Criteria for quality assessment of medical information resources EAHIL Workshop Alghero June 7 - 9, 2001 Marie Monik Christine Wickman Karolinska Institutet Library Stockholm, Sweden

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 articles Peer 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 NLM LSTRC - 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 SCI Impact 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 producers/ hosts 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!