so the students gain practical experience in the profession. A "mock" ambulance will be based onsite at the Ipswich campus, giving students the opportunity to experience working in this environment along with other simulation spaces. Students study a wide variety of subjects, ranging from anatomy, physiology and pathology to communication, legal and ethical principles in the health care and public health. They also cover ambulance policies and procedures and pre-hospital care.
The UQ Ipswich Library has been excited to be involved with the new program, from its development to the welcoming of the first intake of students. The development of the collection, including print and electronic resources began in 2011 and continues in consultation with the program's academic staff. The Library was involved with teaching information literacy skills to students throughout semester one, commencing with an orientation session, including a library tour during O Week through to participation in an embedded program run in conjunction with Student Services which focused on academic, life and library skills sessions. These sessions were a part of the QUEST program and were conducted during the first six weeks of the semester. The Library also facilitated a session on the research tools available to assist in the preparation of the student's PUBH1102 essay.
The UQ Ipswich Library is looking forward to continuing their association with the paramedic sciences program in the years to come and watching as this first intake of students graduate in 2014.

Miranda Newell, Librarian, Research Information Service,Ipswich

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Staff News

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Joint Princess Alexandra Hospital/UQ Library and PACE Health Sciences Library
The Joint Princess Alexandra Hospital/UQ Library is located on the ground floor of the hospital beside the garden atrium, building number 1, Princess Alexandra Hospital campus. The Library provides resources and services to support the teaching, learning and research needs of UQ staff and students and hospital staff located at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

In 2011, the Princess Alexandra Hospital commenced a project to develop a tele-medicine space. To accommodate the tele-medicine space, the Joint Princess Alexandra Hospital/UQ Library reduced its size by one third. Refurbishment of the Joint Princess Alexandra Hospital/UQ Library was completed in late January. Though smaller in size, the Library provides a warm and welcoming ambience conducive to research, study and reflection.
The Library is open 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday and now provides a 24x7 study space for hospital staff.

The PACE Health Sciences Library is located on level 6 of the Pharmacy Centre of Excellence (PACE) Precinct on the Princess Alexandra Hospital Campus, building no.870 PACE Precinct. The PACE Health Sciences Library is open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. During semester the study space is available from 7:30am to 9am, Monday to Friday.

Liz Jordan, Manager for both libraries retired on 29th June. Ms Wai Wai Lui commences as Manager from 23rd July until the end of December. Wai Wai has worked for UQ Library for many years and brings her experience and enthusiasm to the position.

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Upcoming Library Workshops

Check out the range of workshops delivered across the Health Sciences Libraries. Find a workshop to suit your needs including:
â?¢ Getting started - searching basics
â?¢ Using collaborative tools
â?¢ Endnote, Endnote Web
â?¢ Research Data Management
â?¢ Finding Health Information using PubMed, CINAHL

Check out the smorgasbord of workshops at:
https://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/

Editor: Jenny Hall
Webwriter: Linda Cross

see Autumn 2012 issue

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