Lecture 3

Question 1

II. Types of Biomedical Literature

a. Tertiary

Answer 1

provide information that is collected and evaluated from multiple types of references and are organized in a useful way

i. Examples: textbooks, lexicomp, Micromedex, clinical practice guidelines

Question 2

II. Types of Biomedical Literature

b. Secondary

Answer 2

abstracting and indexing services; allow for efficient access to primary literature. Do NOT interpret the primary literature

i. Abstracting – brief description (abstract) of information with the bibliographic citation information
ii. Indexing – bibliographic citation information only – title, author and citation of article
iii. Examples: pubmed, OVID, cocharaine library, IPA

Question 3

II. Types of Biomedical Literature

c. Primary

Answer 3

– introduces new knowledge or enhances existing knowledge on a subject; data are original
i. Examples: case reports, clinical trials, conference proceedings

Question 4

III. Systematic strategy to finding literature

a. Considerations when starting a search

Answer 4

i. Type of information needed
ii. Level of detail needed
iii. Availability

Question 5

III. Systematic strategy to finding literature

b. General search strategy

Answer 5

i. Start with tertiary literature; then use secondary references to find primary literature
ii. Select and prioritize resources

Question 6

III. Systematic strategy to finding literature

c. Choosing the right references
i. Use _tertiary_______ when. . .

Answer 6

• Basic, factual knowledge
• Topic has been studied extensively
• Experts agree
• Ex) hypertention, diabetes

Question 7

III. Systematic strategy to finding literature

ii. Use _secondary_______ and primary________ when . . .

Answer 7

• New information
• No expert consensus
• Conflicting evidence available
• Topic needs further study for conclusions to be made
• Ex) rare cancer, looking for a drug that was just approved two months ago

Question 8

III. Systematic strategy to finding literature

d. Appropriateness of resources

Answer 8

i. Appropriate
• Well-referenced; evidence-based
• Should be validated or verified (ex. at least 2 references)
• Should be peer-reviewed
• Examples: primary literature, DI Databases (lexicomp,etc), review articles, textbooks, and guidelines
ii. Inappropriate
• Contains no references
• Published by an individual; not peer-reviewed
• Published by a non-expert
• Examples: Wikipedia, Medscape, webMD, class notes, and health blogs
• For class notes, for ex) cardiac changes every year, last semesters note will be different from current

Question 9

IV. Focus on tertiary literature

a. Benefits

Answer 9

i. Easy to use
ii. Convenient; familiar to most practitioners
iii. Concise and compact
iv. Usually referenced to primary literature
v. Topic review compiled by expert in the field

Question 10

IV. Focus on tertiary literature

b. Limitations

Answer 10

i.	Incomplete information
•	Space limitations
•	Incomplete literature search by author
•	Degree of topic importance by author
ii.	Outdated (publication lag time) 
iii.	Author or editor bias and/or errors
iv.	Incorrect interpretation of information 
v.	Lack of expertise by authors

Question 11

IV. Focus on tertiary literature

c. Considerations when choosing a tertiary resource

Answer 11

i. Scope of information
• General (pharmacotherapy) vs. specific (the Sanford guide; antimicrobial therapy)
 Example:
ii. Depth of information
• Point-of-care/summary (lexicomp; adverse reactions) vs. detailed (Micromedex; gives your references)
 Example:
iii. Audience
• Consumer/patients (medlineplus or webDM) vs. healthcare professionals (pharmacotherapy)
 Example:
iv. Availability and access
• Print vs. electronic (pediatric injectable drugs) vs. website (lexicomp, Micromedex) vs. mobile app (lexicomp, Micromedex)
 Example:
• Subscription (clinical pharmacology) vs. free (NIH; US national library of medicine)
 Example:
v. Timeliness
• Publication dates and updates
 Ex) 9th edition of a textbook vs 10th edition
 For DI use, use the 5th edition
 Updates; ex) the resources will update the section and let you know