Criteria for quality assessment of medical information resources EAHIL Workshop Alghero June 7 - 9, 2001 Marie Monik Christine Wickman Karolinska Institutet Library Stockholm, Sweden [email protected]
Mar 27, 2015
Criteria for quality assessment of medical information resources
EAHIL WorkshopAlghero
June 7 - 9, 2001
Marie MonikChristine WickmanKarolinska Institutet Library Stockholm, [email protected]
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Information literacy
• To analyze information needs• To know about different information
resources and how to access them • To evaluate the information retrieved
How is the information provided?
– oral information - personal contacts– printed material– online / CD-ROM / Internet
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Criteria for evaluation of information resources
• Accuracy• Authority• Objectivity• Currency• Coverage
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Printed information
• Easy to transmit • Independent of personal contacts• Detailed - method descriptions, diagrams,
tables
• Evaluable• Citeable• Archivable and retrievable• Academic credit
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Scientific articlesPeer reviewed journals
• Following a specific structure– makes it easy to orientate– instructions to authors
• Peer reviewed journals– guarantees validity– important to publish in the ”right” journal
• Accessibility – selected for indexing in databases like
Medline, Embase, SCI
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Journals indexed for Medline
• Journals selected by NLMLSTRC - Literature Selection Technical
Review Committee Scope and coverage
quality of content quality of editorial work production quality audience
• About 15-20% of suggested journals will be accepted
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Journals covered by SCIImpact factors
• Multidisciplinary database• Journals selected by ISI (Institute for
Scientific Information)
• Impact factors calculated
• Available in JCR (Journal Citation Reports)
• Journals sorted by impact factors – in alphabetic order– within different subject categories
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Databases
• Subject area• International vs national databases • What kind of material is covered?
– printed material - journals mostly - reviewed by publishers and referees
• Database producer’s/ host’s name, reputation, size, experience, customers
• CD-ROM / Online / Web interfaces
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Searching databases
• Need for information has to be translated into search terms
• More cost-effective literature search with ”correct” terminology
• Evaluation of the search result– to be applied in clinical practice– to be included in the decision making
process
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
To choose search terms
• Standardised terms (MeSH, Emtree)• ”free text”-terms• Advantages/disadvantages
• PubMed vs Medline via Ovid, DataStar, Silverplatter, Dialog, …..
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Medline
• MeSH-terms– Case control studies– Cohort studies– Risk– Odds ratio– Sensitivity and specificity– Prognosis– Recurrence– Survival analysis– Meta-analysis
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Medline
• Publication types– Clinical trial– Randomized controlled trial– Multicenter study– Meta-analysis– Controlled clinical trial
• Very useful for limitation issues
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Example: Drug therapy
• Interested in a group of drugs (serotonin agonists) or in a specific drug (Sumatriptan)?
• Which diagnosis? (migraine)• Dosage, route of administration?• Type of study/clinical trial?• Which terms?• Which databases?
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Cochrane Library
• Cochrane Collaboration founded in 1993– Collaborative Review Groups– Method Groups
• To help clinicians to find evidence– Systematic Reviews in full-text (using Meta-
analysis)– Clinical Trial Register– Health Care Technology Assessment
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Cochrane Library
• MeSH for searching– supplementary headings
• ”free text” in full-text and references– includes MeSH, EMTREE and other
standardised terms used by other database producers
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
The Web
• Usage of the Web has changed
Surfing
Searching more effectively for knowledge
and evidence
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Criteria for quality assessment of information resources on the
Web
• How current is the information?• Who is the producer?• Who is the information aimed at?• Links to/from the information?• Look at the lay-out, language, colors …
– the first impression is very important
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
URL - Uniform Resource Locator
• What about the URL of the web site?----.com, ----.gov, ----.edu, ----.mil, ----.net----.se, ----.de, ----.uk
• How did you find the resource?– via an established web site– via a search catalog like Yahoo– via search engines like Google, AltaVista,
HotBot,
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Something to think of… Something to teach our users ...
• Analyse the search request and the need for a specific type of document – use standardized terms, offered ways of
limitation
• Search several information resources• Use your knowledge and experience - be
critical• The Web is not ”everything”
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Professional responsibility
• Responsibility of database producers, hosts, portal builders, publishers– user-friendly effective search programs– to improve access probabilities– to offer better quality – information on the source
Christine Wickman, Marie Monik KIB
Professional responsibility
• Responsibility of libraries and information specialists– to teach end-users
• how to make better searches• where to find what they are looking for
– to build gateways to information within specific subject areas
Our competence is needed!