What's New in the Library

Happy New Year! I hope 2019 has been off to a great start for everyone. January is when most of our journal subscriptions start and each year we usually add new titles, in hopes of making our collection better and more relevant. This year is no different. Starting in 2019, we have access to the following titles:

• Annals of Internal Medicine
• The Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
• JAMA Internal Medicine
• JAMA Pediatrics

If you would like to suggest a journal to be added to our collection, you can use our Suggest a Journal form. It's always available on the Books & Journals page of the library website.

In addition to these new journals, we have some new resources that were added in 2018 that you might not know about:

• Trip Database - this database is designed to help users find quality evidence-based information quickly. Our subscription includes the Pro version which provides extra content and functionality. 
• Sanford Guide - this resource is a well-known reference for anti-infectives. It also has a mobile app - see the download instructions on our Mobile Resources Guide.

Once again, Happy 2019! We look forward to working with you in the coming year! 

Update on Research on Mobile Resources Use

Wow, it's been awhile since our last post. If you didn't read our post about Research on Mobile Resource Use, now's a great time to catch up! The forthcoming article that was mentioned at the end of that post is now available: Mobile Resource Use in a Distance Learning Population: What Are They Really Doing on Those Devices. Read, enjoy, and let us know what you think! While you're thinking about mobile resources, be sure to check out our Mobile Resources Guide. It was created in part due to the results of this research.

[Note: many of the links on older posts are now broken due to a change in our proxy server last year. As always, contact us if you need help finding something.]

Research on Mobile Resources Use

Recently, Zach and I presented at the 16th Distance Library Services Conference in Denver, CO on FNU's mobile project. We examined data from questions on the End of Terms Surveys regarding use of mobile devices for completing school work and referencing clinical information.  We also took a very close look at responses to the survey item asking students to "list up to five apps that assist you with your education at FNU."

Before I go any further, let me take a moment to say "Thank You!" to the students who take the time to respond to these surveys. The information we gather allows us to make evidence based decisions about the services we provide. Sharing the information with colleagues (by presenting at conferences, for example) allows them to help other students across the country. We really do want to know what you think - so when you see a notice about a survey, please consider completing it!

Reviewing the apps that students listed as being helpful for school work was very interesting. We asked students to share this information so that we could be aware of as many apps as possible and share them with other students.

Here are the apps that were mentioned at least 20 times:

• Epocrates
• Lexicomp
• DynaMed
• Email
• AHRQ ePSS
• Medscape
• Blackboard Mobile
• Dropbox
• iGeriatrics
• Sanford Guide
• Skyscape
• Flashcards (ex: gflash, gflash pro, gflash+, flip cards, quizlet, flashcard machine, studyblue, flashcard+)
• Internet browser
• Micromedex
• Pregnancy wheel (ex: perfect wheel, prenatal wheel, the wheel pro, OB wheel, pregnancy calculator, birth wheel)
• Essential Evidence Plus
• Podcasts
• Evernote
• Facebook
• MPR
• Google
• BMI tools (ex: bmi calculator, bmi tool, calculate bmi)
• Lactmed
• Blackboard Collaborate
• Calendar
• Kindle
• Skype

Here are a few other clinical apps that were mentioned:

• STD Meister
• Pap guide
• EFM guide
• DxSaurus
• Qx Calculate
• ATP III
• Shots STFM
• iTriage
• BiliCalc
• GBS guide

(note these are how they were reported on the survey; actual names may vary slightly)

Slides from our presentation are below, and the full paper will be published in a forthcoming issue of  Journal of Library & Information Services in Distance Learning. What apps are you using? We'd love to hear about them!