EHSLibrary » Search Results » Twitter http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library Blog Tue, 26 Nov 2013 07:23:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 New PBS Documentary for University Libraries – Age of Champions http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2013/04/17/new-pbs-documentary-for-university-libraries-age-of-champions/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2013/04/17/new-pbs-documentary-for-university-libraries-age-of-champions/#comments Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:08:02 +0000 Ray Balhorn http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=3130 You’re invited to watch the new free PBS documentary Age of Champions

Age of Champions tells the story of five competitors who sprint, leap, and swim for gold at
the National Senior Olympics. You’ll meet a 100-year-old tennis champion, 86-year-old pole
vaulter, and hard-hitting grandmothers who triumph over the limitations of age.

The filmmakers have partnered with organizations including the National Institute on Aging,
Osher Center, and President’s Council on Fitness to share the entire documentary for free
during the film’s national online premiere, April 18 – 28, 2013.

The Washington Post called the film “infectiously inspiring” and theater audiences across
the country have fallen in love with its light-hearted take on growing older.

Invite your family, friends, and colleagues to watch the film for free by forwarding this
email, posting on Twitter, and sharing the link on Facebook.

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Sex and Gender Differences Research: Think About It http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2013/03/19/2962/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2013/03/19/2962/#comments Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:06:11 +0000 ahonisett http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=2962 The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library, in collaboration with six partners, received a grant from the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) and the National Library of Medicine of the NIH to highlight and extend the wealth of resources available from the NIH and its Institutes and Centers on sex and gender differences research. This project will develop learning materials and create strong collaborations and connections with departments and organizations across the health sciences to disseminate the high-quality information available on sex and gender differences in health to researchers, students and clinicians.

As part of this effort, the Eccles Library will be focusing its social media on a different women’s health topic each week.

If you’re interested in the importance of sex and gender differences for research and practice in the health sciences, be sure to follow any or all of the Spencer S. Eccles Health social media channels: Twitter, Facebook or this blog.

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Popular social media sites have millions of registered users (Facebook, over 800 million; Twitter, over 500 million; WordPress, over 15 million), many of whom log in daily to share intimate details of their lives, including symptoms, illnesses and struggles with chronic diseases. This is a treasure trove of informal data available for research and monitoring of public health issues. While tapping this resource raises many ethical issues, particularly individual identification, initial research has demonstrated that it may help with disease surveillance.

St Louis and Zorlu offer the following examples:

  • Recent analysis of three million tweets from May – December 2009 showed that “the 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak could have been identified on Twitter one week before it emerged in official records from general practitioner reports”
  • Physicians, unable to reach patients with chronic conditions after the tsunami in Japan in March 2011, turned to Twitter and the mobile Internet to direct patients to sources for their medications.
  • Digital surveillance platforms such as BioCaster and HealthMap regularly search and extract information from news, social media and other sites looking for hints and clues of new public health threats.

While these examples are compelling, and collaborations between HealthMap and public health agencies are underway to track influenza and other public health challenges, Twitter cannot replace traditional methods of tracking and verifying diseases. How many times have you or someone you know attributed symptoms to one illness, only to find it was a different illness? Monitoring must be coupled with verification, else we risk spreading rumor and panic.

Do you use Twitter or other social media to talk about your health concerns and conditions? How do you feel about having this information monitored for the good of many? Tell us!

References:

St Louis, C., & Zorlu, G. (2012). Can Twitter predict disease outbreaks? BMJ, 344, e2353. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e2353

Szomszor, M., Kostkova, P., & De Quincey, E. (2012). Swineflu: Twitter predicts swine flu oubreak in 2009.

Tamura, Y., & Fukuda, K. (2011). Earthquake in Japan. Lancet, 377(9778), 1652. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(11)60672-7

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Pitfalls and positives of social media in medicine today http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/04/13/pitfalls-and-positives/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/04/13/pitfalls-and-positives/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:44:13 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1880 logos of social mediaA new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) “surveyed the 68 executive directors of all medical and osteopathic boards in the United States and its territories about violations of online professionalism reported to them.” Of those that responded, 92% indicated at least one of a list of online professional violations had been reported to their board. The following graph depicts the number of state medical boards reporting violations, not the number of violations themselves:

bar graph of study results

The number of incidents, when compared to the total number of disciplinary actions taken by medical boards, is small, but can be expected to grow as more physicians embrace and use social media.

In contrast, at Ohio State University (OSU), instructors recognize that today’s learners rely more heavily on technology to gain knowledge for a future career. A pilot study showed how social media (in this case, Twitter and Facebook) can be used to “push” helpful information to students on a daily basis. More than half of the participants had not used Twitter previously, and upwards of 80% found it a useful and helpful addition to their course.

Any tool can and will be used and misused, social media included. What is important is to learn from our mistakes, and remain open to new and novel ways to benefit all.

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Health literacy: simple definition, thoughtful implementation http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/04/10/health-literacy-simple-definition-thoughtful-implementation/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/04/10/health-literacy-simple-definition-thoughtful-implementation/#comments Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:54:55 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1863 Health literacy logoWhile browsing Twitter for a blog post topic, I came across a link to the Center for Health Literacy at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. Upon visiting their site, I found a definition of health literacy that is concise and understandable:

Health literacy is the ability to get information, understand it, and use information to lower risk and better health.

In addition, this site posted a YouTube video from Harvard School of Public Health’s Dr. Rima Rudd, Senior Lecturer on Society, Human Development, and Health. In it, she talks about the “Perspective” article she wrote for the New England Journal of Medicine on improving Americans’ health literacy.

Unfortunately, NEJM’s link to one of the sources cited in her paper is not working properly, namely, the report “Literacy & Health Outcomes” from AHRQ (the link to the left works). If only librarians had been consulted in the building of the Internet and World Wide Web…

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Using Twitter beyond Twitter: embeddable tweets http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/04/09/using-twitter-beyond-twitter-embeddable-tweets/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/04/09/using-twitter-beyond-twitter-embeddable-tweets/#comments Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:26:02 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1851 logo for TwitterAs noted in the Social Media Examiner blog, you can embed conversations from Twitter into blog posts. Unfortunately, the Twitter interface has changed slightly, so when you hover over the tweet you want to embed, the link now says “Open” instead of “Expand,” and it is located at the far right instead of next to the logo. In addition, our library uses WordPress MU, which strips out the script tag that makes the conversation appear properly if you save it more than once. So the embed has to be saved into the blog last.

The post goes on to offer “8 creative ways to use embeddable tweets.” Here are the first four:

  1. Add customer comments and testimonials
  2. Share event invitations
  3. Add opinions and ideas from others to your blog posts.
  4. Continue a Twitter conversation in a blog post.

Here is an example of #1:

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Didn’t need an app for that http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/04/05/didnt-need-an-app-for-that/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/04/05/didnt-need-an-app-for-that/#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:04:40 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1826 In order to create a social media monitoring “dashboard,” the iLibrarian (a.k.a. Ellyssa Kroski) describes how to use Protopage.com to create a private web page loaded with helpful widgets — RSS feeds, searches, alerts and more. Below is a picture of the resulting page:

Social media dashboard page

Kroski’s page includes widgets to watch for times when her library is mentioned in/on:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • message boards
  • Google alerts, and more.

To watch Facebook, the page’s user needs to be logged-in to Facebook first, which means this page cannot be shared as easily as this librarian would desire. Still, it’s a great idea, and kudos to her for sharing!

How do you watch for mentions of your library across various media and platforms? What does/not work for you? Tell us about it!

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Keeping Current with Social Media workshop on April 6th http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/03/30/keeping-current-with-social-media-workshop-on-april-6th/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/03/30/keeping-current-with-social-media-workshop-on-april-6th/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:07:26 +0000 Peter http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1795 Are you drowning in news?

Can’t stay current with important information about your field?

Do you wish there was an easier way to keep on top of what’s happening?

Join us for ‘Keeping Current with Social Media’ on April 6th at 2pm in HSEB 3100B. Amy Honisett and Peter Jones from the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library will show you the basics of two great tools (RSS Feeds and Twitter) you can use to streamline your information overload. They will also briefly cover dashboards, which are services that collect your many social media accounts into one place.

Register online at: http://bit.ly/HpAfwi 

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New England Journal of Medicine’s mobile offerings http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/03/16/new-england-journal-of-medicines-mobile-offerings/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/03/16/new-england-journal-of-medicines-mobile-offerings/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:21:47 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1746 New England Journal of Medicine mobile app logoThis week the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) released an iPad app that allows journal and NEJM.org subscribers to:

  • Download the new issue each Thursday, and store all downloaded issues in a personal library
  • Bookmark articles, images & figures
  • Watch clinical medicine videos
  • Listen to an audio summary for each issue
  • Capture and save article notes, and even share them via email, Facebook & Twitter

Non-subscribers view a fully functional free issue, preview the table of contents for each issue and read Online First articles. App-only subscriptions of the NEJM are $14.99 per month, and purchase of a single issue is $5.99 each. At first glance, it does not yet appear that institutional subscribers can use this app to access NEJM, which is a significant oversight. Many faculty, researchers and physicians here at the University of Utah rely on the NEJM, and if a clinical reference tool such as LexiComp can provide an institutional version of their software, so can a top-notch journal publisher.

In downloading the iPad app, I discovered the NEJM Career Center, an iPhone/iPad app that, like its website counterpart, will help physicians search listings of physician and locum tenens job listings by location, specialty or position type. It notifies users of new jobs that match their search criteria, and allows them to email or tweet jobs to themselves or their personal networks.

If you want to keep up on the latest researched published in NEJM, subscribe to their weekly audio summaries podcast, NEJM This Week. Each podcast is 20-25 minutes long, and includes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial opinion pieces on topics related to biomedical science and clinical practice.

Do you use any of the NEJM apps? What do you like or dislike about them? Tell us about it!

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Using smartphones to boost healthy behavior against juvenile diabetes http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/02/28/using-smartphones-to-boost-healthy-behavior-against-juvenile-diabetes/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/02/28/using-smartphones-to-boost-healthy-behavior-against-juvenile-diabetes/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:22:07 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1683 medical app reviewsAs presented in a recent iMedicalApps post, Joseph Cafazzo, PhD PEng, and his colleagues at Toronto General Hospital, have developed bant (yes, it’s spelled all lowercase), a next-generation remote patient monitoring system to help adolescents afflicted with juvenile diabetes more-effectively monitor their health. Their approach to the challenge of encouraging young people to monitor their blood glucose (BG) levels is realistic and refreshing:

These are the kids that are learning independence, that are leaving the house more often, that aren’t eating right, or listening to their nagging parents. Now imagine them with a chronic illness such as diabetes. These kids are notorious for taking fewer and fewer blood glucose readings per day, eating improperly, and generally having a defiant streak in them.

Adolescents who used this device got points for compliance with the regular BG monitoring regimen, which earned them music and apps through the iTunes store. This pilot test of the system with twenty kids saw an increase in regular BG measurements of 49.5%, clearly demonstrating the need for a bigger study. The app also offered a Twitter-like microblog community capability for peer support and encouragement. Below is a video demonstrating use of the bant system.

One idea in this blog post caught my attention: their focus on developing an app to provide a solution in a way that can be clearly demonstrated:

Although we take the design and development of this smartphone platform very seriously, we aren’t interested in creating gadgets. As a research hospital, we take the opportunity cost of building such a system seriously. We need real tangible results. Hence, we spend more time and money evaluating the technologies that we develop than on building them. Our findings feed the next iteration of the technology. This is an example of evidence-based design. Consider it user-centered design on steroids.

After working for over two years to support evidence based research, it seems a natural next-step to consider applying such a standard to the development of medical devices and apps. I look forward to reading about a follow-up study on this devices.

Do you or someone you know struggle with juvenile diabetes? Would a system like this be helpful in encouraging healthy behavior? Why or why not? Tell us about it!

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Teaching medical students to use social media at John Hopkins U http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/02/23/teaching-medical-students-to-use-social-media-at-john-hopkins-u/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/02/23/teaching-medical-students-to-use-social-media-at-john-hopkins-u/#comments Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:15:22 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1644 Dr. Meg ChisolmMargaret “Meg” Chisolm is a Twitter user, and an assistant professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. As a recent article in the Hopkins Gazette points out:

[Chisolm] “is one of a growing number of medical professionals who, despite the present-day climate of strict patient privacy regulations and oversight, see the benefits of using social media to supplement their work and interact with colleagues, patients and the general public.” She connects with others using her Twitter accounts @whole_patients in order to “demystify psychiatry and psychotherapy for patients and doctors,” and @psychpearls , “which is targeted to learners interested in ‘clinical pearls’ about psychiatry.”

She and a colleague, Tabor Flickinger, a clinical education fellow, are designing a curriculum to train students at the School of Medicine in the use, benefits and potential pitfalls of using social media in medicine. In December 2011 they received an Osler Center for Clinical Excellence small grant award to run a pilot study with medical students during their third year clerkship of 2012 – 2013.

The format of the pilot study will be a voluntary online addition to clinical activities during the eight-week Internal Medicine Clerkship. One group of students will participate in a blog where they can write about and discuss their clinical experiences. Another group will serve as a comparison cohort; they will be studied but will not participate in the blog (from the Hopkins Gazette article).

No doubt many forward-thinking medical institutions, such as the University of Utah, will be watching for the results of this study.

Are you using social media in your practice (medical, psychiatry, or whatever)? How helpful has it been? What have proven to be the pitfalls? Tell us about it!

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Information and health literacies and the media http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/02/02/information-and-health-literacies-and-the-media/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/02/02/information-and-health-literacies-and-the-media/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:55:53 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1458 Health literacy logoSearching on Twitter for items on #healthliteracy and #healthlit, a link led me to an article in the Vancouver Observer (VO) on a new company’s website, “Healthism.com,” founded by “25-year-old Vancouver doctor Damon Ramsey, a family practice resident at St. Paul’s Hospital and UBC.” The VO’s interviewer wrote:

Healthism differs from other health websites, like webmd.com, because it focuses on quality, not quantity, Ramsey says. All content on the site is reviewed by a medical advisory board to assure credibility, he says. Interactive quizzes help provide personalized information to visitors, who can build up health profiles by registering. Healthism differs from WebMD and similar sites in its intuitive, clean design as well, Ramsey says. “I have an obsession with user-centered design and the user experience.”

The site is visually appealing, with a simple navigation structure and useful tools such as a Target Heart Rate Calculator, Body Fat Calculator, and quizzes to test your “Preventive Health IQ.” To use the site, it requires registering and creating a profile, and you can even connect via Facebook.

Because of the nature of journalism (deadlines and the demand to produce), interviewing and taking the founder of such a website is at his/her word is usually good enough. But to evaluate whether the quality of such a site, it is necessary to dig deeper, and to apply two methods of evaluation: the CRAAP Test and the HON Code.

Developed by the Meriam Library at California State University Chico, the CRAAP test evaluates web content based on its:

  • Currency: When was the information published/posted/last updated?
  • Relevance: What is the importance of the information given your topic or information need?
  • Authority: Who is the author/publisher/sponsor of the information?
  • Accuracy: Is the information reliable, truthful, and correct?
  • Purpose: Why does this information exist?

The Health on the Net Foundation’s “HON Code Certification” is “an ethical standard aimed at offering quality health information. It demonstrates the intent of a website to publish transparent information. The transparency of the website will improve the usefulness and objectivity of the information and the publishment of correct data.” As discussed in a previous post, it simply means a site will be transparent about its funding sources, privacy and advertising policies, author credentials, site’s sources, etc.

As of this writing, Healthism.com does not have HON Code certification. In addition, the “medical advisory board” mentioned in the VO article is not documented anywhere on the site. The privacy policy, while long, is fairly straightforward, but there is no mention of funding sources. And the few articles I sampled, and calculators I looked at, do not cite their sources for this information. So, with these shortcomings, it appears the best decision is to wait and see if this site improves its transparency and provides sources for its information before adding it as a linked resource on the website of a top-notch academic medical library website, such as the Eccles Library.

Serious journalists who would evaluate such sites would do well to know about these methods of evaluating online resources before interviewing the site’s founder.

Where do you being searching for medical information online — Google, Wikipedia, a medical site? What have you found to be a reliable source of health information online? Tell us about it!

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Twitter at the State of the Union address http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/01/25/twitter-at-the-state-of-the-union-address/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2012/01/25/twitter-at-the-state-of-the-union-address/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:19:46 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1410 Librarians in the News logoOne of my favorite bloggers, The Librarian In Black (a.k.a. Sarah Houghton) had the opportunity to participate in a “State of the Union Tweet-Up” last night, which she describes in her latest post, “Ms. Librarian Goes to Washington.” The event included a tour of the White House, and then Houghton and a select few got to have a Q & A “with Aneesh Chopra, the U.S. Chief Technology Officer, other technology advisor folks, and a surprise visit with Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram.” Sarah even got to ask a question about copyright!

I jumped in with the second question and asked how the administration planned to address the failed system of copyright in a digital media age, particularly the restrictive DMCA, and cited how some vendors refuse to sell digital content to libraries. Chopra’s practiced very political response was that copyright was a macro-policy issue, and then he talked about the administration’s work on sharing and open data standards through leading by example-their work on the Learning Registry and other open education and data initiatives (check out all the stuff at data.gov). He did use the phrase “metadata standards,” which literally made me shiver. I guess I am a true librarian nerd girl at heart (as if there was any doubt)! Other questions asked about healthcare records, open data standards, SOPA and PIPA, broadband, delegating some of the wireless spectrum to public safety officials, resources for primary education, and more.

Her blog entry was written prior to the actual address, so it will be interesting to see what it was like to “tweet” with an estimated 50 other people at this constitutionally-required event.

Have you ever participated in a major political event such as this using Twitter or other social media? Tell us about it!

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Promoting library services: the neverending challenge http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/11/21/promoting-library-services-the-neverending-challenge/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/11/21/promoting-library-services-the-neverending-challenge/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:57:00 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1240 Outreach and promotion of library servicesIn academic libraries, one of the ongoing challenges faced by librarians and staff is making patrons aware of the services we offer. This is especially important because we get new patrons every year: new students, faculty, etc. How do we keep up?

Traditionally, libraries have offered tours to incoming groups, where new students and faculty hear about services offered, and take home a handful of printed materials listing everything their library can do to help them in their work. Unfortunately, most of this information is never looked at, and ends up in a “circular file” (i.e. the trash).

Since the invention and proliferation of social media — blogs, Facebook, Twitter, wikis, Second Life etc. — libraries have new venues for outreach and promotion. One software-as-service online tool that might be considered here is the ability to create short animations on any subject, such as “What is interlibrary loan?”
GoAnimate.com: Interlibrary Loan 1 by Firesidelibrarian

In addition, special events of all kinds are used to attract “diverse diverse, underserved and expanded user populations” (Fabian, 2003) to library events and resources. At the University of Buffalo, Arts and Humanities librarians formed partnerships with cultural institutions and academic departments to reach out to new audiences in new ways: teaching assistant workshops, multi-media kiosks, book talks and library exhibits.

In each of the four outreach activities, the Team found that the efforts of partnership produced more effective and successful results. For the library exhibits, partnerships with area cultural institutions and academic departments helped to ensure not only stimulating content, but an expanded market for our offerings. Additionally, librarians found that embracing technology solutions for their exhibit space limitations not only engaged unexpected users, but also opened up new opportunities for applying emerging technologies to more traditional library services, for example, library instruction.

Eccles library faculty are looking at ways to use similar events to draw in patron groups. Watch for more information in coming weeks. And if you have an idea to share, tell us about it!

Reference:
Fabian, C. A., C. D’Aniello, et al. (2003). “Multiple Models for Library Outreach Initiatives.” The Reference Librarian 39(82): 39-55.

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Using Social Media to Enhance Your Research http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/11/15/using-social-media-to-enhance-your-research/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/11/15/using-social-media-to-enhance-your-research/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:56:57 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1232 Collection of social media logos in the shape of a face.The Krafty Librarian blog (KL) has a thoughtful post on “Using Social Media to Enhance Research.” Blogs, wikis, Twitter and Facebook can be a rich resource for information about all kinds of topics. Patients Like Me is a blog where readers can connect with others with similar medical conditions, read others’ experiences of various treatments (drugs, physical therapy, supplements, etc.) and more. Twitter’s Streaming API is a powerful, near real-time tool for sampling sites and tweets. ResearchGate is a site that allows researchers to network, participate in discussions on research-related topics, and build a profile that helps make their work more visible.

Amidst this glut of options, it is easy to get hung up on the technology itself. Keep in mind that you don’t have to try everything at once. First, sit down and decide what your information needs are. If you need:

  • In-depth discussions on certain research topics, look at blogs and wikis
  • Real-time sampling of what people are thinking and saying on a given topic, try Twitter.
  • Inspiration from people thinking out-of-the-box, look at the Facebook pages of enthusiastic upstarts in your field.
  • To track new research, use RSS feeds and Google Reader
  • Help clarifying your information needs before you can hope to begin utilizing these tools, ask a librarian!

Eccles Library staff have been on the cutting edge of information tools for many years, and both new and seasoned librarians can help you clarify which ones best meet your needs, and get you started using them. Just ask!

What social media tools do you use in your research? Tell us about it!

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When health literacy needs information literacy http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/10/12/when-health-literacy-needs-information-literacy/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/10/12/when-health-literacy-needs-information-literacy/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:23:16 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1162 While searching for posts on #healthliteracy on Twitter, I found several feeds that tweeted or re-tweeted about an online “health literacy quiz” from a company called HealthEd. Below is the quiz:

View more presentations from HealthEd

While this quiz appears to be well-researched and informative, is it from an organization committed to providing reliable health information on the Web? Looking at HealthEd’s website, none of the people listed on its “Leadership” page have an M.D. or medical Ph.D. degree (at the time of this writing).

Information literacy includes having the skills to evaluate online information to determine its accuracy, relevance, source, etc. One way to do this is to apply the C.R.A.A.P. Test: try to determine the information’s:

  • Currency: timeliness of the information.
  • Relevance: importance of the information for your needs.
  • Authority: source of the information.
  • Accuracy: reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content.
  • Purpose: reason the information exists.

Logo for the Health On The Net FoundationOne way to sort through the tsunami of health information is to look for the HONcode logo (at left). The Health on the Net Foundation “was founded to encourage the dissemination of quality health information for patients and professionals and the general public, and to facilitate access to the latest and most relevant medical data through the use of the internet. The HONcode certification is an ethical standard aimed at offering quality health information. It demonstrates the intent of a website to publish transparent information. The transparency of the website will improve the usefulness and objectivity of the information and the publishment of correct data.”

Other sites that can provide reliable health information include MedlinePlus, major academic medical institutions, and other trusted sources.

What reliable online resources for medical information do you use? Tell us about it!

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InfoFair 2011: InterProfessional Education http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/09/27/infofair-2011-interprofessional-education/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/09/27/infofair-2011-interprofessional-education/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:53:04 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1119 Logo for InfoFair 2011Date: Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Time: 3:00-6:00 p.m.
Location: George and Dolores Eccles Institute of Human Genetics Auditorium
Who: Nanci Murphy and others
Presented by: Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library

This year’s InfoFair is on the subject of interprofessional education, and will open with a reception from 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. in the Atrium outside the Genetics Auditorium. Nanci Murphy, Associate Dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Washington will present this year’s Clifford C. Snyder, M.D. and Mary Snyder Lecture from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. on “InterProfessional Education and Collaboration: Lessons Learned and Future Directions.”

The lecture will be followed by a Meet the Experts Panel discussion on this topic, moderated by our own Jean Shipman, Director of Eccles Library from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. Panelists will include:

  • Susanna Cohen, R.N., M.S., C.N.M
  • Jay E. Graves, Ph.D.
  • Sara Lamb, M.D.
  • Nancy Lombardo, M.L.S.
  • Mark Munger, Pharm.D.
  • Jennifer Samore

Can’t make it in person? InfoFair 2011 will be webcast live; check the InfoFair 2011 website for the webcast link.

Join the conversation during InfoFair! Eccles staff will be monitoring Facebook and Twitter (#InfoFair2011) and forwarding questions and comments to the participants. Then come back here and tell us about it!

About the InfoFair

InfoFair is an annual event at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center with the goal of providing up-to-date health sciences information. Past InfoFairs have focused on computer services, applications and resources as well as the future of computing in the health sciences.

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Is Social Media Important for Libraries? http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/09/14/is-social-media-important-for-libraries/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/09/14/is-social-media-important-for-libraries/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:48:58 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=1058 Collection of social media logos in the shape of a face.According to a recently released Nielsen report, the popularity of social networks and blogs continues to grow, and now accounts for “nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet.” Facebook is the most popular such site for Americans, and nearly 40% of people using these services access them via mobile phone. And twice as many people aged 55+ visited social networking sites on their mobile phone than last year.

The Krafty Librarian recently asked some thoughtful questions about the value of social media to medical and academic librarians:

  • Since it is apparent that social media is being used and it is here to stay for a while, what are the biggest issues you face personally and professionally?
  • Do you worry about a lack of privacy?  As more and more companies are going on Facebook and Twitter what is your thought about following them?  Do you follow them? Why or why not?
  • What is your library or institution doing on Twitter, Facebook or Foursquare? How is your library or institution engaging its users? How do you measure engagement?
  • Does the increase of bots on Twitter and inactive Facebook followers concern you?

The Eccles Library is trying to engage its users via its Twitter feed, Facebook page and this blog. One hot topic among medical academic libraries is health literacy, which Wikipedia defines as “an individual’s ability to read, understand and use healthcare information to make decisions and follow instructions for treatment.” Twitter searches using “#healthliteracy” has proven to be informative in learning what that site’s users are reading and thinking about this topic, as noted in a previous post. And as I posted more tweets on this topic, our feed has gained a few more followers.

On our Facebook page, the topic that appears to have garnered the most comments and Likes was copyright issues. But measuring engagement has proven elusive. Having worked in business previously, the value of time spent on a particular project was described as a return on investment or ROI. The book Social Media ROI by Olivier Blanchard just arrived on my desk via Interlibrary Loan, and may offer some insights on how to apply this concept to libraries and their use of social media. Stay tuned…

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Health literacy: the need for “plain talk” http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/08/17/health-literacy-the-need-for-plain-talk/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/08/17/health-literacy-the-need-for-plain-talk/#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:34:07 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=988 Health literacy logoSearching Twitter using the hashtag “#healthliteracy,” I came across an item that sounded exciting: “MAXIMUS Center for Health Literacy to Hold Conference in September: ‘Plain Talk in Complex Times.’” Presented in collaboration with the American Public Health Association, the conference offers:

  • Six preconference workshops: build your skills for communicating about health—in person, on the Web, and in print.
  • Learn from today’s decision makers and experts.
  • Two full days of speakers, panels, and skill-building workshops, plus time to meet with colleagues.

Key topics are listed as:

  • Oral communication
  • eHealth Literacy
  • Usability

To a librarian in an academic medical library, this sounded like a great resource for its intended audience: “physicians, nurses, health education specialists, and public health professionals.” The agenda covers areas such as social media, writing for the web, translation/interpretation, financial literacy, graphic design, accessibility, communicating with seniors, medicaid and health IT, and military programs. It features leaders in these fields lecturing and providing pre-conference workshops on all of these areas.

But no librarians.

While it is important and laudable to help health professionals improve how they communicate information to patients and the public, it is just as important to teach patients how to find and understand this information on their own. At the very least, this event should have invited someone from the National Library of Medicine to talk about MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus Connect, and how they can be used to provide important information to patients and clients.

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Searching on Twitter: health literacy http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/07/12/searching-on-twitter-health-literacy/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/07/12/searching-on-twitter-health-literacy/#comments Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:15:16 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=936 logo for TwitterTwitter is the microblogging and networking platform where anyone can post (“tweet”) content or links to other content using only 140 characters. Topics can be labeled by putting a hash tag (“#”) in front of a single (such as #cancer) or compound word (such as #informationliteracy). If you search for a given topic, the results are like a snapshot of what Twitter users are thinking and writing on that subject. Searches can be saved, and with Twitter’s application programming interface (API), search information can be pulled and analyzed.

Here are a few examples of what’s being discussed (tweeted about) on health literacy (#healthliteracy) on Twitter:

At first, even this author was skeptical of Twitter. But when one can sample what is of current interest on any given topic instantly, it becomes clear the value this platform has.

What topics do you follow on Twitter? If you have used it for research or to take the pulse of people on a particular subject, how helpful have you found it to be? Tell us!

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Libraries, Social Media & the Law http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/04/26/libraries-social-media-the-law/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/04/26/libraries-social-media-the-law/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:55:51 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=751 logos of social mediaToday the Utah State Library offered a two-hour presentation on “Social Media and the Law” by Randy Dryer, a social media attorney, which I attended. At the beginning of his talk, he asked how many libraries had a social media policy. Only a handful, including myself, raised their hands. Dryer then went on to briefly outline how social media has changed our society’s communications models from a one-to-many to a many-to-many form. Roles once held by main stream media can now be assumed by anyone with an Internet connection — broadcaster (YouTube), journalist (CNNiReport), expert (Wikipedia), critic/reviewer (Digg), or even a network (Facebook, Doximity and others).

Social media is an inexpensive and flexible way to market and promote library services, engage with users, and provide new ways to utilize library content and discovery tools. Dryer recommends that if a library utilizes social media, they need policies in order to:

  • Provide guidelines to employees and patrons.
  • Teach employees about the benefits and dangers of social media.
  • Minimize legal risks to the library and its employees.

Dryer’s talk provided much useful information on best practices for dealing with user/patron-posted content, issues and concerns related to children and social media, and free speech issues.

Generally speaking, if a library site (website, social media, etc.) allows for patron posting of content, it is considered a “limited public forum.” Content on such a forum is best managed by adopting a policy that meets First Amendment considerations; clearly defines the purpose of the forum; and reserves the right to remove content unrelated to that purpose.

As readers of this blog know, Eccles Health Sciences Library has a Facebook page, Twitter feed, and this blog. At the present, only library faculty and staff are allowed to post to these accounts, and we have developed internal policies to guide their use. If you represent a library and would like to read our policy, please email me at   email Todd Vandenbark

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Tools for creating a library mobile website http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/04/13/tools-for-creating-a-library-mobile-website/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/04/13/tools-for-creating-a-library-mobile-website/#comments Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:56:23 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=721 The iLibrarian blog has an interesting posting on “7 Tools to Create a Mobile Library Website (without Technical Knowledge!).” The post begins with a table showing the seven tools, and seven possible features for each tool, allowing for quick comparisons. Some of these tools allow for integration of various social media (YouTube, Twitter, etc.), while others tie into a mobile phone’s GPS features and allow the visitor to find your location quickly and easily.

Eccles Library is busy redesigning our website to incorporate mobile-friendly features. What would you like to see us offer? Tell us!

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University Health Care goes mobile http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/02/09/university-health-care-goes-mobile/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2011/02/09/university-health-care-goes-mobile/#comments Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:50:12 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=562 If you visit the University of Utah’s Health Care website via a mobile device (iPhone, iPod touch, Android, etc.), you are automatically redirected to their mobile site. The home page of this site fits neatly on a single screen, and offers information about the hospital and links to several helpful features:

  • Need to find a physician? With a few taps you can by physician name, specialty, disease or treatment, or browse by department or specialty.
  • Need to locate the nearest clinic? Just tap to search by clinic name, city, or specialty. Nearby pharmacies can be located in a similar manner.
  • Have a general health information question? Tap to enter their “Adult Health Library” or “Pediatric Health Library” and browse from several dozen general topic areas – from allergies and asthma to surgery and more.

This site is integrated with smartphone features like one-touch dialing and location mapping tools, and sports the familiar icons for Twitter and Facebook, inviting visitors to become fans of this top-notch healthcare system.

While this site is concise, clean, easy to read and navigate, it faces the same challenges that libraries and other organizations struggle with in this small-screen medium, such as presenting complex information, and labeling and organization.

While it is best for headings to be as concise as possible, being too terse can lead to humorous results. If one taps on the “Health Information” link, the next page is titled “Diseases and Conditions.” The options on this page lead one to observe (tongue-in-cheek) that “Adult Health Library” and “Pediatric Health Library” are each either a disease or a condition.

Browse to the health information topic on bleaching your teeth (Health Information -> Adult Health Library -> Oral Health -> Bleaching), and a table of useful information on who may or may not benefit from this procedure breaks. The headings appear presented in a vertical list while the table’s contents appear in a very narrow, three-column bulleted list.

With the proliferation of mobile devices capable of browsing the web, any organization that wants to stay relevant needs to create user-friendly sites for these visitors.

What do you think? Is this a site you would use? Add your comments and tell us!

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Spotlight on NLM resources http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2010/05/20/spotlight-on-nlm-resources/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2010/05/20/spotlight-on-nlm-resources/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 18:57:36 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=244 Did you know that you can access PubMed resources from your mobile device? Learn how at the monthly “Spotlight! On National Library of Medicine Resources” online workshop on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010, at 8:30 am MDT, 9:30 am CDT. This workshop is free but registration is requested. And in July, learn about using Mobile MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus Twitter. This second workshop will be offered on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, also at 8:30 am MDT, 9:30 am CDT.

The Eccles Health Sciences Library serves as a regional  medical library (RML) for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) in the MidContinental Region (MCR), supporting collaboration among over 400 member libraries and information centers in the states of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. The monthly “Spotlight!” series is being presented by our knowledgeable NLM colleagues, and archives of all the workshops in this series are available online. Topics range from using the Household Products Database to genetics, family health history, and much more.

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To Twitter or not to Twitter http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2010/04/08/to-twitter-or-not-to-twitter/ http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/2010/04/08/to-twitter-or-not-to-twitter/#comments Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:36:16 +0000 Todd Vandenbark http://library.med.utah.edu/blog/eccles/?p=175 In her blog “Information Wants to Be Free,” Meredith Farkas, Head of Instructional Initiatives at Norwich University in Vermont, writes about how “Twitter has changed so much in significance and utility” since its inception. Her post goes on to discuss how “Twitter (and FriendFeed, and other microblogging and lifestreaming apps) has been an amazing boon to those looking for connection and conversation.” Farkas lists four ways in which Twitter can be useful:

  1. “It’s great for querying the hive.” By the examples she gives, this means it is handy for getting quick opinions and information from the online crowd.
  2. “It can be great for sharing knowledge.”
  3. “It can be great for conferences.” On one hand, Twitter can help people share what is interesting and exciting at a conference. On the other hand, it can be a distraction from, or disruptive to, sessions and workshops.
  4. “It can be a great advocacy tool. Libraries and non-profits are using Twitter to promote their services and get the word out about projects they’re working on, current needs, and the news on issues related to their cause. And people who support them can amplify their messages through retweets. It’s also a great way to join conversations happening among their community of users.”

The Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library has its own Twitter profile page where this author tweets information from this blog via HootSuite. Check it out!

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