If you didn't get a copy at the reference training meeting, here are this month's reference challenge questions. Remember, these are most easily answered using SciFinder Scholar. Clarify these cites, and figure out if they're held on campus. Give your answers to Del, and we'll go over the questions at the April Reference Training meeting. If you need help with SciFinder, see Liz or Del. Enjoy!
1. "Improvement of Blood Compatibility of Membranes by Discharge Polymerization," H. K. Yasuda, M. O. Bumgarner, R. G. Mason: ACS ORPL Prepar. 34(1) 574-677 (1974)
2. "Parylene Coated Polypropylene Microfibers as Cell Seeding Substrates," F. R. Tittmann, W. F. Beach, CA: 94(10)71420p
On 3/28, MedlinePlus (http://medlineplus.gov) introduced some new features on the Health Topics pages, including:
--Each page now displays a photograph or illustration.
--A brief summary of each disease or condition also displays at the top of the page. Composed by experienced medical writers and reviewed by NLM staff, the summaries are based largely on NIH and other government information. They are written at an easy-to-read level and include links to related topics. As of March 28th, summaries appear on about half of English pages. All English and Spanish Health Topic pages will include a summary in the near future.
--Synonyms appear right under the health topic name.
--A new category, labeled Start Here, links users to overviews and important information for first-time visitors.
--A centrally-located Table of Contents divides the MedlinePlus categories into six boxes to show users everything on the page at a glance.
A guided tour is available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/faq/healthtopicredesign.html .
Enjoy! These look like some good changes.
Karla
Greetings medrefers:
This is a message for those of you who answer email reference questions that come in via medref@umn.edu.
Chad has used Wufoo to create a new Web form that folks can use to request a literature search. He has grabbed the code and embedded this form in the Bio-Med Web site. When someone fills out and submits a form, Wufoo forwards it via email to medref@umn.edu. The email will therefore look like it came from Wufoo, but it actually originated from our Web site. Please continue treat these literature requests just as you have treated literature search requests in the past (log them, put them in the lit searches in box behind the reference desk, etc.).
Hope this clears up any confusion. If you have additional questions please see me or Chad.
Cheers,
Martha
I recently got a question about how to search for a unique identifier in Web of Science. When you email Web of Science citations to yourself or import them into RefWorks, a field appears toward the end of the record that looks like this: UT=ISI:000243967300003
The UT field is the ISI Unique Article Identifier, like a PMID in PubMed or an accession number in CINAHL. You would think that, once you have this number, you can plug it into a Web of Science search to quickly get back to the article you're interested in. Or, you might try to do an advanced search like this: "UT=ISI:000243967300003"
Well, it doesn't work. I contacted Thomson tech support, and their response to the query is that "Currently, there is no way to search on the "UT" in the Web of Science. There is an enhancement request in our system for this feature."
So! Even though Web of Science has Unique Article Identifiers, you can't currently use them to relocate articles. This surprised me, so I thought I'd pass the info along in case you ever get the question.
Liz
From a recent email from Natural Standard ---
"We are outreaching to all departments about new features on our website & the database in general to be sure that all of our members gets the most out of this valuable resource .....
One of the great new features is called the Advanced Interactions Checker which can be found in the interactions database on our homepage. It does all of the work for you! ....
Basically it allows you to find possible interactions between specific herbs, supplements, drugs & brand name products. Just search for specific agents, click on them to be placed in the check box in the upper right hand corner of the screen and the database will automatically find interactions between them all. When the search has found interactions, a blue hyperlinkf will appear in the results section. A good example to try is Aspirin, Ginkgo, Warfarin, or Yohimbe bark extract"
There are flyers available if you are interested that cover the new feature.
Katherine
Greetings,
In response to a request for information about how to access ebooks, I have created a handout regarding Ebooks and Other Electronic Texts in the Health Sciences. It is posted on the Bio-Med Web site under Research Quick Tips here or you can download it: Download file. I have included a broad range of sources for ebooks and electronic texts, including U of M licensed resources, government documents, sources for ebooks freely available on the Web, and fee-based sources for ebooks.
I welcome your comments and suggestions. As new materials become available, such as the forthcoming package of ebooks from Rittenhouse, I will revise this document.
Regards,
Martha
Greetings-
Now that we have in place a trial subscription to Wufoo for the next 6 months or so, please resume tracking all Reference Desk Transactions via the Wufoo form beginning on Monday, March 5. I have added the form to the Firefox bookmarks bar on all three Reference Desk workstations. The form can also be found here: https://hsllibs.wufoo.com/forms/biomedical-library-reference-desk-transactions/. Again, please forward to me any questions or suggestions you have about the form.
This remains a pilot project. We will compare Wufoo to other means of creating forms for data collection and we will develop appropriate processes for reporting and storing data regarding Reference transactions. Ultimately, we aim to create a mechanism for tracking data regarding Reference transactions that fully represent our activities at the Reference Desk, but I also want this process to be easy and barrier-free for all Reference staff. Your participation and feedback will make this possible.
Thanks,
Martha
Hello,
I wanted to let everyone know that our subscription to Up To Date has lapsed; because UTD sent us the invoice at the last minute. We have faxed our subscription renewal to UTD and it will take two working days to process it, so our access should be restored by Tuesday. In the mean time we have contacted our rep about getting some temporary access, such as a guest username/password, for UTD. I will keep you posted about this situation, please let me know if there are any questions.
Nicole