Journal of the Medical Library Association

124th Annual Conference, Medical Library Association, Inc., Portland, OR, May 18-21, 2024

2025-10-23T14:23:25-04:00

Operational developments at the Journal of the Medical Library Association: improved production timelines, new policy introduction, and senior editorial team updates

2025-07-31T13:46:47-04:00

In our editorial in the January/April 2023 issue of JMLA, we spoke of the challenges we faced when we took on the co-lead editor roles. At the end of that editorial, we stated our intention to get the publishing schedule back on track and to finally tackle other projects. And while it took us some time to report it, we are pleased to share that, in the publication year of 2024, JMLA resumed its regular quarterly publishing schedule.

PubMed Central: offering a trove of historical medical journals

2025-05-05T14:45:21-04:00

This article briefly documents the history and significance of PubMed Central (PMC) Journal Backfiles Digitization, 2004-2024 to raise awareness of this open access project among researchers who will find much to discover to advance understanding about the human condition across time and place. The success of PMC Journal Backfiles Digitization—including the interdisciplinary teamwork and partnerships underpinning it— provides a blueprint for future efforts to make the globally appreciated collections of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) accessible to all. By continuing to prioritize open access, teamwork, and partnerships, NLM and likeminded institutions can ensure that knowledge and data inform the advancement of medicine and public health.

Evaluating search quality and article choice in evidence-based medicine assignments of preclinical students

2025-04-25T14:34:23-04:00

Background: This case report describes the integration of a capstone Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) assignment into a first-year medical student curriculum and presents an analysis of the correlation between search strategy quality and article selection quality within that assignment.

Case Presentation: A whole-task EBM assignment, requiring students to address a clinical scenario by completing all EBM steps, was implemented after a curriculum-integrated EBM course. Student performance on their search strategy and article selection was assessed using a rubric (1-4 scale). Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between these two variables. Eighty-two students completed the assignment. Fifty-nine percent received a score of 3 for their search strategy, while 77% received a score of 4 for article selection. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was 0.19 (p-value = 0.086).

Conclusions: While a weak, non-statistically significant correlation was observed between search quality and article selection, the analysis revealed patterns that may inform future instructional design. Educators should consider emphasizing the importance of selecting up-to-date and high-quality evidence and addressing common search errors. Further research, incorporating direct observation and baseline assessments, is needed to draw more definitive conclusions.

Cognitive biases as interrupters in evidence based practice decision-making

2025-04-17T12:40:42-04:00

Objectives: To identify the most frequently-observed forms of cognitive bias among Health Information Professionals (HIPs) during decision-making processes. To determine if number of years in the profession influences the types of cognitive biases perceived in others’ decisions.

Method: This cross-sectional study invited participation of 498 elected and appointed leaders at the national, caucus, and chapter levels of the Medical Library Association. The 149 participants (32%) were presented with 24 cognitive biases often associated with expected decision-making contexts among HIPs.

Results: The most frequently observed forms of cognitive bias in decision-making situations were: Status Quo, Sunk Costs, Novelty, Professionology, Authority, Worst-Case Scenario, and Group Think. Four of these overlapped with a previous 2007 study. Results were analyzed by length of years in the profession. Four forms of cognitive bias showed statistically significant differences in frequency by years in the profession: Authority, Naïve Realism, Overconfidence, and Status quo forms of cognitive bias.

Discussion: This study identified commonly observed cognitive biases that interrupt decision-making processes. These results provide a first step toward developing solutions. Mitigation strategies for the seven most common forms of identified cognitive bias are explored with more general recommendations for all forms of cognitive bias. This study should guide the profession on the most commonly-perceived forms of cognitive bias occurring in decision-making environments with an eye upon possible mitigation strategies.

Optimizing Population Health: Strategies for Advanced Level Nurses

2025-03-21T08:59:22-04:00

Thank you to the Journal of the Medical Library Association reviewers in 2024

2025-03-05T13:17:56-05:00

We sincerely thank the peer reviewers in 2024 who helped evaluate and improve the quality of work published in the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA).

"Is this professionally correct?": understanding the criteria nurses use to evaluate information

2025-05-13T09:54:51-04:00

Objective: Nurses must evaluate and sift through large quantities of information of varying quality as part of patient care. This study sought to determine nurses' evaluation criteria when encountering health information, including consumer health information written for the general public and scholarly sources, such as journal articles.

Methods: We employed a mixed-methods approach with a survey and follow-up individual interviews. In both the survey and interviews, nurses were asked to evaluate information written for the general public or a scholarly audience. Interviewees were encouraged to think aloud to elucidate their criteria. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and inductive thematic analysis.

Results: Criteria used for both consumer and scholarly information were similar, with accuracy, relevance, authority, purpose, and currency as the most frequently reported. Nurses often relied on easily identifiable characteristics, such as where information came from, funding sources, intended audience, or its concordance with their prior knowledge. Nurses demonstrated awareness of the need to evaluate methodology in studies, especially empirical studies, for accuracy and relevance. However, they were less likely to evaluate methodology in review articles.

Conclusions: Nurses value accurate, relevant information; however, their evaluation criteria are often superficial. Educators should encourage nursing students to engage more deeply with the nuances of evaluation. While many nurses pointed to research and peer review as evidence of accuracy, fewer demonstrated a deeper understanding of how to evaluate particular research methodologies, such as systematic reviews.

Enabling discovery of the social determinants of health: using a specialized lens to see beyond the surface

2025-02-25T11:16:28-05:00

Background: Investigators encounter challenges in uncovering valuable studies when they are researching health disparities and minority health literature. This evidence scan and qualitative/quantitative crosswalk analysis looked at maternal health literature to gain a better understanding of the nuances in articulating the social determinates of health (SDoH) concepts aligned with the NIMHD Research Framework. SDoH concepts describe the multifaceted causes of health disparities, as opposed to effects that result in health outcomes.

Methods: An evidence scan was conducted to identify literature for a health disparity population using infant low birth weight as a sample population. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of results was performed to examine the medical subject headings (MeSH) terms used to index the literature, along with the terminology used to describe various concepts related to the SDoH within the literature. A crosswalk of MeSH terms to SDoH concepts was used to see if a concentrated focus on SDoH concepts would improve discoverability of the literature.

Results: The 31 articles selected demonstrated that 80% of the MeSH indexed keywords are unique within this collection of full text articles, despite the commonality of the topic. VOSviewer and a Python term counting program were used to visualize the diffusion of terminology. NVivo textual analysis revealed SDoH concepts within meaningful phrases within the literature. Major SDoH themes emerged from the analysis, although were not indexed. Authors used a crosswalk approach with SDoH concepts, to demonstrate that MeSH terms could be used to identify content with a more granular SDoH focus.

Conclusion: Identifying literature that has SDoH concepts within the full text is difficult, due to the diffused nature of the terminology used to describe these concepts. This paper proposes to demonstrate how a crosswalk approach from MeSH terminology to SDoH concepts can provide a methodology for improving the discoverability of the literature. New technologies such as natural language processing, combined with existing technologies to normalize disparate ways of describing similar or related constructs, could be used to help discover and synthesize literature related to SDoH. Investigators, indexers, and librarians can work together to create an improved process for researchers.

Urban Health: A Practical Application For Clinical-Based Learning

2025-02-16T19:39:22-05:00

Book Review: Basic Law and Ethics for Nursing: Patients, Rights and Decision Making

2025-02-10T23:57:20-05:00

Developing the professional knowledge of librarians through a webinar series

2025-03-25T16:04:49-04:00

Background: The Early Career Librarians Initiative of the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association (ECLI) offered a webinar series that addressed topics of interest to new professionals such as networking, goal setting, and salary negotiation. Additionally, the ECLI assessed participant feedback on the series through a program evaluation survey.

Case Presentation: ECLI partnered with the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM), Region 3, to offer six webinars over the course of two years. Attendees were asked to complete a survey. Quantitative results were analyzed, and qualitative free-text responses were thematically coded. A total of 567 people attended the webinars, and 154 completed the survey. Four major themes emerged as the most useful aspects of the webinar series: practical tips, encouragement, and real-life experience.

Conclusion: Early career librarians often feel overwhelmed and are interested in guidance on career planning and building professional soft skills. This highly attended webinar series and positive evaluation feedback, demonstrates the value of providing accessible online professional development opportunities for early career and transitioning librarians, offering valuable information and support in key areas of need.

Language inclusion intentions in scoping reviews

2025-02-26T14:35:20-05:00

Objective: Research published in languages other than English (LOTE) is often ignored in evidence syntheses, marginalising diverse knowledge and global perspectives. While the extent of LOTE inclusion and the associated attitudes of LOTE inclusion amongst authors of systematic reviews has been well characterised, LOTE inclusion in other evidence synthesis forms has yet to be explored. Scoping reviews, in comparison to systematic reviews, examine a broader range of sources to build a conceptual summary of a field of inquiry, making LOTE literature an important source of information for scoping review authors. This study therefore aimed to characterise the current state of LOTE inclusion intentions in scoping reviews

Methods: Peer-reviewed, PubMed indexed scoping review protocols published from 01-Jan-2024 to 11-Aug-2024 were analysed for LOTE inclusion. Author affiliation, which LOTEs (if any) were included, and what methods authors planned to use to read LOTE literature were recorded.

Results: Overall, LOTE inclusion intentions and attitudes were diverse, with just under half of the 249 protocols analysed including a LOTE. Many LOTE-included articles relied on the authorship team’s own LOTE proficiency to gather evidence. Machine translation was also intended to be used in one quarter of the LOTE-included protocols. Only 30% of the exclusive protocols planned to exclude LOTEs at the screening stage, allowing for readers to identify the number of LOTE articles.

Conclusion: This analysis demonstrates the need for increased LOTE inclusion and reporting guidelines for scoping reviews, as well as the importance of analysing LOTE inclusion for other forms of evidence synthesis.

Evaluation of an online systematic review escape room for early career clinicians and doctoral students

2025-04-10T14:38:23-04:00

Background: Systematic reviews are increasingly appearing in doctoral theses and being supported by librarians. There is, however, evidence that students struggle to undertake systematic reviews.

Case Presentation: We sought to understand the perspectives of, and confidence utilising systematic review search methods following an online escape room teaching intervention as part of our in-person orientation session for Doctorate in Clinical Psychology trainees. Following the session, trainees were invited to participate in an online survey to which we received a 90% response rate (n=35). The escape room was enjoyed by most trainees with many using the words “fun” and “engaging” to describe the intervention, this despite more participants finding the escape room difficult. The average scores for confidence in utilising search syntax were positive, but there was a wide range of scores. Many of the comments that trainees made centred on time pressure to escape. We believe that allowing the trainees more time would increase their enjoyment of the game and aid their learning.

Conclusion: Our systematic review escape room demonstrates that key methodological concepts and search skills can be taught in an active, fun, and engaging way that helps introduce and scaffold learning for later in-depth teaching.

Inclusive survey design: MCMLA’s lessons learned from an inclusivity and climate assessment

2025-01-16T13:24:42-05:00

In Fall 2019, the Midcontinental Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MCMLA) welcomed a new incoming chair who outlined four priorities for their tenure including “adopting Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) values, policies, and practices in every aspect of the organization” [1]. These priorities led to the MCMLA Executive Committee approving the creation of the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Task Force. The task force created a survey to capture the makeup of the current MCMLA membership, as well as to assess the diversity climate of the organization.

A decade of Does: celebrating the 125th anniversary of MLA through an annual meeting conversation with past Janet Doe lecturers

2025-01-07T15:12:54-05:00

At the Medical Library Association (MLA) 2024 Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon, the Janet Doe Lectureship Series plenary session featured a panel of past Doe lecturers from the last decade. Reflecting on their lectures they were challenged to imagine how the Association’s Core Values could guide and inform decision making in response to current and emerging challenges to the profession and in the environment. Panelists’ reflections included themes of inclusivity, collaboration, leadership, technology, space planning, and the role of medical librarians in addressing issues of mis- and disinformation, bias, equity, and open access, today and in the future. Common themes included the centrality of collaboration as a necessary component of health sciences librarianship, and the ongoing criticality of the profession’s commitment to ethical practices. The panelists shared insights on how MLA's Core Values can guide the profession and association through the challenges and opportunities of the evolving healthcare and information landscape, including the rise and the rapid evolution of advanced technologies.

Book Review: Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words

2024-12-31T09:58:27-05:00

More than the ABCs: assessing the information needs of school nurses

2025-01-31T14:55:32-05:00

Objectives: This interview study is a follow-up to a state-wide survey of school nurses’ information needs conducted in 2022. Few studies have explored school nurses’ information needs, with little focus on searching behaviors or barriers to practice.

Methods: The principal investigator interviewed participants online about their thoughts on survey results, how they find information, and challenges within the profession.

Results: After interviews with school nurses within rural, suburban, and urban districts in the state, the authors found that school nurses required information on finite topics but had little access to subscription resources, little training in critical analysis, and lacked time for professional development.

Conclusion: School nurses within Illinois have routine information needs, most of which can be answered using a series of go-to resources. They are understaffed and overworked, which results in them having little time to do more than surface-level searching for care-related queries. Medical librarians may be able to assist this oft overlooked population with their information needs by providing workshops and resources.

Partnering with rural libraries to increase telehealth utilization in New York state

2024-12-09T15:33:08-05:00

Background: New York State (NYS) residents living in rural communities experience multiple barriers to accessing healthcare. Telehealth, or remote provision of healthcare services, could address these barriers. However, telehealth remains underutilized in rural communities due to limited access to broadband and lack of provider/patient awareness. Rural libraries could serve as telehealth hubs and thereby increase telehealth uptake.

Case Presentation: A community-academic partnership was formed between the University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Institute and the Community Cancer Action Council, a group of 29 community stakeholders. The partnership surveyed libraries across NYS to assess telehealth capacity. After identifying a library to pilot a telehealth hub, surveys were sent to that library’s patrons and staff to assess perspectives on telehealth.

Fifty-three libraries (19.4%) responded to the initial survey, 92.2% of whom felt libraries could beneficially host telehealth hubs. The Macedon Public Library was chosen as the pilot location as they had constructed a private telehealth booth. 60% of 48 Macedon community members surveyed indicated they would utilize telehealth in the library, while 89% of 9 Macedon library staff agreed they were committed to implementing telehealth services.

Conclusions: We found high community interest in establishing a community telehealth hub in a library. In the next phase of the project, the community-academic partnership will promote use of telehealth to oncology providers.

Sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree: a case study on automatic indexing precision errors in PubMed

2025-04-11T14:26:49-04:00

Objective: This case study identifies the presence and prevalence of precision indexing errors in a subset of automatically indexed MEDLINE records in PubMed (specifically, all MEDLINE records automatically indexed with the MeSH term Malus, the genus name for apple trees). In short, how well does automatic indexing compare [figurative] apples to [literal] apples?

Methods: 1,705 MEDLINE records automatically indexed with the MeSH term Malus underwent title/abstract and full text screening to determine whether they were correctly indexed (i.e., the records were about Malus, meaning they discussed the literal fruit or tree) or incorrectly indexed (i.e., they were not about Malus, meaning they did not discuss the literal fruit or tree). The context and type of indexing error were documented for each erroneously indexed record.

Results: 135 (7.9%) records were incorrectly indexed with the MeSH term Malus. The most common indexing error was due to the word "apple" being used in similes, metaphors, and idioms (80, or 59.2%), with the next most common error being due to "apple" being present in a name or term (50, or 37%). Additional indexing errors were attributed to the use of "apple" in acronyms, and, in one case, a reference to Sir Isaac Newton.

Conclusion: As indicated by this study's findings, automatic indexing can commit errors when indexing records that have words with non-literal or alternative meanings in their titles or abstracts. Librarians should be mindful of the existence of automatic indexing errors, and instruct authors on how best to ameliorate the effects of them within their own manuscripts.

Academic librarian support for patient-centred and inclusive medical education curricula: a case report

2025-06-17T00:32:28-04:00

Background: Medical educators are increasingly aware of the need for patient-centred and inclusive curricula. Collaboration paired with sound evidence can facilitate efforts in this area. Librarians are well-equipped to help move this work forward, as their skills and expertise can support educators through the process of revising learning materials that will incorporate timely and socially accountable information.

Case Presentation: This case report describes an initiative at one Canadian medical school, whereby a health sciences librarian joined an interdisciplinary working group to support the updating of case-based learning materials for the undergraduate medical curriculum. These materials were revised with an anti-oppressive and patient-centred lens, and as an embedded member of the working group the librarian provided on-demand literature searches, participated in conversations regarding the importance of critical appraisal skills, and consulted on sustainable access to electronic materials used in the cases. From this experience and close collaboration, lessons which enhanced their practice and stronger relationships emerged for the librarian.

Conclusions: Involving librarians’ expertise in updating learning materials provides many benefits to curriculum developers and presents opportunities for liaison librarians to engage with their faculties more closely. Promoting patient-centredness and inclusivity is an ongoing process, and academic health sciences librarians can apply their expertise to curricular initiatives such as the one described here, while librarians working in clinical settings can support these efforts through specialized forms of teaching and outreach.

Biomedical Image Analysis Special Applications in MRIs and CT Scans

2024-10-27T12:55:42-04:00

Biomedical Image Analysis Special Applications in MRIs and CT Scans is a part of the Brain Informatics of Health (BIH) Book series. This book covers the fundamental theory of these techniques and their practical applications through various examples, presented in a straightforward manner without complex mathematics. The authors delve into key aspects of biomedical image analysis, including model formulation, architecture, basic steps, empirical analysis, and performance evaluation using statistical parameters to assess the effectiveness of the proposed models.

JMLA virtual projects continue to show impact of technologies in health sciences libraries

2024-10-25T13:19:42-04:00

Beginning in 2012, the Virtual Projects section of the Journal of the Medical Library Association has provided an opportunity for library leaders and technology experts to share with others how new technologies are being adopted by health sciences libraries. From educational purposes to online tools that enhance library services or access to resources, the Virtual Projects section brings technology use examples to the forefront. The new publication issue for future Virtual Projects sections will be January and the call for submissions and Virtual Projects deadline will now take place in June and July.

Revisiting JMLA case reports: a publication category for driving innovation in health sciences librarianship

2024-10-21T11:29:12-04:00

In the April 2019 issue (Vol. 106 No. 3), the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) debuted its Case Report publication category. In the years following this decision, the Case Reports category has grown into an integral component of JMLA. In this editorial, the JMLA Editorial Team highlights the value of case reports and outlines strategies authors can use to draft impactful manuscripts for this category.

Accessibility audit of the Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association

2025-01-25T14:04:35-05:00

Background: In 2023, JJ Pionke became President of the Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MWCMLA). He determined that for his presidential year, he would form a task force to determine the accessibility levels of the chapter and remediate accessibility issues as appropriate.

Case Presentation: To accomplish the accessibility audit of the MWCMLA, Pionke formed an Accessibility Task Force that was time limited to one year. Task force meetings were held once a month to keep people accountable and to share out progress and requests for assistance. The task force was broken up into four teams: annual meeting, policy, social media, and website. Task force members could be on more than one team. The goals of each team were generally the same: what are other organizations doing, what do we have already if anything, and develop best practices/policy/etc. as needed.

Conclusions: The teams fulfilled their mandate by creating best practices/guidelines/policies documents. Some accessibility remediation was needed for the chapter website. The task force’s findings and materials were shared out among the MWCMLA as well as passed on to the presidents of the other chapters, many of whom had expressed interest in the results.