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Infodemic – the avalanche! Who can help?

Infodemic – the avalanche! Who can help?

3 - Interesting Articles
The library's role in countering infodemics Walker P. J Med Libr Assoc. 2021 Jan 1;109(1):133-136 The World Health Organization recently labeled the COVID-19 pandemic as an 'Infodemic'. As the term suggests, an infodemic translates to an aggressive growth in the amount of information available regarding a topic of interest, so much so that a potential solution becomes more and more convoluted. This article divulges the massive growth in COVID data. It reads that, as of the 28th of August 2020, a simple search with the keyword 'COVID-19' provides 47,405 results in PubMed; 1,717 yields on bioRxiv.org; 6368 on medRxiv.org, and…
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Medical research: is it done correctly?

Medical research: is it done correctly?

1 - VS Shares
A lot of discussions happen about medical research in India. About how we do not have a conducive environment / encouragement and more. I am not commenting on any of the earlier discussions. I would like to stress on one activity in medical research that is most often not done right. It concerns me on a continuous basis. That activity is "Literature searching" While searching the literature, most "Google". Often when I ask people how they do a literature search in PubMed (or other databases) they say "we type in keywords and search". They say it in a tone that…
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Strategies for coping with information overload

Strategies for coping with information overload

3 - Interesting Articles
Smith R. Strategies for coping with information overload BMJ 2010; 341:c7126 Richard Smith, the former editor of BMJ discusses how doctors cope with "Information Overload". He discusses various approaches that doctors take. He highlights Cochrane Reviews, UpToDate, BMJ Point of Evidence and other sources - where experts summarize evidence and make them available. However as he rightly says - quoting Muir Gray - we have an information paradox - there is far too much, and yet we don't find answers! Our Founder has responded with some comments in the Indian context. Do read her note: Isn't it time to recognize…
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