Searching at 70 mph: tips for finding facts by the bedside

Keynote for the Hospital Library Services Program Annual Conference at the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO). The Conference was held at the Beth Israel Medical Center and attended by over 40 Directors of medical libraries from the New York area.

In 2001, the Institute of Medicine pointed out that “an average of about 17 years is required for new knowledge generated by randomized controlled trials to be incorporated into practice, and even then application is highly uneven”. Part of the problem is the speed of clinical practice - it only leaves time for information that is quickly available and highly relevant to each patient. Fortunately, recent tools like Google and handheld computers increase the speed and relevance of retrieval. These tools will not match the sopshisticated results that a librarian can give. But they are simple enough that even a doctor can learn them. This lecture is about what they need to learn, and how to teach it to them, for the benefit of their patients.

About METRO

In 1964, the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) was chartered by the New York Board of Regents to “promote and facilitate utilizatin of existing resources and to deveopadditionl library services in the New York metropolitan area”. Today METRO is the largest of New York State's nine reference and research library resource systems (3Rs), and one of the largest library service organizations in the world.

Led by a staff of experienced library science and educational professionals, METRO meets the needs of academic, school, public, and special libraries. The 270 METRO member organizations represent more than 1200 individual libraries including hospital, law, corporate and nonprofi specialty libraries. Collectively, METRO supports a vast network of library operations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Brox, Staten Island and Westchester County.

Hospital Library Services

Currently 70 hospital libraries and medical centers participate in METRO's Hospital Library Services Program (HLSP).

Teaching materials