Health information and libraries journal
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This article is the first in the feature to highlight the social network site Twitter as a tool for health information and it reports on a study by Emma Hughes, who completed an MSc in information and library studies at Aberystwyth University in 2014. Emma's research investigated the quality of health information available on Twitter, in particular the information available on UK alcohol consumption guidelines. ⋯ However, there is no doubt that Twitter is an increasingly popular resource for information dissemination and health professionals, and organisations should be encouraged to use it frequently as a tool for sharing information. AM.
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Complementary medicine is forming an increasingly large part of health care in developed countries and is increasingly being formally taught in tertiary academic settings. ⋯ Findings from this study will assist publishers, librarians and academics develop clinical information sources that appropriately meet student expectations and support their learning requirements.
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This feature looks at the issue of plagiarism in health care students and the role of the health librarian in combating the problem. In particular, consideration is given to how plagiarism can occur and provides some examples from two UK universities of approaches health librarians can take in supporting students to avoid these common pitfalls.
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Information needs of clinicians and non-clinicians in the Emergency Department: a qualitative study.
Identifying the information needs of Emergency Department (ED) staff and sources of information that they use can help to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the ED. As Emergency Medicine has unique characteristics, information needs of the Emergency Department (ED) staff might be different from other settings. However, few studies have investigated the information needs of ED staff and the sources of information that they use. ⋯ The variety of information used in the ED shows task complexity in this department which might not be simply addressed by technology. Further research is needed to identify how computerised information systems can be improved to meet users' information needs in the ED.
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Comparative Study
Medical literature searches: a comparison of PubMed and Google Scholar.
Medical literature searches provide critical information for clinicians. However, the best strategy for identifying relevant high-quality literature is unknown. ⋯ PubMed searches and Google Scholar searches often identify different articles. In this study, Google Scholar articles were more likely to be classified as relevant, had higher numbers of citations and were published in higher impact factor journals. The identification of frequently cited articles using Google Scholar for searches probably has value for initial literature searches.