The EQUATOR network

The EQUATOR Network is an international initiative which aims to improve the reliability and value of medical research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting of research studies.

The network provides online resources, education and training to support good health research reporting practice, and to support the development of robust reporting guidelines.


The network's library has a collection of reporting guidelines, guidance on scientific writing, research ethics and good practice guidelines.


You can view the resource centre here: http://www.equator-network.org/

Annual evidence updates published in February

The aim of annual evidence updates (AEUs) is to highlight the best current evidence on a particular topic. The following topics will have updates published this month:

FEMALE URINARY INCONTINENCE 1st Feb
Latest evidence in the management of stress and urge urinary incontinence and overactive bladder. Specific topics include:

• sacral neuromodulation for urinary storage and voiding dysfunction
• pharmacotherapy for stress urinary incontinence
• the use of botulinum toxin in the management of overactive bladder syndrome (OAB)
• conservative management of stress urinary incontinence

http://www.library.nhs.uk/womenshealth/

MALE URINARY INCONTINENCE 1st Feb
This AEU updates the high-quality evidence and commentaries presented in early 2009 on:

• post-prostatectomy and urinary incontinence
• Botulinum Toxin A
• conservative management
• male and female quality of life studies
• stress urinary incontinence and surgery
• stress urinary incontinence and drug treatment
• urgency urinary incontinence and surgery
• urgency urinary incontinence and drug treatment

The update also presents the RCTs and lower level evidence published in 2009 on Botulinum Toxin A and male urinary incontinence.
http://www.library.nhs.uk/kidney/

TINNITUS 8th Feb
Research on tinnitus continues to proliferate and this evidence update will present a concise summary of the latest expert-reviewed primary and secondary research, combined with a list of current therapeutic uncertainties to prioritise future research. Sub-topics will include

• aetiology
• risk factors
• diagnosis
• treatment
• clinical tools
• patient experiences
• outcome assessment
• service delivery

http://www.library.nhs.uk/ent/

CHEST PAIN 22nd Feb
The 2010 Annual Evidence Update on Chest Pain seeks to identify key new systematic reviews and related documents published since the 2009 update and so identify the latest high quality evidence on this topic. The evidence will be accompanied by summaries from experts providing a commentary on the new evidence and whether this challenges current guidance/practice or identifies uncertainties in our knowledge on this topic.
http://www.library.nhs.uk/cardiovascular/

Training sessions in February

February's a short month, but there are plenty of training sessions planned. Why not try a bite-sized one? Here are some to get your teeth into...

Bite-sized option: ELECTRONIC BOOKS
Monday 8th Feb 4-5pm

Bite-sized option: ATHENS - IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME!

Wednesday 17th Feb 9-10am

Bite-sized option: LITERATURE SEARCHING
Tuesday 23rd Feb 2-3pm

Or, if you'd like something a bit more substantial, here are a couple of tasty options:

USING PUBMED EFFECTIVELY
Wednesday 3rd Feb 1.30-4pm

IN DEPTH LITERATURE SEARCHING
Thursday 11th Feb 1.30-4.30pm

To book a place on a course, call the library on 0161 419 4690.
All sessions are FREE.

JANUARY 2010

A happy new year to all our readers!

Hope the holidays haven't made you feel too sluggish...

New image resources collection for ENT and Audiology

The ENT and audiology specialist collection has added a new images resources section to its webpages. Over 40 resources have been added so far, with photographs, diagrams, diagnostic images and videos of conditions, surgical procedures and anatomical structures. Some copyright restrictions may apply.

The ENT and audiology collection has also been updated for 2010 with systematic reviews, commentaries, appraisals and reference resources. Click here to see all the latest resources:
http://tinyurl.com/yaqxrz8

Free access to the American Journal of Community Psychology

The publisher Springer is offering unlimited access to the six most recent volumes of the American Journal of Community Psychology until 28th February 2010.

This journal offers quantitative and qualitative research on community psychological interventions.

View fulltext articles published from 2007 onwards by clicking on this link: http://www.springerlink.com/content/0091-0562

New specialist collection launched

NHS Evidence has launched a new specialist collection called Quality and Productivity.

It gathers examples of best practice for delivering high quality care whilst making efficiency savings. The evidence is organised around care pathways such as staying healthy, maternity and newborn, children, acute care, planned care, mental health, long-term conditions, end-of-life care and support services. The aim of this specialist collection is to provoke ideas and discussions for making changes locally to increase quality and productivity within the NHS.

You can view the resource here: http://www.library.nhs.uk/qualityandproductivity/

Journals for 2010

We have been able to maintain our journal collection for this year but that can not be guaranteed for 2011. Journals which are not used are likely to be dropped from the collection so please ensure that you do access those journals you really need.

We buy the Wiley medical collection which has seen some journals lost and some gained:

Gained to our collection are

• The American journal on addictions
• Asia-Pacific journal of clinical oncology
• Congestive heart failure
• Drug and alcohol review
• Infancy
• Journal of clinical hypertension
• Journal of neuroimaging
• Nutrition reviews
• Preventive cardiology
• World views on evidence-based nursing

If you would like to receive the table of contents when these journals are published just let us know

Lost from our collection are

• Australian & New Zealand Journal of Statistics
• Cephalalgia
• Current Directions in Psychological Science
• Journal of Applied Social Psychology
• Personal Relationships
• Perspectives on Psychological Science
• Psychological Science
• Psychological Science in the Public Interest

We have also gained online access to the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research

JANUARY TRAINING SESSIONS

New Year's resolution for the new decade ~ I will find out how to use the evidence base effectively!
Come to a library training session for FREE!

Bite sized option: Internet for Beginners Tuesday 5th January 1-2pm

Bite sized option: Literature searching Wednesday 13th January 1-2pm

Bite sized option: Accessing fulltext journal articles Monday 18th January 4-5pm

Evidence based resources: The Cochrane Library and more Friday 22nd January 9-12pm

In Depth Literature searching Monday 25th January 2010 1.30 - 4.30pm

Bite sized option: Athens, it's all Greek to me Thursday 28th January 2010 2-3pm

Annual Evidence Updates for January

There is one Annual Evidence Update scheduled for January: Patient and Carer Involvement in Chronic Disease (NHS Evidence - supportive and palliative care). It will be published on the 18th January.

The second Annual Evidence Update on 'Patient and carer involvement in chronic disease' collects together the best current knowledge on self care in chronic disease management. Key resources from a small sample of chronic conditions, together with the End of Life Care setting are placed within the general theme of user involvement in health services.

You will be able to view the update from the 18th January by clicking here: http://www.library.nhs.uk/palliative/

Our book return box has arrived!

The Library now has a book return box so that you can return your books when the library is closed. It's situated in the Internet Cafe next to the restaurant. The box will be emptied every working day.

The Internet Cafe is accessible when the restaurant is open, but you will need a code for the keypad when the restaurant is closed. Contact the library for further details.

DECEMBER 2009

Season's greetings to all our readers!

Very best wishes from the library team

Annual Evidence Updates for December

There are four Annual Evidence Updates (AEUs) scheduled for December.

On the 7th, NHS Evidence – gastroenterology and liver diseases will be publishing its first Evidence Update on alcoholic liver diseases. You can access it here from the 7th onwards: http://www.library.nhs.uk/gastroliver/

On the same date, NHS Evidence - kidney diseases and male urogenital disorders will present its annual update on Post Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders (PTLD) in Renal Transplant Patients. It will be accessible here: http://www.library.nhs.uk/kidney/

On the 14th, NHS Evidence - genetic conditions will be publishing an AEU on Familial Hypercholesterolaemia. You can access it here after the 14th: http://www.library.nhs.uk/geneticconditions/

On the same day, NHS Evidence - trauma and orthopaedics in conjunction with NHS Evidence - Musculoskeletal will produce an AEU on Spinal Diseases. The update will be available at http://www.library.nhs.uk/trauma_orthopaedics/

Annual Evidence Updates provide overviews of the most relevant guidelines, systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials published in the past year, along with expert commentaries. So if any of these updates are in your area of interest, you've got an early Christmas present!

BMJ Podcasts

The easiest and most effective way to keep up to date with the latest medical news, reviews and comment from across the BMJ Group is to listen to the weekly BMJ Group podcasts.
Downloadable from both bmj.com and iTunes, the weekly BMJ Group podcasts take between 15 - 20 minutes to listen to in full. Presented by BMJ editors, the weekly podcasts feature a roundup of the week's news, plus interviews and comment.

Click here to see a list of podcasts available

Training dates for December

December can be an expensive month, so why not do something that's free for a change? Come to a library training session!

Using PubMed effectively
Tuesday 8th December 1.30 - 4pm

Bite sized option: Accessing fulltext journal articles
Friday 11th December 12-1pm

Bite sized option: Literature searching
Thursday 17th December 9-10am

Ring 0161 419 4690 or e-mail library.enquiries@stockport.nhs.uk to book a place.

Quertle: the biomedical search tool

BioMed Central, the world's largest open access publisher, has teamed up with Quertle LLC to add over 60,000 published articles to Quertle, the online biomedical search tool. Instead of simple keyword searching, this search engine uses a combination of linguistic methods to produce more relevant results. As well as searching fulltext documents from BioMed Central, it also searches PubMed, with other fulltext sources to be added in the near future. Quertle was created by biomedical scientists and chemists, to address the needs of researchers working with this technical literature.

You can try out the search engine here: http://www.quertle.info/

free influenza resources from Karger

The Karger publishing house has launched a free service called 'in focus collections', providing an overview of resources from Karger on a specific topic. Influenza (and its causative viruses) has been selected as the first topic . In focus - influenza is a selection of original research articles, book chapters and reviews. Online access to these resources will be free until March 2010, when a new topic will become available.

The in focus collections can be accessed at http://www.karger.com/in_focus

DVLA update

There have been a number of changes to the medical advice for driving. The following will link you to some usedul guides.

At a glance Guide to the current Medical Standards Of Fitness to Drive (2009 updating information)

http://www.primary-diagnostic.co.uk/pd/EMes/dlit/2411091/index.asp

e-brochure for DVLA Drivers medical Group
http://www.nhs247.com/nhspurchasing/brochome.asp?OrgCode=1730

2007 Department of Transport information http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/fitnesstodrive/

Christmas holiday dates

Christmas will be soon with us so I thought I'd let you know about our Christmas opening times.

Thursday 24 Dec: Close 1pm
Friday 25 Dec: Closed
Monday 28 Dec: Closed

Tuesday 29 Dec: 10:00-16:00
Wednesday 30 Dec: 10:00-16:00
Thursday 31 Dec: 10:00-16:00
Friday 1 Jan: Closed
Monday 4 Jan: Back to Normal

My Evidence

Create your own space on NHS Evidence (http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/) using My Evidence making accessing evidence even easier. By registering on My Evidence you can:

• Receive regular updates about new information in your field of interest that has been published and which can be accessed through NHS Evidence.


• Receive news feeds automatically alerting you to new information in your field of interest.


• Save the results of a search you have made.


• Save a piece of information you have found as a result of your search.

To register for My Evidence go to www.evidence.nhs.uk and click 'to register'.

Futher information on NHS Evidence can be found at this link

Medical Journals ranked best in field

• The following Wiley-Blackwell journals are now ranked #1 in their ISI Impact Factor category and YOU(Stockport NHS readers) have full text access to them:
  CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians Impact Factor – 74.575
• Reviews in Medical Virology Impact Factor – 7.130
• Addiction Impact Factor – 4.244
• International Journal of Andrology Impact Factor – 4.021
• Head and Neck Impact Factor – 2.603
• Medical Education Impact Factor – 2.181
• Birth Impact Factor – 2.836

Why not sign up for Electronic Tables of Content to your favourite journals? An easy way to keep up to date. Contact the Library on 0161 419 5809

NOVEMBER 2009

One by one, starlings

fan into November skies.

Frozen wire sags.


Haiku by Kamal Parmar

DH weekly news

Published every Thursday, the week provides need-to-know news, consultations and events for chief executives and their teams. It provides links to more information and resources, highlighting areas for action.
Useful to see the latest publications from the DOH.

Click here to access the page

Annual Evidence Updates for November

November is going to be a bumper month for Annual Evidence Updates (AEU) from NHS Evidence!
Here in a nutshell are the topics that will be available in the coming weeks...

2nd NOVEMBER

PSORIASIS (NHS Evidence - skin disorders)
The Psoriasis Annual Evidence Update will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/skin

9th NOVEMBER

DIABETES (NHS Evidence - diabetes)
The Diabetes Annual Evidence Update will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/diabetes

16th NOVEMBER

CAM FOR LOWER BACK PAIN (NHS Evidence - complementary and alternative medicine)
The CAM for Lower Back Pain AEU will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/cam

COPD (NHS Evidence - respiratory)
The COPD Annual Evidence Update will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/respiratory

LUNG CANCER (NHS Evidence - cancer)
The Lung Cancer Annual Evidence Update will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/cancer

ORAL CANCER (NHS Evidence - oral health)
The Oral Cancer Annual Evidence Update will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/oralhealth

23rd NOVEMBER

GLAUCOMA (NHS Evidence - eyes and vision)
The Glaucoma Annual Evidence Update will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/eyes

SUPPORTIVE AND PALLIATIVE CARE IN CHRONIC LUNG DISEASE (NHS Evidence - supportive and palliative care)
The Supportive and Palliative Care in Chronic Lung Disease AEU will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/palliative

30th NOVEMBER

HIV/AIDs (NHS Evidence - infections)
The HIV/AIDS Annual Evidence Update will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/infections

STROKE (NHS Evidence - stroke)
The Stroke Annual Evidence Update will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/stroke

SPECIAL CARE DENTISTRY (NHS Evidence - oral health)
The Special Care Dentistry AEU will be available from www.library.nhs.uk/oralhealth

Each Annual Evidence Update will be full of systematic reviews, guidance and other high-quality evidence that has been published in the last 12 months. Coming soon to a computer near you!

New rheumatology resource available

Arthritis Research and Therapy (AR&T) has recently published 'The scientific basis of rheumatology: A decade of progress' - a comprehensive account of the most important advances in rheumatology research from the past decade.

AR&T, BioMed Central's open access journal, has made this collection of 38 articles freely available. The articles have been written by an internationally recognized group of experts and provide an excellent reference for clinicians and researchers, analysing the most significant developments in rheumatic diseases in the past ten years, and giving a detailed overview of the current status of research in rheumatology.
The collection of reviews can be found here: http://arthritis-research.com/series/sbr2008

NHS Evidence - mental health newsletter

NHS Evidence - Mental Health has launched a new monthly newsletter. This e-mail newsletter brings together all the latest systematic reviews, guidelines and pathways relevant to mental health that have been published in the past 4 - 6 weeks. It also contains policy documents, statistics and patient information. It's an easy way to keep up to date with the best available mental health information. Click on the link to subscribe to the newsletter: http://www.minervation.com/index.aspx?o=2206

Cochrane Journal Club

The Cochrane Library contains high-quality, independent evidence such as systematic reviews and clinical trials, and is recognised as the gold standard in evidence-based healthcare. It has recently launched a new FREE resource called the Cochrane Journal Club to help clinicians and researchers who are presenting a paper to their journal clubs. A key article is taken from the latest issue and expanded with background information, podcasts, powerpoint slides and discussion questions. You can also ask the authors a question about the article, or sign up for alerts for other Cochrane Journal Club articles. The first topic of the Cochrane Journal Club is on Biologics for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Click on the link to view it - it could save you time!

http://www.cochranejournalclub.com/

FALLS PREVENTION - the evidence

A recent Online First article from the BMJ

Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Dawson-Hughes B, Staehelin HB, et al. (2009) Fall prevention with supplemental and active forms of vitamin D: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
BMJ. 339:b3692

Conclusions: Supplemental vitamin D in a dose of 700-1000 IU a day reduced the risk of falling among older individuals by 19% and to a similar degree as active forms of vitamin D. Doses of supplemental vitamin D of less than 700 IU or serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of less than 60 nmol/l may not reduce the risk of falling among older individuals.

We've provided you with a link to this article but how good are you at getting online access?

Do you use our A-Z on journals at http://www.stockport.nhs.uk/ ?

Do you have an Athens password?

We can help you achieve the best from your library!

TRAINING IN NOVEMBER

I need to know about systematic reviews!

Attend our Evidence Based Resources: The Cochrane Library More on

Tuesday 10th November 1.30 - 4.30pm

I have a reference for a very good article but how do I get hold of it?

Our Finding Journal Articles course will help you

Wednesday 18th November 1 - 2pm

I can find journal articles but I am not very good at it

Help is at hand if you attend our In Depth Literature Searching course on

Tuesday 24th November 9am -12

I am new to all this, where do I start?

Try our Internet for Beginners on

Thur 26th November 9 - 10am

BEST OF ALL - they are all FREE

OCTOBER 2009

Hello to all our readers
October has come around fast! Now that the evenings are drawing in, why not curl up with a good book from our fiction section???