Identifying primary care patient safety research priorities in the UK: a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership.

Objectives: To identify the top 10 unanswered research questions for primary care patient safety research.

Design: A modified nominal group technique.

Setting: UK.

How doctors make use of online, point-of-care clinical decision support systems: a case study of UpToDate©.

Background: Online point-of-care evidence-based information tools are becoming increasingly popular.

Objectives: To discover how doctors actually use one such tool - UpToDate - in clinical practice.

Methods: An online survey was distributed to doctors at healthcare organisations in the north-west of England which subscribed to UpToDate.

The impact of information skills training on independent literature searching activity and requests for mediated literature searches.

Background: Most NHS library services routinely offer both mediated searches and information skills training sessions to their users. We analyse the impact of these two services on the amount of literature searching demonstrated by users of hospital- based library services in the north-west of England.

Methods: Data for (1) mediated literature searches, (2) number of library users attending information skills training sessions, (3) amount of library staff time devoted to information skills training, and (4) number of Athens-authenticated log-ins to databases were obtained from statistical returns for 2007, and analysed for significant correlations.

The impact of library services in primary care trusts in NHS North West England: a large-scale retrospective quantitative study of online resource usage in relation to types of service.

Background: Within NHS North West England there are 24 primary care trusts (PCTs), all with access to different types of library services. This study aims to evaluate the impact the type of library service has on online resource usage.

Methodology: We conducted a large-scale retrospective quantitative study across all PCT staff in NHS NW England using Athens sessions log data.

Accessing public health information: a preliminary comparison of CABI's GLOBAL HEALTH database and MEDLINE.

Background: Access to a comprehensive public health index or database has been identified as problematic for health professionals. Public health literature contains many varied sources including reports, journal articles, and grey literature. Traditional biomedical databases such as MEDLINE often do not meet the needs of public health workers and researchers.

Interlending and document supply trends in NHS North West health libraries 2003/2004 to 2006/2007.

Background: The Library and Information for Health Network North West (LIHNN) represents health libraries in Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside and Wirral. LIHNN members take part in a regional co-operative network supporting interlending and document supply.

Methods: Data were analysed over a 4-year period to identify trends and patterns.

Journal usage in NHS hospitals: a comparison report of total usage at an acute NHS Trust and a specialist NHS Trust in the North West of England.

Background: Health care libraries spend a large amount of their non-pay budgets on the purchase of scientific, technical and medical journals. In a typical hospital library in the National Health Service (NHS) North West Strategic Health Authority (SHA), this can represent between 80 and 90% of the collection development budget.

Methods And Results: Data were collected from 1 December 2005 to 30 November 2006 using COUNTER-generated usage statistics obtained from publishers' administration tools.

Open access publishing in the biomedical sciences: could funding agencies accelerate the inevitable changes?

Background: Open access is making a noticeable impact on access to information. In 2005, many major research funders, including the Wellcome Trust, National Institutes for Health (NIH), and the Research Councils UK (RCUK), set out their position in a number of statements. Of particular note was the stipulation that authors receiving grants must deposit their final manuscript in an open access forum within 6-12 months of publication.