Library launches new Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Portal

Where do I look for the best evidence to answer a clinical question? 

The Library is excited to launch a new portal, Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)!

With an estimated 2,000 new articles indexed daily in PubMed, finding evidence-based answers can be overwhelming. Even knowing where to start searching the Library’s numerous subscribed resources and key websites can be daunting!

To assist and streamline searching this portal, the Library’s resources are organized in the EBP Pyramid’s three categories:

  1. Filtered/pre-appraised resources appraise the quality of studies, often making recommendations for practice and to save time (i.e., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, UpToDate, National Guideline Clearinghouse).
  2. Unfiltered/unappraised resources are the databases of original studies (i.e., MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase).
  3. Background information/resources link to select textbooks.

Note: The new Evidence-Based Portal replaces the existing Clinical Evidence Portal, which will be sunsetted at the end of March; please update your bookmarks accordingly.

For more information on EBP, click on the Portal’s horizontal tabs or links listed in the left sidebar of the Portal’s home page. Questions? Please complete the Ask Us form or call 214-648-2001.

2017 Medical Student Research Forum posters now available online

Posters presented at the 55th Annual UT Southwestern Medical Student Research Forum are now available through the UT Southwestern Institutional Repository’s Annual Medical Student Research Forum Collection, along with a booklet containing information on all posters.

Beginning in 1962, the UT Southwestern Medical Student Research Forum is an annual event celebrating research conducted by UT Southwestern medical students. The event is open to any medical student who participated in research, whether through the Summer Research Program or a yearlong program like HHMI.

For the last four years, presentation posters have been submitted to the Institutional Repository collection. Each publicly-available poster in the collection includes additional descriptive information, as well as a citation formatted according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition, which can be used with CVs or in various applications.

For questions about contributing content in general to the UT Southwestern Institutional Repository, contact Cameron Kainerstorfer at archives@utsouthwestern.edu.

New year brings new skills!

aceIs learning a new skill on your list of New Year’s resolutions? Do you want to get organized, reduce stress, or manage time differently in 2017? The UT Southwestern Health Sciences Digital Library & Learning Center can help with that!

More than 22,000 training books and modules housed in the Academy of Career Enhancement’s Books 24×7 collection are available through the Library catalog and includes a variety of topics including project management, time management, work-life balance, stress reduction, and organizational effectiveness. By using the Library catalog to access the entire Books 24×7 collection, you may dive further into a particular topic via the sidebar. Once you locate an item of interest, simply click on the online access link and use your campus log-in to continue. You can quickly jump to particular chapters, take notes, create bookmarks, and more.

This collection – part of the Academy of Career Enhancement (ACE) – is provided to the UT Southwestern community through an enterprise license of online resources for the continuing development and engagement of the UT Southwestern workforce. The multi-year contract is funded by several campus departments, including the Office of Human Resources.

Introducing CiteScore: a new standard for measuring your impact in Scopus

7904846012_2e76778e68_bCiteScore™ metrics are a new standard to measure citation impact. Comprehensive, transparent, current, and free, CiteScore metrics help you to analyze the impact of all serial titles – including journals – at all levels – journal, article, and author – in Scopus, a scientific citation database provided by the UT Southwestern Health Sciences Digital Library and Learning Center.

Journal Metrics

  • CiteScore metrics: A family of eight indicators that offers complementary views to analyze the publication influence of serial titles of interest. Derived from the Scopus database – almost twice the size of the next-leading abstract and citation data provider – CiteScore™ metrics offer a more robust and accurate indication of a serial’s impact.
  • SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): A prestige metric based on the idea that not all citations are the same. With SJR, the subject field, quality, and reputation of the journal have a direct effect on the value of a citation.
  • Source-Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): Measures contextual citation impact by weighting citations based on the total number of citations in a subject field. The impact of a single citation is given higher value in subject areas where citations are less likely, and vice versa.

Additionally, you can compare total number of citations received per year, total number of documents published per year, the percentage of documents each year that have never been cited, and the percentage of documents published in the year that are review articles.

Article-level Metrics

Article-level metrics (ALMs) quantify the reach and impact of published research. Scopus incorporates data from new sources (such as social media mentions) along with traditional measures (such as citations) to present a richer picture of an individual article’s impact.

The Article Metrics module on Scopus combines citation and alternative metrics in a new way to help you benchmark articles better. Use it to both determine which articles to read, and to gain deep insights into how an article compares with similar articles. On the Scopus article page, a sidebar highlights the minimal number of meaningful metrics a researcher needs, including (as available):

  • Citation count and percentile benchmark
  • Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI)
  • Count of one type of scholarly commentary (e.g., blog posts, Wikipedia)
  • Count and benchmark of one type of social activity (e.g., Twitter, Facebook)
  • Total count of additional metrics and link to see breakdown by source

From the sidebar, clicking <View all metrics> opens the full Article Metrics module, providing an overview of all available metrics and the underlying content for further analysis and understanding.

Author Metrics

Scopus bibliometrics can help you assess an individual author’s research output and scholarly impact. The depth and breadth of content on Scopus – which includes 2.5 million pre-1996 records – provides the quality data needed to build accurate measurements of an author’s impact. With Scopus you can easily analyze and track an individual’s citation history. In addition to finding an author’s total citation and document counts from an author’s details page, you can also access the following metrics and tools:

  • h-index and h-graph: Rates a scientist’s performance based on his or her career publications, as measured by the lifetime number of citations each article receives. The measurement depends on both quantity (number of publications) and quality (number of citations) of an academic’s publications.
  • Citation overview tracker: An adjustable table that includes the number of times each document has been cited per publication year.
  • Analyze author output: A collection of in-depth and visual analysis tools designed to provide a better picture of an individual’s publication history and influence.

For more information about Library resources or to schedule a one-on-one training, please contact your health science librarian by email or use the Ask Us form on the Library’s website.

To schedule an individual or group training session, please use the Request Training page.

EndNote X8 is here! Upgrade now available for download for Mac and PC

cw1x7zrveaauraqThe new EndNote X8 software is now available for install from the UT Southwestern Information Resources EndNote software support page. This upgrade has been anticipated for many Mac users with Sierra who have experienced downloading issues of X7.

An EndNote comparison chart of X8, X7, and X6 versions provides a comprehensive list of existing features along with new X8 additions that include:

  • Sharing functions including a large increase in shared libraries
  • Activity Feed with Shared Library member activity 
  • Learn when new members join the Shared Library
  • Automation and full text management including Recently Added Group
  • Automatically find and apply bulk reference updates
  • Unified iconography across both Mac and Windows.

More information, resources, and news about EndNote can be found at the Library and Learning Center’s EndNote Portal. If you have a specific EndNote question, contact our EndNote experts by email or Ask Us form on the Library & Learning Center’s website. To schedule an individual or group training session, use the Request Training page.

STAT!Ref’s BoardVitals provides USMLE 1/2/3 customized exam preparation

usmleboardvitalsNeed to practice for your board exams? Consider using BoardVitals, an effective and powerful board review tool that includes high-quality review questions. The UT Southwestern Library provides access to this resource through our recent subscription to STAT!Ref, which is available through TexShare’s TexSelect Program.

With BoardVitals, users may prepare for a variety of board examinations, including the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1, Step 2 (CK and CS), and Step 3 and the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses (NCLEX-RN). The resource allows for decreased study time, with everything organized under one platform and the best questions to study listed up front.

Users will need to register for a new account by going to BoardVitals.com and using the @utsouthwestern.edu email address as their username. Once the account is set up, users may create customized practice tests using many options including number or questions, subjects and more.

Also included are detailed, up-to-date explanations with each answer, with references and links to applicable sources. BoardVitals contains the very best questions brought together from the leading medical publishers, research institutions, and practicing clinicians.

If you have any questions or need more information, please send an email or call 214-648-2001.

Library’s web server to be replaced, back-up site available

websiteconstructThe Library’s Digital Services and Technology Planning unit will be transferring our website to a new web server starting Friday, September 9, 2016. During this time, we will have our back-up site available.

Please notify LibWebmaster@utsouthwestern.edu if you experience any issues with access to Library resources during this time.

UTSW Affiliates Library Resources access at Children's Health migrating to EZProxy Login only

EZproxyUT Southwestern affiliates working in Children’s Health will now be prompted with an EZProxy login in order to access all paid Library resources, which includes Ejournals A to Z, full text article linking, and clinical resources (e.g., UpToDate, ClinicalKey).

This change is being implemented to resolve compounding UT Southwestern Information Resources security and networking system access incompatibilities. Our resource vendors also require more clear authentication paths to ensure that only authorized UT Southwestern affiliates obtain access to licensed content. EZProxy authentication will streamline the process and provide clear access entry.

We apologize for the access troubles encountered over the last weeks and anticipate this fix will correct any problems that have not been resolved by previous measures.

If you are a UT Southwestern affiliate who still experiences access issues at Children’s Health, please report your issue to Liberesources@utsouthwestern.edu. Please include information about where you were attempting entry, what browser you are using, and your location.

Update your bookmark! A new enhanced Ejournals A to Z to replace existing interface this week

ejazlaunchChanges are coming to your Digital Library! The popular Ejournals and Ebooks A to Z interface you use to connect to the Library’s current journal holdings is being replaced with a new version on Tuesday, October 20, 2015. The enhanced Ejournals A to Z will feature quick auto-populating for journal titles and a smoother interface experience.

All Ebooks are now searchable through the Library Catalog. This provides enhanced searching capabilities, more collection options like the Books 24×7 series, quick linking, and individual record information about usage (i.e. single seat, multi-seat, chapter download restrictions placed by publisher/vendor, etc.).

During the Ejournals A to Z transition period, previous bookmarks for Ejournals and Ebooks A to Z may not work anymore. In addition, full-text linking in resources like PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and Scopus may be temporarily unavailable. Please report any issues with access or linking promptly through this online form to ensure quick response and resolution with EBSCO, the vendor responsible for this interface transition.

Status updates will be available from the Library’s home page for any issues that may arise during this transition.

Create an AccessMedicine personal account for access to more features

am2AccessMedicine now provides more features for UT Southwestern affiliates when you create a My Access Personal Account. These features include:

  • Gain remote access to AccessMedicine using only your My Access account credentials. No extra log-ins or VPNs required.
  • Access Self-Assessment to create practice tests
  • Use the Cases to evaluate real-world patient scenarios
  • Save and download images
  • Access Custom Curriculum (if it’s being used by your program)

Click on your institution’s name inside the drop-down box in the upper right-hand corner of any page. Once there, click on “Create a Free Personal Account” and fill out the form. It’s that easy to: