help button home button JAMIA Bigger figures
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Haynes, R. B.
Right arrow Articles by Willan, A. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Haynes, R. B.
Right arrow Articles by Willan, A. R.

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Vol 1, 285-295, Copyright © 1994 by American Medical Informatics Association


ARTICLES

Performances of 27 MEDLINE systems tested by searches with clinical questions

RB Haynes, CJ Walker, KA McKibbon, ME Johnston and AR Willan
McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the performances of online and compact-disc (CD- ROM) versions of the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) MEDLINE database. DESIGN: Analytic survey. INTERVENTION: Clinical questions were drawn from 18 searches originally conducted spontaneously by clinicians from wards and clinics who had used Grateful Med Version 4.0. Clinicians' search strategies were translated to meet the specific requirements of 13 online and 14 CD-ROM MEDLINE systems. A senior librarian and vendors' representatives constructed independent searches from the clinicians' questions. The librarian and clinician searches were run through each system, in command mode for the librarian and menu mode for clinicians, when available. Vendor searches were run through the vendors' own systems only. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: Numbers of relevant and irrelevant citations retrieved, cost (for online systems only), and time. RESULTS: Systems varied substantially for all searches, and for librarian and clinician searches separately, with respect to the numbers of relevant and irrelevant citations retrieved (p < 0.001 for both) and the cost per relevant citation (p = 0.012), but not with respect to the time per search. Based on combined rankings for the highest number of relevant and the lowest number of irrelevant citations retrieved, the SilverPlatter CD-ROM MEDLINE clinical journal subset performed best for librarian searches, while the PaperChase online system worked best for clinician searches. For cost per relevant citation retrieved, Dialog's Knowledge Index performed best for both librarian and clinician searches. CONCLUSIONS: There were substantial differences in the performances of competing MEDLINE systems, and performance was affected by search strategy, which was conceived by a librarian or by clinicians.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Eur Heart JHome page
H. J. Verberne, L. M. Brewster, G. A. Somsen, and B. L.F. van Eck-Smit
Prognostic value of myocardial 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) parameters in patients with heart failure: a systematic review
Eur. Heart J., May 1, 2008; 29(9): 1147 - 1159.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc.Home page
G. Hripcsak and A. Wilcox
Reference Standards, Judges, and Comparison Subjects: Roles for Experts in Evaluating System Performance
J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc., January 1, 2002; 9(1): 1 - 15.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Med Decis MakingHome page
I. Sim, D. K. Owens, P. W. Lavori, and G. D. Rennels
Electronic Trial Banks: A Complementary Method for Reporting Randomized Trials
Med Decis Making, October 1, 2000; 20(4): 440 - 450.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc.Home page
E. E. Westberg and R. A. Miller
The Basis for Using the Internet to Support the Information Needs of Primary Care
J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc., January 1, 1999; 6(1): 6 - 25.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Arch DermatolHome page
M. Bigby
Evidence-Based Medicine in a Nutshell: A Guide to Finding and Using the Best Evidence in Caring for Patients
Arch Dermatol, December 1, 1998; 134(12): 1609 - 1618.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
JAMAHome page
W. R. Hersh and D. H. Hickam
How Well Do Physicians Use Electronic Information Retrieval Systems?: A Framework for Investigation and Systematic Review
JAMA, October 21, 1998; 280(15): 1347 - 1352.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1994 by the American Medical Informatics Association.