Online Information Access and Retrieval: A proposed Course for African schools of Medicine Grace A Ajuwon Being a presentation at the course/curriculum design meeting sponsored by NLM and held at Kenyatta University, Nairobi July 22, 2009

Course Content Computer Fundamentals Internet and World Wide Web Evaluating Internet Information resources Health Information on the Internet –Online database searching –Accessing online books –Accessing online full text journals and other resources (HINARI) –Free health resources on the Internet –Managing Internet Resources Evidenced-Based Medicine

Objectives of the Course At the end of this course, students should be able to: Describe the functions of the computer List at least 5 health sources on the Internet List criteria for assessing the quality of Internet information Describe the steps involved in accessing and retrieving information from databases such as MEDLINE Describe steps involved in retrieving full-text articles from digital archives, portals and repositories such as HINARI and PubMed Central List steps involved in downloading e-books from NCBI book shelf and other sources on the Internet

Course Design, Length, Materials and Teaching Methods Method of Course design The course will be in modules Each of the content above will make up a module Duration/Length of Course The estimated time for teaching the course would be 2 hours per week. A total of 12 per semester Materials Required Over head projector Multi-media projector Computer with Internet access Markers Handouts Flip charts Teaching Methods Brainstorming Lectures Discussion Hands-on

Computer Fundamentals Introduction to computers Brief history of the computer Parts of the computer and their functions Hardware and software Computer accessories and peripherals Uses of the computer Examples of computer software programs

Internet/World Wide Web Basic Internet Terminologies –What is the Internet? Network of computer Networks Telecommunications Protocols Uses –Information Networks Libraries Research Centers Internet Protocols and Uses – –TCP/IP –FTP –HTML –HTTP –TELNET

Uses of the Internet The Internet is used by students, researchers and the general population to satisfy their information needs. An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services such as: –Electronic Mail –File Transfer Protocol –Information Resources- electronic databases, journals, books among others –Discussion Forums/Listservs –Multimedia –News Services

Sources of Internet Information The information on the Internet originates from numerous sources: Academic institutions Government agencies Publishers of information Not for profit professional organizations Internet Search Tools Some of the tools for finding information on the Internet/Web are: Browsers Directories Search Engines Meta Search Engines Invisible Web or Deep Web

Examples of sources of Internet Information Health Organizations Resources –Governmental agencies U.S. National Institutes of Health U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention –Inter-governmental agencies WHO WHO: Western Pacific Region –Non-governmental agencies Popline SatelLife Family Health International

Directories What are directories? A file used to organize Internet resources into categories. When to use directories When you have a broad topic Want selected, evaluated and annotated collections Prefer quality over quantity Types of directories: General Directory-cover many subjects – Subject Directory- cover specific subjects –A comprehensive list of subject directories can be found at: –Health directories can be found in the following sites:

Health Information on the Internet Health Directories –Yahoo Search Engines or Searchable Gateways –INTUTE –Karolinska Institutet’s Diseases, Disorder and Related Topics –Essential Health Links

Search Engines What are search Engines? A searchable database of Internet files compiled by a computer program which creates an index from the collected files. –Components of a search engine Spider or Crawler Index Search engine mechanism –Search options Search box (search terms typed into the search box like in Google) Dropdown boxes (phrases can be typed like in Hotbot) Natural language (queries can be entered as natural language in form of questions as in Ask Jeeves)

Invisible Web or Deep Web What is the Invisible or Deep Web? It is the vast amount of searchable databases that are not accessible to search engines and other search tools for technical reasons. The information found in the Invisible Web is made up of specialized databases, indexes, journals contents and other proprietary databases. An example of Invisible Web database is AskERIC Being able to determine the right tool for a specific type of search makes it easier to perform the search and retrieve relevant information.

Database Concepts What is a database? “ An organized collection of files –Fields –Records –Databases Types of Databases –Bibliographic databases (e.g., MEDLINE, African Index Medicus) –Full-text Databases (e.g., TDR databases) – Numeric Databases (e.g., statistical information) –Image Databases (e.g., Google image database)

Health Information Resources Health Databases – PubMed –Source Bibliographic Database: International Health and Disability –Global Index Medicus

e-journals sources further resources:

E-book sources mhttp:// m okshttp:// oks Further resources books.htmlhttp:// books.html

Database Searching Concepts Basic Search Concepts Access Points –Known item –Unknown item Boolean Operators Other Operators Keyword Searching –Truncation –Limiting or Positional –Searching shortcuts –Truncation –Wild Cat Characters Boolean Operators Three basic operators: AND OR NOT

Evaluating Internet Resources The World Wide Web (WWW) can be an excellent information resource for health-related questions Increased use of the Web as well as the ease of publishing Web pages has created concerns about the quality of health related information found on the Internet Identification of reliable, scientifically sound and safe information can be a problem. The challenge shifts from one of quantity to one of quality Evaluation of health-related Web sites can help reduce the use of misleading, inaccurate and false health information

Criteria for Evaluating the Quality of Internet Resources  Is the information: Accurate Factual Comprehensive Referenced Disguised advertising Source/Authorship –Does the author/producer of the site or document have: Qualifications Credentials Accountability Conflicts of interest Sponsorship Purpose –Is the purpose of the Information to: Explain Inform Persuade Currency –When was the site last updated –Are the materials/information on the site current –Are the links relevant and appropriate Design –Does the site have good: Organization Style Graphics Links Navigation Clarity

Managing Internet Resources Bookmarks –What is a Bookmark? Netscape Mozilla Firefox Favorites –Internet Explorer Offline Activities Further Internet or Search Skills Resources information-users.html

Searching Full text articles - HINARI  Finding the HINARI website  Registering to access full-text electronic resources  Logging in to the HINARI website  Finding journals  Finding articles  Partner publishers’ websites (continued in module 3)  Other full-text resources  Other free collections

Searching PubMed Introduction to PubMed/MEDLINE Difference between MEDLINE and PubMed PubMed features and resources Simple searching Advance searching Using Limits MeSH Accessing full text articles from HINARI via PubMed

Searching other NLM databases NLM Gateway MedlinePlus ClinicalTrials.gov Toxline, Toxnet ChemDPlus AIDSline

Thanks for listening