IFMH
Inform Volume 17, Number 1
Click here to download the full issue (pdf
file)
CONTENTS:
Identifying
evidence on organisational STRUCTURE AND OUTCOMES for the National
Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery & Organisation (NCC
SDO)
Rosalind McNally, Librarian, National
Primary Care Research and Development Centre, Division of Primary
Care, University of Manchester, and Mary Ingram, Librarian, ARC
Epidemiology Research Unit, Division of Epidemiology and Health
Sciences, University of Manchester
This paper describes how the
authors approached the identification and retrieval of evidence
for a scoping review to examine the relationships between the
structure of an organisation and the outcomes produced. The
authors describe the difficulties of translating search techniques
and experience developed conducting traditional systematic
reviews, to a diffuse topic, for an audience of health service
managers and policy makers. A major aim of the literature review
was to identify evidence from outside health services, from the
wider domain of organisational science. To this end, ABI/Inform
was identified as potentially the most useful source for this
topic and the authors assess the contribution of this database to
the review.
Observation
on the issues involved
in
conducting
a
randomised controlled trial
Nicola Pearce-Smith, Information Scientist, Department of
Knowledge and Information Science, University of
Oxford
This paper
outlines the experience of conducting research from the
perspective of a practicing librarian with a limited research
background. Issues and problems with aspects of the research
process emerged, mainly in regard to the ethical approval
application and with recruitment of staff. The ethical approval
application forms were
very long, and some sections were irrelevant or difficult to
complete. Obtaining ethical approval took nearly 4 months in
total, and delayed recruitment for the trial. Clinical staff can
be particularly difficult to recruit and recruitment numbers for
this trial were low. Incorrect or unavailable staff contact
details, staff obtaining permission to attend non-mandatory
training and time constraints, all proved a problem for
recruitment. The paper concludes by suggesting
important issues to consider when planning research, including
early ethical approval application, using different contact
methods for recruitment, and getting help from other librarians
and researchers.
Update on IFMH sponsored VSO (Voluntary
Service Overseas) Volunteers
Susan Mottram,
Joint Study Day Co-ordinator, Information for the
Management of Healthcare (IFMH)
Correction to the article by Karen
Smith
(Inform volume 16, no. 3 Winter 2005/2006 p.10-11)
IFM Healthcare News Maria J Grant, Chair, Information
for the Management of Healthcare (IFMH)
IFMH Committee meeting: 9th
March
2006: digest of minutes
Karen Macpherson, Secretary, Information for the Management of
Healthcare (IFMH)
Surf's Up - Internet sites of interest
Caron Hartley, Research
Librarian, King's Fund Information and Library Service, and Anthea
Sutton, Information Officer (Reviews and Special Projects), SCHARR
Sidelines
Jo Akers, Julie Glanville, Su Golder, Vickie Orton and Kath Wright, Centre for Reviews
and Dissemination, University of York
E-Library Scotland Update: Delivering Knowledge for Health:
Updated version of NHS Scotland e-Library launched
Dr Ann Wales, Programme Co-ordinator for Knowledge Management,
NHS Education for Scotland, Knowledge Services Group, and Sandra
Davies, Information Architect, NHS Education for Scotland,
Knowledge Services Group
National
Library for Health Update Colin Davies,
Manager - National Service Framework, National Library for Health (NLH)
NLH Management News Lynette Cawthra, Joint Project Manager,
NLH Management
Health Management
Specialist Library Management Briefing 05/04: Qualitative Research
Methods
Compiled by Siobhan McClelland, Updated by Andrew Booth To become a member of IFM Healthcare and receive regular copies
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Please note: Many Inform articles contain links
to web pages. These links were active at the date of publication
but IFMH cannot guarantee to maintain links to pages which have
subsequently moved or ceased to exist. | 
