Library News

Writing in plain language matters. In Canada, it’s reported that nine million people have limited literacy skills, with over half of Canadians reading below a high school level. This is just one of the reasons why it is important to offer additional support to patients and families with easy-to-read, straightforward patient pamphlets. For more information about creating or updating patient pamphlets, please visit the Content Creator Toolkit. Please contact pamphlets@nshealth.ca with any questions. You can search for pamphlets by title, keyword, or four-digit pamphlet number in the library catalogue, or view the complete listing of active titles in our Print Code Index.

The following pamphlets were revised or created in November 2021:

Arabic Translations 
AR85-2244 NEW Be Antibiotic Aware (English: WC85-2059)

Cardiovascular System 
WG85-0718 Cardiac Catheterization (Dye Test) (French: FF85-1120) [Now includes after care information previously included in WG85-0708]
WG85-1103 Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Program

Chinese (Simplified) Translations 
CH85-2242 NEW Be Antibiotic Aware (English: WC85-2059)

Digestive System 
WI85-0702 Laparoscopic Hiatal Hernia Repair (French: FF85-1899)

French Translations (en français)
FF85-1813 Déclenchement artificiel du travail (English: WP85-1768)
FF85-1903 Bienvenue aux Services communautaires de santé mentale et de traitement des dépendances - Régions d’Halifax, d’Eastern Shore et de West Hants (English: WM85-1877)
FF85-1912 Trabéculoplastie sélective au laser (TSL) pour le glaucome (English: WW85-0333)
FF85-2197 NEW Surveiller la tension artérielle à la maison (English: WG85-1197)
FF85-2198 NEW Exercices après une blessure à la cheville (English: WB85-1417)
FF85-2199 NEW Passer un Fibroscan® (English: WI85-1570)
FF85-2201 NEW Fausse couche : Hôpital régional de Yarmouth (English: WP85-2009)
FF85-2202 NEW Interaction des contraceptifs avec le sugammadex (Bridion®) (English: WP85-2076)
FF85-2203 NEW Syndrome de sevrage néonatal (English: WP85-2144)

Geriatrics 
WT85-2221 Seniors Afternoon Out Program

Laboratory Pathology
QY85-1674 Stool Collection for H. pylori, C. difficile, or Viral Detection - Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Halifax Area

Musculoskeletal System
WE85-2237 NEW Knee Replacement Surgery - Dartmouth General Hospital (DGH) Halifax Infirmary (HI) (Replacing 1927)
WE85-2238 NEW Knee Replacement Surgery - Aberdeen Hospital (Replacing 1927)
WE85-2239 NEW Knee Replacement Surgery - Valley Regional Hospital (VRH) (Replacing 1927)
WE85-2240 NEW Knee Replacement Surgery - Cape Breton Regional Hospital (CBRH) (Replacing 1927)

Nervous System
WL85-0058 Spinal Cord Stimulation - QEII
WL85-1033 Welcome to the Neurosurgery Unit 7.3

Nursing Units
WZ85-2243 NEW Systemic Therapy Unit: Victoria General Hospital

Nutrition & Food
LC85-0354 Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT) in Your Diet
LC85-0531 Nutrition Guidelines After Stomach Surgery

Ophthalmology
WW85-2241 NEW Blepharospasm (Eyelid Twitching)

Respiratory System
WF85-1633 Esophageal Surgery

Kallen Rutledge

Librarian Educator, Patient Education & LMS 
Nova Scotia Hospital, Central Zone

In today’s digital world, finding and using images for presentations, education, and publication is easy…

Or is it?

People often assume that online images are free to use, perhaps because they are so easily available: Right click and save, then copy and paste into your work.

In reality, using online images is complicated because some images:

• are free to use
• can be used with permission, or under specific terms or licences
• must be purchased
• cannot be reproduced under any condition

You should always assume that an image is protected by copyright, and it is always your responsibility to find out if and how you are permitted to reproduce it legally and ethically.

We’ve created an infographic to help you with reusing and/or adapting images in your work.

Key considerations

• Fair dealing

What uses are considered ‘fair’ under Canadian copyright law? Can you use any image in any educational presentation if you cite the source?

• Creative Commons licences

A Creative Commons licence does not mean that content can be used without restrictions. There are six different licences, each with their own terms of use.

• Public domain

What does it mean when something is in the ‘public domain’?

• Getting permission

The permissions process can seem overwhelming, but it must be followed. What are the best practices for requesting permission? What do you do if you can’t find a copyright owner? What do you do if the owner says “no”?

Look for future blog posts, where we will explore each section of the infographic in more detail.

Visit our Copyright subject guide for more information about finding and legally using images, or book a consultation with a library team member (choose “Copyright” from the list of options). If you find you still have questions about using images, email us at AskLibrary@nshealth.ca.

Roxanne MacMillan

Librarian Educator
Library Services, Central Zone

What is a systematic review?

Systematic reviews comprehensively identify, select, appraise, and synthesize research results from individual studies. The systematic review methodology is considered a gold-standard for evidence-based practice because it summarizes findings and seeks to come to a recommendation on a specific topic. For this reason, well-designed and methodologically sound systematic reviews can be useful for answering specific clinical questions and making decisions in health care (Chandler et al., 2021).

While systematic reviews can have many advantages, the high degree of rigour needed to carry them out demands many resources, including:

• Collaborators

How many people will be involved in your project, and what will their roles be? Some publishing groups, such as Cochrane, will not publish a systematic review if it is done by a single author. Having team members with expertise in the topic area and who specialize in different disciplines can offer a range of perspectives and reduce the likelihood of errors (Lasserson et al., 2021). It is also important that your team include someone with expertise in systematic review methodology, such as a librarian.

• Time and Long-Term Commitment

The systematic review process can take many months, or even several years. Team members must be committed to dedicating a great amount of effort and time to ensure that all work is of high quality. Additionally, systematic reviews need to be updated as new evidence emerges. Are you and your collaborators dedicated to keeping your publication relevant over the long term?

• Funding

Since systematic reviews demand so many resources, they require funding. Where will you obtain on-going funding to complete your project?

• Databases and Evidence Synthesis Software

Do you have access to multiple relevant databases? Depending on your research question, you may need to search databases that are not specific to the health sciences, so are not accessible through Nova Scotia Health’s library.

You will also want to use citation management software. Library Services supports staff and physicians using Zotero and Mendeley, reference tools which are both freely available online.

Other resources you may find useful for managing systematic reviews include JBI SUMARI, Rayyan, and Covidence.

What is a literature review?

A literature review, sometimes referred to as a narrative review, simply summarizes evidence on a topic. It does not necessarily answer a specific clinical question. A reviewer may “cherry-pick” evidence to support a hypothesis, so the results of a literature review can inform a trend. This is why literature search results must be used with caution when making decisions in health care (Maggio et al., 2016).

Other Review Methodologies

It is also possible to search systematically for literature to inform health care decision-making without conducting a systematic review.

The following table by Kysh (2013) presents a comparison of systematic reviews and literature reviews:

How do I know what review methodology I should use?

Deciding which type of review to conduct can depend on a number of factors. Cornell University Library has created a flow chart to help you decide what type of review is right for you. It can also be helpful to talk with colleagues who have published a review(s) to get their advice, or to connect with a Nova Scotia Health librarian for a consultation to discuss possible options in the context of your topic and available resources.

References

Chandler, J., Cumpston, M., Thomas, J., Higgins, J. P. T., Deeks, J. J., & Clarke, M. J. (2021). Chapter I: Introduction. In: Higgins, J.P.T., Thomas, J., Chandler, J., Cumpston, M., Li, T., Page, M.J., Welch, V.A .(editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.2 (updated February 2021). Cochrane, 2021. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook.

Kysh, L. (2013). Difference between a systematic review and a literature review. figshare. Poster. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.766364.v1

Lasserson T.J., Thomas J., Higgins J.P.T. (2021). Chapter 1: Starting a review. In: Higgins, J.P.T., Thomas, J., Chandler, J., Cumpston, M., Li, T., Page, M.J., Welch, V.A .(editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.2 (updated February 2021). Cochrane, 2021. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook.

Maggio, L. A., Sewell, J. L., & Artino, A. R., Jr. (2016). The literature review: A foundation for high-quality medical education research. J Grad Med Educ. 8(3), 297–303. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-16-00175.1.

Linda Yang

Librarian Educator