Maccall Steven L
School of Library and Information Studies, The University of Alabama, Box 870252, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487-0252, USA.
J Med Libr Assoc. 2006 Apr;94(2):190-7.
The paper describes and evaluates the use of Clinical Digital Libraries Project (CDLP) digital library collections in terms of their facilitation of timely clinical information seeking.
A convenience sample of CDLP Web server log activity over a twelve-month period (7/2002 to 6/2003) was analyzed for evidence of timely information seeking after users were referred to digital library clinical topic pages from Web search engines. Sample searches were limited to those originating from medical schools (26% North American and 19% non-North American) and from hospitals or clinics (51% North American and 4% non-North American).
Timeliness was determined based on a calculation of the difference between the timestamps of the first and last Web server log "hit" during each search in the sample. The calculated differences were mapped into one of three ranges: less than one minute, one to three minutes, and three to five minutes.
Of the 864 searches analyzed, 48% were less than 1 minute, 41% were 1 to 3 minutes, and 11% were 3 to 5 minutes. These results were further analyzed by environment (medical schools versus hospitals or clinics) and by geographic location (North America versus non-North American). Searches reflected a consistent pattern of less than 1 minute in these environments. Though the results were not consistent on a month-by-month basis over the entire time period, data for 8 of 12 months showed that searches shorter than 1 minute predominated and data for 1 month showed an equal number of less than 1 minute and 1 to 3 minute searches.
The CDLP digital library collections provided timely access to high-quality Web clinical resources when used for information seeking in medical education and hospital or clinic environments from North American and non-North American locations and consistently provided access to the sought information within the documented two-minute standard. The limitations of the use of Web server data warrant an exploratory assessment. This research also suggests the need for further investigation in the area of timely digital library collection services to clinical environments.
本文描述并评估了临床数字图书馆项目（CDLP）数字图书馆馆藏在促进及时获取临床信息方面的应用。
分析了CDLP网络服务器在十二个月期间（2002年7月至2003年6月）的日志活动便利样本，以寻找用户从网络搜索引擎被引导至数字图书馆临床主题页面后及时获取信息的证据。样本搜索仅限于来自医学院（26%为北美地区，19%为非北美地区）以及医院或诊所（51%为北美地区，4%为非北美地区）的搜索。
及时性是根据样本中每次搜索期间第一个和最后一个网络服务器日志“命中”时间戳之间的差值计算得出的。计算出的差值被划分为三个范围之一：少于一分钟、一至三分钟以及三至五分钟。
在分析的864次搜索中，48%少于1分钟，41%为1至3分钟，11%为3至5分钟。这些结果按环境（医学院与医院或诊所）以及地理位置（北美地区与非北美地区）进一步分析。在这些环境中，搜索反映出一致的少于1分钟的模式。尽管在整个时间段内每月结果并不一致，但12个月中有8个月的数据显示少于1分钟的搜索占主导，有1个月的数据显示少于1分钟和1至3分钟的搜索数量相等。
当用于北美地区和非北美地区的医学教育以及医院或诊所环境中的信息搜索时，CDLP数字图书馆馆藏能够及时提供对高质量网络临床资源的访问，并且始终能在记录的两分钟标准内提供对所需信息的访问。使用网络服务器数据的局限性需要进行探索性评估。这项研究还表明需要在及时向临床环境提供数字图书馆馆藏服务领域进行进一步调查。
