March brings spring and new updates from us here at Library Services. Take a couple minutes to read about our Clinical Practice Guidelines, how you can support Minnesota's Health Library, and learn about our new e-book offerings!
Easily access trustworthy clinical guidelines
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Library Services offers easy access to Clinical Practice Guidelines to help stay current with the latest research standards and recommendations when caring for patients with specific conditions.
How to access our Clinical Practice Guidelines
- Go to our Library Services webpage.
- Select the down arrow under Subject Guides from the top menu and select Guidelines.
- From here you can:
- Browse more than 20 specialties and subspecialties.
- Search all database guidelines for all disciplines and specialties under the Quick Links section.
Still need help?
Schedule a 15- or 30-minute consultation with a librarian on the Library Services webpage or email us at Library@allina.com to learn how to use our library resources and tools.
Help us expand Minnesota's Health Library to all Minnesotans
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The University of Minnesota and Minitex (Minnesota Office of Higher Education) is looking to develop the Minnesota Electronic Health Library (MeHL), but state funding is needed.
Why it matters:
- Free online health information resources are often incomplete or inconsistent with results.
- Licenses for professional-level health information are costly and vary between institutions.
- Our state’s health care providers, educators, students, researchers, patients, and caregivers don’t have access to the information they need to support their work and training, or to promote patient engagement and informed decision-making.
- This 24/7 online library will help people access:
- clinical support tools (e.g. DynaMedex)
- prescription drug references
- learning and development tools (e.g. Dynamic Health CDS & Skills)
- full-text books and journals (e.g.CINAHL/Medline Ultimate).
Take action
Check out the following ways you can help us secure additional funding:
- Share your personal or professional story on how access to health information has helped you. Submit your story here.
If you have questions, visit MeHL or email us at Library@allina.com.
New eBooks!
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Library Services has recently acquired over 30 new eBooks. Some of our newest acquisitions include:
- 2025-2026 Perianesthesia Nursing Standards, Practice Recommendations and Interpretive Statements
- Demystifying Integrated Care
- Global Health and Nursing
- Guidelines for Perioperative Practice 2025
- Handbook of Basic and Clinical Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics
- Transcultural nursing: assessment & intervention
All eBooks can be accessed on an Allina Health computer. If you are attempting to access eBooks remotely, contact Library@allina.com for further assistance.
That is all for our March update! To learn about how Allina Health Library Services can make your work easier, visit our Library Services webpage or email us at Library@allina.com.
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Library Services looks back at 2024
It was a busy year for Library Services. Some highlights include:
- seeing a five-year high for literature search requests with 1,298 completed searches.
- presented twice as many library presentations in 2024 than 2023. This resulted in nearly 1,200 Care Team Members accessing information on how to use the library and our tools.
- filled 5,607 full-text articles and interlibrary loans to staff.
- developed six new specialty library guides.
- added 57 new e-books to our collection.
Through our services, resources and tools, Library Services supports everything from evidence-based clinical policies and practices to patient safety to direct patient care. Learn how you can work with us.
We look forward to supporting even more of you with your important work this year. View our 2024 Annual Report here.
AI is Reshaping Medical Literature
AI has led to exciting new breakthroughs across multiple specialties including better polyp detection in colonoscopies, more targeted medications in primary care and reducing diagnostic errors.
One downside from these AI-related breakthroughs is the lack of guardrails and detection mechanisms for AI-generated content in medical literature.
Why it matters: AI-generated literature in clinical journals poses three risks to academic and public interest:
- Difficulty for average citizens and scientists to determine AI-generated text from genuine research.
- Fake or disreputable studies will eventually flood even reputable databases (e.g. UpToDate, Micromedex) with dubious information or nonsensical content.
- Potential, serious harm to the public from an abrupt loss in confidence with scientific data.
Dig deeper: Harvard Kennedy School’s Misinformation Review found that two-thirds of scientific research in Google Scholar shows evidence of ChatGPT-generated content. Of that, 14.5% of health and clinical studies contained ChatGPT-fabricated data.
The way to win: Library Services can help steer you to reliable, peer-reviewed literature for decision-making and evidence-based research.
- Contact us Library@allina.com
- Visit our home page Home - Library Services - LibGuides at Allina Health Library Services
- Sign up for the Library Services newsletter.
The National Black Nurses Association: from invisibility to influence
Professiona
l associations can be powerful tools to promote and nurture their members’ careers and professional identities, as well as help drive policy changes. In celebration of Black History Month, we are highlighting The National Black Nurses Association. The NBNA was founded in 1971 and according to the current president, Sheldon Fields, PhD, RN, it was created to advance healthcare for all communities, but with a special emphasis on historically underserved, marginalized black and other communities of color. With that broader goal, NBNA promotes community service, health policy and advocacy, workforce expansion, and professional development. An example of NBNA’s advocacy, along with the Black Nurse Collaborative, an associated group, was the work done around COVID-19. According to the website, there are over 4,200 members from over 100 chapters from 33 states (including Minnesota).
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Library Services kicks off the new year with new subscriptions, staff
Welcome to 2025! We have a lot of exciting things happening this month. Most exciting is that Patient Education and Library Service are now a team. Joining the Patient Education department is Deb Kamholz, Patient Education specialist, and Ryan Fauglid, Patient Education associate. Deb joined Allina Health in 2005 as the marketing and communications manager at Owatonna Hospital and joined the Allina Health Corporate Communications team in 2011. Ryan is a recent college graduate from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Communications with a minor in Public Health.
Both Deb and Ryan have excellent communication, design, and health literacy skills and are a great addition to the team. Find out more about Patient Education here.
Journal subscriptions
In addition to new staff and services, we are also excited to announce that by cleaning up some redundant subscriptions, we were able to free up funds for three new journal subscriptions:
These journals were chosen based on demand. If you’d like us to consider a new journal, email us at library@allina.com.
Facebook, Instagram break up with fact checkers
For many consumers, social media is their only source of information. Recently, Meta announced that Facebook and Instagram would be removing restrictions on speech and ending fact-checking. According to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, fact-checkers create “too much censorship” and are “too politically biased [which] has destroyed more trust than they created.” Ironically, fact checkers do not censor content.
The implications for health information
Facebook and Instagram serve billions of users and provide news and health information. Removing fact-checkers will have major implications for us in health care. As health care professionals, we will need to be alert to misinformation on social media platforms and respond to misinformation.
How can Library Services help
Fortunately, you can count on Library Services to steer you toward reliable information with respected resources for health-related topics that you can share with patients.
- Email Us for literature searches and full-text articles.
- Schedule time to meet with Library Services to help you identify misinformation
- Visit our Health Misinformation Resource page.
Recreating Library Services for hospital patients
On a recent tour of the Hennepin County Library Special Collections in Minneapolis, we learned there was a tradition of public libraries offering library services to patients in the hospital.
We weren’t aware of that, and it struck us how, in some small way, we are continuing this tradition with our Little Free Library at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Thank you to all who recently donated books for our patients and Care Team Members to enjoy!
Public Library Services were offered from the 1920s to the mid-1960s at several metro hospitals, including Abbott Hospital.
Photo courtesy of the Hennepin County Library
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Seasons Greetings from Library Services! Or should I say… Library Services and Patient Education! That’s right, we’re excited to share that Library Services and Patient Education are now one cozy team. This new structure also allows for us to bring two new positions on board and ramp back up patient education materials for Allina Health. More news will come in January when we plan the official re-launch of Patient Education services. In the meantime, we hope that everyone has a joy-filled holiday season. To help with that joy (and possibly your work responsibilities), we invite you to read about updates to the Micromedex Drug database followed by some fun and festive reading from the BMJ Christmas issue.
Micromedex Updates
Micromedex, a suite of databases offering drug, disease and toxicology information for health care professionals, just got better with improved dosing and administration to find information faster.
- Adult and pediatric dosing in the “Quick Answer” sections now feature a collapsed view to provide easier viewing and faster access to the essential information you need.
- Dosing information for specific conditions are still available by using the “Expand All” or opening the dropdown sections below.
- Dosing information for specific conditions are still available by using the “Expand All” or opening the dropdown sections below.
- The new look and features have already been implemented with In-Depth Dosing, FDA, Non-FDA, Labelled Uses, Dose Adjustments, Comparative Efficacy, and Adverse Effects.
- Take a brief guided tour of this new feature visiting Merative.
Find Micromedex on our Library page and within Excellian under the EPIC Links menu. Micromedex is also integrated within EPIC as shown below in the medication administration record (MAR) tab, and Orders (pop-out that appears when ordering or modifying a medication order).
BMJ Christmas
The BMJ Christmas issue features a collection of light-hearted and humorous articles, and original research papers. The Christmas issue is known for its unconventional and entertaining content, covering a wide range of topics. This year we are highlighting two articles that feature one of our favorite holiday events: The Doctor Who Christmas Special. And enjoy the artwork of Andrew and Sarah from Abbott Northwestern Hospital Holiday window painting, 2018. Enjoy!
- Effect of a doctor working during the festive period on population health: natural experiment using 60 years of Doctor Who episodes (the TARDIS study)
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Easier access to articles for everyone!
Happy fall (winter?)! We’re finally into some colder temperatures, but things are heating up in Library Services! We’re very excited that LibKey Nomad is now automatically installed on all Edge browsers across the organization. What is LibKey Nomad? Go back to our first Library Update issue to read all about it. Most importantly, make sure you are using the Edge browser when searching for articles (through PubMed, Google or even on journal websites). When you find an article, look for the blue box with the green flame and it will connect you directly to the full-text, or if we don’t have access, it will connect you with an interlibrary loan form to request the article.
November is Skin Care Month
For anyone claiming beauty is only skin deep, may heed wise consultations from their dermatologists. November is The American Academy of Dermatology’s (AAD) National Healthy Skin Month, which promotes the importance of good skin care, including healthy hair and nails. Did you know Library Services features a Dermatology subject guide complete with dermatology-related databases, eJournals, eBooks, practice guidelines, and DEIB resources. The library also highlights high-quality open access resources. For example, Skin Deep is led by an international medical education team from the Royal London Hospital for recognizing conditions in all skin tones, reducing inequalities, and improving patient care by ensuring that all children receive a timely diagnosis regardless of their skin color. The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD) also features an extensive Skin of Color Atlas derived from published articles, case reports, and JAAD International for the dermatology community.
History Matters!
A lot has changed in healthcare and health systems over the years and it can be fascinating, as well as educational, to re-visit past events and trends. The Library staff recently took a field trip to the Hennepin Healthcare History Center, which is housed in the lower level of the Blue Building on the Hennepin Healthcare campus in downtown Minneapolis. We were graciously shown around by Michele Hagan, the archivist for the collection. It made us want to re-visit the Allina history wall at the Commons to see where we came from! Next time you are on the lower level of the Allina Commons (outside Pettingill Hall), look for the picture on the wall of the 1906 St. Barnabas Hospital orange from a patient’s food tray that is actually part of the collection at HHHC!
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Happy October!
While it still might feel a bit summery, we’re definitely headed into fall with shorter days. Who knows, by the end of October maybe we’ll see some snow…remember the 1991 Halloween blizzard? Speaking of Halloween, we have a special spooky edition of the newsletter this month. Check out our articles on BRAINS, BONES, and FEAR below! While Halloween might be the scariest part of October, don’t forget that October is also National Medical Librarians Month! Along with colleagues across the country, librarians in Allina Library Services support research and practice across all the health professions with our resources and expertise. Need an expert searcher? We got you! Need curated access to journals, e-books, and clinical decision-making tools? No problem. Allina Library Services is your partner in making evidence-based decisions!
BRAINS: Expand Your Brain!
Ever wonder what a physician’s brain looks like? With the scary season upon us, we thought the question might be fun to ponder ... and then The New England Journal of Medicine provided a perspective from a library lens, Centering the Peripheral Brain—The History of Reference Tools in Medicine. Historically, physicians used physical reference books to keep up to date. Now, in the digital age, “reference tools are integrated with clinical trials, machine-learning algorithms, and electronic medical records” that move from a “just-in-case" to a “just-in-time" model of learning and practicing. Several library databases are intended to be clinical decision-making tools and will continue to evolve and expand the “peripheral brain” for all care providers.
BONES: Human Anatomy Modules!
It is a terrifying thought that many clinicians are unaware of Access Medicine’s Human Anatomy Modules. Here, clinicians and staff may interact and explore with complete, focused, and regional 3-D anatomy displaying entire human bodies or organ systems all the way down to specific vessels, tissues, or structures. The Complete Human Anatomy features male and female-focused modules for the entire body. Specialists will appreciate the Focused Anatomy Modules, which provides anatomical views of common medical conditions across 16 fields of practice (e.g. Cardiology: Atrial Fibrillation). Learners and students will find value in the Anatomy Tours to explore and quiz themselves afterwards. Don’t be afraid and be sure to check out this hidden gem!
FEAR: The Psychology of Horror
Fall isn’t all apple picking and pumpkin spice lattes. For many the month of October is all about horror, from films and books to haunted houses and haunted hayrides. To quote Danny Elfman “Life’s no fun without a good scare*”. But why do we voluntarily seek out entertainment that will frighten us? What is it about a good horror movie that not only scares but excites us? For many, horror entertainment offers a thrilling combination of fear and fun that can’t be found anywhere else. This spooky season explore all that horror has to offer, even if it sounds a little scary.
*This is Halloween from Nightmare before Christmas
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Connect with Us!
Welcome to Fall! It’s been a busy summer at the library. In addition to relaxing with our families, we also got a lot of work done, including meeting with people across the organization to show them how to use our services and resources. This summer alone we met with over 300 nurses, residents, research personnel, urgent care providers, and more! Did you know that we meet with both groups and individuals? We can customize our consultation to whatever you need. Maybe you are diving into a research project or simply need help finding an article or another piece of information – we’re happy to help! We even have an easy way to book a meeting right on our home page. Check out the Request a Librarian Consultation to schedule your next meeting with us. We look forward to hearing from you!
Create a Clinically Relevant Journals filter in PubMed
PubMed, the premier database for biomedical literature, has a personalized option for customizing your experience, called MyNCBI (see Tip of the Month in Library Update 2).
There are many benefits to creating a MyNCBI account , and a major one is you can set up custom filters to apply to your searches. You can limit searches to Review articles, last 5 years, or even a subset of 80 of the most clinically relevant journals, which have been identified by medical librarians who revised the core clinical filter in PubMed (e.g. NEJM, JAMA, Circulation).
To create a custom filter once you have a MyNCBI account, you go to your Dashboard --> Filters --> Manage Filters--> Create Custom Filter and then add the query terms and select a name to save your filter. It should then appear in your filters at the side of your searches ready to be selected.
The query terms (or strategy) for the clinically useful filter can be found here. There is a more detailed description of these instructions at MyNCBI Help. And, of course, you can set up a quick consultation with a Librarian to show you how to do this from the Library’s web page.
Have you ever heard of Health Humanities?
The interdisciplinary field of Health Humanities includes the intersection of the fields of the arts, humanities, and social sciences through the lens of health and healthcare. We have created a LibGuide focusing on two fields of Health Humanities: Graphic Medicine and Narrative Medicine.
Narrative Medicine is a term that encompasses, among other things, the use of story (of either the patient or the provider) to enhance the healthcare experience and ideally to improve outcomes. Here you can learn about various forms of narrative medicine, such as non-fiction, novels, and poetry, including books and articles from our collection, and view videos about the importance of storytelling and healing.
Graphic Medicine refers to any comic or graphic novel that aids in either healthcare communication or storytelling. Here you can learn more about the art form of graphic novels and manga, how to read them and how to create them. You can also explore our curated lists of recommended titles both from our collection and from the Hennepin County Public Library*, as well as webcomics and videos about using graphic medicine to humanize medicine.
*All Hennepin County Public Library books are accessible through your home libraries interlibrary loan system.
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Carissa Tomlinson
Summer Vacation
Did you know that much of Europe, especially southern Europe, traditionally takes the whole month of August off of work and heads on vacation? Well, we aren't in southern Europe sadly, nor are we on a month-long vacation, but we can dream, right?! In the spirit of this tradition, we're going to take quick break from the newsletter and catch some baseball (we're in America after all). See you in September!
Summer Reading
Craving some light reading on your summer vacation? Check out these articles:
- Do we recover from vacation? Meta-analysis of vacation effects on health and well-being (PubMed)
- Annual, seasonal culture, and vacation patterns in sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity: a systematic review and meta-analysis (PubMed)
- A Two-week vacation in the tropics and psychological well-being - an observational follow-up study (Pubmed)
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Health Misinformation and Predatory Publishing
“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes”
~ Mark Twain*
In today’s information landscape, including social media with its commercialization and polarization, many people struggle with discerning the truth. A 2023 survey from KFF revealed half to three-quarters of the public feel uncertain about public health topics (e.g. Covid-19 vaccines, reproductive health, and gun violence), which leaves them vulnerable to misinformation but is also the opportunity to combat it.
In response, Library Services created a Health Misinformation Resource guide complete with reputable tips and recommendations to verify and evaluate health information. Resources from the National Library of Medicine, the National Institute of Health, and the U.S. Surgeon General, including a quick infographic for How to Spot Fake News can help individuals ask the right questions before making an assessment.
In addition, predatory publishing is an increasing threat to researchers. Library Services created a Predatory Publishing guide to identify red flags of predatory journals and quality indicators for open-access journals. Library Services recommends the checklist tool Think, Check, Submit to assess whether a publication suits your research.
*Fun fact: Mark Twain never wrote this statement.
Long COVID Resources
A recent data brief from JAMA provided striking data points on the continuing influence of the COVID pandemic: 7% of US adults have experienced Long COVID. Among the interesting findings, data behind the national survey found the prevalence of long Covid was significantly higher among women, white, and Asian populations compared to men and African American populations.
Did you know Library Services can help provide access to resources for caring for patients and to the latest research in this area, which continues to evolve?
Here are a few notable resources:
MN Department of Health: Long COVID - Links to resources and support for patients, interim guidance for providers, as well as the state’s Guiding Council composed of Minnesota clinicians who care for long COVID patients in primary and specialty care settings across the state.
Roger Chou, Eric Herman, Azrah Ahmed, et al. Long COVID Definitions and Models of Care: A Scoping Review. Ann Intern Med. [Epub 21 May 2024].
National Academies Press ebook on Long COVID (2022)
Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July!
Spring has sprung! We’ve been busy here in Library Services and we are excited to share our updates with you. This month’s update includes a retirement announcement from a long-time staff member, information on navigating federal health data and misinformation, and a tool you can use to keep your research organized. Let's spring right in!
Pamela Barnard retired April 1st
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Congratulations to Pamela Barnard on her retirement! Pam’s last day was Tuesday, April 1st.
Pam has been with Allina Health for 30 years as a Knowledge Consultant Librarian. Pam supported and served countless numbers of clinicians, leaders, staff, patients, and families throughout Allina Health.
Her expertise, insights, kindness, humor, and hard work ethic have made her an amazing colleague and friend. Pam’s strong connections and foundational knowledge will be greatly missed. We are excited for her to start her next chapter.
Navigating Changes in Federal Health Data Access
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There are many questions and much uncertainty around the state of health data from the CDC and other health departments. Library Services is here to help you in the ever-changing federal government landscape.
The New England Journal of Medicine published “Disappearing Data at the U.S. Federal Government | New England Journal of Medicine” last month, offering their perspective on this topic and its possible consequences.
What we know
How can I access removed data sets or other health information?
More information
Check out our new subject guide: Health Misinformation
From our media ecosystem to dinner table conversations, health misinformation is pervasive in our lives. It is more important than ever to be alert and respond to health misinformation to keep our patients, our communities, and ourselves safe and healthy.
Library Services can help you do that. Our new Health Misinformation subject guide is full of resources to help you address health misinformation.
Spring Cleaning with Zotero
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Spring is a time for cleaning. Do you need to clean up your research? Zotero is a free, easy-to use tool to help you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share research. With Zotero you can:
For more information about Zotero, visit our Citation Tools page or request training by emailing library@allina.com.
That is all for our April update! To learn about how Allina Health Library Services can make your work easier, visit our Library Services webpage or email us at Library@allina.com.
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