The BMJ Group and McMaster University’s Health Information Research Unit have collaborated to provide you with access to the current best evidence from research.  This free service offers a searchable database of the best evidence from the medical literature (over 120 premier clinical journals), an email alerting system and links to selected evidence-based resources.  In detail, the current features include:

• a systematic review of over 120 journals, including the quarterly updates of the Cochrane Library
• ratings of each eligible article for clinical relevance and newsworthiness
• email alerts about new evidence tailored to the user’s interests
• links to summaries and full text articles where available

To access this resource and to register for the service:

• Login to honni
• Click on B under Find Database
• Locate BMJ Evidence Updates in the list and click on it
• Register with the site by either clicking on the Register tab or by clicking on Free Registration in the top right-hand corner.

Links can also be found within honni e-Lib under the CrossSearch tab and restricted to the Medicine subject area.  Categories to look at include Guidelines and EBP, and Current Awareness.

In response to feedback, a range of subject-based Step-by-Step Guides to basic searching on honni e-Lib has now been added to the Resource Guides section of honni. These are aimed at helping those who are unsure of how to use the system and should help them get started on carrying out useful searches in their subject area.

We are also working on production of a detailed manual which will provide step-by-step guidance to all aspects of honni e-Lib.  It should be useful as a learning/training tool or simply for quick reference to parts of the system which may be unfamiliar.  We expect the manual to be available within the next couple of months, at which time it will be added to the Step-by-Step Guides page and highlighted in honni News.

We are interested to know how useful you find these documents, or if there are other types of information not included which would also be useful.  Please leave your comments below.

The new method of receiving articles by email, called FileOpen, has now been operating since the beginning of November 2009, and there have been few reports of problems with it.

Instead of using the complex and error-prone ‘Digital Editions’ software previously required, a simple plug-in is all that is needed to enable articles to be opened as PDF files.  The document delivery service has been greatly enhanced by this development.

However, at the present time, some Trusts may not facilitate downloading and installing the required plug-in, so the library still recommends that home email addresses are used for this purpose.

You can check whether or not you are able to receive articles at work by following the instructions on the Electronic Delivery page of honni.  If you are unable to install the plug-in and/or you are unable to open the test document, then you may wish to contact your local IT department to request this access, letting them know the requirements as given in About FileOpen.

It is to be hoped that, if Trusts receive enough requests, then in time they may make the service available as standard, and it would no longer be necessary to use your home computing facilities to make use of the service.

RefWorks is a web-based bibliographic management service that allows you to create a personal database of references and compile instant bibliographies in a variety of styles.

Graduates of Queen’s University Belfast are now entitled to have access to RefWorks through the RefWorks Alumni program.  This means alumni of the University are able to have one free RefWorks account with 200MB of file attachment storage, and access to free web-based training and technical support.  References can be transferred from an existing RefWorks account to one created under the Alumni program so you shouldn’t lose any references after graduation.  Access is through a Group Code and you will need this in order to get started.

Interested?

Contact the RefWorks Support Group (refworks-support@qub.ac.uk) for the Group Code and for further information on how to access this resource.

This trial has now ended. (6/4/2010)

During the months of February and March honni is running a trial to three key point of care resources.  The three resources are Dynamed, FirstConsult and BMJ Evidence which enable you to obtain reliable clinical information quickly and in an accessible format.  Up To Date is a similar resource and has been recommended to the library.  Unfortunately Up To Date is extremely expensive to make available through honni and, at the moment, the suppliers are unwilling to provide a trial.  The resources being trailed are some of the possible alternatives.

The three resources are outlined below.  To access each, simply click on the link and enter your username (number on your library card) and password.

• Dynamed
• FirstConsult
• BMJ Evidence

The library would value your feedback in order to help assess which would be the most useful to library users.  Please take a few moments to complete the online feedback form.  Alternatively please contact your subject librarian directly.

The method of accessing ProQuest Medical Library has now changed and the problem below should no longer occur. 13th August 2010

Some people have reported experiencing a problem connecting to ProQuest Medical Library.  After logging in to honni connection to ProQuest should be seamless but it seems this isn’t always happening.  Instead a ProQuest login screen may be displayed on which honni usernames and passwords don’t work.

The problem is presently being investigated.  Until it is fixed you can get round the problem by clicking the small Athens login link on the ProQuest page.  If you are properly logged in to honni this should take you on through to the database without further difficulty.  Please check back here for updates on progress with this issue.

The following journals are now available electronically to the current edition:

• Acta neuropathologica
• Calcified tissue international
• Cancer chemotherapy and pharmacology
• Diabetologia
• Dysphagia
• Lung
• World journal of surgery
• Journal of cancer survivorship
• Archives of virology
• European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases
• European journal of clinical pharmacology
• European radiology
• Human genetics
• Intensive care medicine
• Brain structure & function
• Pflugers Archiv: European Journal of Physiology
• Quality of Life Research

To access these journals, log on to honni e-Lib and select Find e-Journal.

In light of the H1N1 pandemic EBSCO publishing are currently providing free point of care flu information.  This information comes from a range of resources including Dynamed, Nursing Reference Center and patient information sources.
All HSC personnel can access this information from www.ebscohost.com/flu.

A more efficient way to receive documents by email

When articles are not available from Medical & Healthcare Libraries they can be requested via the Document Delivery service and delivered either by post or by email.

The email option involves what is known as ‘digital rights management’ aimed at securing article content from being illicitly copied or distributed to comply with copyright legislation.  Until recently a program called Adobe ‘Digital Editions’ was the sole means of obtaining copyrighted material via ‘Secure Electronic Delivery’.  But there are frequent installation, activation and authorisation problems with Digital Editions which has effectively meant that many people have been unable to avail of the service.

Now there is a new system known as ‘FileOpen’ which is much more straightforward and less prone to error.  It simply requires a small add-on for Adobe Reader to be installed on any PC on which articles are to be received.  Articles then open in Adobe Reader without the need for any additional software.

The Medical & Healthcare Library will be implementing the new system from 9th November 2009.

Regular users of PubMed will have noticed a link on the homepage to the new redesign of the database.  This redesign will co-exist with the old version for about two weeks before switching over completely.  All search capability and functionality has been retained but the site has been given a fresh new look.  For example the features of the Limits, Preview/Index, History and Details tabs have been consolidated into the Advanced Search.  Display formats have been modified and updated.

For further information on the changes to the PubMed site, please see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/so09/so09_pm_redesign.html