Checking in with Your Document Delivery User Base: Creating, Implementing, and Learning from Client Satisfaction Surveys.

In 2017, Document Delivery Services (DDS) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Medical Library launched a customer satisfaction survey. The last time a survey of this nature was implemented was in 2009, before switching to ILLiad for the management of resource sharing requests. Due to the changing nature of content accessibility and online research methods, the DDS team felt that the time was right to survey their users again to seek feedback in support of service improvements. Questions were created to evaluate users' satisfaction and knowledge of the service and related resources. New survey results were compared where possible to those received in 2009 to determine if survey results had changed over time. Enhancements were made to the service based on responses received in the 2017 survey.

Acupuncture for pain: an overview of Cochrane reviews.

OBJECTIVE: Cochrane reviews have the reputation for being more transparent and rigorous than other reviews. The aim of this overview was to evaluate and summarize Cochrane reviews of acupuncture for the treatment of any type of pain. METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Database and evaluated the Cochrane reviews that were concerned specifically with the effectiveness of acupuncture for pain. Data were extracted according to pre-defined inclusion criteria by two independent reviewers. RESULTS: Eight Cochrane reviews were included. They were all of high methodological quality. They related to a wide range of pain syndromes. Four reviews concluded that acupuncture is effective for migraines, neck disorders, tension-type headaches, and peripheral joint osteoarthritis; one review failed to demonstrate type the effectiveness of acupuncture for rheumatoid arthritis; and three reviews were inconclusive for shoulder pain, lateral elbow pain, and low back pain. CONCLUSION: Several Cochrane reviews of acupuncture for a wide range of pain conditions have recently been published. All of these reviews were of high quality. Their results suggest that acupuncture is effective for some but not all types of pain.

A brief history of time: the power of botanical systematic reviews.

There are more than 20 completed Cochrane systematic reviews on botanical medicine presently published in the Cochrane Library. There are more than 40 that are planned or in progress. It is an opportune time to explore the information needs of readers of botanical systematic reviews and how those needs can be met better by Cochrane systematic reviews. It is proposed that Cochrane systematic reviews focus not only on efficacy but also on expanded safety and quality. Expanded safety refers not only to the occurrence of adverse events but also the contraindications for use such as drug-herb interactions or allergies to products. Quality pertains to whether or not there was a method of standardizing active ingredients in trials and methods for minimizing risks of contamination. Because there are no package inserts to accompany herbal products as there are for drugs, Cochrane systematic reviews offer the ideal forum to present this much-needed information on expanded safety and quality.

Use of the Cochrane electronic library in complementary and alternative medicine courses in medical schools: is the giant lost in cyberspace?

Courses in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are increasing in medical schools in the United States and, currently, approximately two thirds of U.S. medical schools offer at least one such course. As these courses grow in popularity, however, concerns are also growing that these courses lack an evidence-based perspective. We propose that one interesting and easy way to bring an evidence-based perspective to the CAM classroom is to utilize the Cochrane Electronic Library (CLIB), which is available in many medical libraries, as a teaching tool. The CLIB currently houses more than 80 CAM-related, full-text systematic reviews and approximately 5000 CAM-related clinical trials, making it a valued resource for people who seek CAM evidence. Moreover, the CLIB commitment to publishing reviews regardless of the results make it a resource where one can find reviews concluding there is strong evidence of benefit or no evidence of benefit. In addition to the access to CAM evidence which the CLIB provides, students can learn basic critical appraisal skills by learning the rationale behind Cochrane systematic reviews. A survey of CAM course directors, however, shows that almost one half of these directors have never used the CLIB. For those who have never used the CLIB, this editorial explains the four main databases within the CLIB and presents ideas for using them in CAM school courses.

REALISE-ing their potential?: Implementing local library projects to support evidence-based health care.

Librarian involvement in Evidence-based Health Care provides many opportunities at a local level. Unfortunately, the potential for innovative projects to inform future developments is generally lost by a failure to 'pass the baton'--to identify lessons learnt and transferable principles. The 'Library Support for Evidence-based Health Care' Project, funded by the NHS Executive Northern and Yorkshire, resulted in the implementation of locally responsive packages of hardware and software in six of the Region's libraries. The opportunity to evaluate the collective experience of these sites, and to synthesize principles of good practice, was provided by a separately funded post-hoc evaluation, the Research Evaluation to Audit Library and Information Support for EBHC (REALISE). This paper reports on how this evaluation was conducted, documents the strengths and weaknesses of the Project itself, and attempts to provide a checklist for use in similar projects. The paper concludes by outlining the relevance of the findings to the introduction of planned organizational approaches to quality (clinical governance) and the development of local implementation strategies across the UK, required by the NHS Information Strategy, Information for Health.

Libraries and the R&D strategy: a way forward.

As guest editor for the December 1994 issue of Health Libraries Review, I chose the theme of Evidence-Based Practice. In my editorial I suggested that Evidence-based Practice offered tremendous opportunities for NHS librarians to demonstrate their skills in supporting a knowledge-based NHS, because many clinicians had complained that they did not have time, retrieval skills of knowledge of relevant information resources to be effective at finding scientific evidence. Librarians, on the other hand have advanced online searching skills, rapid document retrieval and delivery services, and up-to-date knowledge of the world's medical information resources and networks. These skills mean that librarians are not only well-placed to support clinicians in finding and sifting scientific evidence, but also in teaching clinicians how to search for and store information themselves. NHS librarians have not been slow to recognize these opportunities and innovative professional development programmes have appeared to help hone their skills, such as the Librarian of the 21st Century Programme in the Anglia and Oxford region. The success of NHS librarians in supporting evidence-based health care has led to their formal development in evidence-based medicine workshops for clinicians in a number of regions. In March 1996, as NHS Library Adviser. I was asked to prepare a paper for the R&D Board of the NHS Executive about how this library support could be formally integrated into the R&D Strategy. My paper was unanimously endorsed by the Board and later by the Central R&D Committee of the NHS Executive. It suggests principles of library provision in support of R&D and is reprinted below.

Developing multidisciplinary library services in trust hospitals: a case study at the City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust.

The paper describes an example of good practice in the establishment of multidisciplinary library services at a Trust hospital. In 1995, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Trust commissioned a survey to determine their needs for library services for all staff. The results of the survey and the recommendations are described. The Trust's further actions are briefly noted. This case study is set into the wider context of the need for well-resourced library and information services within the NHS. The constraints under which such developments operate are listed.