Journal articles on the topic 'Medical colleges Medical libraries Medical colleges'

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study of services of front desk staff using SERVQUAL aims to measure the perception and expectations of the library users. The librarians, keeping in view the expectations will get an idea that how much the services should be improved while the users will have an idea that what they want, and what are they provided with. In additions, the difference between the perception and expectations of the male library users and female library users is explored to give an idea to the librarians that what dimension of the services they need to explore. Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative research method was used to conduct this study. The SERVQUAL instrument was used to measure the levels of perception and expectation through a structured questionnaire at the five points Likert scale. The tool was used with the permission of the author Berry et al. (1985). All the libraries of affiliated medical college with the University of Health Sciences were the population for this study. Through random sampling technique, 20 questionnaires per medical colleges were filled by the students of medical colleges. In total, 202 questionnaires returned and were analyzed after data entry in Statistical Package for Social Science version 19. Findings – Mean of the total respondents indicate that the improvement in all the five dimensions of the service quality is required as the expectations found to be higher in all the five dimensions as compared to the perceptions. Perceived values are higher among female library users, so the library front desk staff requires increasing the perceived values of male users through improving their services to male library users. While comparing the expectations between male and female users, the results indicate that male library users want more responsiveness and reliability from the staff. Research limitations/implications – This study measures the perceptions and expectations of the student library users of the medical college affiliated with University of Health Sciences, Lahore. Only main libraries excluding the small departmental libraries are included in this study. This study can be generalized in other private medical colleges as well as other researchers can study further in their own environment. Practical implications – The results indicate that the expectations are higher. Keeping in view, the librarians will work to meet the expectations of the users. The expectation of the female users are higher in tangibility and empathy dimensions, while the male users expect more in reliability, responsiveness and assurance dimensions. In short, all the results showed that the expectations were higher than the perceptions. Keeping this study in view, the librarians can improve their weak areas of front desk staff services to meet the expectations of the users. Originality/value – It is the first study of its type to measure the service quality of front desk staff. The service quality of front desk staff is never been measured in medical colleges using SERVQUAL in Lahore. The results of this study provide the guidelines to satisfy library users. The difference between the perception and expectations provides librarians and library managers with a road map to develop the service quality of front desk staff to meet the expectation level of the user’s for their satisfaction. This study can be generalized to the medical colleges other than Lahore.

This study examines the availability of E-Resources and ICT infrastructure in medical college libraries of deemed universities in Karnataka. Further the study highlights Adequacy of print and E-resources, Library budget, the methods of library user education programmes, the efficiency of library staff in handling E-Resources and Services and the barriers in development of collection of E-Resources in medical college libraries of deemed universities.The result of the study shows that all the medical colleges have good ICT infrastructure. The BLDE University library has subscribed to the highest number of e-books and SDU has subscribed to the highest number of e-journals.

The purpose of the present research is to evaluate the service quality of medical college libraries of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences from the users’ perspective based on the LibQUAL+ model. Furthermore, is to make a comparison between perceived quality in terms of users’ different education level. The data were collected from 119 questionnaires which were responded by 13 college libraries' clients by administering the LibQUAL+ questionnaire in a printed format. The findings revealed that college libraries have been failed in satisfying even the minimum expectations of their users as well as could not meet the customers’ desired expectations that make them fully satisfied with the service quality. This study also revealed a wide gap between users’ perceptions and expectations of service quality. The effect of services dimension is the most satisfying dimension. Furthermore, findings showed that the relationship between education level and satisfying with the service quality is statistically significant (P<0.001). It is necessary for the university managers to pay more attention to the quality of library services equally in all the colleges included. This will lead to help libraries to meet the user’s expectations of service quality in all colleges which will lead to academic improvements.

Medical college libraries are aiming to provide efficient information services using both electronic and printed scholarly information resources to the medical professionals This paper study on the use of E-resources (e-books, e-journals, e-databases) subscribed by Health Science Library and Information Network, HELINET Consortium. The study sample is the faculty members of Government Medical Colleges. The study found that use of E Resources and use of Database by faculty members is not up to expectation of the provider and the investment.

Abstract Regarding subject librarian services for clinical studies, researchers outside China have been focusing on subject service performance, evidence-based medicine, and comprehensive consulting services. In contrast, Chinese researchers have concentrated on service systems and methods but have not established mature systems and methods for clinical surgery-oriented services. Therefore, subject librarians in medical schools should become involved in clinical research and expand their perspective on medical library research. In addition, they should collaborate with clinicians to improve the overall level of research in hospitals while increasing the impact of subject librarian services in medical colleges and schools.

A Review of: Murphy, Sarah Ann. “The Effects of Portfolio Purchasing on Scientific Subject Collections.” College & Research Libraries July 2008: 332-40. Objectives – To determine whether the purchase of journal portfolios (i.e., packages of journals purchased as a group from publishers, such as Elsevier’s ScienceDirect) from publishers is an effective means of meeting research needs for faculty in the life, medical, physical, and applied sciences, and to determine the effects of such purchases on research library collections. Design – Citation analysis. Setting – Ohio State University libraries in the life, medical, physical, and applied sciences. Subjects – A total of 253,604 citations from 6,815 articles published between the years 2003 and 2005 by Ohio State University faculty in the life, medical, physical, and applied sciences were analyzed using the Bradford distribution (an explanation of the Bradford Distribution is provided later in this review). Methods – Using ISI’s Science Citation Index, the author generated a list of articles published by Ohio State University (OSU) faculty in the life, medical, physical, and applied sciences between the years 2003 and 2005. The author then assigned each article to a specific discipline, according to the OSU College of the first OSU author listed. For example, if an article was written by several co-authors, and the first OSU author listed was a faculty member in OSU’s College of Dentistry, the article would be designated a Dentistry article. Multidisciplinary works were assigned to the college of the first OSU author listed. (The OSU Colleges considered to be part of the study were the College of Biological Sciences; the College of Dentistry; the College of Engineering; Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences; the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences; the College of Medicine; the College of Optometry; the College of Pharmacy; and the College of Veterinary Medicine.) Books, conference proceedings, theses, and other non-journal materials were excluded from the set of citations considered. Next, the author pulled journal citations from each article, again utilizing Science Citation Index. The references were analyzed to determine the number of times each individual journal had been cited. The author then created a list of journals which had been cited in articles by OSU faculty in the various colleges, grouped by college. The journals were arranged in descending order, according to the number of times each journal had been cited. Thus there would be, for example, a list of all journals cited in articles published by faculty members in the OSU College of Dentistry between 2003 and 2005. Most journals had been cited only once over the three-year period. A total of 2,407 journal titles were cited 10 or more times. In total, the author analyzed 253,604 citations from 6,815 articles. A Bradford distribution of journal citations was calculated, and journals were divided into three categories. The three categories were called Zones 1, 2, and 3, with Zone 1 being core journals for the faculty, Zone 2 being more secondary titles, and Zone 3 being those cited least frequently. For those not familiar with this type of analysis, a definition of Bradford’s law is available on the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology website. It is included here for ease of reference: “Journals in a field can be divided into three parts, each with about one-third of all articles: 1) a core of a few journals; 2) a second zone, with more journals; and 3) a third zone, with the bulk of journals. The number of journals is 1:n:n². Note thatBradford formulated his law after studying a bibliography of geophysics, covering 326 journals in the field. He discovered that 9 journals contained 429 articles, 59 contained 499 articles, and 258 contained 404 articles. Although Bradford's Law is not statistically accurate, librarians commonly use it as a guideline” (Black). The author then determined how the OSU Libraries purchased access to each title. The three options analyzed were: 1) through OHIOLink (through which OSU Libraries purchase the bulk of the journal portfolios to which they subscribe), 2) through the independent purchase of an electronic subscription, or 3) through the independent purchase of a print subscription. The cost for each title was calculated by taking the amount paid for OHIOLink subscriptions and removing the cost of non-scientific journals from the total amount. Pricing for the non-scientific journals was obtained using EBSCO’s Librarian’s Handbook 2006-2007 and Ulrich’s Periodical Directory. To account for inflation, any 2007 prices were adjusted by 6. The above activities were designed to calculate both the cost of each title as purchased through OHIOLink, and what the OSU Libraries would have paid for each individual title if it had been purchased separately. Main Results – Of all journals cited by OSU faculty in the life, medical, physical, and applied sciences during the years studied, only 7% were available in print format only. The percentage of cited journal titles that were included in portfolio purchases varied considerably across the colleges. The college for which the greatest percentage of cited journals were obtained via OHIOLink was the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences; 85.7% of journals cited by this College were purchased via OHIOLink. Overall figures for the cited journals analyzed were as follows: 52.0% were purchased via OHIOLink portfolio purchases, and 26.3% were purchased individually in electronic format by the OSU Libraries. Of all journals listed in Zone 1 (those designated as “core journals” for the fields in question), 100% had electronic versions, though OSU Libraries continued to subscribe to the print version in addition to the electronic version for five titles, due to embargoes of 4-12 months in the electronic subscriptions. In terms of how the Zone 1 journals were acquired, 35.5% were purchased via OHIOLink as part of a portfolio purchase, and 62.2% were individually purchased. For the College of Biological Sciences; the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences; the College of Medicine; the College of Nursing; the College of Pharmacy; and the College of Veterinary Medicine, fewer than 40% of the Zone 1 (core, most highly cited) titles for their disciplines were purchased via OHIOLink. For the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 75.5% of Zone 1 titles were purchased via OHIOLink. This figure was 60.5% in the College of Engineering. By contrast, over 50% of the titles in Zone 1 for the Colleges of Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Veterinary Medicine were purchased individually, and not via portfolio purchases from OHIOLink. The author notes that in these fields, the majority of research is published in journals from professional societies or smaller publishers, which have neither the high profile nor the market that some journals in other fields have, and thus are frequently not included in portfolios available via consortia such as OHIOLink. The author also provides a numerical breakdown, showing exactly how many titles in each of Zones 1, 2, and 3 were purchased via OHIOLink, how many were purchased directly by OSU in electronic form, and how many were purchased in print form, for each college and for all colleges combined. For all colleges combined, the overall results are as follows: • Zone 1 included 45 cited journal titles. Of these, 16 were purchased via OHIOLink, 28 were purchased in electronic format directly by OSU, none were purchased in print, and one was considered “Other” (not at OSU, ceased, or cancelled). • Zone 2 included 299 cited journal titles. Of these, 167 were purchased via OHIOLink, 109 were purchased in electronic format directly by OSU, 13 were purchased in print, and 10 fell under “Other”. • Zone 3 included 2,063 cited journal titles. Of these, 1,068 were purchased via OHIOLink, 497 were purchased in electronic format directly by OSU, 155 were purchased in print, and 343 fell under “Other”. The author also provides a list of the top 50 journals cited, including the number of citations linked to each title and how the title was purchased. Of the top 50 journals, 32 were purchased directly by OSU Libraries in electronic format, and only 18 were purchased via OHIOLink. Interestingly, however, 70% of OSU Libraries’ total expenditures on titles in the life, medical, physical, and allied sciences are devoted to OHIOLink. The author notes that if OSU had not had OHIOLink, they would have paid 61.4% more to directly purchase the journals cited in this analysis which they currently obtain by portfolio purchases. However, if they purchased only those titles which the faculty in question had cited 10 or more times, the cost would be 30% more. If they purchased only the titles which had been cited 15 or more times, OSU would only have paid an 8.9% premium to buy the titles directly from the publisher rather than through OHIOLink. Conclusion – As the author points out, her findings raise the question as to whether the large amount of content provided by buying into the “Big Deal” portfolio purchases (as they are frequently called) is really worth it for OSU Libraries. The author notes that other articles have asserted that portfolio purchases form a significant barrier to libraries wishing to purchase individual titles, as the amount spent on portfolio purchases can limit a library’s financial flexibility. Even when other individual titles may more closely meet faculty needs, it can be difficult to justify cancelling portfolio purchases that offer a larger number of journals in the field. The advantages and disadvantages of portfolio purchasing at Ohio State University Libraries are clear from the author’s research: while some fields are well-served by portfolio purchases, others are not, with large percentages of the journals which are most important in their fields not being available through such portfolios. Furthermore, due to the percentage of the OSU Libraries’ budget dedicated to OHIOLink portfolio purchases, flexibility to purchase titles not in portfolios is indeed limited. The author’s pricing calculations lead to the conclusion that OSU Libraries pay between an 8.9%-30.0% premium to maintain access to 3,813 titles (75.4%) which were cited fewer than 10 times over the three year period between 2003 and 2005. The author concludes that the premium paid to access over three-quarters of the journals available in portfolios should be reconsidered, as they are relatively infrequently used and thus may not be meeting faculty research needs. The author recommends that large research libraries (including OSU Libraries) consider a return to à la carte purchasing. Additionally, the author notes that purchase of portfolios by a large percentage of research libraries may lead to normalization of library collections and loss of the ability to support non-commercial publishers who publish strong research in specialized fields.

Background: Worldwide , the modernization of medical education is leading to the design and implementation of new postgraduate curricula. The necessity to reform postgraduate medical education has been recognized worldwide. Grounding in educational science and social accountability are raising issues.Objective: To analyze the situation of the fellowship (FCPS, Part-II) training in Gynaecology & Obstetrics of selected medical colleges in Bangladesh.Methodology: This descriptive type of cross sectional study was conducted among 50 supervisors of Obstetrics & Gynae dept. at selected medical colleges four in Dhaka city and four outside Dhaka. This study was carried out from January to December, 2014. The sampling technique was convenient sampling. In-depth interview of the supervisors was taken.Results: During interview majority (60%) of the supervisors told that the curriculum is followed in Obs & Gynae Part 11 course which is made by BCPS is standard. About 80% supervisors told that the institution has well developed infrastructure, academic complex and OT complex for training and 70% told that there are well organized investigation facilities and instruments available. Majority of the supervisors (80%) told that supervisors and trainees ratio is proper. Majority of the supervisors (75%) told that training is full time and residential. Majority of the supervisors (95%) told that patient care services (outdoor, indoor and emergency) are satisfactory. About 80% supervisors told that they have not good library facilities with latest books and journals. Internet/website facilities are also not available in all libraries. Most of the supervisor (80%) respondents believed that their hospital should have a mechanism for consultation, feedback and supervisory assessments system.Conclusion: So significant room exists for improvement in the quality of fellowship training as indicated by the less than desirable proportion of trainees being satisfied with different aspects of training. Faculty members who constitute the cornerstone of educational process are pivotal to effect the desired improvements.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.6(1) 2015: 8-11

A librarian in an academic institution plays a potentially very crucial role in the research output of the institution. Digital literacy of the librarian will be of immense help for the researchers and the institution with the ever increasing availability of internet and mobile tools. The wealth of information contained in the publicly accessible Google Scholar profiles is one such useful tool. A case study is carried out by analysing the profiles of research faculty in 12 (twelve) engineering colleges located in Madurai district. The user profiles having verified email IDs with the domain names of these institutions form part of this study. It has been demonstrated that the librarians can play an enhanced role in research output and its impact by effectively using such readily available information in a myriad ways. With the citation indicators viz. citations, h-index and i10-index for different researchers in the institution, the librarian can help the researcher and the institution compare the productivity and impact of research work. The librarian will be able to find out the publications with higher research impact and make informed decisions on subscriptions etc. Such bench marking will also help the institution to attract research talent; to identify and reward impactful works; and to publicize achievements. By creating a tag cloud of research areas in an engineering college derived through Google Scholar profiles it is illustrated how librarian can plan the library resources to be made available to the users. (S)he can further probe the above labels and find out the highly acclaimed journals in the field, post latest developments in the research field, help the users connect with the other leading researchers in the field etc. Similarly, a study of co-authors of a researcher in one of the colleges in Madurai reveals that the collaborative research network extends beyond district / state borders and comprises institutions of countries such as Australia, China and Korea. Having known this, a librarian can understand the research network – physical and virtual – and facilitate further collaboration. The readily available Google Scholar user profiles of researchers of an academic institution give a good deal of information that covers many of the impact indicators used in frameworks such as Becker Medical Library Model for Research Impact. Such possibilities are elaborated using a case study of the profiles of researchers in twelve Madurai based Engineering Colleges.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) has formulated a new Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) Curriculum for the Indian Medical Graduates with an objective of making medical education outcome based. A one month long Foundation Course (FC) is a hallmark of this CBME which is implemented during the first month of first professional MBBS studies. The objective is to acquaint, allay apprehension and prepare freshers for further studies using andragogical and heutagogical approaches. The MCI also released the guidelines for the medical colleges for uniform conduct of FC across the country. The FC was divided into six modules, i.e. Orientation Module, Skills Module, Community orientation module, Professional Development and Ethics Module (P and E), Enhancement of Language and Computer Skills Module, and Sports and extracurricular activities.1 A total of 175 hours were allotted to these modules. Like every institute, our institute also developed the implementation program and time-table of FC using MCI guidelines and taking into account the available resources.2,3 The FC at our institute was conducted from 1st August 2019 to 31st August 2019 and was meticulously planned and implemented. The effective implementation required committed efforts of 30 faculty members (12 Professors, 11 Associate Professors and 7 Assistant Professors), two language and one fine arts teacher, and 4 non-teaching members (Librarian, IT-personnel, Coach for sports and motivational Guru). The students were trained to write reflections daily in their log - books which are being analysed further.

The purpose of this study is to report on a survey that was carried out to access the perception of the academic users, and their awareness about the use of e-books at existing level. The survey also seeks to find out the preferences of the users regarding the format for using books. A quantitative approach which employs a survey technique was used to collect information on e-books utilization habit among medical students. Statistical analyses were carried out on the data using Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). This study found that most of the undergraduate students have common habits as they read e-books for academic purpose and still preferred to read text books in print format. The factors; such as easy and round the clock access, non-consumption of energy through physical visit to the library and users friendly features offer a comfortable platform for the students to use the reference e-books. However, unreliable service, eye fatigue, requirement of username and password cause to feel uncomfortable with the service. Moreover, the role of librarian is perceived to be an important remedy for all the inconvenience incurred. Only 119 medical undergraduates participated in the study. Furthermore, these students are enrolled in 5th year MBBS in the oldest government sector medical colleges of Lahore. This study is important in terms of obtaining a better understanding of e-books utilization and to provide a rich insight from academic professional to enhance the e-books collection. This is believed to be the first published study about the utilization of e-books by the medical undergraduate students'.

Objective – To determine the information needs of nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty members by specifically examining how they locate and access information sources and which scholarly journals are consulted for teaching, research, and current awareness; and identifying any perceived information service needs (e.g., training). Design – Online survey questionnaire. Setting – Four senior colleges within the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Subjects – Nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty members. Methods – Using institutional websites and the assistance of relevant affiliated librarians, 29 full-time and adjunct nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty members were identified at Queens College, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and Lehman College (all part of the CUNY system). A survey was emailed in June and July 2007 and had 14 (48.4%) responses. The study was temporarily halted in late 2007. When resumed in January 2009, the survey was re-sent to the initial non-respondents; five additional responses were received for a final 65.5% (n=19) response rate. Main Results – The majority of respondents held a PhD in their field of study (63.1%), were full-time faculty (no percentage given), and female (89.5%). Information sources were ranked for usage by respondents, with scholarly journals unsurprisingly ranked highly (100%), followed by conference and seminar proceedings (78.9%), search engines (73.6%), government sources (68.4%), and information from professional organizations (68.4%). Respondents ranked the top ten journals they used for current awareness and for research and teaching purposes. Perhaps due to a lack of distinction by faculty in terms of what they use journals for, the two journal lists differ by only two titles. The majority browse e-journals (55.6%) rather than print, obtain access to e-journals through home or work computers (23.6%), and obtain access to print through personal collections (42.1%). Databases were cited as the most effective way to locate relevant information (63.1%); PubMed was the most heavily used database (73.7%), although Medline (via EBSCO), Science Direct, and Academic Search Premier were also used. Respondents were asked how they preferred to obtain online research skills (e.g., on their own, via a colleague, via a librarian, or in some other way). The linked data does not answer this question, however, and instead supplies figures on what types of sessions respondents had attended in the past (44.4% attended library instruction sessions, while others were self-taught, consulted colleagues, attended seminars, or obtained skills through their PhD research). Conclusion – Strong public interest in nutritional issues is a growing trend in the Western world. For those faculty members and scholars researching and teaching on nutrition and related areas, more work on their information needs is required. This study begins to address that gap and found that nutrition, food science, and dietetics faculty share strong similarities with researchers in medicine and the other basic sciences with regard to information needs and behaviours. The focus is on electronic journals, PubMed/Medline, and online access to resources. Important insights include the fact that print journals are still in modest use, researchers use grey literature (e.g., government sources) and other non-traditional formats (e.g., conference proceedings and electronic mail lists) as information sources, and training sessions need to be offered in a variety of formats in order to address individual preferences.

On December 6, 2013, the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia convened, as part of its 225th Anniversary celebration, the symposium entitled “Emerging Roles for Historical Medical Libraries: Value in the Digital Age.” Sponsored in part by a Library Project Award from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Middle Atlantic Region, this event offered a rare opportunity for librarians and researchers to discuss collectively the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital age.1The fact that the College Library chose to celebrate its past by hosting a conference centered on planning strategically for the future . . .

A Review of: Bullers, K., Howard, A. M., Hanson, A., Kearns, W. D., Orriola, J. J., Polo, R. L., & Sakmar, K. A. (2018). It takes longer than you think: Librarian time spent on systematic review tasks. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 106(2), 198-207. https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2018.323 Abstract Objective – To investigate how long it takes for medical librarians to complete steps toward completion of a systematic review and to determine if the time differs based on factors including years of experience as a medical librarian and experience completing systematic reviews. Design – Survey research as a questionnaire disseminated via email distribution lists. Setting – At institutions that are members of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) and librarians at Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA) member institutions. Subjects – Librarians of member institutions who have worked on systematic reviews. Methods – On December 11, 2015, AAHSL library directors and librarian members of AAMC and AOA were sent the survey and the recommendation to forward the survey to librarians on staff who have worked on systematic reviews. Reminders were sent on December 17, 2015, and the survey closed for participation on January 7, 2016. Participants who had worked on a systematic review within the past five years were asked to indicate experience by the number of systematic reviews completed, years of experience as a medical librarian, and how much time was spent, in hours, on the following: initial consultations/meetings; developing and testing the initial search strategy; translating the strategy for other databases; documenting the process; delivering the search results; writing their part of the manuscript; other tasks they could identify; and any instruction (i.e., training they provided to team members necessary for completion of the systematic review). Participants also further broke down the amount of their time searching, by percentage of time, in various resources, including literature indexes/databases, included studies’ references, trial registers, grey literature, and hand searching. Participants were also given space to add additional comments. The researchers reported summary statistics for phase one and, for phase two, excluded outliers and performed exploratory factor analysis, beginning with principal components analysis (PCA), followed by a varimax rotation, to determine if there was a relationship between the time on tasks and experience. Main Results – Of the 185 completed responses, 105 were analyzed for phase one because 80 responses were excluded due to missing data or no recent experience with a systematic review. The average respondent had between 1 and 6 years of experience: 1-3 years in librarianship (49.5%) and 4-6 years (23.8%). The time reported for completion of all tasks ranged from 2 to 219 hours with a mean of 30.7 hours. Most of the variance (61.6%) was caused by “information processing” and “interpersonal instruction/training” components. Search strategy development and testing had the highest average time at 8.4 hours. Within that category, databases accounted for 78.7% of time searching, followed by other searching methods. For remaining systematic review tasks, their averages were as follows: translating research (5.4 hours), delivering results (4.3 hours), conducting preliminary consultations (3.9 hours), instruction (3.8 hours), documentation (3.0 hours), additional tasks that were written-in by respondents (2.2 hours), and writing the manuscript (1.8 hours). The most common written-in tasks were development of inclusion/exclusion criteria, critical appraisal, and deduplication. Other write-ins included retrieving full-text articles, developing protocols, and selecting a journal for publishing the systematic review. For the second phase of analysis, 12 responses were excluded as extreme outliers, and the remaining 93 responses were analyzed to detect a relationship between experience and time on task. Prior systematic review experience correlated with shorter times performing instruction, consultation, and translation of searches. However, librarian years of experience affected the percentage of time on task, where greater years of experience led to more time spent consulting and instructing than the percentage for librarians with fewer years of experience. Librarians with greater than 7 years of experience skewed trends toward shorter time on task, and, with their data excluded, years of experience showed weak positive correlation with instruction and consultation. Conclusion – Because the average librarian participating on systematic review teams has had few prior experiences and because the times can vary widely based on assigned roles, duties, years of experience, and complexity of research question, it is not advised to establish expectations for librarians’ time on task. This may be why library administrators have disparate expectations of librarians’ involvement in systematic reviews and find it difficult to allocate and anticipate staff time on systematic review projects. While it may not be possible to set specific overarching guidelines for librarians’ expected time on systematic review tasks, librarian supervisors and library directors planning for their staff to offer systematic review services should work to develop extensive understanding of the steps for conducting and assessing systematic reviews in order to better estimate time commitments.

Purpose The advent of Web 2.0 in libraries persuades the librarians to adopt new ways to communicate, determine, and satisfy the needs of the users. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach A 30-question questionnaire was given to 30 undergraduate medical students of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and a 10-question questionnaire was given to the librarian, to find out: the marketing and promotional strategies employed by the library; determine the awareness and satisfaction level of the users; prepare library profile, customer profile and market profile; and perform SWOT analysis. User responses were coded and processed using GNU PSPP software. Findings From the library profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it can be concluded that the library has the potential to offer better services and products to its users. From the customer profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the most of its users are young male undergraduate students who use the library more on weekly basis. From the market profile of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the library has not invested in the marketing and has no promotion strategy or marketing strategy for its products and services. Also, the library has only one digital promotional activity. From the SWOT analysis of Vardhman Mahavir Medical College library, it is concluded that the library does not use any of the social platforms to market its products and services. Most of the users are unaware of the services and products offered by the library. There are many opportunities for the library to work upon and improve the quality of products and services being offered to its users. Research limitations/implications The major limitation of the present study is its small sample size. It is very difficult to conduct surveys in health libraries because of the busy schedule of the undergraduate medical students and their reluctance to fill out lengthy questionnaires. However, this small sample size only made it possible to conduct the SWOT analysis on the basis of the users’ survey successfully. Further, the small sample size helped to take into account all the opportunities stated by the users which would not have been possible if a larger sample size was taken. Originality/value This study is one of a kind which provides an overview of marketing research of an academic health library of New Delhi (India) with a special focus on library profile, market profile, customer profile and SWOT analysis. It addresses the gaps in the literature by studying marketing in the context of academic health libraries in the digital environment.

It is no exaggeration to say that some of the greatest intellectual movementsin the annals of human civilization were launched under the aegis of Islam.Islamic contributions to the promotion of knowledge and learningare noteworthy. Franz Rosenthal, for one, perceptively observed that Islam’slasting and invaluable gift to humankind is that it made the hiddentreasures of knowledge available to all sectors of society. The intellectualrevolution ushered in under the direction of Islamic civilization blossomedand came to fruition through the central importance attached to the artsof language. (The earliest verses of the Qur’an revealed to the Prophet, forexample, highlighted their crucial significance.) The importance attachedto learning and the transmission and dissemination of knowledge was institutionalizedthrough a wide network of schools, colleges, universities,libraries, observatories, and medical residencies in the Islamic world. Theselfless devotion of individual scholars, the munificence of private donors,waqf endowments, and royal patronage played a central role in the inceptionand maintenance of these institutions.For Muslim intellectuals, the question of intellectual decay has longbeen worrying, yielding repeated efforts to analyze and diagnose the historicaland spiritual factors responsible for the stagnation and decline ofthe Muslim world. Parray’s introduction highlights Qur’anic terms key tohis effort, including furqān (distinction), dhikr (remembrance), and hudā(guidance), which also signal how he reads the scripture. He quotes MustansirMir, renowned Pakistani expert on Qur’anic studies, who says of thevarious aspects under which the Qur’an presents itself, that these names“not only represent so many facets of the Islamic scripture, but they alsomake up, when seen as inter-related and inter-connected, a coherent and ...

Mentoring is known to promote development of professional skills irrespective of the discipline. It is a natural phenomenon that emanates from the desire of a senior and experienced individual to give and the need of an inexperienced novice to grow. Mutual trust, faith and respect while working towards a shared vision of objectives and achievements are the main driving force of a mentoring relationship. It requires the mentor to give selflessly and the mentee to accept graciously while conveying his needs and being an active partner in the process. A mentor is looked upon as a guide, confidante, counselor, teacher, friend, supporter, and much more in professional and career development as well as psychosocial or personal aspects. The mentee is expected to take a proactive role in guiding and managing the process. Despite a clear need for mentoring during and after medical school, very few medical schools in India foster this relationship. Most have student advisor programs or counseling cells that are oriented primarily to problem solving. There is also a lack of full understanding of the roles of a mentor or a mentee even though the terms are used rather frequently. A mentoring relationship could be formally established as a part of an institutional or departmental mentoring program, long term or short term, with a specific purpose; or, for overall career progression, individual or in a small group. Also, the mentees’ requirements at different stages of training and career may decide the type of mentoring relationship. The needs of a first year medical undergraduate student are different from those of a final year student or a postgraduate resident. There is an imminent need to train the medical school faculty in mentoring skills and orient the students to ‘mentor-mentee relationship’.

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia was founded in 1787; the College Library was founded a year later. At the time of its founding, as for hundreds of years prior, a library was an essential medical workplace, the site of knowledge production, more significant than an anatomy theater, and much more so than the workrooms that were evolving into the spaces called laboratories. Over its 225 years, the College Library has been at the heart of Philadelphia medicine; and, as the discipline of the history of medicine has developed, the Library has become a crucial resource for historians of medicine, . . .

ABSTRACT Background: Research conducted in medical colleges in India is often considered to be of poor quality. The study was done to assess the cause for such occurrence. Materials and Methods: Papers published in indexed journals between 1985 to 2017 were reviewed and the data was synthesized. Results: Poor infrastructure, heavy patient load, restricted number of faculties who had limited exposure to research methodologies, private practice, lack of incentive to do good quality research, poor mentoring, lack of research tradition, research fund, ancillary infrastructures, and copy cat research were found to be some of the reasons. Discussions and Solutions: Teachers education, provision of better infrastructure and funding, short term fellowships at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, proper assessment for promotion of teachers, training in research methodology, multicentric research, R & D research bases in medical colleges, looking for solutions for day-to-day challenges through operational and translational mode are some of the solutions. Training from undergraduate levels on elements of research needed to be encouraged.

ABSTRACT Objectives: There is a discrepancy between the theory and practice in the academic culture in the medical schools in Pakistan. The overall academic culture and educational armamentarium in Pakistani medical colleges is outdated and is teacher and administration centric. This scoping review is done to highlight these discrepancies and to shed light on problems faced in the academic culture of medical colleges. Methods: Out of the 98 studies identified relevant to the topic, 27 studies were included in this scoping review. These studies were obtained from PubMed, ERIC and Google Scholar. This review was supported by framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley. Results: The scoping review highlighted that the students responded well to clear study objectives, practical application of knowledge over memorization, interactive nature of the teachers and a comfortable and properly equipped learning environment. The absence of aforementioned amenities and facilities enabled poor results, high stress in students and overall low academic performances of medical colleges. Along with that a lack of formal training of teachers and a passive participation of students in research opportunities were also displayed. Conclusion: The academic culture in Pakistan’s medical and dental colleges display a lack of modern and innovative learning and teaching facilities, which has a negative impact on student performance and growth. A collaborative approach, with active participation from all stakeholders involved can curb a lot of these problems, given proper funding and good leadership.

Presence of MEU in medical colleges has been made as a measure of activities in National Quality Assurance guidelines for the improvement of medical education as well as faculty development. So, it is imperative to assess its activities in medical colleges for the expected outcomes which might facilitate administrators and policy makers for logical intervention where needed. Considering this matter, a descriptive type of cross sectional study was carried out to assess the status of activities of MEU in medical colleges of Bangladesh. Data was collected from 26 medical colleges of Bangladesh selected by purposive sampling method and 324 related available teachers by convenient sampling methods using a self-administered semistructured questionnaire. Total 26 MEUs coordinators or acting in charge as Key Informants were interviewed by using an interview schedule. A checklist was used for observation of existing MEU while visiting medical colleges for data collection. Principal/Vice Principal of medical colleges had responded to mailed letter as well as telephonic call and replied to have formal MEU at 20 (91%) out of 22 government and at 81 (98.2%) out of 83 non-government medical colleges. Around 87 % faculty members usually attend the MEU activities which is conducted by MEU coordinators in 75 % cases. CME program, pre and para clinical issue related activities occur in 70 % cases. The experiences gained from MEU activities are utilized 88 % in undergraduate class room, 59 % in conducting CME activities and around 50 % in other MEU activities. Staff related, Structural, faculty related, and administrative barriers have been identified by respondents and adequate fund and experienced staffs, motivation of faculty members and continued administrative monitoring can overcome those barriers (is it opinion? Of whom?). Key Informants opined MEU to take leading role in medical education development. Faculty members related to MEU should be adequately trained to impart interactive and effective education in both class room and bedside teaching. Policy level support, specific flow of fund, motivation and will of medical administrators and faculty members and proper monitoring by CME were found to be effective in establishing and functioning MEU in medical colleges. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.10(2) 2019: 12-18

Objective: The objective of our study was to explore student’s perception of the educational environment in their respective medical colleges Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at two medical colleges (one public sector and one private-sector medical college), both affiliated with Khyber Medical University, Peshawar from January 2020 to March 2020. DREEM was used to measure the educational environment of both public sector and private sector medical colleges. Results: The overall mean score with standard deviation was 113± 22 SD for private medical college and 109 ± 25 SD for public sector medical college, which means more positive than negative perception. Private sector college overall score was better than public sector college but with no significant difference. Private sector medical college score was better in all DREEM subscales except Students’ Academic Self-Perception in which public college scored 18± 5 and private college scored 16± 5. Conclusion: There is a significant margin for improvement for all domains of the educational environment in both public and private sector medical colleges, especially the low scores in the domain of Students’ Social Self Perceptions need attention.

Abstract:Many have suggested that information technology in its various forms will continue to have an effect on all aspects of medicine, including medical education. If so, the introduction of information technology into medicine brings with it critical educational policy questions. This paper reports on the findings of an inquiry into the impact of information technology on medical education. It reviews the extent to which Canadian and American medical colleges have adopted the 1985 recommendations of the American Association of Medical Colleges. In particular, it looks at the recommendations that “medical informatics should become an integral part of the medical curriculum” and that “the teaching of medical informatics should include opportunities for specific instruction in its fundamentals as well as adequate examples of its application throughout the medical curriculum".

A journal club is one means for those in similar professions or practices to read, discuss, and keep up with professional literature with colleagues. Journal clubs are most frequently associated with the medical professions; however, many professionals, including librarians, can benefit from the reading of research and the subsequent discussions and camaraderie that a journal club can elicit. This article describes the launch of a statewide virtual journal club for librarians in Pennsylvania. Now in its third series, the Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) College & Research Division (CRD) journal club has given those who’ve participated the opportunity to designate time for professional reading, reflect on personal practice, discuss and exchange theoretical and practical ideas, and connect with librarians across the state.