Emily Vardell

Isabel, a Clinical Decision Support System

A Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) is an interactive tool designed to assist clinicians in making decisions, such as determining a diagnosis. The Isabel Database is a CDSS featuring a clinical checklist and topic-specific knowledge components. This column contains an overview of the database, provides searching tips, and places Isabel within the context of the CDSS field.

SciVal Experts: a collaborative tool.

SciVal Experts is a resource for finding experts and fostering collaboration. The tool creates researcher profiles with automatically updated publication and grant information and faculty-inputted curriculum vitae, more fully capturing a researchers body of work. SciVal Experts indexes campus-based “experts” by research topic, allowing faculty to find potential research partners and mentors, furthering translational research opportunities and dissemination of knowledge.

VisualDx: A Visual Diagnostic Decision Support Tool

VisualDx is a clinical decision support tool that uses images and searchable clinical features to assist physicians in the diagnostic decision-making process. VisualDx is a database of more than 24,000 high-quality images covering a wide variety of conditions and drug eruptions. In addition, VisualDx integrates within both UpToDate and many electronic medical records and features a mobile version. This column includes a sample search and a review of the features of VisualDx.

Joanna Briggs Institute: An Evidence-Based Practice Database

The Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence-Based Practice Database offers systematic reviews, practice recommendations, and consumer information designed to support evidence-based practice. A sample search was conducted within the Ovid platform to demonstrate functionality and available tools.

ClinicalKey: A Point-of-Care Search Engine

ClinicalKey is a new point-of-care resource for health care professionals. Through controlled vocabulary, ClinicalKey offers a cross section of resources on diseases and procedures, from journals to e-books and practice guidelines to patient education. A sample search was conducted to demonstrate the features of the database, and a comparison with similar tools is presented.

File synchronization and sharing: User practices and challenges

In this paper, we present results of qualitative analysis of interviews with 16 university faculty regarding their use of file synchronization and sharing technologies in their work and personal lives. We identify key problems and considerations that influence file synchronization and sharing practices, and describe commonly used strategies. Our findings show that while behaviors have evolved as technology changes, users continue to make extensive use of familiar patterns of access, including automated and manual methods. We identified several factors that influence users’ choice of methods for synchronization, including privacy and security concerns, data size, institutional policies, and knowledge of systems. We present insights about how boundaries and data separation affect synchronization practices, and about specific synchronization issues users faced when collaborating. Our findings extend research on personal and group information management practices and provide insight for the design of synchronization and sharing systems.

Pillbox: A Solid Dosage Medication Identification Tool

Pillbox is a tool that can be used to rapidly identify solid dosage medications. The database, created and maintained by the National Library of Medicine with the support of the Food and Drug Administration, seeks to enhance patient safety through the identification of solid dosage medication. Users enter physical characteristics of a medication, possible matches are provided, and links to additional resources are offered. A comparison with comparable resources was conducted, and future enhancements to Pillbox are discussed.

JoVE: The Journal of Visualized Experiments

The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is the worlds first scientific video journal and is designed to communicate research and scientific methods in an innovative, intuitive way. JoVE includes a wide range of biomedical videos, from biology to immunology and bioengineering to clinical and translation medicine. This column describes the browsing and searching capabilities of JoVE, as well as its additional features (including the JoVE Scientific Education Database designed for students in scientific fields).

Natural Medicines: A Complementary and Alternative Medicines Tool Combining Natural Standard and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.

Natural Medicines is a subscription-based database of complementary and alternative medicine information, building on the information previously available within Natural Standard and the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. Natural Medicines offers several special features including an Interaction Checker and Effectiveness Checker, as well as tools focused on Nutrient Depletion, Pregnancy & Lactation, and Adverse Effects. This column features a sample search of Natural Medicines, along with descriptions of the special features and how they might be used in practice by health care providers and health sciences information professionals.

ClinicalKey 2.0: Upgrades in a Point-of-Care Search Engine

ClinicalKey 2.0, launched September 23, 2014, offers a mobile-friendly design with a search history feature for targeting point-of-care resources for health care professionals. Browsing is improved with searchable, filterable listings of sources highlighting new resources. ClinicalKey 2.0 improvements include more than 1,400 new Topic Pages for quick access to point-of-care content. A sample search details some of the upgrades and content options.