Category Archives: Databases

Cool graph features in Google Sheets that you didn’t know about

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What easy options are there for portraying your data beyond the standard pie chart and line graph? Turns out there are more than you might think. With the right kind of data, Google Sheets lets you create choropleth maps, tree maps, and motion charts. Check out the examples below, and video tutorials on how to make your own!

Choropleth Maps

sample chloropleth map

Tree Maps

sample tree chart

Motion Charts

Motion charts are interactive – try manipulating the colour of the dots, indicated if you want to see “trails” of movement, and whether you look at a dots or a bar graph, then press play under the chart area to see the changes over time.

**the video below is a bit dated so some aspects of the interface have changed, but you get the general idea

BMJ Quality Improvement Reports: a unique repository worth checking out

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Scholarly literature is not always a good fit for sharing the results of quality improvement (QI) projects. For example, QI methods – while useful and valid in their own way – may not meet the methodological requirements for scholarly publication. In addition the publishing process can take a long time, delaying the spread of information.

Since 2012 BMJ Publishing has published BMJ Quality Improvement Reports, a searchable repository of QI reports on a variety of topics that undergo a “light touch” peer review process¹. The most recent reports include:

If you are curious about QI projects that have been completed at other hospitals around the world, try out BMJ Quality Improvement Reports!

 

 

¹All reports are available online at no cost, but publication is limited to subscribers of BMJ’s product “BMJ Quality”.

SALI Contest Answers

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During the Education Technology Innovation Day, the library had a contest in which participants raced to see how many questions they could answer in 3 minutes.  I promised to provide those answers so here they are!

  1. Number of books that Dr. Ignatius Fong has written or contributed to.

  2. Number of articles from Dr. Michael Cusimano published from 2010-2012.
  3. Number of articles on honey as a wound dressing.
  4. Number of items on the flipped classroom from 2012-2014.
  5. How many articles about nursing preceptors in the JBI database.
  6. Which phrase gets you more results? Handwashing, hand hygiene or hand washing?
  7. The title of the first article that pops up on hospital floods.
  8. Find the controversial Nature papers by Haruko Obokata on a new technique for producing stem cells.
  9. The title of the oldest article on affordable housing and mental health.

By Pam Richards, Team Leader.

Joanna Briggs is Here!

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Save the date: Dec. 12th, 11:30am, 12:00pm & 12:30pm

The library will be hosting demos of the nursing resource Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence Based Practice. Find out how this full text database of systematic reviews and evidence summaries can enhance and support best practice. Please sign up: http://ow.ly/rhfKL, or try it today: http://portal.smh.ca/wps/portal/smhintranet/SMHIntranet/mywork/tools/library/

by Pam Richards, Team Leader

Medline’s New Multimedia Search

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As of noon today Ovid, the maker of Medline, has brought video content to the forefront. This content was always there but not easy to find.

Two steps once inside Medline:

  1. Click on Multimedia tab
  2. Use keywords in the Quick Search box

You may also limit to image or video. Most can be downloaded for education & research purposes.

Proquest also has rich video content on their main page.

Pubmed no longer supporting Internet Explorer 7

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Notice To Our Library Clients,

As of January 1st NCBI ceased supporting Internet Explorer 7 and all the hospitals that haven’t upgraded will begin to have problems searching PubMed.

Due to essential clinical systems not being operational on Internet Explorer (IE) 8, SMH cannot upgrade IE.

If you are using IE to try and use PubMed, the Health Sciences Library advises the following:

1) Install Firefox or Google Chrome on your computer (call the SMH Helpdesk if it is an SMH computer)
2) Ask your Manager to make a request to IT to have Firefox or Google Chrome installed on your computer
3) Come to the library to use our computers

Best regards,
Sandy Iverson, MEd, MLIS
Manager, Library and Information Services

September classes at the Health Sciences Library

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The Health Sciences Library will be providing a variety of classes for St. Michael’s staff this Sept. To register go to the Learning Centre on the Intranet: https://tahsn.pathlore.net/stc/smh

Medline
Sept. 4, 10 – 11 a.m.

Library Boot Camp
Sept. 11, 10 – 11 a.m.

Reference Manager
Sept. 18, 10 – 11 a.m.

CINAHL (Nursing and professional practice database)
Sept. 25, 10 – 11 a.m.

For more info, look under Training:  http://portal/wps/portal/smhintranet/SMHIntranet/mywork/tools/library/

New EBM resource for University of Toronto physicians

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The evidence-based, point-of-care e-resource DynaMed is available free to all Canadian Medical Association (CMA) members, along with a number of other excellent online resources (e.g. 5-Minute Clinical Consult, BMJ Best Practice, CPGs, etc. ), through cma.ca. The Library is letting you know about Dynamed’s availability due to the recent changes in access to the e-resource UpToDate for University of Toronto faculty and staff. Dynamed is an alternative to UpToDate. CMA also offers DynaMed’s mobile app and you can use your DynaMed searches to obtain MainPro credits.

In order to use the resources on cma.ca you will need to register with your CMA ID number. For help with your CMA ID number or to become a member, call 1 888 855 2555 or email CMA.