The Library is very pleased to announce a new source of permanent funding for the Health Information Center (HIC). After approval by Dr. Gregory A. Eastwood, President, SUNY Health Science Center, the SUNY Research Foundation has given a portion of the proceeds from the 1997 HSC gala, Dancing in the Woods, to the Library to be placed into a permanent endowment fund. The annual interest income generated from the endowment will ensure funding to purchase some of the resource materials needed by the HIC in the foreseeable future. The endowment fund will also be used for future gifts to the HIC.

The Health Information Center is a unique resource, offering information and research services to patients, their families and loved ones, their physicians, and members of the surrounding communities. The staff of the Center, James Capodagli and Sharon Kitchie, provide in-person assistance to visitors as well as answer phone and e-mail requests at no charge to the users. Resources include a wide variety of books, journals, newsletters, audiovisuals, pamphlets, and models, as well as online databases, and the World Wide Web. The HIC may be reached at 464-4410 or via e-mail: <hic@mail.upstate.edu>.

Laurie L. Thompson
Director, Health Sciences Library

James A. Capodagli
Head, Health Information Center

Library Adds over 1400 Full Text Electronic Journals with ProQuest Direct

The Health Sciences Library has recently made available ProQuest Direct (PQD), the on-line periodical service of University Microfilms International (UMI). This includes the UMI premier full text databases, including ABI Inform, Periodicals Abstracts Research II, and Newspaper Abstracts Full Text.

ProQuest Direct is a Web-based service that allows easy searching and access to over 1400 full text journal titles in a variety of disciplines that are not included in our more traditional biomedical databases. Full text means that you can read or print the entire article from the journal or newspaper on your PC or Mac from your Web browser.

• ABI/Inform Global provides in-depth coverage of business conditions, trends, corporate strategies and tactics, management techniques, competitive and product information, and a wide variety of other topics.
  • Total titles indexed = 1457
  • Full text titles = 630
• Periodicals Abstracts Research II offers students, researchers, and staff comprehensive coverage of general reference, business, health, social sciences, humanities, education, and general science periodicals.
  • Total titles indexed = 1817
  • Full text titles = 831
• Newspaper Abstracts Full Text gives easy access to the full text of some of the most respected newspapers in the U.S. from 1985 forward: The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, among others.
  • Total Titles Indexed= 32
  • Full text titles = 16

Access to the PQD is available either by logging onto the Library home page <http://www.upstate.edu/library/> and clicking "ProQuest Direct" or by using the URL <http://www.umi.com/pqdauto> directly. No username or password is required.

Use of the PQD is restricted to HSC students, faculty, and staff; therefore it is available only from the hscsyr.edu (139.127.xxx.xxx) domain. If you attempt to connect from a computer outside our domain (e.g., a commercial vendor) you will be rejected. You can contact the IMT Help Desk (464-4115) to secure off-campus access to our domain number.

An alphabetical list of the full text journals that are available on the World Wide Web to HSC users in the Library, not only through PQD, but also through MEDLINE and CINAHL, is available at the Reference Desk.

For further information please call the Reference Department at 464-4581.

Cochrane Library: A Tool for Evidence-Based Medicine

The Health Sciences Library now subscribes to the CD-ROM version of the Cochrane Library, an electronic publication designed to supply high quality evidence to inform health care decision making. Included in the Cochrane Library are:

1. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, a series of structured reports of other publications (primarily randomized controlled trials) selected on the basis of explicit quality criteria to minimize bias. In these reports data is assembled and analyzed for a specific specialty or topic and the implications for health care are outlined. The authors, all experts in their fields, contribute to the Cochrane Collaboration, a worldwide network of scientists and healthcare professionals.
2. Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness, which are structured abstracts of quality sources besides the Cochrane Database.
3. The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, a bibliography of controlled trials, including conference proceedings and other sources not currently found in MEDLINE.

Another recent acquisition in this field is a CD-ROM database from the American College of Physicians (ACP) entitled Best Evidence: Linking Medical Research to Practice. This disc contains all 1991-1996 issues of the ACP Journal Club, which selects articles warranting immediate attention by practitioners of internal medicine, providing comprehensive summaries followed by expert commentaries to place the original articles in practice perspective. Also on the disc are issues of ACP's new journal, Evidence-Based Medicine, from December 1995 through 1996; the Library's print subscription to this journal begins in 1997.

Assistance with these databases is provided at the first floor Reference desk. All titles listed may also be obtained at any time at the Media Services desk on the second floor. A list of searching tips is in preparation. Stay tuned for further developments in evidence-based medicine resources in the Library.

Diane K. Hawkins
Head of Reference Services

What's New?
Visit the Health Sciences Library Home Page:
http://www.upstate.edu/library/

The "HaPI" Library User

Do you need a quality of life questionnaire or a pain perception scale? These, along with other measurement tools, can be found in the Library's Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI) Database on CD-ROM. Created by the Behavioral Measurement Database Services (BMDS), Pittsburgh, the database provides information on measurement instruments in the areas of health and behavioral sciences.

Why Use HaPI?

The purpose of HaPI is to minimize the duplication of existing instruments. By using HaPI, researchers could possibly avoid the substantial costs associated with developing and validating a new research tool. Even if you do not locate an instrument that fits all your requirements, you may find an available instrument to use as a base upon which to build. The database search results could indicate how a measure has been modified over time and how other disciplines are doing similar work or are using the same tool in different ways.

The database contains information about measurement instruments such as questionnaires, rating scales, coding schemes, checklists, and tests, as well as unpublished and recently developed instruments. Media such as computerized simulation programs, videotapes, and other visually oriented materials are also included.

Subject areas are multi-disciplinary, including medicine, health, human resources, behavioral sciences, education, communication, psychology, nursing, and allied health.

What Kind of Information Does HaPI Provide?

For each questionnaire, scale, survey, etc. the database includes information regarding its purpose, history of use, reliability/validity, the name of its creator, the source (book, journal article, thesis) in which the instrument was described, acronym, the type of instrument, the intended population(s), and an address of a contact person.

Document Availability

Instruments can be ordered by telephone: (412)-687-6850; fax: (412)-687-5213; or e-mail: bmdshapi@aol.com. Single instruments are $15.00. To locate an author and an instrument not in the BMDS files the cost is $25.00. An accession number and title are needed to order an instrument.

Location

The HaPI database is on a single computer in the Library across from the reference desk next to the brick wall. It is not on the same computers as Medline.

Searching

Some of the ways the database can be searched are by title, acronym, author, descriptors, and number of questions. The search operators of "and," "or," "not," and "adj" (adjacency) can be used to focus the search. Search results can be printed at the terminal or downloaded in ASCII format.

Stop by the reference desk for a list of HaPI searching tips.

Bette Jean Ingui
Reference Services

New Media Materials in the Health Information Center

The Health Information Center recently acquired two useful new media resources:

• At Time of Diagnosis, a series of 30 patient education videotapes featuring celebrity hosts such as television journalist Linda Ellerbee, was produced by Patient Education Media Inc. and published by Time Life Medical under the medical direction of C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General. Each tape addresses a different topic, e.g., arthritis, asthma in children, low back pain, depression, diabetes, endometriosis, migraine, prostate cancer, thyroid disorders, and many others. Each of the 30 videos is shelved at its own location in the HIC according to its content. Please search the Library's online public access catalog (OPAC) by "series." HIC videos circulate for one week.
• Poison Awareness, a multimedia CD-ROM with animation and games geared toward children, was created and produced by the Health Science Center's own Gail Banach, Director of the CNY Regional Poison Control Center. It is shelved in the HIC at: MultiM QV 600 S797p 1996.

James A. Capodagli
Head, Health Information Center