TML News and Notes: May 2013
May 28, 2013 - July 3, 2013
Tompkins-McCaw Library is proud to host the traveling National Library of Medicine exhibit,"And there's the Humor of It" Shakespeare and the Four Humors. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) created characters that are among the richest and most humanly recognizable in all of literature. Yet Shakespeare understood human personality in the terms available to his age-that of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors -blood, bile, melancholy, and phlegm. These four humors were understood to define peoples' physical and mental health, and determined their personality, as well. "And there's the humor of it:" Shakespeare and the four humors explores the role humors played in several of Shakespeare's most beloved works through beautiful imagery and rare books from both the National Library of Medicine and the Folger Shakespeare Library.
On Friday, May 3, hundreds of students preparing to graduate from VCU gathered at the Science Museum of Virginia for the event Your Passport to the World. Held annually, the event celebrates the achievements of the students with a soirée featuring international food from local vendors, music and dancing. Students also have the opportunity of visiting with representatives from many VCU departments to learn more about how to stay connected with the university after graduation and what resources it has to offer for helping graduates to advance their careers. VCU Libraries was, of course, there this past May 3 to talk about the VCU Friends of the Library and our extensive community programs. More importantly, though, we wanted to congratulate the students, every one of whom had visited Cabell Library or Tompkins-McCaw Library, whether in person or online, countless times during their studies. Best wishes for the future, and please keep in touch!
In this week's New England Journal of Medicine there are two articles about nurses that are related to the expanding field of the practice of nursing and relationships with doctors. Below are the two articles that address this topic along with an MSNBC article that addresses the perspectives of physicians and nurse practitioners on primary care practice. If you want the articles below just log into the library site and cut and paste the article title in the PubMed search box.
- MSNBC Article About the Perspectives Article: "Doctors doubt nurses skills, survey finds - Vitals" ( http://nbcnews.to/17z0fHx )
- Donelan, K., DesRoches, C. M., Dittus, R. S., & Buerhaus, P. (2013). Perspectives of physicians and nurse practitioners on primary care practice. N Engl J Med, 368(20), 1898-1906. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa1212938
- Iglehart, J. K. (2013). Expanding the role of advanced nurse practitioners -- risks and rewards. N Engl J Med, 368(20), 1935-1941. doi:10.1056/NEJMhpr1301084
When it comes to health care, patients play a vital role and need to be informed and able to talk to their physician about the care they need or are about to receive. To that end, there is a resource that has been created by ABIM, which is an organization of medical professionals whose aim is to improve health care through the advancement of medical professionalism. The resource is called Choosing Wisely and the aim of the resource is to promote conversations between physicians and patients by helping patients choose care that is:
- Supported by evidence
- Not duplicative of other tests or procedures already received
- Free from harm
- Truly necessary
The site points out that the recommendations made by the site should not be used to establish coverage decisions or exclusions. These recommendations are meant to spur conversation about what is appropriate and necessary treatment.
If you are interested in another resource that is based on the best evidence to help consumers made more informed decisions, this resource could be one to check out. You can find the website by clicking on the link below:
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Open Workshop: Library Orientation & Tour
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm, TML Classroom, Room 2-006
Learn about the variety of resources and services available to you from the VCU Libraries. In these one hour sessions we`ll show you the most effective ways to find books, journals, and other information for research and provide an orientation to the Tompkins-McCaw Library and its services as well as offer a tour of the facility. Registration is encouraged, but not required. Register at Library Tour
Online Workshop: PubMed
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
12:15 pm - 1:00 pm, Online
Learn to search MEDLINE via PubMed, including basic features and search techniques such as limits, display options and print formats. Methods to identify locally available journals or full-text online articles will also be discussed. Registration is required. After registering, participants will receive the class URL via email. Register at PubMed
Open Workshop: Library Orientation & Tour
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Noon - 1:00 pm, TML Classroom, Room 2-006
Learn about the variety of resources and services available to you from the VCU Libraries. In these one hour sessions we`ll show you the most effective ways to find books, journals, and other information for research and provide an orientation to the Tompkins-McCaw Library and its services as well as offer a tour of the facility. Registration is encouraged, but not required. Participants are welcome to bring their lunch. Register at Library Tour
The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) group is known for the statement/standards it has issued in the past for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Recently though the group has also issue a statement about the best practices for abstracts that pertain to systematic reviews and conference abstracts. A link to the statement, as well as the PRISMA website.
Summary Points of Statement for Abstracts
- The abstract of a systematic review should provide a structured summary that enables a quick assessment of the review's validity and applicability, and easy identification in electronic searching.
- Despite published guidance on writing the abstract in the PRISMA Statement guiding the reporting of systematic reviews in general and elsewhere, evaluations show that reporting of systematic reviews in journal and conference abstracts is poor.
- We developed consensus-based reporting guidelines as an extension to the PRISMA Statement on good reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in abstracts.
- The PRISMA for Abstracts checklist gives authors a framework for condensing their systematic review into the essentials for an abstract that will meet the needs of many readers.
(Beller, E. M., Glasziou, P. P., Altman, D. G., Hopewell, S., Bastian, H., Chalmers, I., ... & Tovey, D. (2013). PRISMA for Abstracts: Reporting Systematic Reviews in Journal and Conference Abstracts. PLoS medicine, 10(4), e1001419.)
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Noon - 1:30 pm
Dogs on Call teams will be available in the library on May 7th at lunch time to help students de-stress during final exams. The Dogs on Call program is part of the Center for Human-Animal Interaction at VCU Medical Center. Their mission is to improve health and well-being through human- animal interaction. For more information about the Center for Human-Animal Interaction visit http://www.chai.vcu.edu/
